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 ULiB LIBRARY 
 
 X' 3-7(30
 
 Frontispiece to Vol. I. 
 HIS MAJESTY LEOPOLD II.. KIXG OF THE EELGI.iXS.
 
 THE CONGO 
 
 FOUNDING OF ITS FREE STATE 
 
 A STORY OF WORK AND EXPLORATIOX. 
 
 BV 
 
 HENRY M. STANLEY. 
 
 IN TWO VOLUMES. 
 VOL. I. 
 
 WITH OVER ONE HUNDRED FULLPAGE AND SMALLER ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 TWO LARGE MAPS AND SEVERAL SMALLER ONES. 
 
 CHEAPER EDITION. 
 
 LONDON: 
 SAMPSON LOW, AIAESTON, SEARLE, k RIVINGTON 
 
 ^ 188, FLEET STUKET. 
 
 1886. 
 
 t^All rights reserved.)
 
 THIS NAEEATITE 
 
 OF 
 
 LABOUE, EXPLOEATIOX AND DISCOVEEY, 
 
 AIiD 
 
 HISTORY 
 
 OF A GREAT AST) SUCCESSFUL 
 
 POLITICAL AXD DIPLOMATIC ACHIEVEMENT, 
 
 IS, BY SPEQAL PERMISSION, 
 
 ^lost rcs^iedftiUg ^ciiiaitci) to 
 
 HIS :\IAJESTY LEOPOLD IL, 
 
 THE KING OF THE BELGIANS, 
 
 THE GENEROUS 3I0XARCH WHO SO XOBLY COXCEIVED, ABLY COSDUCTED, AXD 
 
 MUSIFICENTLT SUSTAINED THE ENTERPRISE WHICH HAS OBTAINED THE RECOGNITION 
 
 OF ALL THE GREAT POWERS OF THE WORLD, AND HAS ENDED IN 
 
 THE ESTABLISHMENT OF 
 
 THE CONGO STATE: 
 
 AND ALSO TO ALL THOSE GENTLEMEN WHO ASSISTED HIM BY THEIR ZEALOUS 
 
 SERVICE, TALENTS, MEAXS, AND SYMPATHY, TO REALISE THE 
 
 UNIQUE PJBOJECT OF FORMING A FREE COMMERCIAL 
 
 STATE IN EQUATORIAL AFRICA, 
 
 BY THEIR HUMBLE AND OBEDIENT SERVANT, 
 
 THE AUTHOE. 
 
 London, April 1835.
 
 PKEFACE. 
 
 A WISE Englisliman has said that pure impulses and 
 noble purposes have been oftener thwarted by the devil 
 under the name of Quixotism than by any other in- 
 sinuating phrase of obstruction. In 1878 that word 
 was flung in my teeth several times, especially by Man- 
 chester men. If I delivered a speech or a lecture, or 
 wrote a letter, about the probabilities of success attend- 
 ing a judiciously conducted enterprise in Africa, a 
 Manchester editor, or a Manchester merchant, almost 
 invariably taunted me with being a " dreamer," a 
 "Quixotic journalist," or a mere "penny-a-liner." I 
 do not quarrel with the phrases, but I certainl}^ 
 deprecate the uses to which they were applied. The 
 charge of Quixotism, being directed against my 
 mission, deterred many noble men in Manchester from 
 studying the question of new markets, and deepened 
 unjustly their prejudices against Africa and African 
 projects. 
 
 In the Daily Telegrciph of November 12_, 1877, tlie
 
 vi PREFACE. 
 
 following words of mine were published. Thej will, 
 at least, prove my own consistency of belief. 
 
 " I feel convinced that the question of this mighty 
 water-way will become a political one in time. As yet, 
 however, no European Power seems to have put forth 
 the right of control. Portugal claims it because she 
 discovered its mouth ; but the great Powers — England, 
 Am.erica, and France — refuse to recognise her right. 
 If it were not that I fear to damp any interest you may 
 have in Africa, or in this magnilicent stream, by the 
 length of my letters, I could show you very strong 
 reasons why it would be a politic deed to settle this 
 momentous question immediately. I could prove to 
 you that the Power possessing the Congo, despite the 
 cataracts, would absorb to itself the trade of the whole 
 of the enormous basin behind. This river is and will 
 be the grand highway of commerce to "West Central 
 Africa." 
 
 Gambetta, the great French statesman, in July, 
 18*78, also uttered a prediction which has been since 
 verified. 
 
 " You have thrown the light of knowledge on what 
 you have well described as the Dark Continent. Not 
 only, sir, have you ojDened up a new Continent to our 
 view, but you have given an impulse to scientific and 
 philanthrojDic enterprise which M-ill have a material 
 effect on the progress of the world. It is not only in 
 the action of private individuals that that is seen. 
 What you have done has influenced Grovernments — 
 proverbially so difficult to be moved — and the impulse
 
 PREFACE. vii 
 
 you have imparted to them will, I am convinced, go 
 on growing year after year." 
 
 Besides the work of the International Association, of 
 which these volumes are the record, the English Baptists 
 have carried the banner of peace up the Congo beyond 
 the Equator ; and the American Baptists, taking up 
 the work begun by the Livingstone Congo Mission, are 
 urging on the civilising work side by side with their 
 English brethren. London and Church Missionary 
 Societies have planted their Christian flags on Lakes 
 Victoria and Tanganika. The African Lakes Company 
 and the Free Kirk of Scotland are earnestly at work 
 on Lake Nyassa, and are advancing to Lake Tanganika. 
 Serpa Pinto and Weissman have crossed Africa ; 
 Ivens and Cape^lo have performed remarkable journeys 
 to the east of Angola. Monsieur de Brazza has given 
 France a West African Empire \ Germany has entered 
 the field of colonial enterprise, and has annexed all 
 the territory in south-west Africa, between Cape Frio 
 and British colonies in South Africa, the Cameroons 
 territory, and a fertile province in east Africa ; Italy 
 has annexed territory on the Red Sea ; Great Britain 
 has annexed the Niger Delta ; and Portugal now 
 possesses 700,000 square miles of African territor3^ 
 Thus the expressed conviction of the statesman Gam- 
 betta has been realised. 
 
 Nor has the end yet been reached. The time will 
 shortly come when other grand faits accomplis will be 
 published. The impulse is still throbbing and per- 
 meating throughout Europe. These volumes will tend
 
 viii PREFACE. 
 
 to quicken rather than to allay the fever. They will 
 be printed in eight different languages, and the words 
 of enterprise and of action, it is hoped, will move 
 many a man out of the 325,000,000 of Europe to be 
 ujD and doing. 
 
 The world has heard enough of the old wives' tales 
 of " horrible climate," of " Quixotism," and all such 
 fancies of timorous and feeble minds. Hundreds of 
 raw European youths have been launched into the 
 heart of the "murderous continent," and the further 
 inland we sent them the more they improved in 
 physique. It matters not now what may be said by 
 -interested traders, selfish publicists, narrow - minded 
 grasping merchants, or discharged agents about the 
 dangers of this climate. We have tested it most 
 thoroughly for six years. There is less sickness by 
 half in the Congo basin, even in its present unpre- 
 pared condition, than there is in the " bottom lands " 
 of Arkansas, a state which has doubled its population 
 during the last twenty-five years. 
 
 At the same time, with all my desire to serve Africa, 
 I will not serve it at the expense of truth. I hear of 
 companies being launched to exploit "West and East 
 Africa. In regard to West Africa, I am bound to say 
 that almost every available point which promised to 
 remunerate enterprise has already been occupied. The 
 coast is, after all, but a thin line. The lower courses 
 of the Kwanza_, Congo, Chiloango, Kwilu, Ogowai, 
 Muni, Cameroons, the Oil rivers, Niger, Roquelle, 
 Gambia, and Senegal rivers have been dotted with
 
 FEE FACE. ix 
 
 factories, while along tlie intervening coast-lines com- 
 mercial establishments are pretty thickly sown. Not 
 a single firm that I know of requires assistance in the 
 purchase of the native productions. On the Congo 
 we have the great Dutch Company, Hatton and Cook- 
 son, and Daumas, Beraud & Co., who have pushed 
 their way up to the foot of the cataracts ; on the Niger 
 the National African Company is firmly established. 
 New companies seeking to outbid these establishments 
 in the purchase of the native produce are preparing 
 for themselves periods of trial, and most probably 
 pecuniary loss. 
 
 On the East Coast there is but little room for 
 the European, as he can scarcely compete with the 
 frugal Arab, Hindi and Banyan, let him be ever so 
 economical and enterprising. 
 
 There only remain the great river basins to be 
 exploited commercially ; the principal of which are the 
 Congo, Nile, Niger, and Shari. But these require 
 railways to connect their upper basins with the sea. 
 Until railways are constructed it is useless to suppose 
 that any remunerative trade can be made. The value 
 of the traffic upon the river banks which would be 
 thrown open by these railways may be best seen in 
 the following table : — 
 
 Railway, Rivor bauks. 
 
 Congo, between Vivi and Stanley Pool 147 miles long 10,800 miles. 
 
 Nile, Suakim to Berber .... 280 „ 5,600 „ 
 
 Niger, above Rabba to Komba . . 250 „ 4,400 „ 
 
 Shari and Lake CI uad,Kibago to Mogolo 150 „ 1,800 „ 
 
 Totals . . . .827 22,000
 
 X PREFACE. 
 
 The capital required at £4000 * per mile, which 
 would, of course, include labour, rails and rolling 
 material for each railway, would amount to : — 
 
 £ 
 
 Congo railway and flotilla .... 000,000 
 
 Nile „ „ .... 1,160,000 
 
 Niger „ „ .... 1,010,000 
 
 Shari „ „ .... 620,000 
 
 £3,420,000 
 
 The area of country and the masses of population 
 which these railways would make immediately acces- 
 sible, according to the most careful calculations, are 
 as follows : — 
 
 Area in square statute miles. Population. 
 
 Congo .... 1,090,000 43,000,000 
 
 Nile 660,000 23,760,000 
 
 Niger .... 440,000 8,800,000 
 
 Shari 180,000 5,400,000 
 
 2,370,000 80,960,000 
 
 The entire continent of Africa is 15,500 English 
 miles in length. The four river banks if stretched in 
 line would be equal in length to 22,600 statute miles. 
 The aggregate areas immediately accessible to com- 
 mercial enterprise may be said to equal a belt 155 
 miles deep drawn around the entire continent. Such 
 a belt would require thirty-four souls to the square 
 mile to produce a population equal to the 80,960,000 
 inhabitants of the four river basins. 
 
 Again, almost the least exploited portion of the 
 
 * These figures are but assumed for the purpose of the argument, of 
 course. The cost of railway mileage may be more or less.
 
 PREFACE. xi 
 
 African coast-line, 2,900 miles long, is that from the 
 Gambia to St. Paul de Loan da, which gives an annual 
 trade of £32,000,000. The banks of these four rivers, 
 if equally developed, ought to furnish a trade seven 
 and a half times greater, or £240,000,000. The gross 
 sum required to create this enormous trade is only 
 £3,420,000 ! 
 
 Let us suppose that a continent abounding with 
 tropic produce, populated by 81,000,000 of workable 
 people, and showing a coast-line of 22,600 miles in 
 length, suddenly rose from the bosom of the Atlantic, 
 Imagine the scramble for the possession of it b}^ the 
 Powers ! Yet here are four river basins offered to 
 civilization at the rate of l|c?. per acre, with an annual 
 trade of over 35. per acre almost guaranteed, which is 
 certainly very much cheaper than what is offered by a 
 land company at the present time in East Africa. 
 
 Of course, I little expect that any of these grand and 
 advanced ideas will ever be put to the test. But when 
 I hear of perpetual lamentations about depression of 
 trade, of the silent spindle, and the cold foundry, I 
 am tempted to ask what has become of all that tradi- 
 tional energy which made Britain so famous in the 
 commercial world. 
 
 Let us reflect upon the wisdom of the proceedings in 
 connection with Egypt to-day. The total exports and 
 imports of Lower Egypt and the Soudan in 1882 
 amounted to £16,805,001, and yet before the British 
 Government can issue out of the present contest satis- 
 factorily they will have expended quite £16,000,000,
 
 xii PEEFACE. 
 
 over four-and-a-half times more money than the sum 
 which is required to give in a few years an augmented 
 trade to the world of £240,000,000, of which no doubt 
 three-fourths would be absorbed by the mercantile 
 body of Great Britain. Let us hope that the Nile 
 basin may be rescued, however, from the fate which 
 hovers over it. If lost to Britain, let us at least 
 hope that some other nation will do its utmost to 
 preserve this basin open to civilisation. If France 
 only prosecutes her present great enterprise intended 
 to connect the Upper Xiger with the Senegal, one of 
 the three other gTeat river basins will be saved from 
 waste ; and if she is wise and liberal in her tariffs, she 
 will find ample recompense in the commercial inter- 
 course she will have estabhshed with the 8,800,000 
 inhabitants of the Xiger banks. 
 
 These volumes now issued contain minute details of 
 what is produced in the greatest and most populous 
 river basin in Africa. The information so painfully 
 and so patiently acquired is for the benefit of those 
 natives of Europe who can read and are interested not 
 only in Africa, but in the commercial prosperity of the 
 world. Any two rich men in Great Britain, Belgium, 
 France, Germany, Italy, Holland, Spain, Portugal, or 
 Sweden and Norway, may combine together and build 
 the Congo railway. I shall be surprised if before the 
 end of the year some such railway has not been 
 started. At the same time, it is perfectly immaterial 
 to me personally whether an attempt be made to 
 realise the project or not.
 
