the weary march resumed.—return of the messengers.—arrival of relief.—scene in camp.—distribution of provisions.—the song of joy.—a welcome letter.—"enough now; fall to."—personal luxuries for the leader.—"pale ale! sherry! port wine! champagne! tea! coffee! white sugar! wheaten bread!"—stanley's reply to the generous strangers.—summary punishment for theft.—greeting civilization.—reception by white men.—the freedom of boma.—lifted into the hammock.—characteristics of boma.—a banquet and farewell.—ponta da lenha.—out on the ocean.—adieu to the congo.
after a pause of a few minutes, fred continued the story of the weary march of the next day, and the formation of the camp near mbinda, close to a cemetery where the graves were decorated with the property of their occupants. many pitchers, bowls, mugs, and other articles of european manufacture were displayed there, and indicated the free intercourse of the natives with the merchants of embomma.
mbinda cemetery.
"the natives," said fred, "continued indifferent to the sufferings of the starving travellers, and persistently refused to sell any food. early on the morning of the 6th of august the party moved out, and after toiling painfully over the flinty path went into camp near banza mbuko about 9 a.m. in despair the people flung themselves on the ground, and[pg 352] some of them appeared ready to welcome death as a relief from their misery. and now," continued the youth, "let us turn again to mr. stanley's narrative:
"suddenly the shrill voice of a little boy was heard saying, 'oh! i see uledi and kachéché coming down the hill, and there are plenty of men following them!'
"'what! what! what!' broke out eagerly from several voices, and dark forms were seen springing up from among the bleached grass, and from under the shade, and many eyes were directed at the whitened hill-slope.
"'yes; it is true! it is true! la il allah, il allah! yes; el hamd ul illah! yes, it is food! food! food at last! ah, that uledi! he is a lion, truly! we are saved, thank god!'
in the suburbs of boma.
"before many minutes, uledi and kachéché were seen tearing through the grass, and approaching us with long springing strides, holding a letter up to announce to us that they had been successful. and the gallant fellows, hurrying up, soon placed it in my hands, and in the hearing of all who were gathered to hear the news i translated the following letter:
"'embomma,
"'english factory.
"'6.30 a.m.,
"'boma, 6th august, 1877.
"'h. m. stanley, esq.:
"dear sir,—your welcome letter came to hand yesterday, at 7 p.m. as soon as its contents were understood, we immediately arranged to despatch to you[pg 353] such articles as you requested, as much as our stock on hand would permit, and other things that we deemed would be suitable in that locality. you will see that we send fifty pieces of cloth, each twenty-four yards long, and some sacks containing sundries for yourself; several sacks of rice, sweet potatoes, also a few bundles of fish, a bundle of tobacco, and one demijohn of rum. the carriers are all paid, so that you need not trouble yourself about them. that is all we need say about business. we are exceedingly sorry to hear that you have arrived in such piteous condition, but we send our warmest congratulations to you, and hope that you will soon arrive in boma (this place is called boma by us, though on the map it is embomma). again hoping that you will soon arrive, and that you are not suffering in health.
"'believe us to remain, your sincere friends,
"'(signed)
"'hatton & cookson.
"'a. da motta veiga.
"'j. w. harrison.'
outbuildings of an african factory.
"uledi and kachéché then delivered their budget. their guides had accompanied them half-way, when they became frightened by the menaces of some of the natives of mbinda, and deserted them. the four wangwana, however, undertook the journey alone, and, following a road for several hours, they appeared at bibbi after dark. the next day (the 5th), being told by the natives that boma (to which embomma was now changed) was lower down river, and unable to obtain guides, the brave fellows resolved upon following the congo along its banks. about an hour after sunset, after a fatiguing march over many hills, they reached boma, and, asking a native for the house of the 'ingreza' (english), were shown to the factory of messrs. hatton & cookson, which was superintended by a[pg 354] portuguese gentleman, mr. a. da motta veiga, and mr. john w. harrison, of liverpool. kachéché, who was a better narrator than uledi, then related that a short white man, wearing spectacles, opened the letter, and, after reading awhile, asked which was robert feruzi, who answered for himself in english, and, in answer to many questions, gave a summary of our travels and adventures, but not before the cooks were set to prepare an abundance of food, which they sadly needed, after a fast of over thirty hours.
escort of the caravan.
