Antwerp, Berlin, Bordeaux, Bremen, Hamburg,
Lyons, Marseilles, Montpellier, and Vienna,
and to the Society of Arts of London,
for the privilege of Honorary Membership
to which I have been admitted—to the
very numerous distinguished gentlemen who
have lent the influence of their authority in
the worlds of Science, Letters, and Society
to the public favour so liberally extended
to me to all these do I wish to convey
my keen appreciation of the honours and
favours of which I have been the recipient.
And for yet another honour I have to express
my thanks—one which I may be pardoned
for regarding as more precious, perhaps,
than even all the rest. The Government
of the United States has crowned my
success with its official approval, . and the
unanimous vote of thanks passed in both
Houses of the Legislature has made me
proud for life of the Expedition and its
achievements.
Alas! that to share this pride and these
honours there are left to me none of those
gallant young Englishmen who started from
this country to cross the Dark Continent,
and who endeared themselves to me by
their fidelity and affection: alas! that to enjoy
the exceeding pleasure of rest among
friends, after months of fighting for dear
life among cannibals and cataracts, there are
left so few of those brave Africans to whom,
as the willing hands and the loyal hearts
of the Expedition, so much of its success
was due.
That the rule of my conduct in Africa
has not been understood by all, I know to
my bitter cost; but with my conscience at
ease, and the simple record of my daily
actions, which I now publish, to speak for
me, this misunderstanding on the part of a
few presents itself to me only las one more
harsh experience of life. And those who
read my book will know that I have indeed
had “ a sharp apprehension and keen intelligence”
of many such experiences.
Of the merits and demerits of this book
it is not for me to speak. The Publisher s
Note prefixed to th e . first volume explains
how much I have had to omit from even the
simple narrative of the journey, but it remains
for me to state that this omission has