 PREFACE. xiu 
 
 At tlie same time, I have a strong hope that Man- 
 chester, which in 1878 was so apathetic, and in 1884 so 
 bravely strenuous in defending the commercial liberty 
 of the Congo basin, will unite with Berlin, Paris, and 
 Brussels in the subscription of £600,000 to build this 
 railway. At any rate, the Manchester Chamber of 
 Commerce, and its excellent President, J. F. Hutton, 
 Esq., and the Manchester editors deserve the thanks 
 of every reader of these books for the persistent de- 
 fence of the principles which the author advocates, 
 and which he maintains can alone rescue Africa from 
 the slough of despond and inutility in which it has 
 remained so long. 
 
 The Author craves the permission of the reader to 
 introduce to his or her notice the President of the 
 International Association, Colonel Strauch, to whose 
 genius for administration, thoughtful care, and wise 
 provision, the success of the Expedition was so largely 
 due ; and also to Captain Thys, of the corps Etat- 
 MajoVy qfficier d'ordonnance du Hoi, whose patience 
 was sorely tried, especially when the Commander of 
 the Expedition was sending his peremptory orders for 
 supplies. 
 
 Finally, the British reader must be persuaded by the 
 Author to believe that the expedition has been largely 
 indebted to the munificence of William Mackinnon, Esq., 
 of Balinakill, Clachan, Argylleshire, from whom at 
 various times we obtained substantial help, and in- 
 variably the most generous sympathy with the kindliest 
 advice.
 
 xiv PREFACE. 
 
 There is a law of Nature which has decreed that 
 a man must work. The Divine law declares that only 
 by the sweat of his brow shall a man eat bread. There 
 is a law pretty generally recognised among the ad- 
 vanced nations, that every honest labourer is worthy 
 of his hire, but only the conspicuously meritorious 
 deserve special commendation. The stern practice of 
 the world is that a man shall not obtain his food for 
 nothiug. Unless he labours in his vocation, neither 
 shall he receive wages. It is also generally conceded 
 that any man who distinguishes himself by goodwill and 
 endeavour, however incompetent he may be, deserves 
 consideration, but any man who exhibits capacity with 
 intelligence, effective labour with honest goodwill^ shall 
 receive reward commensurate with his services. For 
 thriftlessness the world has naught but contempt ; for 
 natural debility only pity ; for vice, condemnation ; for 
 failures, oblivion. Obeying these general laws and 
 practices, those whom I think have proved themselves 
 most deserving of recognition for their gallantry, moral 
 courage, and fortitude under privations, for the greatest 
 intelligence and capacity in the performance of their 
 duties, have received honourable mention at my hands 
 in the chapter on Europeans. 
 
 It has been customary with me to compliment my 
 publishers upon the energy and care with which they 
 produce their books. These volumes are no exception 
 to their usual happy art of pleasing both public and 
 author. I am also indebted to Mr. J. D. Cooper for the 
 pains he has taken to faithfully reproduce the many
 
 PBEFACE. X7 
 
 photographs of landscape and persons in the engrav- 
 ings now published; and also to Mr. John Bolton 
 for the manner in which he has produced my maps. 
 The large map is the result of nearly four hundred 
 observations for latitude and longitude made during 
 our successive voyages up and down the Congo. The 
 principal stations between Yivi and Stanley Falls have 
 been finally fixed after several observations taken at 
 each place during my six years' mission. 
 
 I now commit my work to the public, in the hope 
 that it will efi'ect a happy change for Africa, and give 
 a greater impetus to the true civilising influences 
 which are seen in the advancement of commerce and 
 in the vitality of Christian missions. 
 
 The Author. 
 
 London, Ap-il 1885.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 {l-olJ.) 
 CHAPTER L 
 
 PREVIOUS HISTORY OF THE CONGO. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Early discoveries — Erroneous nomenclature — Inaccurate descriptions 
 — Difficiilties in following the old chroniclers^Tlie British 
 Expedition of 1816 — Its misfortunes, but finally successful 
 scientific result — Livingstone's last Expedition — The Baili/ 
 Telecjmph and New York Herald Expedition, 1876 — Discovery of 
 the continuity of the Congo I 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE POLITICAL HISTORY OF CONGO-LAND. 
 
 Piqafetta's 'Kingdom of the Congo' — Chronicle of the Capuchin 
 Expedition— The stone jjillars of the Portuguese : their purpose 
 — The capital of Congo-land — Conversion of the King to 
 Christianity — Missions and ancient religious edifices— Hostile 
 incursion of the Jaggas — Territorial claims of the Portuguese- 
 Expulsion of the Portuguese from Congo-land — The slave trade 
 — The missions of Rome and France — Boundaries and general 
 description of Congo-land — The position and power of its chiefs 
 — Treaties of tlie International Association 9 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THK SEQUEL TO THE BOOK, 'THROUGH THE DARK CONTINENT.' 
 
 My return from the "Dark Continent" in 1878— Met by King 
 Leopold's Commissioners at Marseilles — The King's proposition 
 ■ — Fatigue and an unavailing search for repose — Three weeks in 
 Switzerland — Negotiations for the new enterprise — " What was 
 to bo its character ? " — King Leopold's invitation to Brussels — 
 The meeting there in December 1878 — The " Comite d'Etudes du 
 Haut Congo" formed — Final preparations for the journey- 
 Again e« rc/wie to Africa .. .. 'JO 
 
 VOL. I. b
 
 xvi-i CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTEE IV. 
 
 THE AFRICAN' IXTEEXATIONAL ASSOCIATION. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Foiuidation of the Association — Witbdrawal of the English members 
 — General Sanford's description of the Association — My first 
 relations with the International — My instructions to M. Cambier 
 — Karema, a prosperous station— My instructions to Captain 
 Popelin — Draft of propositions for the organisation of an 
 Expedition — Farewell to Zanzibar — The SS. Albion starts on her 
 long voyage 33 
 
 CHAPTEE Y. 
 
 EX ROVTE TO THE COXGO. 
 
 Bankruptcy of Dutch merchants at the mouth of the Congo : its 
 effect — Letter to Colonel Straiich — The Expedition charged with 
 being mysterious — Groundlessness of the charge — My personal 
 conduct in the matter — Accident to the Albion — Compelled to 
 call at Sierra Leone — An amusing misunderstanding — An old 
 friend — Kind attentions — Arrival at the mouth of the Congo . . 50 
 
 CHAPTEE YI. 
 
 BANAXA POINT. 
 
 Approaching land — Appearance of the coast — The majestic Congo — 
 The factories — Our manly pilot — Banana Point — A good anchor- 
 age — Effects of tropic life — Advice as to clothing, food, and 
 general behaviour — The "• petite verre de Cognac^'' — Senseless 
 abuse of Africa — Description of our boats — The eccentricities of 
 the En .4i'an<— Clamours among the staff— Expenses, pay, and 
 precedence — Description of the factories — A factory dinner — 
 Youth of the managers — The coloured helps — A busy scene — 
 A varied collection of stores — Immense i^owder supply and its 
 pui'pose — A melancholy spot — Banana Creek — Seething mud — 
 Local origin of the name " Banana '" — Prediction regarding the 
 fate of the i^eninsula Gl 
 
 CHAPTEE YII. 
 
 UP THE " MIGHTY " CONGO. 
 
 The flotilla proceeds up the river — Braving the giant stream — Silence 
 on the wooded shores — Kissanga — Ponta da Lenha — Dutch 
 factories — Guarding against floods — The dangers of hospitality — 
 Depth of the river : its volume — The dry and rainy seasons- 
 Tidal action- -Fetish rock— " The d— 1 had done it '— Ma-taddi 
 Iszazzi, " Lightning Stone "— Boma, the principal emporium of 
 trade — Means of communication — Loneliness and cheerlessness —
 
 CONTEXTS. xix 
 
 /•AIJE 
 
 A refreshing change— African sunshine — The blood-curdling 
 history of Boma — Horrors of the slave-trade — A terrible punish- 
 ment — The trade of Boma- The " wicked white man "—Progress 
 of Boma^Historical treatment of the rirer — Hungry whites — 
 BafBed by the stream — " Hippopofcimus ? that's a rock, mun ! " — 
 A dead shot — Departure of the SS. Alhion for Europe 79 
 
 CHAPTEE YIII. 
 
 L'P THE CONGO : FROil BOMA TO YITI. 
 
 Buka Island — Chinsalla Creek— Prince's Island— Burial-place of 
 officers of the Tuckey Expedition — Viuda-le-Xzaddi village — 
 Mussuko — Number of trading establishments — Navigation of the 
 Congo— Ultimate point of navigation — Eeconnaissance for a site 
 for our chief station— Amount of steam-power required to breast 
 the current — Dedede, the merry chief, tells us of a site — Castle 
 Hill — " Sure, it is beautiful, this ! " — A fiery clearance — Amiable 
 natives — Features of the district — Access and routes to the 
 station — Arrangements for a " palaver " — Advantages of the 
 Yivi country : its exploration — The five chiefs of Yivi and their 
 men-at-arms— A splendid market for old clothes — The " palaver " 
 — A tight bargain- —Congoese shrewdness in trade — Lingenji, the 
 boy trader of Bolobo — " Are not Yivi and Nsanda one?"— The 
 bargain closed 109 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THE FOrXDlN'G OF VIVI : A STORY OF WORK. 
 
 An unpromising field for work—" He makes his mark, and many 
 marks make a road " — The signal given — Work olfered to the 
 natives : their astonishment — Eoad-making — Transport of stores 
 — Mapping the sites of houses — I gain the name of Bula Matari, 
 " Breaker of Eocks" — Garden-making — Duration of our working 
 day — Native fondness of grog — Completing the head-quarters — 
 Extracts from descriptive letters to the President — Oflicers and 
 men at Yivi HO 
 
 CHAPTEE X. 
 
 vivi TO isangila: a reconnaissance. 
 
 Looking out for a wagon route — The gardens of Banza Somlio— Tho 
 valley of the Loa — Banza Uvana — Fine view from Kaishaudi — 
 ^Vc visit our friend Dedede - Eeception of thirty chiefs and 
 their retainers — A conference — Mysterious councils and final 
 decisions— Distribution of gifts— A dear bargain — A deserted 
 plateau— The Bundi valley— A fine retreat for a recluse -Ad-
 
 XX CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 ventures -nith buffaloes and elephants — Harassing search for a 
 herd-track — " ]\Iabriiki, are you hurt or dead ? " — A lucky fall — 
 The course of the future road revealed — Eest at Ndambi Mbongo 
 — Difficulty of our task— A tropical nest — " Tuckey's Furthest " 
 — Faithful " Mirambo "—The penitent chiefs of Isangila— Future 
 operations — Proposed raihvay — Infusing confidence — Extracts 
 from letters to Colonel Strauch ICO 
 
 CHAPTEE XI. 
 
 VIVI TO ISANGILA : ROAD-MAKING — A CURIOUS CHAPTER. 
 
 My working force — The whites — Camp in the Loa valley — Tracing a 
 way through the tall grass — Our first day's road-making — " When 
 in Eome you must do as the Eomans do," a mistake — What food 
 to take in the tropics — Tillage idols — A bigoted medicine-man — 
 Yahie of buffalo and hippoiiotami tracks — Gin-drinking chiefs — 
 A determined old toper — Difficulty about the names of the 
 Congo — Yellala Falls — Market-days— Snakes — Abundance of 
 game — The sun at noon — Birds — Completion of the first section 
 of our road — Overland conveyance of the steam-launch Boyal — 
 Troubles with the Europeans — Arrival of Belgian " commercials " 
 — The coldest part of the country — Death of a promising mem- 
 ber of the Expedition — My first sickness — A day's thermometer 
 readings — Swinburne ill — Settlement of a trade dispute — Eesult 
 of IGO days' hard work — Eeports to the President 195 
 
 CHAPTEE XII. 
 
 VIVI TO ISANGILA — continued. 
 
 Liitete, a truculent chief — " Seize him, boys ! " — Fiote law — Trial and 
 fine of Lutete — The axe and the forest — In search of game — 
 ^Nostalgia — No more Europeans wanted — Our first rain-storm- 
 Hauling the En Acant overland— A Day of Eest — Arrival of Le 
 Comte Savorgnan de Brazza— His travels and adventures — 
 Ngoma Point — A diflicult engineering feat — Successful forma- 
 tion of a road round the Point — Isangila — Captain Anderson's 
 services — A year's progress — Our toil, trials, and losses ,. .. 218 
 
 CHAPTEE XIII. 
 