"by this time the procession of carriers from messrs. hatton & cookson's factory had approached, and all eyes were directed at the pompous old 'capitan' and the relief caravan behind him. several of the wangwana officiously stepped forward to relieve the fatigued and perspiring men, and with an extraordinary vigor tossed the provisions—rice, fish, and tobacco bundles—on the ground, except the demijohn of rum, which they called pombé, and handled most carefully. the 'capitan' was anxious about my private stores, but the scene transpiring[pg 355] about the provisions was so absorbingly interesting that i could pay no attention as yet to them. while the captains of the messes were ripping open the sacks and distributing the provisions in equal quantities, murabo, the boat-boy, struck up a glorious, loud-swelling chant of triumph and success, into which he deftly, and with a poet's license, interpolated verses laudatory of the white men of the second sea. the bard, extemporizing, sang much about the great cataracts, cannibals, and pagans, hunger, the wide wastes, great inland seas, and niggardly tribes, and wound up by declaring that the journey was over, that we were even then smelling the breezes of the western ocean, and his master's brothers had redeemed them from the 'hell of hunger.' and at the end of each verse the voices rose high and clear to the chorus—
"'then sing, o friends, sing; the journey is ended;
sing aloud, o friends, sing to this great sea.'
"'enough now; fall to,' said manwa sera, at which the people nearly smothered him by their numbers. into each apron, bowl, and utensil held out, the several captains expeditiously tossed full measures of rice and generous quantities of sweet potatoes and portions of fish. the younger men and women hobbled after water, and others set about gathering fuel, and the camp was all animation, where but half an hour previously all had been listless despair. many people were unable to wait for the food to be cooked, but ate the rice and the fish raw. but when the provisions had all been distributed, and the noggin of rum had been equitably poured into each man's cup, and the camp was in a state of genial excitement, and groups of dark figures discussed with animation the prospective food which the hospitable fires were fast preparing, then i turned to my tent, accompanied by uledi, kachéché, the capitan, and the tent-boys, who were, i suppose, eager to witness my transports of delight.
"with profound tenderness kachéché handed to me the mysterious bottles, watching my face the while with his sharp detective eyes as i glanced at the labels, by which the cunning rogue read my pleasure. pale ale! sherry! port wine! champagne! several loaves of bread, wheaten bread, sufficient for a week! two pots of butter! a packet of tea! coffee! white loaf-sugar! sardines and salmon! plum-pudding! currant, gooseberry, and raspberry jam!
"the gracious god be praised forever! the long war we had maintained against famine and the siege of woe were over, and my people and i rejoiced in plenty! only an hour before this we had been living on the recollections of the few peanuts and green bananas we had consumed in the morning, but now, in an instant, we were transported into the presence of the luxuries of civilization. never did gaunt africa appear so unworthy and so despicable before my eyes as now, when imperial europe rose before me and showed her boundless treasures of life, and blessed me with her stores.
"when we all felt refreshed, the cloth bales were opened, and soon, instead of the venerable and tattered relics of manchester, salem, and nashua manufacture, which were hastily consumed by the fire, the people were reclad with white cloths and gay prints. the nakedness of want, the bare ribs, the sharp, protruding bones were thus covered; but months must elapse before the hollow, sunken cheeks and haggard faces would again resume the healthy bronze color which distinguishes the well-fed african.
[pg 356]
outside the village.
"my condition of mind in the evening of the eventful day which was signalized by the happy union which we had made with the merchants of the west coast, may be guessed by the following letter:
"'banza mbuko, august 6, 1877.
