STRUGGLE WITH THE BAMBIREH PEOPLE. 761 



his sudden danger and for the skill and courage he displayed in evading it. 

 We may leave the public to read with the absorbing interest which such a 

 narrative will command, how the savages of Bambireh beguiled the . crew of 

 the { Lady Alice' into their power, and then, seizing the boat, dragged it by 

 main force high and dry on their beach, where, after exacting a payment as 

 the price of safety, they laughed the credulity of their captives to scorn, and 

 having seized their oars, and thus, as they thought, rendered them helpless, 

 prepared to murder them. 



" For many hours Stanley and his men preserved their calm vigilance in 

 the midst of a crowd of bloodthirsty wretches, whose intentions could not be 

 doubtful, since, besides the most violent threats and actions, they actually 

 notified their purpose of butchering the crew. These facts must be borne in 

 mind when the public come to read of the punishment which the traveller 

 afterwards felt obliged to inflict upon that false people of Bambireh. They 

 had stripped the boat of everything but the arms, and the crisis was immi- 

 nent, when Stanley by a sudden order saved his boat, his men, and himself, 

 eluding the savage people by the narrowest of opportunities. No one will 

 fail to think with sympathy and admiration of the lonely white man as, in 

 the face of hundreds of furious enemies, he is seen to accomplish that dex- 

 terous stratagem ; and few will consider the bullets misapplied which were 

 rained upon the savages to prevent them from manning their canoes and 

 recapturing the little ' Lady Alice.' 



" The instant and excited chase which the Bambireh people gave shows 

 how disappointed they were not to shed the blood of the strangers, and a 

 quieter temper than Stanley's might well be exasperated by the bitter cry 

 sent after the fugitives, ' Gro and die in the Nyanza.' It will be seen how 

 nearly the gallant little craft, with her exhausted crew, did indeed founder in 

 the very lake which she had been the first to circumnavigate ; but Fate had 

 great things yet in store for her indomitable commander, and he arrives at 

 last safe through hostile tribes, stormy waters, tempests of thunder and hail, 

 and imminent danger of famine, at his camp of Kagehyi. Here we see 

 him joyously coming to land after an absence of fifty-seven days ; to be wel- 

 comed with boundless pleasure and loyalty by his followers, who chaired their 

 leader round the camp, in true African delight to see his face again. Barker 

 had died during the interval, together with six natives, but some of the 

 soldiers and porters had been on the eve of marching back to Unyanyembe ; 

 but Pocock was well and the camp was still unraised, and after such triumph- 

 ant adventures everybody would naturally be ready to go anywhere with a 

 chief like the ' Bana Mkuka.' 



" Here, for the present, we have to leave our dauntless explorer, but 

 the narrative of his strange adventures is not nearly at an end. The inci- 

 dent of Bambireh had a sequel as remarkable and exciting as the original 



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