 BETWEEN THE CATARACT REGIONS : TO MANYANGA, 
 
 Number of men and quantity of stores bound for Manyanga — Isan- 
 gila scenery — Ntombi's dark ravine — Crocodiles chasing us — 
 The Long Eeach — Curious rock-formations — Eomjjing on the 
 sands— Advantages of geniality and liveliness in dealing with
 
 CONTEXTS. XX i 
 
 I-AGK 
 
 aborigines — Kilolo Point— Getting up steam pressure for a stiff 
 current — Kuvoko — We encounter two missionaries — Their rc- 
 l^ulse by tlie natives at Kinshassa and Mfwa — Soudi of Ituru is 
 killed by a buflfalo — Natives still friendly — " A'kumbi, kumbi ! " 
 — Nzambi Eapids — The Kwilu— Procuring food — A whirlpool — 
 Kimbauza Island — A memory of 1877 — Hamadi's slavery and 
 wonderful escape — Repairing our steamers — Minnow iishiug — 
 Ndunga Eapids — A place for suicides — Ndunga dancing — An 
 exciting and extraordinary jDerformance — Manyanga — "To- 
 morrow we shall not work ; we shall see the strangers " — 
 Doubtful reception from the natives 'Ii'2 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 FEVER AT MANYAXGA. 
 
 I am prostrated by fever— Preparing for death— Awakening to life — 
 A voracious appetite — Joyful news — Reinforcements from Zanzi- 
 bar — Lindner's arrival — Agreement with the chiefs of Manyanga 
 — Erecting the station 271 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 A EECONJfAISSAXCE TO STANLEY POOL. 
 
 All outrage iipon custom, and its result — Turbulent marketing — 
 Death of M. Neve — Letter respecting the support of Manyanga 
 — On the march to Stanley Pool — Reception by natives — A boy 
 drowned — Bwabwa Njali, a dissembling chief — Native pomp — 
 I\Ialameen api:>ears, bearing the French tricolour — A treaty re- 
 garding territory — The Gordon-Bennett — Mfwa — Malima — Ga- 
 mankono, an old acquaintance — Instance of retentive memory — 
 " We are all kings " — Arrival of IMalameen, whose fables alarm 
 the villagers— Friendship supplanted by hate — Forced retirement 
 from Malima — Evil news 2'i'ecedes us — Stojiped by an armed 
 crowd — " Tanlcy, Tanlcy ! " — A timely arrival 281 
 
 CHAPTER XVL 
 
 NGALYEMA OF NTAMO. 
 
 Apin-oacliing starvation—Relief delayed — Threat of Bwabwa Njali — 
 Arrival of Ngalyema of Ntamo— A blood brother — Prosperity c)f 
 a native chief — A grasping fraternity — Ngalyema demands my 
 servant Dualla — We meet a Roman Catholic Mission — Its repulse 
 l)y the natives — More demands upon our stores — The cost of our 
 negotiations — Richer goods required — Arrival in the Ziiiga dis- 
 trict 8(»2
 
 xxii COXTEXTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 SETTLEMEKT AT STANLEY TOOL. 
 
 The onli/ study of mankind is man — " Killing the road " — A hroken 
 axle-tree — Braconnier's accident — "We encounter Susi — "The 
 news from Ngalyema is good and bad "—Ivory traders' intrigiaes 
 — Ngalyema in reality a powerless chief — Our "appetite for 
 Itlack babies" — lyumbi mountain — Makoko^A six-foot beard 
 — Overtures to Makoko — His reply — " But, my friend, rememlier 
 we own the country" — Mild but valorous — " Influential men"^ — 
 Hakoko gives me his sword — Ngalyema comes to tight — Our 
 preparations for war — A ruse — Ngalyema comes to the camp — 
 A dissembling welcome — Masked hostility — " What nice things 
 has my brother brought ? " — " Make up your mind that I go to 
 or near Kintamo " — A war fetish — The signal of the gong — 
 " Strike — strike it, I tell you ! " — My force spring up like armed 
 madmen — A general stampede — Success of the ruse — " Ah, I was 
 not afraid, was I?" — Peace, brotherhood, and conviviality .. 313 
 
 CHAPTER XYIII. 
 
 THE FOUNDIXG OE LEOPOLDVILLE. 
 
 Susi reconnoitres the country — Prospects of road-maldng — Payment 
 of native workers — Ngamberengi's account of Ngalyema's life — 
 — Fightingstrengthof tribes— Our advance on Kintamo — Native 
 callages— Selecting camping ground — Leopold Hill — An offer 
 from Ngalyema — New camp formed 3^5 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 THE FOUNDIXG OF hilOFO'LTtVILl.E— continued. 
 
 Ngalyema and " Bula Matari "—Wily tactics of Ngalyema— A one- 
 sided balance sheet — Strained relations—" Everybody's iinger is 
 on the trigger "—Armed visits — Gorgeous apparel — " Speak, 
 Ngalyema ; is it peace or war ? " — " Ay, kill me, Bula Matari ! " 
 The brotherhood is not broken — Kintamo a populous place — 
 Proposed palaver — Outbreak imminent- — Mysterious disappear- 
 ance of two of my men — Arrival of Konko — The palaver takes 
 place — The trouble is ended — Noisy rejoicing— Trading opera- 
 tions — Kinshassa — Nchuvila— Our block-house — News from Vivi 
 ■ — New recruits — Bwabwa Njali's convenient forgetfulness — 
 Strength of the expedition — Malingering — Anxiety about the 
 exploring party — Selling to the natives — Witchcraft — Profit on 
 ivory — Thriving gardens — A lost party — Engeli's enmity — Ivory 
 transactions — The people anxious to trade— Brotherhood with 
 Ngalyema ., 857
 
 COXTEXTS. 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 rP THE COXGO TO LAKE LEOPOLD If. 
 
 r.vo K 
 
 Naming the new station " Leopoldville " — " The middleman," " ling- 
 ster," or " ivory trader," and his inflnence — Docility of Xgalyema 
 — Description of Leoi^oldville — Fine yiew from Leopold Hill — 
 Companionable neighbours — The pomp of death — A rich bnt 
 neglected land : what might be made of it — Departure of the first 
 Upper Congo expedition — Bamu Island — "Wild animals — Stanley 
 Pool — Slow progress— The fierceness of crocodiles — Impressions 
 of scenery — Comparison with Scotch scenery — "Width and sound- 
 ings of the Congo — Yohame of the river with its tributaries — 
 Jottings for future pilots — Mswata — New acquaintances^ — Gan- 
 delay's favourable decision — Giral, a French quartermaster — 
 Eeturn to Kintamo ; a cordial greeting — Susii Mpembe, the 
 "White Chicken "— The KwaPdver 3SG 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 DISCOVERY OF LAKE LKOPOLD 11. 
 
 Start on the exploration of the Kwa — The Mbihe and the Mfini — The 
 scenery of the Kwa — Fertile soil — Towing canoes unsuccessful — 
 Curious natives — " Don't frighten Gankabi too much " — Kemeh 
 Island— Sepulchre of chiefs — Difi"erent colours of the river — ■ 
 Musye — Eela, the faithless — Mosquitoes in myriads — Natives 
 extracting salt from grass — Gankabi, Queen of Musye — A com- 
 mantling woman — " Follow me this instant to Ngete ! "■ — Scarcity 
 of food — Musye Munono — Difficulty in getting information — 
 Hostile natives on the river's banks — An unexiDCcted lake — Film 
 of dust upon the water- — Bays and wood-clad shore — Our lessen- 
 ing food — Encounter with native canoes — Fright and skurry — 
 Pursuit and a dive for a capture — " There are many better than 
 I in our village" — Repelled by natives— Circumnavigation of 
 Lake Leopold IL — Hunger, illness, and return to Leopoldville — 
 Rest at Isangila 410 
 
 CHAPTER XXIL 
 
 RETURN TO EUROPE. 
 
 Iletum to Vivl — No progress — Dr. Peschuel-Loeche— Zanzibaris sent 
 home—Good-bye to Yivi — St. Paul de Loanda — Appearance of 
 the city— Absence of sanitary measures — The hospital and prison 
 — A Howard wanteil — Tiie Governor-General in the past — 
 Neglected water and railway works — Eu routv to Lisbon — Ports 
 of call — Discomforts of the voyage — Madeira, the Pearl of Ww 
 Atlantic It"
 
 TACE 
 
 XX iv CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 CONDITION OF AFFAIRS ON THE CONGO. 
 
 Tlie position explained to the Comite— A railroad imperative— Im- 
 portance of retaining the guardianship of the territory — The 
 prospects of trade — Arrangements for the Upper Congo expedi- 
 tion — Difficulty in getting an efficient Assistant Chief . , . . 462 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 TO STANLEY POOL. 
 
 Lisbon to Banana Creek — Dismal news— Yivi demoralised — Elliott's 
 exijedition to Kwilu-Niadi — Massala shot by a French trader — 
 An enormous fine — I act as peacemaker — Lieutenant Van de 
 Yelde's mission to Kwilu-Niadi — Appearance of the Saggitaire — 
 Piclief of Elliott's expedition — Bad news from Leopoldville — A 
 starving station — Ferry traffic on the Congo — Kindly attentions 
 from the natives — Leopoldville neglected and grass-gi'own ! — A 
 sad state of matters — An unfortunate young officer — Canoe 
 accidents — A false alarm of murder ! — A siiicide— Ee-establish- 
 ing friendly relations with the chiefs— An important conference, 
 and its results — Noble work of English missionaries ,. .. .. 408 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 TO BOLOBO. 
 
 Improving Leopoldville — Departure of the Upper Congo Expedition 
 — Its equipment — Kimpoko, " Good View Station " — Gambiele, 
 chief of Kimpoko — Stanley Pool again — Papa Gobila — Makoko 
 of Mbe— Fumu Ntaba— " Bula Matari, don't you go to Mbe "— 
 Growth of Mswata town — The beer of ]\Iantu — The Lawson- 
 Lufini river — The real heart of equatorial Africa — A splendid 
 region — My former repulse by the wild men — Two-Palm Point— 
 3Iurder of two of our men — Bolobo district — A pojjulous neigh- 
 bourhood — Difficulty in finding Europeans adapted for inter- 
 course with natives — Ibaka, the senior chief of Bolobo — Incidents 
 in his life — A bellicose garrison — A jealous chief, and conjugal 
 infidelity — " Blood must be shed for blood, or money must i>ay 
 for it " — A tardy payment — Dangers of beginning war — Bolobo 
 cession of territory 498
 
 LIST OF ILLUSTEATIONS. 
 
 (Vol L) 
 
 FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 so. PAGE 
 
 1. His Majesty Leopold II., King of the Belgians .. Frontiqyicce. 
 
 2. The Flotilla of the International Expedition at Banana Point, 
 
 near the Dutch Factory . . . . , . . . . . ..To face 68 
 
 3. View down river from behind the English Factory at Boma. 
 
 (From a photograph) .. .. .. .. .. .. „ 98 
 
 4. A portion of Boma, opposite the Isle of Buka ]\Iboma. (From 
 
 a photograph) .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ., 100 
 
 5. " Albert, in a frenzy of delight, must first bcstriile the carcase, 
 
 that he might write to his papa at Copenhagen " .. .. ,, 107 
 
 (]. Headquarters, Vivi Station, and Castle Hill. (From a photo- 
 graph) .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ., 120 
 
 7. The Interior of Vivi Station. (From a photograph) .. .. „ l.io 
 
 8. View of Yellala Falls from left bank. (From a photograph hy 
 
 Dr. Allabd) .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 202 
 
 9. Tlie ascent of a slope in the Mpagassa (jorge .. .. .. ., 209 
 
 10. Ascending Nyongena Hill . . .. .. .. .. ., 228 
 
 11. Ngoma Point after the great wagon-road had been completed. 
 
 (From a photograph) .. .. .. .. .. .. ., 23G 
 
 12. The fate of poor Soudi of Ituru .. .. .. .. .. ,, 252 
 
 13. A Farewell , 27."> 
 
 14. On the Plateau of Manyanga Station. View down river. (From 
 
 a photograph) .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ,, 283 
 
 15. Camp in the wilderness between the Mpalanga and I-ulu rivers. 
 
 (From, a photograph) .. .. .. .. .. ■, 322 
 
 16. " Every native present, would-be friend and would-be foe, lost 
 
 his senses completely " .. .. .. .. .. .. •• 341 
 
 17. View of Leopoldville and Kintamo .. .. .. .. •- 388 
 
 18. Leopoldvillc, April 1884 394 
 
 19. Up the Mfiui to Lake Leopold II. 4:^3 
 
 20 " Another glance, and it seems to be overwhelming him, when, 
 
 ' Ach Gott !' he springs overboard " .. .. .. .. .. M') 
 
 VOL. I. C
 
 LIST OF ILLUSTBATIOXS. 
 
 21. The Head of Lake Leopold II 
 
 ti'I. The West Coast Native Employe's in the Plaza of Vivi 
 2o. Crossing the 3Ipalanga. (^From a photograph) .. 
 24. Women in the Market-place ; for Le'opoldville, before it can be 
 called a town, must possess a market. {From a photograph) 
 
 PACK 
 
 To face US 
 470 
 480 
 
 r)01 
 
 SMALLER ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 25. '• The Kingdome of Congo " 
 2tj. Colonel Straiich 
 
 27. The Forested Banks of the Lower Congo 
 
 28. Group of Natives — Men, Women, and Youths 
 
 29. Island on the Lower Congo 
 ','•0. Down the river from Tivi . . 
 ol. Native House with a Family Group 
 '.'•2. Sketcli Map of Yivi 
 o3. Native Chicken Seller 
 i'i. Congo from Landing-place, Vivi .. 
 V>5. Specimens of our Employe's 
 i'.G. View of Yivi Headquarters from the North 
 o7. Yiew of Y'ivi Station from the North 
 88. Ba.sundi Native 
 i'-D. General View of Yivi. (From a sketch by Mr. Naets).. 
 