"'messrs. a. da motta veiga and j. w. harrison, embomma, congo river:
"'gentlemen,—i have received your very welcome letter, but better than all, and more welcome, your supplies. i am unable to express just at present how grateful i feel. we are all so overjoyed and confused with our emotions, at the sight of the stores exposed to our hungry eyes—at the sight of the rice, the fish, and the rum, and for me—wheaten bread, butter, sardines, jam, peaches, grapes, beer (ye gods! just think of it—three bottles pale ale!) besides tea and sugar—that we cannot restrain ourselves from falling to and enjoying this sudden bounteous store—and i beg you will charge our apparent want of thankfulness to our greediness. if we do not thank you sufficiently in words, rest assured we feel what volumes could not describe.
"'for the next twenty-four hours we shall be too busy eating to think of anything else much; but i may say that the people cry out joyfully, while their mouths are full of rice and fish, "verily, our master has found the sea, and his brothers, but we did not believe him until he showed us the rice and the pombé (rum). we did not believe there was any end to the great river; but, god be praised forever, we shall see white people to-morrow, and our wars and troubles will be over."
"'dear sirs, though strangers, i feel we shall be great friends, and it will be the study of my lifetime to remember my feelings of gratefulness when i first caught sight of your supplies, and my poor, faithful, and brave people cried out, "master, we are saved!—food is coming!" the old and the young—the men, the[pg 357] women, the children—lifted their wearied and worn-out frames, and began to chant lustily an extemporaneous song, in honor of the white people by the great salt sea (the atlantic) who had listened to their prayers. i had to rush to my tent to hide the tears that would issue, despite all my attempts at composure.
"'gentlemen, that the blessing of god may attend your footsteps whithersoever you go, is the very earnest prayer of
"'yours faithfully, henry m. stanley,
"'commanding anglo-american expedition.'
"at the same hour on the morning of the 7th that we resumed the march, kachéché and uledi were despatched to boma with the above letter. then surmounting a ridge, we beheld a grassy country barred with seams of red clay in gullies, ravines, and slopes, the effects of rain, dipping into basins with frequently broad masses of plateau and great dykelike ridges between, and in the distance southwest of us a lofty, tree-clad hill-range, which we were told we should have to climb before descending to n'lamba n'lamba, where we proposed camping.
view in the open country.
"half an hour's march brought us to a market-place, where a tragedy had been enacted a short time before the relief caravan had passed it the day previous. two thieves had robbed a woman of salt, and, according to the local custom which ordains the severest penalties for theft in the public mart, the two felons had been immediately executed, and their bodies laid close to the path to deter others evilly disposed from committing like crimes.
"at noon we surmounted the lofty range which we had viewed near banza mbuko, and the aneroid indicated a height of fifteen hundred feet. a short distance from its base, on two grassy hills, is situate n'lamba n'lamba, a settlement comprising several villages, and as populous as mbinda. the houses and streets were very clean and neat; but, as of old, the natives are devoted to idolatry, and their passion for carving wooden idols was illustrated in every street we passed through.
"on the 8th we made a short march of five miles to n'safu, over a sterile, bare, and hilly country, but the highest ridge passed was not over eleven hundred feet above the sea. uledi and kachéché returned at this place with more cheer for us, and a note acknowledging my letter of thanks.
"in a postscript to this note, mr. motta veiga prepared me for a reception which was to meet me on the road half-way between n'safu and boma; it also contained the census of the european population, as follows:
[pg 358]
"'perhaps you do not know that in boma there are only eleven portuguese, one frenchman, one dutchman, one gentleman from st. helena, and ourselves (messrs. motta veiga and j. w. harrison), messrs. hatton and cookson being in liverpool, and the two signatures above being names of those in charge of the english factory there.'
"on the 9th of august, 1877, 999th day from the date of our departure from zanzibar, we prepared to greet the van of civilization.
"from the bare rocky ridges of n'safu there is a perceptible decline to the congo valley, and the country becomes, in appearance, more sterile—a sparse population dwelling in a mere skeleton village in the centre of bleakness. shingly rocks strewed the path and the waste, and thin, sere grass waved mournfully on level and spine, on slope of ridge and crest of hill; in the hollows it was somewhat thicker; in the bottoms it had a slight tinge of green.
