CONGO, INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF THE. 



167 



lishing a caravan route and a row of stations 

 between Zanzibar and Lake Tanganyika. The 

 stations founded at Kareraa, on the east shore 

 of Tanganyika, and at M'pala's, on the oppo- 

 site shore, became permanent and important 

 trading-posts, the former bidding fair to out- 

 strip Ujiji. The route between this place and 

 the coast and the native paths to Ujiji followed 

 by Burton and Speke, were improved, and the 

 dangers and vexations removed. The time of 

 transit was reduced in two years from six 

 months to forty-five days. A secure and regu- 

 lar system of porterage was organized. 



When Stanley returned from his explorations 

 of the Congo between 1874 and 1877, King 

 Leopold proposed to appoint him agent of the 

 Association, to extend its work into West Af- 

 rica. Means were furnished him to revisit the 

 natives in the neighborhood of Stanley Pool, 

 in accordance with a promise he had given. 

 His reception was so encouraging that the As- 

 sociation supplied him liberally with money 

 for the purpose of extending the line of sta- 

 tions across the continent along the course of 

 the Congo. To establish a line of communi- 

 cations with the coast was the first need. Mr. 

 Stanley accordingly undertook the costly and 

 difficult engineering task of building a mount- 

 ain road along the thirty-two cataracts called 

 the Livingstone Falls. The Portuguese were 

 stimulated to activity in Africa by Stanley's 

 discoveries, and impelled by the proceedings 

 of the Association to reassert their dormant 

 territorial rights over the mouth of the Congo. 

 The French aimed at territorial aggrandize- 

 ment in the direction of the Congo, with the 

 object of controlling the commercial outlet of 

 the Congo region if possible. Mr. Stanley con- 

 ceived the idea of acquiring for his association 

 the sovereign rights on the river-banks, in 

 order to prevent any power from placing bar- 

 riers between its field of operations and the 

 ocean. Agents of the Association secured 

 from the chiefs on both sides of the river be- 

 tween Nokki and Stanley Pool the right of 

 governorship, the right to allow or refuse pas- 

 sage through the country, the rights to trade, 

 to colonize, to mine, etc. When Stanley had 

 completed his road, upon reaching Stanley 

 Pool again in July, 1881, he found that he had 

 been outflanked by the French explorer De 

 Brazza, who had crossed from the Ogowe, by 

 a route that he declared to be superior to Stan- 

 ley's expensive artificial road, and obtained in 

 the name of France a treaty from Makoko as- 

 signing to the French Republic the sovereignty 

 over the right bank of the Congo. Mr. Stanley 

 was obliged to change his plans and seek sites 

 on the other bank for his stations. The prin- 

 cipal one was placed at the lower entrance of 

 Stanley Pool, and called Leopoldville. In De- 

 cember, 1881, he launched his steel stern-pad- 

 dle steamer, composed of separable air-tight 

 parts. Three others were added after his re- 

 turn from Europe in 1883. When he came 

 back from his sick-leave he ascended the Con- 



go and founded the stations of Bolobo and 

 Itengo, 110 and 290 miles above Leopoldville. 

 _ The same year, having come to the conclu- 

 sion that the best route from the coast was by 

 Niadi-Kwilu river, Stanley had the river ex- 

 plored and seven stations founded on its banks. 

 There are others along the coast between the 

 Kwilu and Sette rivers, at Mayumba, N'yan- 

 ga, and Sette Camma. 



On Aug. 24, 1883, Mr. Stanley set out from 

 Leopoldville on a new expedition, for the pur- 

 pose of founding new stations, and more thor- 

 oughly exploring the affluents of the Congo as 

 far as Stanley Falls. He had four small steam- 

 ers of six to eight tons burden. The station 



IBAKA, KING OP BOLOBO. 



Bolobo, which had been burned by the Byan- 

 zis, was rebuilt after peace was made. A new 

 station was founded at Lukolela, 2-& south 

 of the equator, and an Englishman, named 

 Glave, was left in command. Another, called 

 Equator Station, was established where the 

 river leaves the equator ; and one, called Ban- 



