nd borne the illustrious dead to
the Indian Ocean.

"And in a flood of sudden recollection, all the stormy
period here ended rushed in upon my mind; the whole panorama
of danger and tempest through which these gallant fellows
had so stanchly stood by me--these gallant fellows now
parting from me. Rapidly, as in some apocalyptic vision,
every scene of strife with Man and Nature, through which
these poor men and women had borne me company, and solaced
me by the simple sympathy of common suffering, came
hurrying across my memory; for each face before me was
associated with some adventure or some peril, reminded me of
some triumph or of some loss. What a wild, weird retrospect
it was,--that mind's flash over the troubled past! so like a
troublous dream!

"And for years and years to come, in many homes in Zanzibar,
there will be told the great story of our journey, and the
actors in it will be heroes among their kilt and kin. For me
too they are heroes, these poor, ignorant children of
Africa, for, from the first deadly struggle in savage Ituru
to the last staggering rush into Embomma, they had rallied
to my voice like veterans, and in the hour of need they had
never failed me. And thus, aided by their willing hands and
by their loyal hearts, the expedition had been successful,
and the three great problems of the Dark Continent's
geography had been fairly settled."[95]

How many times we have read this marvellous narrative of Stanley's
march through the Dark Continent, we do not know; but we do know that
every time we have read it with tears and emotion, have blessed the
noble Stanley, and thanked God for the grand character of his black
followers! There is no romance equal to these two volumes. The trip
was one awful tragedy from beginning to end, and the immortal deeds of
his untutored guards are worthy of the famous _Light Brigade_.

On the fourth day of August, 1877, Henry M. Stanley arrived at the
village of Nsanda on his way to the ocean. He had in his command one
hundred and fifteen souls. Foot-sore, travel-soiled, and hungry, his
people sank down exhausted. He tried to buy food from the natives; but
they, with an indifference that was painful, told them to wait until
market-day. A foraging party scoured the district for food, but found
none. Starvation was imminent. The feeble travellers