"we had gradually descended some five hundred feet along declining spurs when we saw a scattered string of hammocks appearing, and gleams of startling whiteness, such as were given by fine linen and twills.
"a buzz of wonder ran along our column.
"proceeding a little farther, we stopped, and in a short time i was face to face with four white—ay, truly white men!
"as i looked into their faces, i blushed to find that i was wondering at their paleness. poor pagan africans—rwoma of uzinja, and man-eating tribes of the livingstone! the whole secret of their wonder and curiosity flashed upon me at once. what arrested the twanging bow and the deadly trigger of the cannibals? what but the weird pallor of myself and frank! in the same manner the sight of the pale faces of the embomma merchants gave me the slightest suspicion of an involuntary shiver. the pale color, after so long gazing on rich black and richer bronze, had something of an unaccountable ghastliness. i could not divest myself of the feeling that they must be sick; yet, as i compare their complexions to what i now view, i should say they were olive, sunburned, dark.
wooden idol.
"yet there was something very self-possessed about the carriage of these white men. it was grand; a little self-pride mixed with cordiality. i could not remember just then that i had witnessed such bearing among any tribe throughout africa. they spoke well also; the words they uttered hit the sense pat; without gesture, they were perfectly intelligible. how strange! it was quite delightful to observe the slight nods of the head; the intelligent facial movements were admirably expressive. they were completely clothed, and neat also; i ought to say immaculately clean. jaunty straw hats, colored neckties, patent-leather boots,[pg 359]
[pg 360] well-cut white clothes, virtuously clean! i looked from them to my people, and then i fear i felt almost like being grateful to the creator that i was not as black as they, and that these finely dressed, well-spoken whites claimed me as friend and kin. yet i did not dare to place myself upon an equality with them as yet; the calm blue and gray eyes rather awed me, and the immaculate purity of their clothes dazzled me. i was content to suppose myself a kind of connecting link between the white and the african for the time being. possibly familiarity would beget greater confidence.
the white-fronted wild hog of central africa.
"they expressed themselves delighted to see me; congratulated me with great warmth of feeling, and offered to me the 'freedom of boma!' we travelled together along the path for a mile, and came to the frontier village of boma, or embomma, where the 'king' was at hand to do the honors. my courteous friends had brought a hamper containing luxuries. hock and champagne appeared to be cheap enough where but a few hours previous a cup of palm-wine was as precious as nectar; rare dainties of paris and london abundant, though a short time ago we were stinted of even ground-nuts. nor were the wangwana forgotten, for plenty had also been prepared for them.
the hammock on the west coast of africa.
"my friends who thus welcomed me among the descendants of japhet were mr. a. da motta veiga, senhores luiz pinto maroo, jo?o chaves, henrique germano faro, and mr. j. f. müller, of the dutch factory. they had brought a hammock with them, and eight sturdy, well-fed bearers. they insisted on my permitting them to lift me into the hammock. i declined. they said it was a portuguese custom. to custom, therefore, i yielded, though it appeared very effeminate.
[pg 361]
the circumnavigators of the victoria nyanza and lake tanganika, and explorers of the alexandra nile and livingstone (congo) river.
[pg 362]
"it was a gradual slope through a valley, which soon opened into a low alluvial plain, seamed here and there with narrow gullies, and then over the heads of the tall grass as i lay in the hammock i caught a glimpse of the tall square box of a frame-house, with a steep roof, erected on rising ground. it brought back a host of old recollections; for everywhere on the frontiers of civilization in america one may see the like. it approached nearer and larger to the view, and presently the hammock was halted by whitewashed palings, above which the square two-storied box rose on piles with a strangeness that was almost weird. it was the residence of those in charge of the english factory.
native belles on the west coast.
