480 ACROSS AFRICA. [Chap. 



rulers, soon fall under the sway of the strangers ; and in any 

 scheme for forming stations in Central Africa — be they for mis- 

 sionary, scientific, or trading purposes — the fact that those in 

 charge would soon have to exercise magisterial powers must not 

 be lost sight of. 



If the great river systems of the Kongo and Zambesi are to 

 be utilized for commercial purposes, they ought either to be un- 

 der the control of a great company like the II. E. I. C, able to 

 appoint civil and military servants ; or consular officers should 

 be appointed for each district as it is opened up, to insure both 

 the native and the new-comer having fair play. 



By a glance at the map, the extraordinary ramifications of the 

 twin systems of the Kougo and Zambesi will be seen ; and it is 

 plain that the distance which the products of the interior would 

 have to be carried before being placed on shipboard would be 

 materially lessened if the rivers had flotillas on them, instead 

 of having to provide transport over the three or four thousand 

 miles of the Nile valley. 



The advance of trade and civilization into the interior from 

 the southward may be left to take care of itself. Every year 

 the ivory - traders push farther north, and now they meet the 

 Portuguese from Bihe in the country of Jenje; and we shall 

 not have to wait long ere the fertile and healthy lands round 

 the Zambesi are colonized by the Anglo-Saxon race. 



The question now before the civilized world is, Whether the 

 slave-trade in Africa, which causes, at the lowest estimate, an 

 annual loss of over half a million lives, is to be permitted to 

 continue ? Every one worth}^ of the name of a man will say 

 No ! Let us, then, hope that England, which has hitherto oc- 

 cupied the proud position of being foremost among the friends 

 of the unfortunate slave, may still hold that place. 



Let those who seek to employ money now lying idle join 

 together to open the trade of Africa. 



Let those interested in scientific research come forward and 

 support the King of the Belgians in his noble scheme for 

 united and. systematic exploration. 



Let those who desire to stamp out the traffic in slaves put their 

 shoulders to the wheel in earnest, and by their voice, money, 

 and enei'gy aid those to whom the task may be intrusted. 



