488 THE WORLD S WONDERS. 



far without seeing one. Almost every native wears a leopard- 

 skin cap. The sokos (gorillas) are in the woods, and woe befall 

 the man or woman met alone by them ; for they run up to you 

 and seize your hands, and bite the fingers off one by one, and as 

 fast as they bite one off, they spit it out. The Wasongora Meno 

 and Waregga are cannibals, and unless the force is very -strong, 

 they never let strangers pass. It is nothing but constant fight- 

 ing. Only two years ago a party armed with three hundred guns 

 started north of Usongora Meno ; they only brought sixty guns 

 back, and no ivory. If one tries to go by the river, there are 

 falls after falls, which carry the people over and drown them." 



These were sorry stories for men to listen to who were then 

 contemplating a trip that would lead them directly through all 

 these dreadful obstacles. Stanley knew that if he depended 

 alone on his own force, his expedition must fail, and disaster 

 would no doubt follow failure. After a lengthy interview with 

 Tipo-Tib, a contract was drawn up bet ween them by which 

 Stanley agreed to pay the Arab $5,000 for an escort of 140 guns 

 and 70 spearmen a distance of sixty marches of four hours each, 

 which would be equivalent to nearly 500 miles. This force 

 added to his own would furnish him with such protection as was 

 needed. 



The expedition now marched to Nyangwe, where another section 

 of the Arab party was encamped ; Tipo-Tib's party consisted of 

 700 persons when united. Nyangwe is a village of 300 huts and 

 nearly 2,000 people ; it is a great market for slaves, and is the 

 westernmost Arab trading station on the road from the east. As 

 the village is situated on the Lualaba river, Stanley here launched 

 his boat, the Lady Alice, to make soundings. He found the 

 river studded with large islands, and its mean depth, taken in 

 thirty-six soundings, was 18 feet nine inches, while its breadth 

 w.'ts from 4,000 to 5,000 yards, making it one of the greatest 

 ri vers of the earth. 



AMONG THE CANNIBALS. 



ON the morning of November 5th, 1876, the combined expedi- 

 t Vn broke camp and marched out of Nyangwe. Stanley says ; 