"looking from the house, my eyes rested on the river. ah! the hateful, murderous river, now so broad and proud and majestically calm, as though it had not bereft me of a friend, and of many faithful souls, and as though we had never heard it rage and whiten with fury, and mock the thunder. what a hypocritical river! but just below the landing a steamer was ascending—the kabinda, john petherbridge, master. how civilization was advancing on me! not a moment even to lie down and rest! full-blooded, eager, restless, and aggressive, it pressed on me, and claimed me for its own, without allowing me even the time to cast one retrospective glance at the horrors left behind. while still overwhelmed by the[pg 363] thought, the people of the expedition appeared, pressing forward to admire and gaze wide-eyed at the strange 'big iron canoe,' driven by fire on their river; for there were several wanyamwezi, waganda, and east-coast men who would not believe that there was anything more wonderful than the lady alice.
"our life at boma, which lasted only from 11 a.m. of the 9th to noon of the 11th, passed too quickly away; but throughout it was intensest pleasure and gayety.
native blacksmiths near boma.
"there are some half-dozen factories at boma, engaging the attention of about eighteen whites. the houses are all constructed of wooden boards, with, as a rule, corrugated zinc roofs. the residences line the river front; the dutch, french, and portuguese factories being west of an isolated high square-browed hill, which, by-the-bye, is a capital site for a fortlet; and the english factory being a few hundred yards above it. each factory requires an ample courtyard for its business, which consists in the barter of cotton fabrics, glass-ware, crockery, iron-ware, gin, rum, guns and gunpowder, for palm-oil, ground-nuts, and ivory. the merchants contrive to exist as comfortably as their means will allow. some of them plant fruits and garden vegetables, and cultivate grape-vines. pineapples, guavas, and limes may be obtained from the market, which is held on alternate days a short distance behind the european settlement.
"though boma is comparatively ancient, and europeans have had commercial connections with this district and the people for over a century, yet captain[pg 364] tuckey's description of the people, written in 1816—their ceremonies and modes of life, their suspicion of strangers and intolerance, their greed for rum and indolence, the scarcity of food—is as correct as though written to-day. the name 'boma,' however, has usurped that of 'lombee,' which captain tuckey knew; the banza of embomma being a little distance inland. in his day it was a village of about one hundred huts, in which was held the market of the banza, or king's town.
"the view inland is dreary, bleak, and unpromising, consisting of grassy hills, and of a broken country, its only boast the sturdy baobab, which relieves the nakedness of the land. but, fresh from the hungry wilderness and the land of selfish men, from the storm and stress of the cataracts, the solemn rock defiles of the livingstone, and the bleak table-land—i heeded it not. the glowing, warm life of western civilization, the hospitable civilities and gracious kindnesses which the merchants of boma showered on myself and people, were as dews of paradise, grateful, soothing, and refreshing.
"on the 11th, at noon, after a last little banquet and songs, hearty cheers, innumerable toasts, and fervid claspings of friendly hands, we embarked. an hour before sunset the 'big iron canoe,' after a descent of about thirty-five miles, hauled in-shore, on the right bank, and made fast to the pier of another of hatton & cookson's factories at ponta da lenha, or wooded point. two or three other portuguese factories are in close neighborhood to it, lightening the gloom of the background of black mangrove and forest.
"after a very agreeable night with our hospitable english host, the kabinda was again under way.
"the puissant river below boma reminded me of the scenes above uyanzi; the color of the water, the numerous islands, and the enormous breadth recalled those days when we had sought the liquid wildernesses of the livingstone, to avoid incessant conflicts with the human beasts of prey in the midst of primitive africa, and at the sight my eyes filled with tears at the thought that i could not recall my lost friends, and bid them share the rapturous joy that now filled the hearts of all those who had endured and survived.
"a few hours later and we were gliding through the broad portal into the ocean, the blue domain of civilization!
"turning to take a farewell glance at the mighty river on whose brown bosom we had endured so greatly, i saw it approach, awed and humbled, the threshold of the watery immensity, to whose immeasurable volume and illimitable expanse, awful as had been its power, and terrible as had been its fury, its flood was but a drop. and i felt my heart suffused with purest gratitude to him whose hand had protected us, and who had enabled us to pierce the dark continent from east to west, and to trace its mightiest river to its ocean bourne."
