Page:Dictionary of National Biography, Second Supplement, volume 3.djvu/400

 It proved in some respects the least Buccessful of his greater enterprises. From the outset it was hampered by divided aims and inconsistent purposes. It had other objects besides that of relieving Emin Pasha. MacMnnon and his Glasgow and Manchester friends desired to establish a British sphere of influence and trade in the region between Lake Victoria and the Indian Ocean, and they believed that this project might be carried out in connection with the advance to Wadelai. Stanley, fully concurring in this scheme, was also anxious to do what he could for the Congo State and its proprietors. The expedition had been intended to start from Zanzibar and to march westward through Uganda to Lake Albert. But the route was changed almost at the last moment, and it was decided to work from the east coast and march across the whole extent of the Congo state to the Nile. The north-eastern portion of the state would thus be explored, and it was hoped that Stanley would be able to make suitable arrangements with the local chiefs and Arab slave-traders who had not yet acknowledged the authority of the new government. The decision, as it turned out, led to difficulties and misfortunes of many kinds. There were other adverse circumstances. Stanley was not a man who worked easily with others ; his personality was too strong and dominating to allow him to give his complete confidence to his lieutenants. On this occasion a good deal of pressure was brought to bear to induce him to accept the services of some of the young men of spirit and social standing who were eager to accompany him. Among those selected were Major E. M. Barttelot and three other officers of the British army, and Mr. Jameson, a wealthy sportsman and naturalist. These young gentlemen, though brave and adventurous, had no specific knowledge of African exploration, and they did not always carry out their leader's instructions with the unquestioning obedience he expected from those under his command.

He recruited his native followers as usual in Zanzibar, and early in 1887 took them by sea to the mouth of the Congo. The expedition arrived at Stanley Pool on 21 March 1887. Stanley had made an agreement with Tippu Tib, a great Arab trading chief, whereby that powerful personage was appointed governor of the Eastern Congo district, and in return undertook to supply the caravan with provisions, guides, and porters. The party worked its way up the Congo to its junction with the Aruwimi, and then at the end of May turned eastward to march direct to the Albert Nyanza. A fortnight later Yambuya was reached, and at this place Stanley divided his force. Major Barttelot and Jameson were left in command of a strong rear-guard which was to remain at Yambuya and advance when required with the reserve stores and baggage. Stanley himself, with five Europeans and three hundred and eighty-four natives, pushed on, believing Emin to be in such desperate straits that it was essential to lose no time in going to his assistance. The march lay through five hundred and forty miles of absolutely unknown country, much of it dense tropical forest, through which a path had to be cleared with axe, cutlass, and billhook. For five months the party were hidden under this 'solemn and foodless forest,' scarcely ever seeing the open sky, or a patch of clearing, 'with ooze frequently a cubit deep, the soil often as treacherous as ice to the barefooted carrier, creek-beds strewn with sharp-edged oyster shells, streams choked with snags, chilling mist and icy rain, thunder-clatter and sleepless nights, and a score of other horrors.' The Manyuema raiders had scared away such natives as might have supplied food, privation and fever worked havoc in the column, and half the coloured followers had perished before the Albert Nyanza was reached on 13 Dec. Here Stanley expected to find Emin and the steamers he was known to have at his disposal.

The Pasha, however, was not there nor were his vessels. The governor, as it turned out, was by no means anxious to be rescued in the sense intended by his English friends. Relief, in his view, did not include being relieved of his governorship or coming away as a fugitive. He exercised a show of authority in the province, his Egyptian officers, though insubordinate and unruly, yielded him a nominal obedience, and he had made terms with some of the powerful local chiefs. He remained at Wadelai, and for nearly three months the relief column awaited him in vain. At length Stanley sent up one of his assistants, Arthur Jenny Mounteney Jephson [q. v. Suppl. II], to get into touch with the German Pasha, who was with much difficulty induced to come down the lake in his steamer, with a Sudanese guard, an Italian, and several Egyptian officers, and a welcome and much-needed supply of provisions. Twenty-five days were spent by Stanley in camp with Emin, who continued to exhibit the greatest reluctance to be taken away without his 'people,' the soldiers and