CHAPTER XIX. 
Greatcst Feat on Record—Journey Across the Continent to 
THE Congo—An Army of Foeeowers to Carry the Out¬ 
fit—Journey to the Victoria Nyanza—SpEcutation as 
TO THE Sources of the Nite—Dangers of Traveeing in 
THE Dark Continent—Craweing Through Jungees. 
IVINGSTONE had fallen! He was dead! He had died by the 
■S—^ shores of Fake Bemba, on the threshold of the dark region he 
wished to explore! The work he had promised to perform was only 
begun when death overtook him! 
Of his personal feelings and experiences the traveler wrote: 
‘‘The effect which this news had upon me, after the first shock 
passed away, was to fire me with a resolution to complete his work, 
to be, if God willed it, the next martyr to geographical science, or, 
if my life was to be spared, to clear up not only the secrets of the 
Great River throughout its course, but also all that remained still 
problematic and incomplete of the discoveries of Burton and Speke, 
and Speke and Grant.” To this end he undertook the great journey 
from sea to sea. 
The first stage of this journey was to the Victoria Nyanza, 
which Stanley desired to explore. The imperfect description and 
explanations of previous travelers had left much to be decided con¬ 
cerning this great inland sea. “Was it the source of the Nile or of 
the Congo?” “Was it part of a lake system, or a lake by itself?” 
These questions Stanley had determined to answer once for all. 
The advance to the great Lake Victoria was full of adventurous 
interest. Traveling in the “Dark Continent” means being at times 
in the wilderness without a guide, or with traitors acting as guides, 
which is a worse alternative. This was Stanley’s fate, and he was 
deserted in the waste with a small stock of food. Through the ter¬ 
rible “jungle” the men had to crawl, cutting their way, guided 
solely by the compass, overcome by hunger and thirst, desertions 
frequent, sickness stalking alongside. This was indeed “famine- 
stricken Ugogo.” 
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