 40. Diagram of Truck for Machinery . . 
 
 41. Fetish Idols 
 
 42. Elevation of Steel Ligliter .. 
 
 43. L'pland Road through Forest Encampment 
 
 44. Mons. de Brazza 
 4."). Elevation of Sailing Boat 
 40. Plan of Sailing Boat 
 
 47. Plan of Lighter 
 
 48. Diagram of New Steamer Le Stanley, since added to the Flotilla 
 
 the Association 
 
 49. Plan of Steamer 
 
 50. Caravan Grouj) 
 5L Ivory Carriers 
 
 52. Ngalyema, Chief of Kintamo . . . . ' 
 
 53. The Narrows near Msampala 
 
 54. The Cascades of the Mpalanga 
 
 55. Looking towards Stanley Pool from high ridge inland . . 
 
 56. A Yiew from a Camp .. .. 
 
 57. One of the Bateke' . . 
 
 58. Bateke Native 
 
 59. Types of our Coloured EmpLoye's . . 
 
 of 
 
 10 
 5.") 
 89 
 99 
 110 
 119 
 122 
 125 
 131 
 134 
 140 
 150 
 158 
 174 
 188 
 198 
 200 
 211 
 229 
 232 
 252 
 252 
 261 
 
 2G:! 
 263 
 289 
 294 
 300 
 318 
 322 
 324 
 320 
 330 
 338 
 347
 
 LIST OF TLLUSTBATIONS. 
 
 60. Types of our Employes 
 
 61. Bird's Eye View of Shiulcy Fix il 
 
 62. Village of Ndua 
 
 6:!. Lieutenant Van de Veldc . . 
 61. Our West Coast Employ I'V .. 
 
 65. Lieutenant Orbau 
 
 66. Sketch of a Banana Garden 
 
 67. View from tlie Terrace below Kinipoko .. 
 
 68. View from Kimpoko 
 60. The Upper Congo issuing into Stanley Pool. (From a 
 
 70. Papa Gobila of iMswata 
 
 71. Types of our Coloured Emploje's .. 
 
 72. By-Yanzi 
 
 73. Native Method of Holding a tJun. (Fi-om a sletdi hy 
 
 
 
 PACK 
 
 
 
 . 371 
 
 
 
 . 389 
 
 
 
 430 
 
 
 
 . 47.J 
 
 
 
 . 484 
 
 
 
 488 
 
 
 
 . 499 
 
 
 
 504 
 
 
 
 ^itJ't 
 
 I pliofofircq 
 
 h) ■ 
 
 506 
 
 508 
 
 522 
 
 . 526 
 
 Mr. Gi.AV 
 
 -) . 
 
 523 
 
 MAPS. 
 
 1. A Map of the Congo Basiu (first half) 
 
 2. The River Congo from Banana to "S'ivi 
 
 3. Sketch Map of Vivi Station .. 
 
 4. A Sketch of Stanley Pool .. 
 
 Til Pocket. 
 To face 79 
 140 
 .. 313
 
 THE CONGO 
 
 THE FOUNDING OF ITS FREE STATE. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 PREVIOUS HISTORY OF THE CONGO. 
 
 Early discoveries — Erroneous nomenclature— Inaccurate descriptions — 
 Difficulties in following the old chroniclers — The British Expedition 
 of 1816 — Its misfortunes, but finally successful scientific result — 
 Livingstone's last Expedition — The Dally Tehgraph and Xeio York 
 Herald Expedition, 1876 — Discovery of the continuity of the Congo. 
 
 The discovery of the mouth of the Congo is due to i4S4_r, 
 Diego Cao_, or Cam, a Portuguese naval officer, and w^^go t'ac/, 
 Gentleman of the Household to Dom Joao II., King 
 of Portugal. This event occurred in the year 1484-5, 
 while, according to Duarte Lopez, a naval expedition 
 was sailing along the coast of Africa for the purpose 
 of discovering the East Indies. To commemorate the 
 discovery the commander of the fleet erected a pillar 
 on the southern point of the debouchure, by which the 
 river became known for a time as the Rio de Padrao, or 
 Pillar River, flowing through the kingdom of Congo. 
 
 Martin de Behaim, or ^fartin of Bohemia, wlio was 
 present at the discovery, called it the Rio Poderoso, or 
 
 VOL I. B
 
 2 THE CONGO. 
 
 1578. Mighty River, from the immense volume of water tiiat 
 
 '^^^'' is discharged by it into the ocean. 
 
 Lopez, who visited Angola in 1578, describes it as 
 
 the " greatest river in Congo, called Zaire in that 
 
 tongue, which signifies ' I know.' " 
 
 De Barras and Merolla, who followed Lopez over a 
 
 century later, also called it the Zaire, a name to which 
 
 the modern Portuguese are devotedly attached, most 
 
 probably because their classic poet Camoens describes 
 
 it as 
 
 " That lucid river — the long winding Zaire." 
 
 The term '' Zaire," however, with all due deference 
 to the old travellers and geographers, is only a cor- 
 ruption of Nzari, Nzali, Njali, Xzaddi, Nyadi, Xiadi, 
 and other different spellings of words which simply 
 mean river in the many dialects spoken within the 
 limits of what was popularly supposed three centuries 
 ago to be the kingdom of Congo. 
 
 About the beginning of the 17th century we find 
 that the river began to be designated on the maps as 
 Rio de Congo, while the upper portion retained the 
 name of Zaire. 
 
 The English map-makers ever since have almost 
 invariably named it the River of Congo, while the 
 Portuguese still continue to call it by its ancient name. 
 
 Any one who will take the trouble to glance at the 
 early globes or maps of Africa will perceive that 
 almost all the geographical information relating to its 
 equatorial regions illustrated by these must have been 
 founded by hearsay from natives, probably ivory or
 
 ERRONEOUS NOMENCLATURE. 3 
 
 slave traders from the interior. As one proof of this i578. 
 I need only cite the pertinacity with which map-makers ^°'^*^^* 
 and geographers cling to the famous " kingdom of 
 Anzichi, and the people of Anzichana living on both 
 sides of the river Zaire." The " Anzichana," however, 
 literally signify people of the interior, and " Anzichi," 
 or rather Nseke, means " inland." 
 
 In my book ' Through the Dark Continent,' I also 
 speak of a town or large market called Ngornbe', 
 whereas after obtaining a smattering of the language 
 I now know " Ngombe " to mean simply inland. And 
 during my early voyages np and down the Congo I 
 heard of a place called Mpama, and had located it 
 pretty exactly as I thought in the Uyanzi country, 
 Avhen suddenly I learned that Mpama in the language 
 of Uyanzi stood also for " inland." 
 
 Another instance of the singular ignorance of early 
 writers respecting the lands and rivers they attempted 
 to describe is the extraordinary description of the 
 Lower Congo given by Duarte Lopez in 1578. 
 
 " The river is navigable for twenty-five miles with large boats till it 
 reaches a strait between rocks, where the waters pour down with such 
 tremendous noise as to be heard nearly eight miles off. This place is 
 called by the Portuguese Cachivera — that is a fall or cataract, as it 
 resembles that of the Nile." 
 
 In the following three quotations will be found 
 furtlier proof that the writers of the IGth and 17th 
 centuries either were unable to confine themselves to 
 exact description of what they saw, or, as was most 
 probable, they had no better authorities for their state- 
 ments than slave traders and coast gossip. 
 
 15 2
 
 4 THE CONGO. 
 
 1645. A Capuchin father, belonging to the missionary 
 
 Cai^chins. expedition sent by Pope Paul V. in 1G4.'), ^Y^ites of the 
 
 Congo thus : — 
 
 *' Of the many rivers, great and small, wliicli traverse Congoland, ore 
 larger than the others is the Zaire, which according to the received 
 opinion even in onr times springs from some perennial waterfalls which 
 form the Xile. Both rivers separate themselves from the same source, 
 the Xile flowing through all Africa northwards until it falls into the 
 3Iediterranean Sea, and the Zaire in the contrary direction flowing down 
 formidable precipices towards the west, winding among rocks and banks 
 sometimes with so much noise that at two or three leagues distance it 
 deafens and frightens the inhabitants. The volume of such a river, 
 increasing in quantity as it flows foi-ms whirlijools, and in some places 
 expands so widely that one can hardly distinguish the opposite banks, 
 and finally debouches by seven gi'eat mouths into the Atlantic, Its 
 rapidity frightens even the lx)ldest pilots, who maintain that it is impos- 
 sible to cross the open channel, and therefore they seek fords where the 
 islands break the force of the current, and, weakening it, make the pas- 
 sage easier. These islands are very populous and very well cultivated. 
 Throughout the kingdom of Congo are many other rivers, remarkable not 
 so much for their rapidity as for their numbers of crocodiles, sea-horses, 
 enormous serpents, and other monsters for which we have no names." 
 
 Father Merolla, despatched to Congo in 1G82, 
 writes : — 
 
 " In consequence of the waters of the Zaire being yellow, the river hs 
 known for a hundred miles as it flows into the sea, and by means of it 
 many large kingdoms were discovered hitherto unknown." 
 
 In another place the same writer mentions tliat the 
 Zaire is twenty-eight miles wide at the mouth ! 
 
 The Engrlishman Purchas was an industrious com- 
 piler of voyages and travels. It is very evident that 
 he must have read ' The Chronicles of the Jesuits.' 
 He writes of the Congo after the following manner : — 
 
 *•' The river is of such force that no ship can get in against the current, 
 bat near to the .shore. Yea, it prevails against the ocean's saltness three- 
 score, and, as some say, fourscore miles within the sea, before his proud 
 waves yield their full homage, and receive that salt temper in token of
 
 TEE OLD CEIiOXICLEIiS. 5 
 
 subjection. Sucli is the hauglity spirit of tliat stream, oTernmning the isiG. 
 low countries as it passeth, and swollen with conceit of daily conquests Tuckey. 
 and daily supplies which in armies of showers are by the clouds sent to 
 his succoui', runs now in a furious rage, thinking even to swallow the 
 ocean which before he never saw. With his mouth gaping eight and 
 twenty miles as Lojiez aflfirmeth in the opening, but meeting with a more 
 giant-like enemy which lies lurldng under the cliffs to receive his assault, 
 is iDresently swallowed in that wider womb. Yet so as always being 
 conquered he never gives over, but in an eternal quarrel, with deep and 
 indented frowns in his angry face, foaming with disdain and iilling the 
 air with noise, with fresh help supplies those forces which the salt sea 
 hath consumed." 
 
 ■ From these extracts it is clear that it is a waste of 
 time trying to follow the old chroniclers. Frequently 
 I have endeavoured to trace them where they gravely 
 give names of localities and attempt to describe the 
 districts of which they write, but I have always been 
 compelled to abandon my work with an aching head, 
 and grieving at the loss of valuable time incurred in 
 the useless effort. Through the sheer impossibility of 
 describing to others what I cannot consistently, with 
 the local knowledge I possess, explain to myself, I am 
 constrained to draw the reader's attention to an expe- 
 dition despatched by the British Government, in the 
 year 181 G, under Captain James Kingston Tuckey, 
 which was the means of giving us a reliable, accurate, 
 and definite information of the Lower Congo, although 
 only to the extent of 172 statute miles inland. 
 
 In the instructions furnislied by the Admiralty to 
 Captain Tuckey may be found corroborative evidence 
 
 of what is stated above. I quote the following : — 
 
 \ 
 
 "Although the expedition about to be undertaken for exploring tlit^ 
 course of the Zaire, which flows through the kingdom of Congo, in 
 Southern Africa, was originally grounded on a suggestion of its being
 
 6 777^ COS GO. 
 
 181C. itlentical with the Niger, it is not to be understood that the attempt to 
 Tuckev, ascertain this point is by any means the exclusive object of the 
 expedition."' 
 
 " That a river of such a magnitude as the Zaire, and offering so many 
 peculiarities, should not be known with any degree of certainty Ix-yond, 
 if so far as, 200 miles from its mouth is incompatible with the advanced 
 state of geographical science, and little creditable to those Europeans 
 who for nearly three centuries have occupied various parts of the coast 
 near to which it empties itself into the sea, and have held communication 
 with the interior of the country through which it descends by means of 
 missionaries and slave agents. So confined indeed is our knowledge of 
 the course of this remarkable river that the only chart of it which can 
 have any pretension to accuracy does not extend above 130 miles, and 
 the correctness of this survey, as it is called, is more than questionable." 
 " There can be little doubt, however, that a river which runs more 
 rapidly, and discharges more water than either the Ganges or the Nile, 
 and which has this peculiar quality of being almost at all seasons of the 
 year in a flooded state, must not only traverse a vast extent of country, 
 but must also be supplied by large branches flowing from diff"erent and 
 l^robably opposite directions, so that some one or more of them must at 
 all times of the year pass through a tract of coimtry where the rains 
 l)revail. To ascertain the soiu'ces of these great l>ranches, then, will be 
 one of the principal objects of the present expedition." 
 
