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  • Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.

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    < In Dark Jest Africa.'* Mr. Stanley's L...

    who were trying to test the weight of the box by curi ous grummet to see wha at t they each would end . do ¦ Our with ¦ headmen the box

    lay ^^^^ r ^^^^ mm * ^ B ~ hidden ^» r ~— ~— — cl — osel y , fo —^ r the » ~^ ~™~ ^ " — » ~ eyes " r — ~" r ^^ — of * w ^^ " ™™ the ^^ ^^» ^^ ^^» little »^^^ ~^ v ^**^ r ^ , ^ m people are exceedingly sharp . Every member

    of the tribe seemed to have some device to suggest , and the little boys hopped about on one leg ¦ spanking > Vfa their hips in irrepressible

    d ^^^^ ^ e m ^ li *^^^ ¦ g ht - — ^^ v ^ ra , J at — the find ^ ^^ , ^^ ^^ ^^ and ^ ^^ ^ ^^^ M ^^ the — - — tiny ^^» ^^ " ^^ v *^^ H ^ r ^ women ^^^ ^ i ^ r ^^ " »^^ ^^ ^^^^ ^^^ ^ , carrying their tinier babies at their backs ,

    vociferated the traditional wise woman ' s counsel . Then a doughty man put a light pole and laid it through the grummetsand all

    the small people cheered shrilly with jo , y at the g •^ e nius disjp layed ^ / by them in inventing — ^ y a~—

    method for heaving along the weighty case of Remington ammunition . The Hercules and the Milo of the tribe put forth their utmost

    strength and raised the box up level with their shoulders , and staggered away into the bush . But just then a harmless shot was fired , and

    the big men rushed forward with loud shouts , and then began a chase ; and one over-fat young fellow of about seventeen was captured

    and broug r ht 1 . l to i _ our camp as a prize . ' , The meeting with Emin Pasha is extremely interesting _ C 37 , and the analysis v of his character

    is one of the very best chapters in the book . This is how Mr . Stanley describes the meeting : | ' At eight o ' clockamid great rejoicingand

    after repeated salutes , from rifles , Emin Pasha , himself walked into camp accompanied by Captain Casati and Mr . Jephson , and one of |

    the Pasha's officers . I shook hands with all and asked which was Emin Pasha ? Then one rather smallslight figurewearing glasses

    arrested my , attention by say , ing in excellent , English , '' I owe you a thousand thanks , Mr . Stanley ; I really do not know how to express

    my thanks to you . " "Ah , you are Emin Pasha 1 Do not mention thanks , but come in ' and sit down . It is so dark out here we

    cannot see one another . " At the door of the camp we sat , and a wax candle threw light upon the scene . I expected to see a tallthin

    military JL -looking figure -M . , in faded Egyptian , , uniform , but instead of it I saw a small , spare

    figure in a well-kept fez and a clean suit of snowy cotton drilling , well ironed and of perfect fit . A dark grizzled beard bordered a

    face of a Magyar cast , though a pair of spectacles lent it somewhat an Italian or Spanish There was not a trace on it of

    appearance . ill-health or anxiety ; it rather indicated good condition of body and peace of mind . '

    The sketches of Major Barttelot and Mr . Jameson are capital , and show what Mr . Stanley might have done in character-drawing had he ]

    taken to fiction or history instead of exp loring phalanx . dance And ' here which is must a descri stir ption the imag of i a -

    nation of Mr . Rider Haggard : * The phalanx stood still with spears

    grounded grounded , , until until at at a a signal signal rrom from the the drums drums Katto's big voice was heard breaking out into a wild triumpA , hant song _ J or chant , and at a

    particular uplift of note raised his spear , and at once rose a forest of spears high above their headsand - a mighty chorus of voices

    re-, Cf •/ sponded , and the phalanx was seen to move forward , and the earth around my chair , &¦

    foremost which was line at a shook distance as h of though fifty yard there s from were the an mmtm

    earth — qu ~—~ ake — ¦ . , j . - — -- —— . - ^ - > w . ^^ - ^^ The •¦ ^ voices r »^™^^ ~^ m * ^^^^ m ^^ M ^ ^^^^ rose ^^^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ and ^^^ ^^ fell ^ ^^^ ^^^ ^^ in m ^^ sweeping waves of vocal sound , the forest of

    spears rose and subsided with countless flashes of polished iron blades as they were tossed aloft and lowered again to the hoarse and

    exciting thunder of the drums . There was accuracy of cadence of voice and roar of drum , there was uniform uplift and subsidence of the

    constantly twirling spear-blades , there was a simultaneous action of the bodies ; and as they brought the tremendous weight of seventy

    tons of flesh with one regular stamp of the feet on the ground the firm and hard earth echoed the sound round about tremulously .

    1 / With all these the thousand heads rose and drooped together , rising when venting the glorious volume of energydrooping with the

    , undertone of wailing murmur of the multi- I tude . As they shouted with faces turned I upward and heads bent back to give the I

    fullest effect to the ascending tempest of voices > suggestive of quenchless fury , wrath , and ' exterminating * w 7 war , it appeared X X , to inflate

    every soul with the passion of deadly battle , and every eye of the onlookers glowed luridly , and their right arms with clenched fists were

    shaken on high as though their spirits were thrilled with the martial strains ; but as the heads were turned and bowed to the earth we

    seemed to feel war ' s agony , and grief , and woe , to think of tears , and widows' wails , and fatherless orphans' criesof ruined hearths

    and a desolated land . , But , again , as the , mass , still steadily drawing nearer , tossed their head backwards , and the bristling blades

    flashed and clashed , and the feathers screamed and gaily rustled , there was a loud snort of defianceand such an exulting and energising

    storm of , sound that man saw only the glorious colours of victory , and felt only the proud pulses of triumph . '

    The temptation to go on making extracts is very great , but we have room for only one more quotation . It is from the closing I —* pages j . <_ j

    of the book , where Mr . Stanley sums up his own feelings on the completion of the great enterprise 4 Now let : — me for a moment speak proudly .

    Knowing what my companions and 1 know , we have this certain satisfaction , that , let envy , malice , and jealousy «/ •/ provoke X men to say vwhat

    they will , the acutest cross-examination of witnesses in a court of justice would elicit nothing moreso far as we are concernedthan '

    a fuller recognition , and higher appreciation , of the sacrifice and earnestness of the endeavour which wo freely and gratuitously gave to

    asnist Emin Pasha and Captain Casati . and their few hundreds of followers . Money , time , years , strength , health , life , anything

    and everything freuly , kindly , and devotedly—without even giving one thought to a reward whichwhatever its character might

    , ^~* bo , would be utterly inadequate as compensation . . . No honour or reward , however great t- > , ¦ can bo equal xto that . subtle

    satisfaction that a man feels when he can point to his work and say , "See , now , the task I promised you to perform with all i i -i -jim i ii i i i ii ' T dfltJ

    R^— - -¦¦ ¦ ¦ - ¦¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ • ?¦" ¦ - - ;- ...

    r ^— - - ¦¦ ¦ ¦ - ¦¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ?¦ " ¦ - - ; - " ' ——— - -- ¦ ! - " , i «

    July i , 1890 The Publishers' Circular 805

• Citation
  • Publishers’ Circular (1880-1890), July 1, 1890, page 805, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/pc/issues/tec_01071890/page/11/