CHAPTER XIX. 



Greatest Fe;at on Ri:cord — Journey Across the Continent to 

 THE Congo — An Army oe Followers to Carry the Out- 

 fit — Journey to the Victoria Nyanza — Speculation as 

 TO THE Sources of the Nile — Dangers of Traveling in 

 THE Dark Continent — Crawling Through Jungles. 



T IVINGSTONE had fallen! He was dead! He had died by the 

 *— ' shores of Lake Bemba, on the threshold of the dark region he 

 wished to explore ! The work he had promised to perform was only 

 begun when death overtook him ! 



Of his personal feelings and experiences the traveler wrote: 

 "The effect which this news had upon me, after the first shock 

 passed away, was to fire me with a resolution to complete his work, 

 to be, if God willed it, the next martyr to geographical science, or, 

 if my life was to be spared, to clear up not only the secrets of the 

 Great River throughout its course, but also all that remained still 

 problematic and incomplete of the discoveries of Burton and Speke, 

 and Speke and Grant." To this end he undertook the great journey 

 from sea to sea. 



The first stage of this journey was to the Victoria Nyanza, 

 which Stanley desired to explore. The imperfect description and 

 explanations of previous travelers had left much to be decided con- 

 cerning this great inland sea. *'Was it the source of the Nile or of 

 the Congo?" "Was it part of a lake system, or a lake by itself?" 

 These questions Stanley had determined to answer once for all. 



The advance to the great Lake Victoria was full of adventurous 

 interest. Traveling in the "Dark Continent" means being at times 

 in the wilderness without a guide, or with traitors acting as guides, 

 Vv'hich is a worse alternative. This was Stanley's fate, and he was 

 deserted in the waste with a small stock of food. Through the ter- 

 rible "jungle" the men had to crawl, cutting their way, guided 

 solely by the compass, overcome by hunger and thirst, desertions 

 frequent, sickness stalking alongside. This was indeed "famine- 

 stricken Ugogo." 

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