 Captain Tuckej's expedition numbered fifty-six 
 Europeans, and, to quote the words of the Secretary 
 to the Admiralty, " there never was in this, or in any 
 other country, an exj^edition of discovery sent out with 
 better prospects or more flattering hopes of success 
 than the one in question." Yet, by a fatality that is 
 almost inexplicable, never were the results of an ex- 
 pedition more melancholy and disastrous. Captain 
 Tuckey, Lieutenant Hawkey, Mr. Eyre, and ten of 
 the Congo's crew, Professor Smith, Mr. Crancli, Mr. 
 Tudor, and Mr. Gal way — in all eighteen persons — died 
 within the short period of less than three months 
 during which they remained in the river, or a few 
 da3^s after leaving it. Fourteen of the above-mentioned
 
 CAPTAIN TUCKET'S EXPEDITIOX. 
 
 Tvere of the party of thirty who set out on tlie laud isee. 
 
 Livins- 
 
 journej beyond the cataracts ; the other four were stone 
 attacked on board the Congo. Two died during the 
 passage out. 
 
 "When treatino: of the cHmate* I shall have occasion 
 to explain the causes which led to this excessive mor- 
 tality among the members of this unfortunate expedi- 
 tion, which, however disastrous it m.ay have been to 
 life, furnished to geographical science a very valuable 
 contribution. For the first time the Lower Congo 
 was shorn of all myth and fi\ble, and was described 
 with an accuracy that cannot be much excelled even 
 in the present day. 
 
 Captain Tuckey learned from the natives that the 
 river was known to them as Moenzi Xzaddi, which 
 literally means Receiver of all Rivers. 
 
 Cruisers of many nations have visited the great 
 river at various times since; and naval officers have 
 added much to our knowledge of the river's depth, and 
 of its currents, besides giving the names of factories 
 and trading depots situated along the banks. But the 
 melancholy loss of life incurred by Captain Tuckey's 
 expedition served to warn off all scientific missions for 
 a period of over half a century. 
 
 In 18G6 Dr. Livingstone, inspired by Sir Roderick 
 ^lurchison, set out on his final journey, with the object 
 of exploring the watershed between Lakes Nyassa and 
 Tanganika. Li 1807 he discovered a large river flow- 
 ing westward, which he subsequently learned had its 
 * Sec Vol. 11. : Climate, Piirt 11.
 
 TEE CONGO. 
 
 1871. sources in the folds of tlie Ciiibale Hills, in the country 
 stone! of Mambwe'. Believing, with many other geographers 
 of that day, that he had at last discovered the extremest 
 head of the Xile, he traced the course of this large 
 river, which was named Chambezi, until it reached 
 Lake Bemba or Baugweolo, in S. lat. 11° and E. long. 
 29°. During the years 1868-1871, he found that the 
 river emerged from Lake Bangweolo under the native 
 
 « 
 
 name of Luapula, and flowed northerly, to enter 
 another lake called Mweru, whence it issued under the 
 name of Lualaba. He last saw the river, which was 
 now of vast volume, at ISTyangwc, in Manyema, at a 
 distance of about 1500 English statute miles from its 
 sources. 
 
 In October 1876 the expedition despatched by the 
 London Daily Telegraph and ^ew York Herald, for the 
 completion of Livingstone's explorations, arrived at the 
 Arab town of Nyangwe', and shortly after set out on 
 its mission of following the river to the sea ; and 281 
 days later this expedition sighted the Atlantic Ocean, 
 having proved by the navigation of the river for about 
 1660 miles, and a land journey of 140 miles, that the 
 Chambezi, Luapula, or Lualalja was no other than 
 the Congo, whose embouchure was discovered by the 
 Portuguese just four centuries ago. 
 
 It is the subsequent history of this noble stream, 
 and the extraordinary enterprise which this discovery 
 caused to be undertaken, that, after a short politico- 
 historical sketch, I propose to set forth in the following 
 pages.
 
 THE CAPUCHIN EXPEDITION. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE POLITICAL HISTORY OF CONGO-LAND. 
 
 Piqafetta's ' Kingdom of the Congo '—Chronicle of the Capuchin Expe- 
 dition — The stone pillars of the Portuguese: their purpose — The 
 capital of Congo-land — Conversion of the King to Christianity — 
 Missions and ancient religious edifices — Hostile incursion of the 
 Jaggas — Territorial claims of the Portuguese — Expulsion of the Por- 
 tuguese from Congo-land— The slave trade — The missions of Eome 
 and France— Boundaries and general description of Congo-land — 
 The position and power of its chiefs — Treaties of the International 
 Association. 
 
 AYiTH the discovery of the mouth of the River Congo 
 by Diego Cam begins the poHtical history of Congo 
 Land. Mrs. Margarite Hutchinson has lately given a 
 translation of an old book called ' The Kingdom of 
 Congo,' by Filippo Piqafetta, Rome, 1591, wherein we 
 are told that the " kingdom " had a coast-line of G30 
 miles long, and that it penetrated inland a distance of 
 GOO miles ; but the author of the voluminous chronicle 
 of the Capuchin expedition, published in 1G70, very 
 cpiaintly says that some " who claim to be well 
 informed, and who perhaps do come near the truth, 
 reckon up a mixed collection of peoples, potentates, 
 and princes, who held joint possession of all that tract 
 of country which is called the Kiugdom of Congo. 
 And if, in addition to all that is certainly known, we 
 
 1501. 
 Piqafette.
 
 10 
 
 THE CONGO. 
 
 1670. 
 
 The 
 Capuchins. 
 
 add that wliicli Is guessed, we may with some assurance 
 persuade ourselves tliat, just as Africa is a great ^^or- 
 tion of the terrestial globe, divided and subdivided 
 into divers kingdoms, so in the same way Congo was 
 divided into various dominions." 
 
 It has been already stated that a memorial in the 
 shape of a stone pillar was erected by the Portuguese 
 
 discoverer on the southern point of the mouth of the 
 river, known to-day as Point Padron, to commemorate 
 the discovery. It was a custom with the old Portu- 
 guese navigators, when starting on a voyage of mari- 
 time exploration, to take with them several of these 
 stone pillars, to set up on prominent points of new 
 land, not only as memorials of discover}-, but also to 
 indicate an intention to annex such new lands to the 
 Crown of Portugal. However, this raising of pillars
 
 MISSION L ABO UBS. 11 
 
 only signified at the utmost an intention to occupy, or 1570. 
 to show possession of such privileges as are derived jaggL 
 from pre-emption. If they did not immediately occupy 
 the ground or settle upon it within a reasonable length 
 of time, those privileges to which they were entitled 
 after discovery, or the act of pre-emption, lapsed. 
 
 Congo Proper extended in an easterly direction 
 to about 200 miles. The river that derives its name 
 from the ancient kingdom was generally known as its 
 northern boundary, though there were several inde- 
 pendent districts then, as now, lying between it and 
 the river. To the south it extended as far as the 
 Kwanza. The capital was called Ambassi, or Ambeze, 
 but on the conversion of the king to Christianity, in 
 the beginning of the IGth century, it became known 
 to Europeans as San Salvador. Its distance from the 
 nearest landing-place on the Congo is about eighty- 
 five statute miles. 
 
 The King of Congo must have proved a fitting 
 subject for a p^roselyte, since the Portuguese were 
 so successful in their missionary efforts that in a short 
 time almost all persons who were in authority came 
 to the mission established at San Salvador to be con- 
 verted and baptised. A cathedral and several churches 
 were erected, and in 1534 we read of a bishop having 
 been appointed. 
 
 Thirty-six years later occurred tlie incursion of 
 tlie savage Ajakkas, variously called Jaggas, Giagas, 
 \'akkas, who overran the entire country, burning and 
 slaughtering wherever they went — and the Christian
 
 12 TEE COXGO. 
 
 1570. city of San Salvador, with its cathedral and churches, 
 Portu|nese "^'^s destrojcd. Bcfore the invaders, the king, his 
 court, and the missionaries, fled to the Congo and took 
 refuo-e in the Isle of Horses — one of those laro-e islands 
 near Boma probably, since above that neighbourhood 
 there are no islands capable of affording shelter to 
 a large number of people. 
 
 An appeal for help was despatched to the King of 
 Portugal, who promptly responded to it by sending 
 600 soldiers, with the aid of whose firearms the 
 Jaggas were ignominiously expelled from the country, 
 and the King of Congo was enabled to rebuild his city, 
 and the missionaries to restore their churches. 
 
 It is stated that in the archives of St. Paul de 
 Loanda there is a document, dated 1570, by which 
 the Kino- of Cono;o ceded to tlie Portuo-uese all of the 
 coast from the Pillar Point, at the mouth of the Congo, 
 to the Kwanza Piver, as a reward for the aid given 
 to the distressed king during the savage invasion ; but 
 Dapper, the Dutch geographer, relates that the Congo 
 king only offered to pay an annual tribute of slaves, 
 and to accept the Portuguese king as his suzerain, 
 which His Faithful Majesty magnanimously refused, 
 saying that he considered the King of Congo as his 
 brother in arms, and that he was fully repaid by the 
 knowledge of the latter's constancy in the Catholic faith. 
 
 About sixty years later we are informed that the 
 King of Congo broke off all allegiance to the Portu- 
 guese, in consequence of which Sonho, one of the 
 districts of Congo, rebelled ; the mission established
 
 EXFULSIOX OF THE FOFTUGUESE. 13 
 
 at San Salvador was broken up, and the bishopric isrs. 
 established in 1534 at that city was transferred to cn-audj- 
 St. Paul de Loanda in Angola. 
 
 In 1781, about 150 years after the expulsion of the 
 Portuguese, an attempt was made to reopen the mission 
 work at San Salvador. Unfortunately the rightful 
 king was at that time a banished man, and the 
 missionaries, having met him outside his city, and 
 learning from him the distracted state of the country, 
 withdrew, and returned to Loanda. 
 
 Then follows a silence and a blank in the history 
 of Congo-land, and ruin claims the once promising 
 cathedral town for its own. We hear no more of it 
 until Dr. Bastian, the eminent German traveller, after 
 exploring in that locality in 1857, writes that it is 
 only " an ordinary native town, with a few scattered 
 monuments of other days.'' 
 
 In 1873, Lieutenant Grandy, of the West African 
 Livingstone Search Expedition, passed through San 
 Salvador. According to his account he found nothing 
 but ruins, and a pagan ignorance of everything bear- 
 ing the least semblance of civihsation. Some of the 
 native leaders of coast caravans understood and spoke 
 a lingua-Portugueza, but the explorer eu countered no 
 welcome. 
 
 The year subsequent to my descent of the Congo 
 witnessed the arrival at San Salvador of the mission- 
 aries of the Baptist Missionary Society, who succeeded 
 in establishing a Protestant Mission therein. 
 
 To the north of the Congo River about thirty miles,
 
 14 THE CONGO. 
 
 1816. and situate on the coast, is Kabinda — the only place 
 Tuckey. ^Qj,^|-^y q£ being distinguished in the political history 
 of this region (by an attempt of the Portuguese to 
 establish the authority of the King of Portugal near 
 the Congo) since the raising of the memorial stone by 
 Diego Cam. In 1784, the Portuguese commenced to 
 construct at Kabinda a fortlet, which drew protests 
 from other European nations, until they were finally 
 compelled, by a French squadron under the Marquis 
 de Marigny, to demolish the fort and withdraw from 
 Kabinda. 
 
 During the days when the slave trade was in full 
 operation the Portuguese possessed a few offices on the 
 Congo for the shipment of slaves to the Brazils; but 
 when it was ascertained that Angola could furnish 
 as many slaves as were necessary to meet the demands 
 of the Brazilian planters, these also were withdrawn 
 and transferred to St. Paul de Loanda. 
 
 In 1816, according to Captain Tucke}^, there were 
 2000 slaves shipped annually to the xVmericas. That 
 Captain Tuckey was a truthful and honourable gentle- 
 man can be testified by all who liave been on the Congo 
 and compared what he describes with tliat which they 
 themselves have seen ; he observed with a keen eye all 
 manner of things in the little-known region he was 
 about to explore. In no part of his notes, nor in any 
 of those of his companions, can be discovered the 
 slightest evidence of Portuguese occupation or exer- 
 cised authority on either bank of the Congo. 
 
 All the Portuguese whom Captain Tuckey met were
 
 SUPPRESSION OF THE SLAVE TRADE. 15 
 
 slave traders, owners of slave barracoons ; and the i^^"- 
 
 Sliive 
 
 natives of Boma informed him that, if the English de- Trade, 
 sired the like privileges as the Portuguese, they would 
 cede to them all the land which they would require. 
 Down to a late period slave trading was the only 
 profitable employment followed by the Europeans — ■ 
 Portuguese, French, S]3aniards — on the Congo. 
 
 In 1810 the European Powers resolved to suppress 
 the slave trade. Portugal, which had been the first 
 to start the traffic, was the last power in Europe to 
 abandon it. Tuckey mentions this fact incidentally in 
 his book, when he writes that he was compelled to 
 tell the natives that no other nation but the Portuguese 
 was permitted to trade in slaves. This arrangement 
 will be found in the Treaty of Alliance entered into 
 between England and Portugal, 19th February, 1810. 
 
 In the treaty of the 22 nd January, 1815, Portugal 
 renounced the right to carry on the slave trade north 
 of the equator, Ijut with regard to the south the privi- 
 lege was again granted to her both in the actual terri- 
 tories of the Portuguese Crown, and in those to which 
 it reserved its rights under the preceding treaty of 
 1810. 
 
