July 3, 1890] 



NATURE 



22 



DARKEST AFRICA} 



IT would be out of place in these pages to discuss Mr. 

 Stanley's remarkable narrative of a remarkable expe- 

 dition so far as the main purpose of that expedition is 

 concerned. It is nearly four years since the interest in the 

 position and fate of Emin Pasha reached its height in this 

 country. The pages of Nature and the columns of the 

 daily press of the time will afford evidence of the uni- 

 versality and intensity of that interest, and of the reality 

 of the belief that Emin and his people were in imminent 

 danger of being exterminated by the Mahdists. Mr. 

 Stanley insists on the ideal of Emin's conduct and character 

 which was universally accepted at the time, as those of 

 a hero who, in the face of danger and at the risk of death, 

 loyally clung to his post and remained faithful to his duty 

 and the people who regarded him as their leader and 

 chief. As a man who had during his twelve years' sojourn 

 in the Equatorial provinces made large contributions to 

 science, the scientific world was naturally interested in 

 his safety. Substantial evidence of what Emin has done 

 for science may be seen in our own Natural History 

 Museum. To rescue and relieve the pioneer of science 

 and of civilization was the one object of the Expedition 

 with the leadership of which Mr. Stanley was entrusted. 

 It is evident from his narrative that the object was ever 

 before his eyes, and that all else was subordinate. 

 Through dangers innumerable and sufferings that might 

 have daunted all but the boldest and truest spirits, the 

 purpose for which the Expedition was organized was 

 accomplished. Emin and all of h'is people who cared to 

 accompany him were rescued, and that just in time ; for, 

 according to the latest reports, the Mahdists are now 

 swarming on the shores of Albert Nyanza. That Emin 

 presented himself to Mr. Stanley in a light somewhat 

 different from the ideal ; that the Governor was reluctant 

 to leave ; that most of his people were disloyal and de- 

 moralized wretches who might have been left to the 

 tender mercies of the Mahdi, with whom they could 

 easily have made terms ; that there were other features 

 about the expedition that may leave room for criticism, 

 do not affect the general result.' Mr. Stanley has once more 

 proved his supremacy as a man of action, as a leader whose 

 single aim is to accomplish what he undertakes. Even 

 were Emin as full of blemishes as he is represented in 

 Mr. Stanley's narrative, no one need regret the Expedi- 

 tion sent to his relief ; it has helped to keep alive the 

 sentiments of chivalry and humanity in the midst of a 

 civilization in danger of becoming too materialistic, 

 and given opportunity for the exercise of those noble 

 qualities which make us proud of our race. 



The truth is that no two men could be more dissimilar 

 in character and conduct than are Emin and Mr. Stanley. 

 . They seem quite incapable of understanding each other ; 

 the one has no sympathy with the other's pursuits. 

 Stanley is, before everything, a man of action, who goes 

 direct to the accomplishment of whatever purpose he un- 

 dertakes ; Emin is a student of Nature, a man of science, 

 who, by force of circumstance, had become ruler of a 

 province, and military leader. As a man of science he 

 may be too much given to making allowances to be fitted 

 for a post where quickness of decision and rapidity of 

 action were necessary, and where he had to deal with 

 people with whom force was the only remedy. Whatever 

 may be his weaknesses, science at least cannot regret the 

 rescue of one of her most devoted disciples. With all 

 Mr. Stanley's apparent contempt for science and her 

 students, he himself has been one of her most successful 

 pioneers. 



It is hard to say whence Mr. Stanley has obtained his 

 notion of the character of scientific men ; and we are not 

 disposed to take his verdict too seriously, when we re- 



' "In Darkest Africa: or the Quest, Rescue, and Retreat of Emin, 

 verncr of Equatoria." By Henry M. Stanley. Two Vols. (London : 

 unpson Low and Co., 1890 ) 



NO. 1079, VOL. 42] 



member the circumstances under which his book was 

 written, and the many irritating conditions to which he 

 had without doubt been subjected by the conduct of 

 Emin and his people. The most satisfactory feature 

 about the passage in which he flouts at science and its 

 votaries is its inconsistency. This and other passages 

 in his book, in which Mr. Stanley deals with science, only 

 show that he is not equally strong all round ; that, not- 

 withstanding the valuable contributions he has made to 

 science in this and his previous writings, he himself is 

 not largely endowed with the scientific spirit. 



