222 HISTOET OF THE PROTECTORATE TERRITORIES 



he had relieved had with sublime obstinacy returned to his exploration of 

 the supposed Nile sources, only to die of dysentery on Lake Eangweolo. 

 The unsolved problem of the Congo-Nile — the doubts which had been 

 thrown on the existence of the Victoria Nyanza as a vast and single lake^ — 

 were excellent motives which prompted the Keiv York Herald and the 

 Daily Telegraph to join forces and to provide the funds for an expedition 

 which should enable Stanley to solve these problems. And Stanley did 

 solve them. Journeying to the Victoria Nyanza by Speke's old route 

 through Unyamwezi, he put together a boat on the waters of that lake 

 and completely circumnavigated the Victoria Nyanza, showing conclusively 

 for the first time that it was the vastest inland sea of Africa, and }ierhaps 

 the second greatest fresh-water lake in the world. Although in his hurried 

 survey of the lake shore Stanley made some mistakes (mistakes which clung 

 obstinately for years to the map), he nevertheless gave us the first approxi- 

 mately correct outline of the Victoria Nyanza, and indicated the existence 

 of its principal islands and archipelagoes. (On his subsequent expedition 

 to relieve Emin Pasha he himself corrected his original survey of the west 

 coast, and added the large south-western gulf to the waters of the lake.) 



In 1875 Stanley and his large ex])edition reached Uganda, to be receive d 

 by the same INIutesa wh o had received Spek ^.. ^lutesa was again puzzled 

 about religious matters. Stanley's conversations inclined him favourably 

 towards Christianity. At this opportune moment there arrived in Uganda 

 one of Gordon's messengers, or (if one may say so without un[)leasantness) 

 spies — Linant de Bellefonds, a Belgian, who in reality had come to see 

 whether Uganda was worth the conquering, and whether it was too tough 

 a job to tackle. Sj;flri1py__resnlvp d to write his famous le tterto the 

 Daily Telef/raph i nviting English missionaries to ])roceed to the evan geli- 

 sation of Uganda. He had no means of sending this letter back to Europe 

 save by way of the Nile, and Linant de Bellefonds volunteered to take it. 

 As the unfortunate Belgian was travelling down the Nile through the Bari 

 country in the vicinity of Gondokoro, his expedition was attacked by the 

 Bari, who had suffered recently great wrongs at the hands of the Nubian 

 slave-traders. Linant de Bellefonds was murdered by the Bari, and his 

 corpse was thrown on the bank, to lie there rotting under tlie sun. A 

 Government expedition sent to inquii'e into the cause of tliis attack and 

 to punish the Bari recovered Linant de Bellefonds' body, and removed 

 therefrom the long knee-boots which he was wearing at tlie time of his 

 death. In one of the boots — he had tucked it between boot and leg at 

 the time of the attack^ — was found Stanley's famous letter to the missionaries. 

 This was sent on to Gordon Pasha at Khartum, and forwarded by him to 

 the Daily Telegraph with an explanation of the circumstances under which 

 it had been found. The letter, when })ublished, met with an immediate 