 In 1817 the British Government declared the slave 
 trade to be piracy, and it was accordingly the object of 
 vigorous suppression outside of Portuguese waters, that 
 is to say, in all waters not actually fronting Portuguese 
 possessions. 
 
 In the support of this policy a British cruiser iu 184G 
 captured a slave-ship a little to the north of Amhriz.
 
 16 THE COS GO. 
 
 1846. The capture gave rise to diplomatic correspondence be- 
 Trade. twecn the Governments of Grreat Britain and Portugal, 
 concerning the rights of the latter country, wherein 
 the Portuguese were informed that, though their rights 
 between the 8th and 18th degrees of S. Lat. were fully 
 recognised, the British Government maintained the 
 liberty of unrestricted commercial intercourse between 
 S. Lat. 5° 12' and 8^ 
 
 Missionaries had been employed by the Portuguese 
 Government at San Salvador and other places inland, 
 but with tbie decay of its power these were withdrawn, 
 and those who survived the climate, which was very 
 ill-understood, were transferred to Angola. Rome, 
 under Pope Paul T. (1621) and Innocent X. (1G52), 
 despatched no less than six separate missionary ex- 
 peditions, consisting altogther of ninety-five Capu- 
 chin monks, who were appointed to the missions of 
 Congo, Angola, Loanga, Bamba, Batta, Masangano 
 Pemba, Sonho, and Sundi. A French mission also 
 was organised at an early period in the 18th century 
 under the Abbe Belgarde, who was styled, according 
 to the fashion then prevailing in Angola, " Prefet de 
 la Mission de Loango, Kakongo, and other kingdoms 
 beyond the Zaire." 
 
 Whatever may have been the extent of Congo and 
 the various countries adjoining it in the 15th, IGtb, 
 17th, and 18th centuries, or the character of the poli- 
 tical power invested in the persons grandiloquently 
 styled "kings," '^potentates," "princes," "dukes," and 
 " counts," by the old chroniclers, there is no evidence to
 
 TEE BOUNDABIES OF COXGO-LAND. 17 
 
 he gained at tlie present time, dating from the memory i878. 
 of the oldest chief I have met, that the condition of comber. 
 things differed greatly from what exists to-day. 
 
 Congo-land I find to be an inland country, bounded 
 on the south by the upper part of the Ambrizette River; 
 its western boundar}' runs northerly to a point about 
 thirty miles from Nokki, and thence runs easterly sixty 
 geographical miles, thence in a curving line south- 
 easterly, south, and south-westerly, along the western 
 base of the Montes Quemados, or Burnt Rocks, to the 
 Ambrizette River, making altogether an area of about 
 4000 square miles (geo.). The cliief's town is called by 
 the natives Ambassi, but the Portuguese still call it by 
 the name of San Salvador. ^Ir. Comber, who visited 
 the town in 1878, describes the king, named Totela, 
 as an unimportant person, although his assumed title 
 was H.M. Dom Pedro, King of Congo. The national 
 flag was dark blue, with a golden star in the centre. 
 
 All the rest of the country on the left bank of the 
 river, and along the sea-coast, is absorbed by minute 
 subdivisions of power, under as many chiefs; or, as 
 it generally happens, under as many groups of elders, 
 varying, according to the size of the district, from three 
 to ten persons. The native title of a chief or of an 
 elder possessing two or three slaves is Nfumu, origi- 
 nally meaning, without doubt, king. Now, however, 
 slave owners having become so numerous, the title has 
 descended from the fortunate victor over thousands, who 
 became owner of the captives — of their bodies as well 
 as their liberties, in the olden times — to the arrogant 
 
 VOL. I. c
 
 18 THE CONGO. 
 
 1878. and ambitious slave, "who by dint of roguery, slirewd- 
 pohSi ness, or frugality, has succeeded in amassing property 
 sufficient to purchase two slaves. Here and there, 
 along the left bank_, as in the case of Makoko of 
 Usansi, who is the son of another Makoko, who died 
 a wealthy and powerful lord over a large acquired 
 territorv, a native suzerain may be found, whose 
 nominal power extends over an area approaching to a 
 thousand square miles, to whom a certain amount of 
 respect and obedience is shown by a large number of 
 village chiefs. Buguku of Uburna is another instance 
 of a like suzerainty. Even this forra of power, how- 
 ever, is only a tacit acknowledgment of seniority in 
 rank, like that which is shown by a wealthy merchant 
 in Eno-land according due precedence to the scion of 
 a noble house. On the right bank of the Congo may 
 be found two or three superior chiefs. Manipambu of 
 Loango, and Mpumu-Ntaba of Mbe' — the successor of 
 the Makoko so prominent in jJulJic notice lately — and 
 Samuna, the chief of Nsanda, near Yivi. 
 
 The agents of the Inteniational Association having 
 made over 400 treaties with the native chiefs on both 
 banks of the Congo, whose sig-natures number over 
 2000, perforce became acquainted witli these facts, 
 and had to conduct themselves accordingly in the 
 distribution of the payments made by them. Over 
 these cmious groups of chiefs there is always an ac- 
 knowledged senior, who,' although his rank may be 
 undisputed, has only the privilege of demanding a 
 superior consideration for his favour, sometimes of a
 
 condition. 
 
 SUBDIVISIONS OF KINGDOMS. 19 
 
 very trifling amount ; but the smallest chief has fre- ists. 
 quently the power of stopping a bargain if his claims jSScai 
 to consideration have been disregarded or neglected. 
 
 In the following chapters will be found, a detailed 
 account of the proceedings with the various chiefs with 
 whom I had a personal intercourse, by which the reader 
 may perceive into what infinitesimal subdivisions of 
 power are distributed those powerful kingdoms whose 
 splendours Lopez, Merolla and. others loved to describe 
 two and three centuries ago. 
 
 c 2
 
 20 TEE CONGO. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE SEQUEL TO THE BOOK, ' THROUGH THE DARK 
 CONTINENT.' 
 
 My return from the " Dark Continent " in 1878 — Met by King Leopold's 
 Commissioners at Marseilles — The King's proposition — Fatigue and 
 an unavailing search for repose — Three weeks in Switzerland — Nego- 
 tiations for the new enteri^rise — " ^^^lat was to be its character ? " 
 — King Leopold's invitation to Brussels — The meeting there in 
 December 1878 — The " Comitu d'Etudes du Haut Congo " formed — 
 Final prei^arations for the journey — Again ea route to Africa. 
 
 " How often have we seen some such adventurer, and much censured 
 wanderer, light on some outlying and neglected i)rovince, the hidden 
 treasures of which he first discovered, and kept proclaiming till the 
 general eyes and effort were directed thither, and the conquest was 
 completed, thereby in these his seemingly aimless rambles planting new 
 standards and founding new habitable colonies." — Thomas Carhjle. 
 
 1878. The " Dark Continent " bad been traversed from east 
 
 January. . , . ., , 
 
 Europe, to west, its great lakes, the \ ictoria JMyanza and the 
 Tanganika, bad been circumnavigated, and tbe Congo 
 Kiver bad been traced from Nyangwe to tbe Atlantic 
 Ocean ! Tbe members of tbe late exploring expedition 
 had been taken to tbeir bomes, tbe living bad been 
 vv^ortbily rewarded, and tbe widows and orphans bad 
 not been neglected. 
 
 Wben I finally reached Europe in January 1878, 
 slowly recovering from tbe effects of famine and fatigue 
 endured on tbat long journey, little did I imagine tbat
 
 KING LEOPOLD'S PROPOSITION. 21 
 
 before the close of the year I should be preparing i878. 
 another expedition for the banks of that river on £m.one. 
 which we had suffered so greatly. But at Marseilles 
 railway station, as I descended from the express just 
 arrived from Italy, two Commissioners from His Majesty 
 the King of the Belgians, Le'opold II., met me, and 
 before I was two hours older I was made aware that 
 King Le'opold intended to undertake to do something 
 substantial for Africa, and that I was expected to 
 assist him. 
 
 It would be needless to describe ray feelings. Any 
 person acquainted with what I had so recently under- 
 gone can well imagine the reluctance with which I 
 listened to the suo'O'estion that I should return to the 
 scene of so much disaster and suffering, though I 
 heartily as^reed with the Commissioners that it was a 
 great and a good work that the King was inclined to 
 perform, and that it would be a great pity if anything 
 occurred to thwart his good intentions. I was quite 
 willing to give my best advice, and to furnish those 
 details necessary for the complete equipment of an 
 expedition, and its proper organisation, which would 
 lead under right management to a successful issue ; 
 but, "as for myself," I said, "I am so sick and weary 
 that I cannot think with patience of any suggestion 
 that I should personally conduct it. Six months hence, 
 perhaps, I should view things differently ; but at 
 })resent I cannot think of anything more tlian a long 
 rest and sleep." 
 
 Even a personal visit to His Majesty I was unable to
 
 22 TEE COy'GO. 
 
 1878. pay, being utterly unfit, and my entire system so 
 Europe. Utterly out of order ; and, had I sought medical advice, 
 no doubt that needful rest and quiet which I so 
 ardently desired would have been prescribed. 
 
 But good food, comfortable shelter, and relief from all 
 anxiety and strain of the mind, were doing wonders for 
 my emaciated frame and half-ruined constitution. Gra- 
 dually I was persuaded by my publisher to begin work. 
 The result was that by the end of May the book, called 
 ' Through the Dark Continent,' was in the printer's 
 hands, and for the first time in many years I felt free 
 — free to move, to act as I pleased, unrestrained by 
 pledges or promises, and without that terrible, com- 
 pelling and oppressive law — duty — with its constant 
 and persistent call to action, hanging over my head. 
 Lightened of all cause to labour, I hastened to the 
 neighbouring continent to indulge in that luxury 
 which in my travels through Em'ope, years before, I 
 had seen so many thousands doing — viz., lounging. 
 
 But first my long-deferred visit to Eang Le'opold II. 
 was paid, and I there learned that, though lie had not 
 commenced to realise his intentions. His Majesty still 
 purposed, at a fit time, and when he was fully infoimed 
 of all that was necessary to know, to attempt to realise 
 them. Happily for me it was not imraediate, and my 
 loved liberty was still my own. 
 
 A wise man is he who knows how to use his liberty 
 to best advantage. Unfortunately, though I had in- 
 dulged in luxurious reveries while imprisoned within 
 the rocky caiion of the Congo, and banqueted bHss-
 
 THREE WEEKS IN SWITZEELAXD. 23 
 
 fully on thoughts of how I should enjoy myself when ists. 
 
 June. 
 
 once free from work, a hermit, issuing from some Europe. 
 wilderness, could scarcely be more innocent than I of 
 the art of enjoying one's libert}-. Like hundreds of 
 others from America and England, I thought the art 
 lay in dressing a la mode, sipping coffee with indolent 
 attitudes on the flagstones of the Parisian boulevards, or 
 testing the merits of Pilsen and Strasburg beer ; but my 
 declining health and increasing moody spirits informed 
 me that these were vanities, productive of nothing but 
 loss of time, health, and usefulness. 
 
 Some friends suggested Trouville, Deauville, or 
 Dieppe ; but my wretchedness increased. I explored 
 those famed seaside resorts, and discovered that I was 
 getting more and more unfit for what my neighbours 
 called civilised society. 
 
 A friend finallj' suggested Switzerland — and I obeyed 
 the hint. Three weeks in this hapi3y land restored me 
 to health ; and I then understood that all this time I did 
 not need rest, quiet, but that three weeks of pedestrian 
 exercise, even in England, would have shaken off those 
 morbid feelings, shattered constitution, and wrecked 
 svstem, and would liave enabled me almost to forjret 
 that I had ever been in Africa. ^Yitli restored healtli, 
 " liberty " became insipid and joyless, that luxury of 
 lounging which had appeared desirable to an ill-regu- 
 lated and unhealthy fancy became unbearable. With 
 such views, a letter from one of the Commissioners, re- 
 questing an interview, and appointing a meeting in 
 Paris, was very acceptable.
 
 24 THE CONGO. 
 
 1878. It is from this meeting, which took place in August, 
 
 August. .'"'.. 
 
 Europe, "t^^^-t I clatc the formation of the project of the first 
 enterprise np the Congo. For as yet it was only 
 generally understood that, as the Congo was explored, 
 and the core of the Dark Continent accessible by it, 
 somethhvj ought to be done to render it serviceable to 
 the humanities that were encompassed around by 
 roadless regions fatal to all good-doing. All readily 
 concurred in the proposition that my descent of the 
 Congo had opened a highway into Africa, were it 
 possible to utilise it. But how to utilise this high- 
 way ? AVljat enterprise shall be undertaken ? In 
 what character shall a new expedition be despatched 
 to the Congo ? Shall it be purely geographical, phi- 
 lanthropic, commercial ? Or shall we adventure at 
 once on a railway to join the lower to the upper 
 Congo ? Each question was discussed in its order. 
 
