CHAPTER XXXVIII 



Stanley's Great Congo Expedition 



STANLEY returned to Europe, but not, as he had anticipated, to 

 his well-earned rest. On arriving at Marseilles, in his journey 

 across Europe, he was met by representatives of Leopold II, 

 King of the Belgians, who informed him that their sovereign contem- 

 plated some great undertaking in Africa, and that he looked to Stanley 

 for assistance in prosecuting it with success. 



This was in January, 1878, but it was not till the end of the year 

 that the project took final shape and Stanley prepared to revisit Africa. 

 In the meanwhile he was occupied by lecturing to great audiences, by 

 a voluminous correspondence, and a careful study of the details of the 

 proposed expedition. In June he published the account of his journey 

 across Africa under the title of "Across the Dark Continent." The 

 book had an immense sale, and gave an impetus to African projects 

 which resulted in numerous undertakings. On the river Congo, lakes 

 Victoria and Tanganyika, in West, East, and Central Africa, missions 

 were established by several denominations; French, Portuguese, and 

 German travelers set out to explore vast regions of the Continent ; and 

 there began a series of annexations by the European powers which 

 have continued up to the present time. 



In November, 1878, at the palace of the Belgian King, an associa- 

 tion was formed for the purpose of utilizing the vast basin of the Congo 

 for the benefit of the vaster world, and developing its natural wealth 

 simultaneously with civilizing its people. Representatives of most of 

 the European States were among the prominent members of this novel 

 company, and it finally received the title of ''The International Associ- 

 ation of the Congo." To Stanley was offered the all-important post 

 of chief of the expedition which was to initiate the work — an ofifer 

 which recruited health and his characteristic enterprise led him to 

 accept with hearty promptness. 



The exact nature of the work before him may be considered under 



(3SS) 



