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STANLEY'S SEARCH FOR LIVINGSTONE

On the second day after Stanley's arrival at the Tabora, Arab magnates came to congratulate him. Tabora is the principal Arab settlement in Central Africa, with a population of about five thousand. The Arabs were fine, handsome men, mostly from Oman, and each had a large retinue of servants with him.

After having exchanged the usual stock of congratulations, Stanley accepted an invitation to return the visit at Tabora, and three days afterward, accompanied by eighteen bravely dressed soldiers, he was presented to a group of stately Arabs in long white dresses and jaunty caps of snowy white, and introduced to the hospitalities of Tabora.

On the 20th of September the American flag was again hoisted, and the caravan, consisting of fifty-four persons, started along the southern route toward Ujiji and Livingstone. It moved forward through forests of immense extent, that stretched in grand waves beyond the range of vision; among ridges, forestclad, rising gently one above another, until they receded through leafy ocean into the purple blue distance, where was only a dim outline of a hill far away.

Stanley next passed through a grand and noble expanse of grassland which was one of the finest scenes he had witnessed since leaving the coast. Great herds of buffalo, zebra, giraffe, and antelope coursed through the plain, and the expedition indulged in a day or two of hunting. While crossing a river at this point, Stanley narrowly escaped being devoured by a crocodile, but cared little for the danger, led on as he was by the excitement of stalking wild boars and shooting buffalo cows.

Now from time to time Stanley heard, from passing savages, occasional rumors of the presence of white men at various points. This encouraged him to believe that Livingstone was not far off, and gave him the necessary boldness to traverse the great wilderness beyond Marara, the crossing of which he was warned would occupy nine days. The negroes became excceedingly pleased at the prospect of their journey's end. They therefore boldly turned their faces north and marched for the Malagarazi, a large river flowing from the east to Lake Tanganyika.

On the 1st of November they arrived at the long-looked-for river, and, after crossing the ferry, they met a caravan coming from the interior, and were told that a white man had just arrived at Ujiji.

"A white man?" cried Stanley.

“Yes, an old white man, with white hair on his face, and he was sick."

"Where did he come from?"

“From a very far country indeed.”

"Where was he staying, at Ujiji?"

"Yes."

"And was he ever at Ujiji before?"

"Yes; he went away a long time ago."

"Hurrah," said Stanley, "this must be Livingstone!"

The cara

He determined to hasten forward at all hazards. van arrived on the 8th of November at the Rugufu River, at which point they could distinctly hear the thunders from the mysterious torrents which rolled into the hollow recesses of Kabogo Mountain on the farther side of Lake Tanganyika. This noise gave Stanley the heartiest joy, because he knew that he was only forty-six miles from Ujiji, and possibly Livingstone.

About midday on the 9th of November they reached a beautiful series of valleys, where wild fruit trees grew, and rare flowers blossomed. On this day they caught sight of the hills from which Lake Tanganyika could be seen. Stanley ordered his boy, Selim, to brush up his tattered traveling suits, that he might make as good an appearance as possible.

On the two hundred and thirty-sixth day from Bagamoyo, and the fifty-first day from Unyanyembe, they saw Lake Tanganyika spread out before them, and around it the great blueblack mountains of Ugoma and Ukaramba. It was an immense, broad sheet, a burnished bed of silver, a lucid canopy of blue above lofty mountains for its valances, and palm forests for its fringes. Descending the western slope of the mountain, the port of Ujiji lay below, embowered in palms.

"Unfurl your flags and load your guns!" cried Stanley.

"Yes, yes!" eagerly responded the men.

“One, two, three!” and a volley from fifty muskets woke up the peaceful village below. The American flag was raised aloft once more; the men stepped out bravely as the crowds of villagers came flocking around them.

Suddenly Stanley heard a voice on his right say in English, "Good morning, sir." A black man, dressed in a long, white shirt, announced himself as "Susi," servant of Dr. Livingstone. "What! Is Dr. Livingstone here?"

"Yes, sir."

"In the village?"

"Yes, sir."

"Are you sure?"

"Sure, sure, sir. Why, I left him just now."

Then another servant introduced himself; the crowds flocked

around anew; and finally, at the head of his caravan, Stanley found himself before a semicircle of Arab magnates, in front of whom stood an old white man, with a gray beard.

As Stanley advanced toward him, he noticed that he was pale, looked wearied, had on his head a bluish cap, with a faded gold band around it, a red-sleeved waistcoat, and a pair of gray tweed trousers. He walked to him, took off his hat, and said, "Dr. Livingstone, I presume.

"Yes," said he, with a smile, lifting his cap slightly.

Then they clasped hands, and after the necessary formalities with the Arab magnates, Stanley explained himself and his mission.

It was a great day for the old explorer. There were letters from his children. "Ah!" he said patiently, "I have waited years for letters." And you may picture for yourselves that strangely met pair, seated in the explorer's house, Livingstone hearing for the first time of the great changes in Europe.

They sat long together, with their faces turned eastward, noting the dark shadows creeping up above the groves of palms beyond the village and the rampart of mountains; listening to the sonorous thunder of the surf of Tanganyika, and to the dreamy chorus which the night insects sang.

Mr. Stanley remained four months in the company of Dr. Livingstone, during which time an intimate and rich friendship grew up between the two men. From November 10, 1871, until March 14, 1872, they were together daily. Dr. Livingstone had been in Africa since March, 1866. He left Zanzibar in April of that year for the interior, with thirty men, and worked studiously at his high mission of correcting the errors of former travelers until early in 1869, when he arrived at Ujiji and took a brief rest.

He had been deserted in the most cowardly manner by the majority of his followers, and was much of the time in want. At the end of June, 1869, he went on to a lake into which the Lualaba ran, and then was compelled to return the weary distance of seven hundred miles to Ujiji. The magnificent results of his labors, both in the interest of science and humanity, are now known to all the world.

Livingstone returned with Stanley to Unyanyembe, and on . the 14th of March the two men parted, not without tears. It was not until sunset on the 6th of May that the worn and fatigued Stanley reëntered Bagamoyo. The next morning he crossed to Zanzibar, and thence as soon as possible departed for Europe with his precious freight - the Livingstone journals and letters, and his own rich experience. - EDWARD KING.

THE CHOIR INVISIBLE

Oh, may I join the choir invisible

Of those immortal dead who live again

In minds made better by their presence: live

In pulses stirred to generosity,

In deeds of daring rectitude, in scorn

For miserable aims that end with self,

In thoughts sublime that pierce the night like stars,
And with their mild persistence urge

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