 To a purely geographical or exploring exjoedition 
 one great objection was its great expense with meagre 
 results. The addition of a few dozens of names of 
 native villages, the outlining of a few small streams, 
 the defining of a few ranges of hills, and the limits of 
 insignificant districts, with a chapter or two upon local 
 customs of races of people who are more or less related 
 to one another, from the sea to the Kwa, did not appear 
 to be sufficient results to warrant the expenditure of 
 £20,000. If it were to be a purely philanthropic enter- 
 prise, its magnitude would depend entirely upon the 
 means that a society would consider to lie at its disposal. 
 A commercial enterprise should also be on a grand scale
 
 THE CEARACTER OF THE EXPEDITION. 25 
 
 to ensure success ; otherwise it were useless to attempt i87s. 
 
 August. 
 
 to rival the traders long established on the lower river, Em-ope. 
 while the services of a peculiar body of Europeans 
 initiated into the mysteries of ledgers and double entry 
 would have to be secured, and it was very doubtful if a 
 sufficient number could be obtained who were acquainted 
 with the Congo languages and manners and customs, 
 and possessed sufficient stamina to resist the vicissi- 
 tudes of the climate. 
 
 To create a railway for over 200 miles through a 
 little-known country would require a preliminary sur- 
 vey of the land through which it was proposed the 
 line should run. An exact knowledge would have to 
 be gained of the laws which governed the natives ; of 
 proprietary rights along its proposed course ; and of 
 the protection, if any, which could be guaranteed by 
 the native chiefs to such a road. All these questions 
 were subjected to a very searching analysis, and esti- 
 mates laboriously made of the expense that would be 
 likely to attend any effort, and the Commissioner, with 
 his voluminous papers, returned to Brussels to lay them 
 before His Majesty. 
 
 Meantime September, October and November were 
 passed by me, sometimes lecturing on Africa, in respond- 
 ing to numerous requests for ideas upon the African 
 continent relating to other projects in embryo from 
 Manchester and London, and in maintaining a constant 
 correspondence upon topics upon which the Commis- 
 sioner at Brussels wislied to have a little more light. 
 
 Early in November 1878 I received an invitation
 
 26 THE CONGO. 
 
 1878. to be at the Royal Palace in Brussels at a certain 
 
 November. t i 
 
 Euroi>e. ^^^c and hour. Punctual to the time, I there discovered 
 various persons of more or less note in the commercial 
 and monetary world, from England, Germany, France, 
 Belgium, and Holland, and presently we were all ushered 
 into the council-room. After a few minutes it trans- 
 pired that the object of the meeting was to consider the 
 best way of promoting the very modest enterprise of 
 studying what might be made of the Congo River and 
 its basin. This body of gentlemen desired to know 
 how much of the Congo River was actually navigable 
 by light-draught vessels ? Wliat protection could 
 friendly native chiefs give to commercial enterprises ? 
 Were the tribes along the Congo sufficiently intel- 
 ligent to understand that it would be better for 
 their interests to maintain a friendly intercourse with 
 the whites than to restrict it ? What tributes, taxes, 
 or imports, if any, would be levied by the native 
 chiefs for right of way through their country ? What 
 was the character of the produce which the natives 
 would be able to exchange for European fabrics? 
 Provided that in future a railway would be created to 
 Stanley Pool from some point on the lower Congo, to 
 what amount could this j^roduce be furnished ? Some 
 of the above questions were answerable even then, 
 others were not. It was therefore resolved that a 
 fund should be subscribed to equip an expedition to 
 obtain accurate information ; the subscribers to the fund 
 assuming the name and title of "Comite d'Etudes du 
 Haut Congo." A portion of the capital amounting to
 
 THE WOBK OF THE EXPEDITION. 27 
 
 £20,000 was there and then subscribed for immediate ists. 
 
 November, 
 rise. Europe. 
 
 A series of resolutions was drawn up by whicli every 
 subscriber bound himself to answer each call when 
 further funds were necessary. A president, secretary, 
 and treasurer were appointed. The expedition was to 
 be immediately organised and equipped, and I was 
 lionoured with the charge of its personnel and materieU 
 and to effect the object for which the committee was 
 constituted. I was to erect stations according to the 
 means furnished along the overland route — after due 
 consideration of their eligibility and future utility — for 
 the convenience of the transport, and the European staff 
 in charge, to establish steam-communication w^herever 
 available and safe. The stations w^ere to be commo- 
 dious and sufficient for all demands that were likely 
 to be made on them. By lease or purchase, ground 
 enough was to be secured adjoining the stations so as 
 to enable tliem in time to become self-supporting if the 
 dispositions of the natives should favour such a project. 
 If it were expedient also, land on each side of the route 
 adopted for the traffic was to be purchased or leased, to 
 prevent persons ill-disposed towards us from frustrating 
 tbe intentions of the Committee through sheer love of 
 mischief or jealousy. Such acquired land, however, 
 might be sublet to any European, at a nominal rent, 
 who would agree to abstain from intrigue, from inciting 
 the natives to hostility, and from disturbing the peace 
 of the country. 
 
 In brief, during this and subsequent meetings every
 
 28 THE CONGO. 
 
 1878. 2:»lan that could teud to promote harmony and good- 
 Europe, Will, and nisure a peaceable and thorough trial for 
 the experimental efforts about to be made in a little- 
 known country was discussed and formed. The chari- 
 table and philanthropic character of the resolutions 
 clearly showed whose hand and mind had formed them, 
 even if I had not had the honour of learning the senti- 
 ments of the Royal Founder of the enterprise from his 
 own lips at private audiences. 
 
 The first meeting assembled on the 25tli November, 
 1878, at the Ko^'al Palace of Brussels, at which Colonel 
 Strauch, of the Belgian Army, was elected President of 
 the society called Comite d'Etudes du Haut Congo ; and 
 my first instructions to begin organising the Expedi- 
 tion du Haut Congo were written out. At the second 
 meeting, held on December 9, I was requested to have 
 all the plans and estimates for expenses for the first 
 six months ready to be laid before a general council to 
 be held on the 2nd of January, as many of the members 
 had been unable to appear at the December meeting. 
 The third meeting, held on the 2nd of January, 1879, 
 at which there were present representatives of Belgium, 
 Holland, England, France, and America, was the final 
 one, when the plans were adopted and the necessary 
 sums voted. By the 23rd of January, all that I could 
 personally effect in EurojDe was accomj)lished ; and 
 while the steamer Albion, of Leith — chartered for the 
 expedition — was steaming to the Mediterranean, I was 
 hurrying through France and Italy to meet her, to 
 proceed to Zanzibar to enlist as many of my old
 
 FINAL ABRANGEMENTS. 29 
 
 comrades as might be willing to try their luck on i879. 
 
 . . Jamiavv. 
 
 the great river agani. Daring my absence on the Eurofc. 
 East Coast of Africa advantage could be taken by 
 the builders of the steamers, lighters, and steel whale- 
 boats, by the makers of portable wooden houses, 
 corrugated iron stores, wagon-makers, and provision- 
 packers, to complete the orders they had received ; 
 and by the time I should accomplish my mission at 
 Zanzibar, the larger steamer Barga, also chartered, 
 would no doubt have arrived at the Congo, and have 
 discharged her passengers and her cargo of expedi- 
 tionary material. 
 
 The following letter, dated London, January 7th, 
 1870, to Mr. Albert Jung, a director in the present 
 Afrikaansche Handels-Yenootschap — successor of the 
 Afrikaansche Handels-Vereeniging — then chief agent 
 of the great Dutch Company at Banana Point, Congo 
 Iviver, will perhaps better serve to explain the measures 
 and objects briefly described above : — 
 
 "Dear Sir, 
 
 " I am infonnccl that you arc already partly aware of what is about 
 to be attempted by a number of gentlemen in Holland, Belgium, France, 
 England, and America, who have formed tljemselves into a commission 
 called the ' Comite d'Etudes du Haut Congo.' You have also doubt- 
 less heard that I am selected as chief of the expedition which is about 
 to set out for the Congo under the auspices of the Committee. 
 
 " Before proceeding with the request which I have to make to you, with 
 your kind permission I will endeavour to explain luore clearly what tlie 
 Committee have in view. 
 
 " \Vithin the vast basin known in geographical i)arlance as the basin of 
 the Congo there is a vast field lying untouched by the European merchant, 
 and about three-fourths unexplored by the geographical explorer. For 
 tlie most i)art it is i)eoj)led by ferocious savages, devoted to abominable 
 cannibalism and wanton murder of inoffensive peoi)lc; but along the
 
 30' THE CONGO. 
 
 1879. great river towards the Livingstone Falls there dwell numerous amiable 
 January, tribes who 'wonld gladly embrace the arrival of the European merchant, 
 Europe, ^nd hasten to him with their rich produce to exchange for Manchester 
 cloths, Venetian beads, brass wire, hardware and cutlery, and such other 
 articles as generally find favour with the Africans in your vicinity. Their 
 manners are gentle, and their instincts are entirely for trade. Hitherto, 
 however, they have been unable to benefit themselves by commercial 
 relationship with the white man, such articles of European manufacture 
 having arrived only after a tedious process and the lapse of many months, 
 perhajDS years, among them, because between them and the coast extends 
 a broad belt of country inhabited by warlike tribes and turbulent natives, 
 who are not only accustomed to tax heavily all articles boiand for the 
 interior, but to often lay violent hands on the almost defenceless wayfarer. 
 Having on a successful journey, which terminated last year, studied the 
 problem of uniting the amiable tribes above in close trading relationship 
 with European merchants, and obtained the clue to the mode of putting 
 into practice this idea for the benefit of the many kind African friends 
 whom I met above, and such merchants as we may be able to interest in 
 the business, I am on the eve of having my anticipations realised. You 
 must know that not many hours' joui'ney from Boma to the confines of 
 the Babwende territory the road is rendered unsafe for the more amiable 
 jieople above by the turbulent and rapacious petty chiefs who dwell along 
 the route, and whose number is legion. These would be a great obstacle 
 to me also if I did not avail myself of varioiis roads which penetrate 
 through the unpeopled wilderness, my explorations through the country 
 having given me such a general knowledge of the interior that I shall be 
 able to pass by these chiefs unmolested ; and I have perfect confidence 
 that if I live a road will be found both practicable, easy, and safe for the 
 natives of the upi^er regions to visit the lower station with their produce. 
 This, as you must know, would materially assist us in j^lanting the benefits 
 of legitimate commerce among them, and opening the great heart of Africa, 
 with its various productions, to the enterprise of Europe. It cannot be 
 done, however, without great tact, patience, long-suffering, and winning 
 manners, even with the friendly peoj^les of the upper regions. The many 
 times that I have made blood-brotherhood with the chiefs above will stand 
 me in good stead now ; and whatever virtue is required to realise my 
 anticipations and to effect the objects the Committee have in view, shall 
 be thoroughly practised. 
 
 " You will observe from the above remarks that our purpose is threefold : 
 that they are philanthropic, scientific, and commercial. They are philan- 
 thropic, inasmuch as our principal aim is to open the interior by weaning 
 the tribes below and above from that savage and susjDicious state which 
 they are now in, and to rouse them up to give material aid voluntarily. 
 "When we shall have shown them that the white men near the sea wait to 
 extend a courteous welcome to the dark strangers from the interior, that
 
 LETTER TO MR. ALBERT JUNG. 31 
 
 the road between the sea and their country is not beset by diflBculties and ^gyg 
 trouble, Texation and harm, the j)roblem is solved, and it may then be left January, 
 to the white men to expedite matters by creating a more rapid means of Europe. 
 communication, or to time to ripen the good seed that we shall have sown. 
 At any rate I doubt that the road thus created by mutual goodwill and 
 mutual confidence will ever again be closed. 
 
 " Our i^urpose is also scientific, because we intend to make a systematic 
 survey of that country lying between the Stanley Pool and Boma, either 
 on the north or the south side of the Congo, and to determine with exacti- 
 tude the positions of all important towns and villages, and all i^rominent 
 points which shall be of interest to the geographer and the merchant. 
 
 " Our aims are commercial also, because we intend to experiment how 
 far people may venture into commercial relationship with the tribes above, 
 by inviting them to exchange such products as they may possess for the 
 manufactured goods of civilised states. We may thus obtain valuable 
 statistics, which shall be a guide to future merchants, of the nature and 
 cxuantity of African produce in the interior, and shall be able to note well 
 the general disposition of those with whom we come in contact. 
 
 " Yet on the threshold of the enterprise we are encountered with the 
 serious necessity of providing ourselves with suitable men in whom we 
 may repose a confidence that the mere sight of a drunken chief will not 
 dissipate at once our hopes, and destroy those dreams we have cherished 
 and have hoped to realise. 
 
 " After a conversation with ^Messrs. Kcrdyck & Pincofis, who are greatly 
 interested in these plans of ours, as you must be aware, I have been 
 requested and advised to apply to you, and this I do witli the greater 
 confidence that I already have had the honour and pleasiire of an inter- 
 view with you in London. 
 
 " While I set out for Egypt and the East African Coast to collect a 
 few trusty men, you could materially assist me by collecting a number 
 of Kruboys or Krumaners, from 75 to 130 men, by hiring them from the 
 chiefs for a given time, with the promise of either renewing the contract, 
 or returning them to the chiefs according to such agreement as you may 
 make with the chiefs or with the people themselves, and engaging for me 
 from twenty to thirty or forty Kabindas at such wages as you deem just, 
 and in accordance with the custom of the West Coast. 
 
