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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.— SUPPLEMENT. 



equaled dramatic splendor ends the immense dra- 

 matic cycle of the " Nibelungen-Ring," and, quite 

 apart from the music, we may well be impressed 

 with the poetical genius which has welded all 

 these strange elements of Scandinavian and Ger- 

 manic myth iuto such a whole; 



But Wagner himself is in our midst. He has 

 at last become to the English people his own 

 best interpreter ; and, now that after a struggle 

 of forty years kings are his patrons, and the 

 elite of Europe have gathered to the Olympian- 



like festival at Baireuth— now that the clamors 

 and sneers of malcontents and irreconcilables are 

 drowned by the applause and recognition of a 

 fairly representative English public, we can re- 

 call, with a smile of pity and forgiveness, the 

 past bickerings of the press, or that naive dictum 

 of worthy M. Fetis, in 1866 : " To-day, the tran- 

 sient curiosity about Wagner is satisfied — indif- 

 ference has come, and the so-called music of the 

 future is already a thing of the past ! " — Contem- 

 porary Review. 



CENTRAL AFRICA AND THE BRUSSELS GEOGRAPHICAL 



CONGRESS. 1 



By EMILE DE LAVELEYE. 



IN September of last year the King of the Bel- 

 gians received with gracious and royal hos- 

 pitality, in his palace at Brussels, the presidents 

 of the principal geographical societies of Europe, 

 and a number of other personages who, by their 

 travels, their researches, or their philanthropy, 

 have become representatives of the idea of the 

 civilization of Africa. In his letter of invitation, 

 King Leopold had clearly defined the work to be 

 done by this congress. Several important and 

 heroic expeditions, maintained by private sub- 

 scription, have penetrated to the interior of 

 Africa. 



"These expeditions," said the king, "were 

 animated by the eminently progressive and Chris- 

 tian idea of abolishing slavery in Africa ; of pene- 

 trating the darkness which still envelops that 

 portion of the world ; of studying its apparently 

 boundless resources— in a word, of carrying thither 

 the blessings of civilization : such are the aims of 

 this modern crusade— a crusade worthy of the age 

 in which we live. The efforts that have hitherto 

 been made have had no concert of action, and 

 hence arises on all sides the desire that they who 

 labor for a common end should confer together, 

 with a view to coordinate their movements, to es- 

 tablish a few landmarks, and to portion out the 

 regions to be explored, so that work already done 

 shall not be repeated." 



King Leopold II., as being the sovereign of a 



small country, is naturally disposed to concern 



himself with the general interests of the globe. 



Being still too young to be, like his father, the 



> Translated by J. Fitzgerald, A. M. 



counselor of the sovereigns of Europe and their 

 go-between in their secret negotiations, Leopold 

 II. has taken a lively interest in the future of the 

 extreme East. Prior to his ascending the throne, 

 as a skilled and wide-awake observer he visited 

 Egypt, India, and China, bringing back, as the 

 fruit of his travels, the conviction that, if Euro- 

 pean industry is to continue in its wonderful 

 career of progress, new outlets must be provided 

 for it in these great continents, which hold three- 

 fourths of the world's population. North America, 

 the victim of a blind and narrow commercial 

 policy, will not take our products; we must, 

 therefore, push on farther, and open new mar- 

 kets in Asia and Africa. Toward Africa espe- 

 cially must we direct our efforts, for there, besides 

 the development of commerce, a work of human- 

 ity remains to be done — namely, the suppression 

 of the slave-trade, and, as a consequence of this, 

 the prevention of the abominable wars which now 

 depopulate those rich and fertile countries. In 

 furtherance of the work of exploring Central 

 Africa, King Leopold wished to submit for dis- 

 cussion to the Geographical Congress assembled 

 in his palace three chief points, viz. : 



" 1. The establishment of bases of operation on 

 the Zanguebar coast and near the mouth of the 

 Congo ; 2. The determination of routes to be suc- 

 cessively opened to the interior, with stations for 

 scientific observation, pacification of the natives, 

 and entertainment of travelers ; 3. The appoint- 

 ment of an international and central committee for 

 the purpose of putting this project into execution, 