While we are disposed to be critical, may we refer to 

 one or two other passages in Mr. Stanley's book which 

 seem to us to show that he had not quite recovered that 

 equanimity which was so bitterly tried, even down to the 

 arrival at Bagamoyo ? Speaking of the fine race of the 

 Wahuma, he scoffs at " some philological nidderings " 

 for classing them and many other tribes in Central and 

 South Africa under the common name of Bantu, which, 

 as he truly tells us, simply means men. If Mr. Stanley 

 intends by this to protest against the implication that, be- 

 cause a variety of peoples speak a certain type of language, 

 therefore they must all be of common descent, he is 

 quite justified. But that the languages over a large area 

 of Central and South Africa have all a certain family 

 likeness there can be little doubt ; and the term Bantu is 

 quite as useful as any other to express this fact. Possibly 

 Mr. Stanley might be able to suggest a better term. In 

 his chapter on the tribes of the grass land, where the 

 fine Wahuma race is dominant, Mr. Stanley has some 

 most suggestive and interesting remarks on the various 

 types of African peoples, and on the immigration which 

 must have taken place at an early period from Asia into 

 Africa. In its ethnology, as in so many other respects, 

 this strange continent presents many puzzles for the 

 student of science to solve. Mr. Stanley's recent journey 

 was, to a large extent, through the borderland which 

 forms _ a sort of meeting-ground for various types of 

 peoples ; and the contributions he has made to ethnology 

 will cover a multitude of flouts at science and its votaries. 

 The many interesting details he gives concerning the 

 pigmies that pestered his column so much on its march 

 through the forest form one of the most prominent 

 features of his narrative. Prof. Flower has so recently 

 (Nature, vol. xxxviii. pp. 44 et seg.) fully discussed the 

 whole subject of pigmy races, that we need only refer the 

 reader to Mr. Stanley's pages in confirmation of Prof. 

 Flower's views. In his own graphic and peculiar way, 

 Mr. Stanley claims a high antiquity for these tiny folks ; 

 and in this he is supported by the evidence adduced by 

 Prof. Flower. Mr. Stanley himself, on his greatest 

 journey of all, heard of these pigmies about the great 

 bend of the Congo ; on his last journey he found the 

 forest swarming with them. Outside the sunless gloom 

 of the forest they pine and die. They are naturally 

 timid, and continually on the offensive against all comers. 

 But when treated kindly they become devoted to their 

 benefactors, and serve them faithfully even to their own 

 hurt. Full details of the various dimensions of these 

 pigmies are given from Emin's notes (vol. ii. p. 150) ; 

 but we may quote here what Mr. Stanley says about the 

 first of these pigmies whom he had an opportunity of 

 inspecting. A man and a woman were brought to 

 him at the Avatiko plantation, on the Ituri. The man 

 was apparently about 21. Mr. Bonny conscientiously 

 measured him, with the following result : — 



" Height, 4 ft. ; round head, 2o\ in. ; from chin to back 

 top of head, 24^ in. ; round chest, 25^ in. ; round abdomen, 

 27f in. ; round hips, 22^ in. ; round wrist, 4i in. ; round 

 muscle of left arm, 7i in. ; round ankle, 7 in. ; round calf 

 of leg, 7? in. ; length of index finger, 2 in. ; length of right 

 hand, 4 in. ; length of foot, 6\ in. ; length of leg, 22 in. ; 

 length of back, 18A in. ; arm to tip of finger, 19I in. 



" This was the first full-grown man we had seen. His 



