sixteenth century and soon was aiding all the forces of unrest and
turmoil. Industry was deranged and many tribes forced to take refuge in
caves and other hiding places.

Here, as on the west coast, disintegration and retrogression followed, for
as the American traffic lessened, the Arabian traffic increased. When,
therefore, Stanley opened the Congo valley to modern knowledge, Leopold II
of Belgium conceived the idea of founding here a free international state
which was to bring civilization to the heart of Africa. Consequently there
was formed in 1878 an international committee to study the region. Stanley
was finally commissioned to inquire as to the best way of introducing
European trade and culture. "I am charged," he said, "to open and keep
open, if possible, all such districts and countries as I may explore, for
the benefit of the commercial world. The mission is supported by a
philanthropic society, which numbers nobleminded men of several nations.
It is not a religious society, but my instructions are entirely of that
spirit. No violence must be used, and wherever rejected, the mission must
withdraw to seek another field."[28]

The Bula Matadi or Stone Breaker, as the natives called Stanley, threw
himself energetically into the work and had by 1881 built a road past the
falls to the plateau, where thousands of miles of river navigation were
thus opened. Stations were established, and by 1884 Stanley returned armed
with four hundred and fifty "treaties" with the native chiefs, and the new
"State" appealed to the world for recognition.

The United States first recognized the "Congo Free State," which was at
last made a sovereign power under international guarantees by the Congress
of Berlin in the year 1885, and Leopold II was chosen its king. The state
had an area of about nine hundred thousand square miles, with a population