Alike from its picturesqueness and from the character of its population the region between Lake Albert Edward and Lake Victoria is one of the most interesting in Central Africa.

It consists of a series of wide plateaux ranging from 4000 feet to 5000 feet above the level of the sea, bounded by a chain of conical peaks. This chain joins the Ruwenzori range on the north, and includes, with the Kibanga, Ankori, Mpororo, and Ruanda districts, the watershed of Lake Albert Edward on the west and Lake Victoria on the east. The highest summits along the line are Mounts Gordon Bennett and Lawson on the north, and the elevation of the Mfumbiro Mountains in the centre, which all rise to a height of over 12,000 feet. To the west of the chain are the plains of Ankori; to the south-east those of Karangwé. In both these districts the people are agriculturists, and uniformly hospitable. They are a handsome race, many of them having regular well-defined features that would bear comparison with those of Europeans.

The Ankori country is subject to keen and searching winds which are extremely trying to health, and which proved very disastrous in thinning the numbers of the expedition. Never all along had fever been so prevalent; as many as 150 cases broke out in a single day, and even seasoned veterans like Emin and Casati more than once were prostrated by its effects. The negroes, no matter of what tribe, fell out of the line of march, and laid themselves down by the wayside to “sleep off” their painful languor, whilst the Egyptians, too, worn out by fatigue, ulcers, and dysentery, would hide themselves in any recess and sink down on the ground, where, unless they were picked up and carried on by the rear-guard, they would be left amongst the natives, who (however well-disposed they might be) could yet not understand a word of the language they spoke.

So terrible were the ravages of the fever that in the month of July alone the caravan lost no less than 141 of its followers.

On the 1st of August the expedition crossed the Kagera, a stream that conveys to the Lake Victoria the waters of a cluster of minor lakes. Four days later it reached Kafurro, at no great distance from the lake, which is the smallest of all these, and which was named Lake Windermere by Speke’s companion, Captain Grant, because of its fancied resemblance to the English lake in Westmoreland.

Kafurro may be described as a well-known locality, an Arab settlement having been established there for more than thirty years; Speke and Grant having stayed at it for several days in 1861, and Stanley having resided there for a whole month in 1877, all three of them being hospitably entertained by Rumanika, the well-disposed sovereign of Karangwé. Now again the caravan received a cordial welcome; the chiefs were all courteous, and the supply of provisions abundant. The district altogether is very fine; rich pastures on which large herds of cattle graze alternate with swelling uplands, planted with magnificent trees, or fruitful with luxuriant crops, and frequently crowned with thickets of acacia. Rhinoceroses, both black and white, are numerous, and herds of horned antelopes are not unfrequently to be seen.

And here, in passing onwards from Karangwé to the adjacent district of Uzinja, Stanley made a remarkable discovery which was quite unexpected. He was following the route which had been taken by Speke and Grant in 1861, and relying upon the indications of his map, he was entirely under the impression that he was still a long distance away from the south-west boundary of Lake Victoria; his surprise may be imagined when on making a bend to the north-east in the direction of Msalala he saw, immediately before him, the broad expanse of the Victoria Nyanza itself.

In all existing charts the Uzinja shore is marked as taking a north-westerly direction. This presumptive coast-line, however, would now seem to be a succession of mountainous islands lying so closely one behind another, that Stanley himself, when he was making his circumnavigation of the Lake in 1876, had been misled, and had conjectured them to be the mainland. It was obvious now that such was not the case, and, moreover, it was demonstrated that the Lake extends far away beyond them to the south-west. This adjustment gives the Lake an additional area of 6000 square miles.

And as the expedition now made its progress, fresh discoveries were ever being made, even in quarters where Stanley himself did not suppose that there was anything unknown to be revealed.

At length on the 28th of August, as the eye pierced through the foliage of the banana-trees, it rested on a cross that rose above the thatched roof of a Christian church. Here was the mission-station of Msalala, in charge of Mr. Mackay; here assuredly were the outskirts of the world of civilisation!

For twenty days a halt was made at Msalala. It was a well-earned rest.

The time during the stay was mainly occupied in providing for the transport of the provisions which had been sent by the “Emin Pasha Relief Committee” a year and a half previously; and in dealing with the mass of correspondence which would have been forwarded to them by way of Uganda and Unyoro, had not those districts been closed to all Europeans. Since January 1888 Emin and Casati had received no communications from Europe, Stanley having been cut off from all correspondence since June 1887.

