Once more we repeat the names of these men. Susi and James Chuma have been sufficiently prominent throughout—hardly so, perhaps, has Amoda, their comrade ever since the Zambesi days of 1864; then we have Abram and Mabruki, each with service to show from the time he left the Nassick College with the Doctor in 1865. Nor must we forget Ntoaeka and Halima, the two native girls of whom we have heard such a good character; they cast in their lot with the wanderers in Manyuema. It does seem strange to hear the men say that no sooner did they arrive at their journey’s end than they were so far frowned out of notice, that not so much as a passage to the island was offered them when their burden was borne away. We must hope that it is not too late—even for the sake of consistency—to put it on record that whoever assisted Livingstone, whether white or black, has not been overlooked. Surely those with whom he spent his last years must not pass away into Africa again unrewarded, and be lost to sight.
Yes, a very great deal is owing to these five men, and we say it emphatically. If the world has had gratified a reasonable wish in learning all that concerns the last days on earth of a truly noble man and his wonderful enterprise, the means of doing so could never have been placed at our disposal but for the ready willingness which made Susi and Chuma determine, if possible, to render an account to some of those whom they had known as their master’s old companions. If the geographer finds before him new facts, new discoveries, new theories, as Livingstone alone could record them, it is right and proper that he should feel the part these men have played in furnishing him with such valuable matter. For we repeat that nothing but such leadership and staunchness as that which organized the march home from Ilala, and distinguished it throughout, could have brought Livingstone’s bones to England, or his last notes and maps to the outer world. To none does the feat seem so marvelous as to those who know Africa, and the difficulties which must have beset both the first and the last in the enterprise. Thus in his death, not less than in his life, David Livingstone bore testimony to that good-will and kindliness which exists in the heart of the African.
CHAPTER XVIII.
THE ANGLO-AMERICAN EXPEDITION.
Henry M. Stanley’s New Mission — The Unfinished Task of Livingstone — The Commission of Mr. Stanley by the “Daily Telegraph” of London and the New York “Herald” to Command the New Expedition to Central Africa — Mr. Stanley’s Arrival at Zanzibar — Fitting Out his Expedition and Enlisting Many of his Old Captains and Chiefs — Sets Sail for the West Coast of the Zanzibar Sea and Towards the Dark Continent — Arrival at Bagamoyo — Completes his Forces and Takes Up his Line of March Inland — Incidents Attending his March to Mpwapwa.
In April, 1874, while on his return from the Ashantee war, Mr. Stanley first received the news of the death of Dr. Livingstone, and that his body was then on its way to England.
Mr. Stanley says “The effect which this news had upon me, after the first shock had 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.
“The solemn day of the burial of my great friend arrived. I was one of the pall-bearers in Westminster Abbey, and when I had seen the coffin lowered into the grave, and had heard the first handful of earth thrown over it, I walked away sorrowing over the fate of David Livingstone.”
From this time forward Mr. Stanley devoted his time assiduously in completing his literary labors and at the same time in studying up Africa, its geography, geology, botany and ethnology. He knew what had been accomplished by African explorers, and knew how much of the dark interior was still unknown to the world. Until late hours he sat, inventing and planning, sketching routes, laying out lengthy lines of possible exploration and noting many suggestions which the continued study of the subject created.