Henry Stanley and the Quest for the Source of the Nile by Daniel Cohen

Author:Daniel Cohen
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781590773499
Publisher: M. Evans & Company

CHAPTER 8The River

Stanley’s expedition had already accomplished much. He could have honorably chosen to explore an easier territory to the south and still claim to have accomplished most of what he had originally set out to do. But finishing Livingstone’s work and proving that the Lualaba was really the Nile obsessed him, though at first he didn’t let on that he had already made up his mind as to what he intended to do.

He asked Frank Pocock to toss a coin to decide. He gave Pocock an Indian rupee. “Heads for the north and the Lualaba; tails for the south and Katanga.” The coin came up tails, not just three times but six times running. Stanley didn’t like that result, so he decided to draw straws: short straws for the south, long ones for the north and the river. Only short straws were drawn. Stanley could on occasion be a superstitious man, but he was also a determined one, and on this occasion he decided to ignore the omens. “It’s no use, Frank. We’ll face our destiny, despite the rupee and the straws. With your help, I’ll follow the river.”

Stanley didn’t have enough canoes or enough manpower to tackle this wild region, and he knew it. The only person in the area who could help him was Mohammed bin Sayed, commonly called Tippu Tib (a nickname alluding to a condition of the eyes that made him blink frequently). Stanley referred to him as a “rich Arab,” but he was considerably more than that. He was a slave trader, possibly the most callous and successful the world has ever known. Alan Moorehead has described him as “a gangster of the most brutal kind with all the attributes of a scholarly and distinguished gentleman.” Tippu Tib had been born on Zanzibar around 1832. His father had been a slave trader and ivory trader. He had simply gone into the family business and had pursued it with extraordinary success. The majority of the slaves passed through Zanzibar, bound for other Arab lands.

Unlike Stanley, who was an explorer in a hurry, slavers usually moved slowly. As Tippu Tib told Stanley, “We travel little by little to get ivory and slaves, and are years about it. It is now nine years since I left Zanzibar.” Tippu Tib had gained control over a large district known as Manyuema, and he ruled it like a prince. The tribes of the region became the slaver’s private army.

White men interested the slaver. He had helped Livingstone, though Livingstone was an outspoken opponent of slavery. He had aided Verney Lovett Cameron, the first European to cross the African continent, and he was ready to help the even more interesting Mr. Stanley, for a price, of course. Tippu Tib had one of his men tell Stanley about the country he proposed to enter:

There are fearfully large boa-constrictors, in the forest of Uregga, suspended by their tails, waiting to gobble up travelers and stray animals. The ants in that forest are not to be despised.

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