The next proceeding was to despatch an express courier from Msalala to the coast with letters for Europe. The letters were delivered at the coast station on November 2nd, and the substance of their contents was immediately forwarded by telegraph.

Much refreshed by the three weeks’ repose, the caravan set forth again on the 6th of September upon the last stage of its march. It proceeded along the accustomed route, through Usikumu and Ihuru towards Mpwapwa.

Having twice already travelled along the greater part of this road, Stanley was sanguine in believing that no difficulties would arise, and that all hardships were at an end: but he was reckoning too fast; he had to learn that till he was actually in port, he had obstacles to overcome.

“Previously,” wrote Stanley about this time, “I have seen my difficulties diminished as I have arrived nearer the coast. I cannot say so much now. Our long train of invalids tells quite a different tale. Until I can get these unfortunates on board a steamer there will be no peace for me. And the most disheartening thing about it is that after all the toil and trouble we have had in carrying them 1200 miles, and in fighting for them to protect their lives, we see so many of them die just as we are within sight of port.

“At the south of Lake Victoria, we passed four of the most harassing days of the entire journey; there was respite during the night, otherwise we had to fight continuously with scarcely a moment’s freedom from attack. The natives seem to have an inexplicable hatred towards the Egyptians, and in order to repulse them we were compelled to inflict severe penalty upon them.”

Mpwapwa was reached on the 11th of November, fifty-five days after leaving Msalala, and 188 days after setting out from Kavalli. On the way, the number of the white men in the caravan had been increased by two, as it had been joined by Fathers Girault and Schinze of the Algerian mission; but in the ranks of the Egyptians, Zanzibaris, and negroes the gaps were appalling. Out of the 1500 people who left Lake Nyanza scarcely a moiety survived to arrive at Mpwapwa; the other 750 had fallen off or succumbed on the route, a number which tells its own sad and impressive tale of the sufferings that had to be endured during the 240 days of that gigantic march.

No sooner was the approach of the returning expedition made known at Zanzibar than measures were promptly taken to send out provisions to meet it on its way, the organisation of the party being under the control of Major Wissmann, the German commissioner, and Mr. Stevens, the correspondent of the New York Herald.

The meeting with the envoys from the civilised world occurred on the 30th at Mswa. How welcome they were needs not to be told; they were not simply the bearers of material comfort, but the harbingers of joy, announcing the satisfaction with which it was hailed that the expedition had so happily accomplished its design.

“I feel”—this is what Stanley writes from Mswa—“just like a labourer on a Saturday evening returning home with his week’s work done, his week’s wages in his pocket, and glad that to-morrow is the Sabbath.”

Five days more and the protracted tramp was finished. The 2nd of December was spent at Mbugani; the 3rd at Bigiro; on the 4th the Kinghani river was crossed; and on the 5th Thalassa! Thalassa! the sea was in sight!

The Zanzibaris, catching a glimpse of the water beyond the gardens of Bagamoyo, were breathless with excitement; their eyes filled with tears as their hearts were stirred with emotion. It was their native place; they were at home once more.

At Bagamoyo the reception that awaited Stanley was such as had never been accorded to an explorer of this generation. The town was elaborately decorated; triumphal arches were erected across the avenues; the German troops were drawn up under Major Wissmann, himself distinguished in the annals of African exploration, having twice traversed the continent, and being like Stanley enlisted by the King of the Belgians for the great scheme of civilising Africa. There, too, were the consuls and representatives of various powers, bringing messages of congratulation from sovereigns, ministers, and scientific bodies. And now when Stanley and his companions, mounted on the horses which Major Wissman had provided, made their entry in their travelling gear, their clothes in rags, their features furrowed with the sufferings they had undergone, covered with the dust of the last eight months’ toil, excitement knew no bounds; palm-branches were waved; trumpets blazoned out their welcome; and salutes were thundered forth by the soldiers mustered on the shore, and from the troopships anchored in the harbour.

It was a noble triumph that had been nobly earned.

Three years had elapsed since the expedition had set out from Zanzibar on its critical adventure. Unwearied skill, indomitable patience, superhuman effort, had brought it to a prosperous issue. The hero had returned, himself safe and sound, and had brought back Emin Pasha, rescued from the savage heart of Africa.