Through the Dark Continent, Vol. 2 (of 2) : or, The sources of the Nile around…
"Through the Dark Continent, Vol. 2 (of 2) : or, The sources of the Nile around…" by Henry M. Stanley is an exploration narrative and geographical travel account written in the late 19th century. It chronicles an expedition across central Africa, focusing on the Great Lakes, the peoples and markets around them, and the route down the Livingstone (Congo) River to the Atlantic. Early attention centers on Lake Tanganyika—its rising waters, coastal
communities, and the debated Lukuga outlet—with detailed observations of geography, trade, and the hazards of travel. The opening of the work places the reader in Ujiji, portraying its market bustle, Arab–Wajiji power balance, currencies and prices (including the slave trade), and the feuding among coastal Arabs, before shifting to the author’s plan to circumnavigate Tanganyika and test claims that the Lukuga is an outflow. He selects a crew, launches the Lady Alice with a canoe consort, and coasts south, taking soundings, tracing rivers, and hunting, while navigating threats from Ruga-Ruga bandits and the notorious robbers of Ndereh. Along the shore he records a gruesomely sacked village at Kiwesa, repeated signs that the lake level is rising (submerged trees, flooded fences, encroached fields), and striking geological features suggesting older, higher water or even formerly separate basins. After a violent storm near Kasawa and friendly trade on the Rufuvu, he reaches the Lukuga mouth, where sand spits have vanished, and collects conflicting local testimony about a seasonally reversing flow toward the Lualaba/Kamalondo, setting up his planned exploration of the creek. (This is an automatically generated summary.)
Through the Dark Continent, Vol. 2 (of 2) : or, The sources of the Nile around the Great Lakes of Equatorial Africa and down the Livingstone River to the Atlantic Ocean
Original Publication
London: George Newnes, Limited, 1899.
Credits
Aaron Adrignola, Martin Rowe, KD Weeks, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at www.pgdp.net
