504 THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 



ADVENTURE WITH A PYTHON. 



SOON after going into camp after the first day's march from 

 Balobo, everybody was thrown into a state of nervous excitement 

 by the terrible shrieks of a boy, and upon rushing to the spot 

 from whence the alarm came, Stanley was horrified to see a huge 

 python uncoil itself from the body of one of the black boys of 

 the expedition and glide off quickly into the jungle. In the 

 darkness the. boy had mistaken the snake for one of his com- 

 panions, as it reared its horrid head to the height of a man, and 

 he approached so near that it seized him in its dreadful folds. 

 His screams and the rush of men to his assistance so alarmed the 

 reptile that it released its hold and fled. In half an hour the 

 python, or another one, was discovered, in a different part of the 

 camp, about to embrace a woman in its folds ; but this time, after 

 tremendous excitement, the monster was dispatched. It meas- 

 ured only 13 feet 6 inches in length, and 15 inches round the 

 thickest part of the body. 



DEATH OF KALULU. 



ON the 13th of March the expedition reached the first cataract 

 of the Livingstone Falls, and more than a month was consumed 

 in passing the long series of cataracts that break the flow of the 

 river here. The passage of this part of the river was saddened 

 by the loss of many good men. On the 28th of March one of the 

 large canoes, called the " Crocodile," containing the boy Kalulu 

 and five other favorite members of the expedition, was swept 

 over a cataract and all were drowned. Stanley felt this loss 

 keenly, for he loved Kalulu almost like a younger brother. The 

 boy had been presented to him by the Arabs of Unyanyembe on 

 the occasion of his first visit there in search of Livingstone. He 



O 



was then a mere child, but very bright and quick for one of his 

 race and age. Stanley took him to the United States, where he 

 attended school eighteen months, and rapidly developed into an 

 intelligent and quick-witted youth. When Stanley was prepar- 

 ing for his second expedition, Kalulu begged to be allowed to 

 accompany him, and he cheerfully granted his request. His 



