Recruiting Stanley to help him from 1878, Belgium's King Leopold II founds the International Association of the Congo, financed by an international consortium of bankers.

Under the auspices of this association, Stanley arrives at the mouth of the Congo in 1879 and begins the journey upriver.

He founds Vivi, the first capital, across the river from present-day Matadi, then moves farther upriver, reaching a widening he named Stanley Pool (now Pool de Malebo) in mid-1881.

There he founds a trading station and the settlement of Lèopoldville (now Kinshasa) on the south bank.

The north bank of the river has been claimed by France, leading ultimately to the creation of the colony of French Congo.

The road from the coast to Vivi is completed by the end of 1881, and Stanley returns to Europe.

He is back in Africa by December 1882 and sails up the Congo to Stanleyville (now Kisangani), signing more than four hundred and fifty treaties on behalf of Leopold II with persons described as local chieftains who have agreed to cede their rights of sovereignty over much of the Congo Basin.

In 1884 Stanley returns to Europe.