Stanley was speechless. He mechanically gave orders for the landing of his men and then followed Bonney to the camp in order to learn the complete details of the tragedy. Human beings worn with sickness, mere skeletons, crawled past and gave him welcome with their hollow voices—welcome to a churchyard!
One hundred graves in Jambuja, thirty-three men left in camp to perish, ten bodies on the way, forty persons in Banalja who had a feeble hold upon life, twenty deserters and sixty left in a moderate condition. How did such a loss happen? Bonney explained. Stanley had left the major in Jambuja fourteen months ago with instructions to await the arrival of those six hundred carriers which Tippoo Tib had promised should accompany them to the Albert Nyanza. Eight times the major made the journey to Stanley Falls to remind Tippoo Tib of his promise. The greedy Arab took advantage of the necessities of the expedition to raise the price of his service and a year elapsed—a year of frightful, murderous desolation in that unhealthy camp at Jambuja. At last some of the bearers came, but they were of the Manjema tribe, a savage cannibal people, not inclined to obey the orders of whites. They finally left Jambuja, that yawning grave, and reached Banalja, where Bartelot was killed. Bonney’s diary describes the event.
“On the nineteenth of July (1888) a Manjema woman began beating the drum and singing. That is their daily practice. The major sent a boy to her and ordered her to stop, whereupon loud, angry voices were heard as well as two shots which were fired in defiance. The major sprang from his bed and taking his revolver said, ‘I will kill the first one I find shooting.’ I implored him not to mind their daily practice, but to stay where he was, as it would soon be over. He went, revolver in hand, where the Soudanese were. They told him they could not find the men who fired the shots. The major then went to the woman who was drumming and singing and ordered her to stop. At that instant Sanga, husband of the woman, fired a shot through an aperture in an adjoining hut, the ball piercing him directly below the region of the heart, coming out through his back and penetrating a part of the veranda below, while he fell to the earth dead.”
The camp was at once in the greatest excitement. It looked as if all, soldiers and carriers, Zanzibarites, Soudanese, and Manjema might start at once in every direction taking with them the luggage and arms. It required all Lieutenant Bonney’s energy to stop the plundering and force them back to duty, and it was only accomplished by the adoption of harsh measures. The major’s body was buried and his murderer was sentenced to be shot. Then came Stanley and now it was hoped everything would go well.
Stanley was a man of extraordinary energy, who never indulged in outbursts of emotions, but he was wellnigh discouraged when he heard this mournful story and realized the troubles of the expedition which he had hoped to find in excellent condition. But he looked forward with confidence and fortunately his own strong men were loud in praise of the beautiful region on the Nyanza, where there was plenty of meat and bread and beer and where the poor starved people at Banalja would soon recover their strength.
Chapter XII
Again in the Dark Forest
After a short rest, the third march through the gloomy forest began. There were dangers in plenty and the whole caravan came near starving. Notwithstanding all Stanley’s efforts, it was not possible to save his men from their folly. Everyone was instructed, as soon as a banana grove was reached, to provide himself with food enough for several days, but these great thoughtless boys would throw away their food when it became burdensome, and thus many began to suffer for lack of sustenance, which might have been avoided by a little care.
On the eighth of December, while pitching camp, Stanley noticed a boy staggering with weakness. When asked what was the trouble he said that he was hungry. He had thrown away five days’ rations hoping to find more food that day. Upon further inquiry he found that at least one hundred and fifty had followed his example and had had nothing to eat that day. The next morning Stanley sent all his effective men, two hundred in number, back to the last banana grove, expecting that they would return in two days loaded with supplies of the fruit. The small supply of meal was soon consumed and Stanley opened his European provision chest. Each one of the one hundred and thirty men was given a morsel of butter and condensed milk which was mixed with water in a kind of thin soup. At last they searched in the forest for berries and mushrooms.
From day to day their anxiety increased and they moved about more slowly and feebly. Nothing was heard or seen of the expedition which had been sent out. Five days had passed already. Perhaps they were lost in the forest or had succumbed to hunger before they reached the banana trees. If so, all in the camp were doomed. In this unknown corner of the forest every trace of them would disappear. The graves would remain hidden forever, while the Pasha himself would spend month after month wondering what had become of the relief expedition.
At last, on the sixth day, Stanley decided to set out with a small number of his people in search of food, leaving Bonney to care for the sick and exhausted. He left a scant stock of provisions for them, but there was no other way to save them. Sixty-five men and women and twelve boys went with him. They marched until evening and then threw themselves upon the ground to rest. No fire was kindled as they had nothing to cook. Few of them slept. Frau Sorge (“mistress anxiety”) occupied the camp and filled their minds with visions of suffering, despair, and death.