358 STANLEY'S GREAT CONGO EXPEDITION 



the heart of Africa. At Stanley Falls, at the head of this navigable 

 stretch, broken water begins again and continues for nearly four hun- 

 dred miles. But navigation is not confined to the Congo, but extends 

 over many of its great affluents. The Kwa — into which flows the 

 noble Kasai — the Ruki, and the Lulongo, on the south, and the 

 Mobangi, the Itimbiri, and the Aruwimi, on the north — these streams 

 furnish a vast stretch of navigable waters, which have since been 

 utilized. 



After a visit to Europe, Stanley returned with fourteen European 

 officers and some six hundred tons of material, reaching Leopoldville 

 on March 21, 1883, with these abundant supplies. On May 9th he 

 set out for a vovage of exploration on the Upper Congo, with two 

 steamers and a launch, having a whale boat and a canoe in tow. The 

 force amounted in all to eighty men, the cargo to six tons. To quote 

 Stanley himself : — 



"We have axes to hew the forests, hammers to break the rock, 

 spades to turn up the sod and to drain the marsh, or shovels to raise 

 the rampart; scythes to mow the grass, hatchets to penetrate the 

 jungle, and seeds of all kinds for sowing. Saws to rip planking, and 

 hammers, nails, and cabinet-makers' tools to make furniture; needles 

 and threads for sewing all the cloth in these bales, twine to string 

 their beads, and besides these useful articles in the cases, there are 

 also countless 'notions' and fancy knick-knacks to appease the cupidity 

 of the most powerful chief, or excite the desire for adornment in the 

 breast of woman." 



The power by which the steamers were driven provided an inex- 

 haustible source of speculation for the natives. The less philosophical 

 supposed that a number of men were concealed in the hold, but the 

 more astute rightly put it down to the "big pot," as they called the 

 boiler. But even these could not conjecture the thing that the engineer 

 was always "cooking!" "\Miatever it is," said they, "it takes a long 

 time to cook. That engineer has been cooking all day, and it is not 

 finished yet." Finally they fell back upon that invariable dernier res- 

 sort of the African — "It is the white man's medicine!" 



The furious opposition which he had met in his former descent 

 of the river was now gone, and Stanley filled the role of a peace-maker 



