"That will do for this evening," said Frank, as he closed the book at the end of the chapter. "We will leave Mr. Stanley and his only white companion at their frugal feast, and congratulate them on their ingenuity in making the most that was possible out of the limited supplies which the native markets afforded them."
WILD BULL OF EQUATORIAL AFRICA.
[CHAPTER XVI.]
A DISAPPOINTMENT.—NOT TUCKEY'S FURTHEST.—BUILDING NEW CANOES.—THE LIVINGSTONE, STANLEY, AND JASON.—FALLS BELOW INKISI.—FRANK POCOCK DROWNED.—STANLEY'S GRIEF.—IN MEMORIAM.—MUTINY IN CAMP.—HOW IT WAS QUELLED.—LOSS OF THE LIVINGSTONE.—THE CHIEF CARPENTER DROWNED.—ISANGILA CATARACT.—TUCKEY'S SECOND SANGALLA.—ABANDONING THE BOATS.—OVERLAND TO BOMA.—THE EXPEDITION STARVING.—A LETTER ASKING HELP.—VOLUNTEER COURIERS.—DELAYS AT STARTING.—VAIN EFFORTS TO BUY FOOD.—A DREARY MARCH.—SUFFERINGS OF STANLEY'S PEOPLE.—THE LEADER'S ANXIETY.
Fred took the chair the next day, and resumed the narrative at the point where it was dropped by his cousin. He turned several leaves of the book in slow succession, and said as he did so:
"Mr. Stanley was destined to be greatly disappointed. In passing Inkisi Falls, he felt certain that he had at last reached Tuckey's Cataract, and henceforth would have an uninterrupted passage to the sea. But he soon found that there were other and larger cataracts to be passed, and as he had lost nine of his canoes he was in great need of an addition to his fleet. While the transport party and the natives were busy hauling the canoes around Inkisi Falls, taking them first to the table-land, twelve hundred feet high, and then down again, the carpenters were set to cutting down two of the largest trees and hollowing them out for boats. Two boats, the Livingstone and the Stanley, were then made; the former, hewn from a single log of teak, was fifty-four feet long, two feet four inches deep, and three feet two inches wide. The Stanley was not so large, but she proved an excellent boat, and was a credit to her builders. Afterwards a third boat was completed, to take the place of the Jason, which was lost at Kalulu Falls.