178 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. YL, No. 134. 



as follows : From the ocean to Vivi, at the 

 head of navigation from the sea, is 110 

 miles. Thence to Isangila at the upper end 

 of the lower Livingstone Falls is 50 miles. 



Between Isangila and Manyanga, 



miles 



awa}", the river is ' tolerabl}^ navigable.' 

 From Man^'anga to Leopold ville, for 85 miles, 

 it pours over the upper Livingstone Falls. 

 Leopold ville once attained, the river can be 

 navigated for 1,068 miles to the foot of the 

 Stanley Falls. Thence to Nyangwe is 385 

 miles. From Nj^angwe to its source — in- 

 cluding the lakes — is 1,248 miles. It must 

 be understood, however, that much of this 

 last section of the river has never been ex- 

 plored, and that therefore it may turn out to 

 be longer. 



Stanley's first and most difficult work was 

 to open a road around the Livingstone Falls, 

 and to launch two small steamers in Stanle}^ 

 Pool. His force of a little over a hundred men 

 was singularl}' inadequate to the task ; and a 

 whole year elapsed before the first section of 

 the road — from Yivi to Isangila, a distance of 

 fiftj^-two miles — was constructed, and three 

 steamers dragged over the hills, and put into 

 the liver. So great were the difficulties of this 

 undertaking, that it is almost impossible to 

 applaud too highly the resolution and energy 

 of the chief of the expedition. None the less, 

 however, is it to be regretted, that he was com- 

 pelled to purchase the co-operation of the na- 

 tives b}' gifts of ardent spirits. ' It was the 

 custom,' he sa3's, and could not be resisted. 

 Between Isangila and Manyanga, a ferry was 

 established, one of the steamers being em- 

 ployed on that service. With the other two, 

 he pushed on overland again ; and the end of 

 the next year found him established at Leo- 

 poldville, above the falls. The road-making 

 was over, and Stanlej' was at liberty to ex- 

 plore the great river and its tributaries as far 

 as Stanle}' Falls. He discovered Lake Leo- 

 pold 11. , and ascended man}- streams. It was 

 at the mouth of the Biyerre that he first heard 

 of the presence of the Arab slave-traders, 

 whom he came across some distance farther 

 up-stream. The}^ had with them 2,300 slaves, 

 — the spoil of 118 villages, — 'obtained,' to 

 use his own words, ' at the expense of 33,000 

 lives.' This is probabl}^ an exaggeration. 

 But if the Kongo Free State is to be a success, 

 commercial!}^ or otherwise, it is evident that 

 slave-hunting, on such an extensive scale at 

 least, must be stopped. Is the International 

 association strong enough to put an end to it? 



Stanle}' estimates the navigable length of 

 the Kongo basin between Leopoldville and 



Stanley Falls, including tributaries, at 5,249 

 miles ; but much of this estimate is pure guess- 

 work. As an example of this, take the follow- 

 ing : "Sixty miles above the Lukanga, we 

 arrive at the fine river Mohindu. We only 

 explored it for about eight}^ miles ; but, consid- 

 ering its magnitude and the native reports, we 

 may estimate its navigability to be about 650 

 miles!" Are not native reports and magni- 

 tude rather insecure data upon which to found 

 such an estimate, especially when the Lubiranzi 

 and the Chofu are impassable twent3^-five miles 

 from their confluences with the Kongo? A 

 similar flavor of exaggeration characterizes 

 the whole chapter on the commercial value 

 of the river. 



It is perfectly eas}^ to see that the future 

 growth of the Free State depends upon con- 

 necting some station on Stanlej^ Pool — prob- 

 ably Kinshassa, as Leopoldville is very 

 unhealth}^ — with the portion of the river 

 below open to sea-going vessels. Mr. Stan- 

 ley, therefore, has endeavored to show that 

 such a road could be built, and operated 

 with profit: " As a mere speculation, there 

 is nothing in the whole world offering so 

 remunerative an investment of capital as this 

 small railwa}'." The cost of construction, 

 he argues, at £4,000 per mile, — surely a 

 low estimate, — would amount to only £940,- 

 000, with an assured gross revenue of £300,- 

 000 per annum. Supposing his estimate of 

 cost and gross revenue to be correct, what 

 would be the net revenue? How could the 

 road be built? By Europeans? They could 

 not stand the climate. By Africans? Where 

 could they be obtained, and how paid? Then, 

 again, could ther government of the Kongo 

 State grant a right of way, or would that 

 have to be purchased of the natives at consid- 

 erable expense? Could that government pro- 

 tect the line against native aggression? 

 Finallj', if profitable, would not a rival line 

 be built by the French to Brazzaville, their 

 station on the northen shore of Stanlej' Pool? 

 — a station, b}" the way, which is not to be 

 found on Stanley's map. These questions 

 do not seem to have been considered by our 

 author, as they certainl}' should have been. 



An obstacle to the development of the Kongo 

 State, beside which this transportation problem 

 dwindles into insignificance, is to be found in 

 the climate. Take Stanley himself as an ex- 

 ample. Assuredly no one will dispute his 

 experience in African travel, nor his energy 

 and resolution. Yet, after one 3'ear on the 

 Kongo banks, he gave himself up for lost, 

 summoned his men about him, and prepared to 



