We may soon expect to have stirring news from the expedition which has been gent from England to rescue Emin Pasha, and it will be interesting to the reader to be placed in possession of the facts which render that expedition one of the must memorable of the century.
First, as to Emin himself. He is an Austrian by birth, and a surgeon by profession. Some twenty years ago, he joined the Turkish army as surgeon, and became a Mussulman. Twelve years ago he was on duty at Cairo, and at his request was detached to join the staff of General Gordon, them comnianding the Egyptian Province of the Soudan.
He was appointed Surgeon General of the army of the Soudan, and was employed by Gordon in several eapacities, in which he showed decided ability outside of his profession. He was sent on a special mission to the King of Unyoro, and concluded " treaty which gave marked satisfaction to Gordon; so much so that when the Soudan was split in two, the Government of the southern province was ted to Emin with head quarters at koro on the upper Nile, He was there when Gordon was massacred at Khartoum; he is known to have offered the brave Englishman a safe refuge if he would embank in one of his steamers and sail to Gondokoro. When Gordon fell all communication with Emin was out off, and for three years no one knew whether he was alive or dead. Tt was not till November 1886 that Dr. Junker a German traveller appeared at Zanzibar, and communicated to the world the alarming intelligence that he was beleaguered at Gondokoro by the armies of the Mahdi combined with troops from Uganda, and that unless reinforcements were speedily sent to him, he and his handful of Buropeans would probably be massacred. He had round him a few hundred or perhaps thousand Sandanese whom he had drilled and partially civilized, they were armed with Remington rifles, and they had learned the art of growing grain, cotton, coffee, rice, and other products of the orth: They were devoted to him, but were surrounded by hordes of savages thirsting for his blood. Their numbers were proligious, King M'wanga of Uganda is said to be able to put a force of 100,000 men in the field.
Dr, Junker's communication stirred men's blood, and it was resolved to make an attempt to rescue Emin. By common consent, Henry M. Stanley was selected as the one man who would accomplish the work. Ho promptly accepted the trust. Money was raised to fit out an expedition, and to Stanley was left the choice of the route, and of the methods to be employed. "On February, 3rd 1887, he left England for Zanzibar.
At that time it seems probable that he had resolved to attempt the rescue by way of Zanzibar and the Victoria Nyanza, following the line of travel pursued by' himself twelve years ago. The Luke once reached, communication with the upper Nile was easy, and with an adequate force weill armed, the expedition might possibly hold its own against any army which hostile monarchs aight send against it, Unfortunately box tween Bagamayo, the point of departure on. the mailnend opposite Zansiber, snd Usiha, which is the nearest. spot that is fertilized by the great watershed of central equatorial Africa, the distance is 600 miles. Stanley took ninety days to march these 600 miles in 1874-5, and he lost a large portion of his force from famine and from desertions caused by famine. A considerable position of the routes through jungle, over mountain, and through waterless plains. Tt would have been a task of enormous difficalty to feed an army on such a march, to say nothing of transporting guns, munitions of war, and boats in sections." After duly considering the difficulties, Stanley concluded, in February, to abandon the Zanzibar route, and to take, inlieu, thereof, the route by the Congo. "He shipped his fighting men and his war material round the Cape to Vivi on the Congo, which is thirteen hours steaming from Banana point, at the month of that River.
"Here the expedition arrided, and began the toilsome march round the cataracts over the road constructed by Stanley six or seven years ago. A march of sixty two miles Tenughe the expedition to Banza Manteka, and it is from this point that we have our latest direct intelligence from it, under date of March 29th. At the time this intelligence left, the expedition, consisting of 1,000 men, divided into four battalions under European officers, was about to depart to ascend the Congo. From Banza Manteka to Levpoldsville the di is about 180 miles; and half of this is navigable wa-The other half is portages round leataracts. At Leopoldville a flotilla of steamers, barges, and canoes was collected to carry the expedition further on.
Embarking his men and amatorial in these vessels, the intention of Stanley is to sail for Stanley Falls, a distance of 1068 j miles. It is of course an open question whether the expedition will meet with resistance on this long voyage. In 1875. 'Stanley had to fight almost every mile of his way. But in 1882-4, he had me duced anost of the. chiefs. to swear blood brotherhood with him, and' he found the people more anxious to trade than to fight.
Therefore he does not seem to anticipate trouble now. But if it comes, he does not apprehend that a force can be collected at any point which could arrest the advance ofa thousand well armed men, led by soldiers of experience. He expected to reach Stanley Falls some time in the early part of May.
His course from that point isa matter of uncertainty. Some home papers have stated thst he will move his flotilla up the river Mboora, One difficulty in the way of this theory is that there is no such river. One of the native names of the Congo was Mboura, and this probably misled the writers.' His plan undoubtedly is to take one of the rivers which are confluents of the Congo, flowing from the north, and to ascend it as far as the water will permit. Two such rivers ave marked on his map, one as the Lindi, the other as the Lukebu, 'The course of both is of course marked by guesswork; neither have ever been surveyed. But the natives do-scribe the Lukebu as a long river with water enough to float light draft vessels up to a point somewhere' between 29° and 28° longitude, and a few miles north of parallel of north latitude. If it is so, Stanley would got within something like a hundred niles of Albert Nyanz. "He would land there and establish' a fortified camp, under cover of the guns of his vessels. The country lying west of Albert Nyanza is known to be fertile; it would furnish him with all the supplies he needs. Ton days march would probably carry him to the Lake, and there he would make, at a place which is given as Murawur, his base of operations.
Dr. Junker: that he had heard frou hin Turning now to Emir Bey, we learn from through messengers sent by missionaries Into as last November. He had been compelled to leave Gondokoro, and had taken refuge at Wadelai. This is a native village on the upper Nile about fifty miles from the point where that river debouches from Albert Nyanza. It is in the Madi country, and is separated from the country of the savage King of Uganda by the Kingdom of Unyoro. At latest dates, he still had his steamers, so that if Stanley reaches Murawur, there ought to be no difficulty in their effecting a junction.
Tnacountry of whose population we know nothing, and of the temper of whose people we know less, it was a grave mistake to permit the massacre of Gordon; it destroyed the prestige of the white man, and led several missionaries. What the bloodthirsty naturally. to the, murder of " bishop and successor of king Mtesa may do, no one can guess: he is ssid to have slaughtered
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.