ough
he might have taken warning by the death of Kalulu, he insisted that
his crew should try to shoot the great Massassa Falls instead of going
round by land. Too late he realised his danger. The canoe was caught
by the rushing tide, flung over the Falls, tossed from wave to wave,
and finally dragged into the swirling whirlpool below. The "little
master" as he was called was never seen again! Stanley's last white
companion was gone! Gloom settled down on the now painfully reduced
party.

"We are all unnerved with the terrible accident of yesterday," says
Stanley. "As I looked at the dejected woe-stricken servants, a choking
sensation of unutterable grief filled me. This four months had we lived
together, and true had been his service. The servant had long ago merged
into the companion; the companion had become the friend."

Still Stanley persevered in his desperate task, and in spite of danger
from cataracts and danger from famine, on 31st July he reached the
Isangila cataract. Thus far in 1816 two explorers had made their way
from the ocean, and Stanley knew now for certain that he was on the
mighty Congo. He saw no reason to follow it farther, or to toil through
the last four cataracts. "I therefore announced to the gallant but
wearied followers that we should abandon the river and strike overland
for Boma, the nearest European settlement, some sixty miles across
country."

At sunset on 31st July they carried the _Lady Alice_ to the summit
of some rocks above the Isangila Falls and abandoned her to her fate.

"Farewell, brave boat!" cried Stanley; "seven thousand miles up and
down broad Africa thou hast accompanied me. For over five thousand
miles thou hast been my home. Lift her up tenderly, boys--so
tenderly--and let her rest."

Then, wayworn and feeble, half starved, diseased, and suffering, the
little caravan of one hundred and fifteen men, women, and children
started on their overland march to the coast.

"Staggering, we arrived at Boma on 9th August 1877; a gathering of
European merchants met me and, smiling a warm welcome, told me kindly
that I had done right well. Three days later I gazed upon the Atlantic
Ocean and saw the powerful river flowing into the bosom of that
boundless, endless sea. But grateful as I felt to Him who had enabled
me to pierce the Dark Continent from east to west, my heart was charged
with grief and my eyes with tears at the thought of the many comrades
and friends I had lost."