 " Messrs. Kcrdyck and Pincoffs have also spoken to mc about a young- 
 gentleman who is at present engaged in your establishment at P>anana 
 Point, and I believe and hope that they will write to you about him. If 
 it is quite decided that he accepts office under me, will you kindly instruct 
 him what to do. He could assist you materially in looking after those 
 men whi^m you engage for me — if no Kabindas sufficient could 1)0 collected 
 at Banana itself, he might go personally to Kabinda, I'^irc, and do valuable 
 service liy collecting all that he could induce to accept such wages as you 
 may offer. And whatever contracts you may make in my name it would
 
 32 THE CONGO. 
 
 1879. ^^6 as well to have them as clear and simple as possible, to prevent mis- 
 January. iTnderstanding in future. If you can collect 150 men of all classes- 
 Europe. Kabindas and others — for me by the time I have arrived, you -will have 
 done me and the Committee also a most important service, "wliich they 
 •would be bound to acknowledge. 
 
 "I may very probably arrive at the Congo about the beginning of 
 August, i)erhaps before, if all goes well, where I shall hope to find you 
 and thank you in person for the favour that I hope you shall have done 
 for me. 
 
 " I have not by any means, I am well aware, exhausted this subject or 
 others that I might have enlarged upon, but I know that I am addressing 
 a gentleman of large experience with Afi-ican customs and manners, and 
 one who will be able to fill up the lack of sufiicieut detail with his o"«^l 
 ample stock of good common sense and profound and wide knowledge of 
 what ought to be done. 
 
 " ^Meantime until my arrival various things will be shipped to your care, 
 which I beg you to store for me in your store-rooms, and such gentlemen 
 who come in my name pray receive as hospitably as your circumstances 
 will warrant, and your knowledge of their condition in a sti'ange land will 
 suggest. I need not have touched upon that, for the Congo merchants, as 
 I know from experience, are always ready to extend hospitality. Any 
 exxtense in any duty that you may incur for me, or in my behalf, I shall 
 gladly repay, but your goodness and your compliance with the above 
 favoui's that I have asked of you would be above recompense, yet by far 
 of greater value, which I shall leave to good fortune to enable me to show 
 you my never-dying gratitude. 
 
 " Please commimicate the details of this letter to Mr. deBloeme; and it 
 would be as well to suggest that until my arrival such persons as have no 
 interest in knowing of our business it would be as well not to communicate 
 our affairs to them. 
 
 " Present my best respects to Mr. de Bloeme, and believe me, dear 
 Sir, 
 
 " Faithfully yours, 
 
 (Signed) '-'Hexby M. Stakley."
 
 FOUNDATION OF THE ASSOCIATION. 33 
 
 July. 
 Brussels. 
 
 CHAPTER lY. 
 
 THE AFRICAN- INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION. 
 
 Foundation of the Association — "Withdrawal of the English members — 
 General Sanford's description of the Association — My first relations 
 with the International — My instructions to M. Cambier — Karema, a 
 prosjierous station^My instructions to Captain Popelin— Draft of 
 propositions for the organisation of an Expedition — Farewell to 
 Zanzibar— The SS. Albion starts on her long voyage. 
 
 The foundation of the African International Association 1877 
 took place while I was still in the heart of equatorial 
 Africa. I am therefore obliged to have recourse to the 
 printed accounts of its formation, and from the Royal 
 Geographical Society's ^Proceedings' of July 1877 I 
 quote the following : — 
 
 " The fresh impulse to African exploration originated in the Conference 
 at Brussels, on the 12th, 13tli, and llth of September last, to which His 
 ^Majesty the King of the Belgians invited a number of the leading geo- 
 graphers of tlie chief nations of Europe. Eeju'esentativcs from Germany, 
 Austro-Hungary, Belgium, France, Great Britain, Italy and Russia were 
 present at the Conference, and, as a result of their deliberations, it was 
 agreed that an International Commission, having its seat at Brussels, 
 should be founded for the exploration and civilisation of Central Africa, 
 and that each nation willing to co-operate should form National Com- 
 mittees to collect subscriptions for the common object, and send delegates 
 to the Commission ; thus centralising as much as possible tlio efforts 
 made, and facilitating by co-operation the execution of the resolutions of 
 the Commission. 
 
 " Belgium was the first to establish a National Committee, the mem- 
 bers of which assembled under the presidency of the King on the Gth of 
 November, 187C. At tliis meeting the statutes were formulated and 
 VOL. I. D
 
 July 
 
 l>nissels 
 
 34 THE CONGO. 
 
 1S77. agreed to, the preamble of whicli set fortli that the Committee was con- 
 stituted for the purpose of carrying into effect, within tlie limits of Belgium, 
 the programme of the International Conference, which was stated to be 
 the ' repression of the slave-trade and the exploration of Africa.' The 
 Committee made an appeal to the Belgian public for subscriptions, with 
 considerable success. 
 
 " In England, when the organisation of a similar Committee came to be 
 discussed, difficulties of an obvious nature were foreseen, which rendered 
 it desirable that such a Committee, whilst maintaining friendly relations 
 of corresi^ondence with the Belgian and other Committees, should not 
 trammel itself with engagements of an International nature, or with 
 objects other than those connected with geography. In consequence of 
 this decision; delegates have not been appointed to the International 
 Commission at Brussels. 
 
 " Germany. — In resi^onse to the views of the Brussels International 
 Conference, a National Committee was formed at Berlin who decreed, on 
 the 18th of December, 1876, the establishment of the German African 
 Society, the functions of which will be to carry out the same objects as 
 the International Commission, viz. : 1, the Scientific exploration of the 
 unknown regions of Central Africa : 2, the oi^ening-up of Central Africa 
 to civilisation and commerce : and, 3, as, iilterior object, the extinction of 
 the slave trade. The affairs of the Society are to be administered by a 
 Council, of which Prince Henry YII. Eeuss is the president. Dr. George 
 von Bunsen the secretary, and Dr. Nachtigal, Hcrr Delbriik, Dr. A. Bastian, 
 Dr. Herzog, Baron von Eichthofen, Dr. Pioth, and Dr. W. Siemens, the 
 members. The Society will maintain relations with the International 
 Commission at Brussels, and have appointed Dr. Bastian, Dr. G. von 
 Bunsen, and Baron von Eichthofen as German Delegates. 
 
 " The Society is to consist of Foiuiders and Members, the former com- 
 prising those who contribute a donation of 300 marks to its funds, the 
 latter to include all annual subscribers of five marks and upwards — all 
 corporations, chambers, and scientific societies to bo admissible in their 
 corjDorate capacities as members, on payment of proportionate sub- 
 scriptions. 
 
 '' As to the disposal of the funds accumulated by the Society, it has been 
 decided that only a portion of the yearly income shall be contributed to 
 the International Commission, the remainder and greater part being set 
 apart for German undertakings of discovery and exploration in Africa. 
 Like the Belgian Commission, a leading feature of the German operations 
 will be the foundation of stations in the interior of Africa, which are to 
 serve partly as bases of operations for travellers, and partly as centres for 
 the spread of civilisation and commerce. 
 
 " Belgium. — The 'International Commission of the African Association ' 
 met, on the invitation of the King of the Belgians, at Brussels on the 20th 
 and 21st of June last ; His Majesty presiding. Delegates from all the
 
 NATIONAL COMMITTEES. 35 
 
 nations represented at the Conference of September 1876 attended, with 1877. 
 the exception of Great Britain and Eussia, the National Eussian Com- -'■ 
 
 mittee excnsing the absence of their delegates on the ground of their ^"^i"*^ *• 
 lieing much occupied with work intrusted to them by their Government. 
 Delegates from the Netherlands attended tiie meeting for the first time. 
 Various subjects of detail were discussed during the two-days' sittings ; 
 amongst them the choice of a flag for the Association, and the question of 
 procuring reductions of passage-money and so forth, in favour of members 
 of expeditions, from the various steamboat and trading companies con- 
 nected with African seaports. With regard to this latter subject, it was 
 announced by Signor Adamoli (Italian delegate), that the Italian Govern- 
 ment had made a stii^ulation in its contracts with navigation companies 
 tliat passages at a reduced rate shall be granted to all members of 
 scientific expeditions. A Netherlands delegate (M. Versteeg) also an- 
 nounced that the directors of the Afrikaansche Handels-Yereeniging to 
 Eotterdam had agreed to convey baggage intended for the various ex- 
 peditions free of charge, and to grant hospitality in their factories to the 
 members of the expedition. 
 
 '• A statement of the financial position of the Association at this date 
 was read by the secretary, by which it appeared that the Belgian National 
 Committee had already paid over to the Central Commission 287,000 
 francs in donations, and 44,000 francs in annual subscriptions, totals which 
 tlie Committee has lu'omised to increase during the current year by 11,000 
 francs and 58,000 francs respectively. The donations and a portion of 
 the annual subscriptions are to be invested, and the interest only expended 
 in the objects of the Association ; in this way, according to the calculation 
 of tlie treasixrer, 73,000 francs will be at the disposition of the Executive 
 Committee for the year 1877. The immediate commencement of opera- 
 tions has accordingly been decided upon, and an expedition is to be 
 despatched l)y way of Zanzibar towards Lake Tanganika, with the object 
 of establishing stations either at the lake itself or at certain points beyond 
 it, and also of sending explorers who will make the stations their bases 
 of operations. Tlic drawing-up of detailed instructions is confided to 
 the Executive Committee appointed to direct the oi)e rations of the 
 Association. 
 
 " National Committees to co-operate with .the Belgian International 
 Commission are stated to have been found also in : — 
 
 " France . . . President Count de Lesseps. 
 
 Austro-Hungary „ The Archduke Eudolf. 
 
 Italy .... „ The Prince de Piedmont. 
 
 Spain .... „ His Majesty King Alfonso. 
 
 Switzerland . . „ M. Bouthchier do Beamout. 
 
 Eussia ... „ The Grand Duke Constantine. 
 
 Ilullaud ... „ The Prince of Orange. 
 
 Portugal ... „ The Duke do San Januario. 
 
 D 2
 
 36 THE CONGO. 
 
 1877. " The Austro-Hungarian Committee has made a first contribution to the 
 
 " ^' funds of the Brussels Commission of 5000 francs." 
 
 Brussel 
 
 As the Eno'lish had withdrawn from the Association 
 through a fear of trammelling themselves with engage- 
 ments of an international nature, the United States were 
 invited to participate in this widespread geographical 
 movement, and a branch society was formed in New 
 York, with Judge Daly for President, who was after- 
 wards succeeded by Mr. Latrobe, of Baltimore — one 
 of the founders of Liberia. General H. S. Sanford, of 
 Florida, who succeeded in the place of Sir Bartle Frere 
 as the representative of the English-speaking races, 
 describes — in a letter to Senator Morgan, of the U.S. 
 Senate, dated March 24, 1884 — the International Asso- 
 ciation in the following words : — 
 
 "Dear Sir, 
 
 " In reply to your request for specific information as to the origin 
 and objects of the International African ^Association, I have the honour 
 to state that it owes its origin to the King of the Belgians, who in 187G 
 convened a Conference of distinguished African travellers of different 
 nationalities at his Palace in Brussels in September of that year, to devise 
 the best means of opening up to civilisation equatorial Africa. The result 
 of this Conference, which recommended the establishment of stations, 
 l^rovided for a permanent central organisation and branch organisations 
 in other countries, was the convoking a Commission or Congress, which 
 met at the Palace in Brussels in June 1877, and at which delegates from 
 Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland, 
 and the United States were present. An Executive Committee — consisting 
 of three representatives of the English-speaking, Germanic, and Latin 
 races, in the persons of Henry S. Sanford of Florida, Dr. Nachtigal (the 
 African explorer) of Berlin, and M. de Quatrefages (of the Institute) of 
 Paris, for these races respectively, under the presidency of the King — ^was 
 confirmed, and the practical means of carrying out the objects of the 
 Association were discus.sed and determined upon. 
 
 " These were, the organisation of a branch in each of the various states 
 of Europe and in America, which should aid in attracting attention to 
 this work, and in founding ' hospitable and scientific ' stations, nnder 
 the flag of the Association, which flag it was determined should be a blue
 
 GENERAL CONFEDERATION. 37 
 
 flag with a golden star in the centre. It was also decided to commence 1877. 
 the founding of these stations on the East Coast, at Zanzibar, stretching Brussels. 
 over to the lakes. 
 
 " An extract from the proceedings, defining what these stations, des- 
 tined to form a chain of posts from ocean to ocean, should be, is given as 
 best explaining the purpose of the Association. 
 
 " ' JMiat a station should he. — The Executive Committee receives from the 
 International Association entire liberty of action in the execution of the 
 following general dispositions for the foundation of scientific and hospit- 
 able stations: The personnel of a station is to consist of a chief and a 
 certain rumber of employes, chosen or accepted by the Executive Com- 
 mittee. The first care of the chief of a station should be to jDrocure a 
 suitable dwelling, and to ixtilise the resources of the coumtry, in order 
 that the station may be self-supporting. 
 
 " ' The scientific mission of a station consists, in so far as it is practicable, 
 in astronomical and meteorological observations; in the formation of 
 collections in geology, botany, and zoology ; in the mapping of the en- 
 virons of the station ; in the preparation of a vocabulary and grammar of 
 the language of the country ; in ethnological observations ; in reporting 
 the accounts of native travellers of the countries they have visited ; and 
 in keeping a journal of all events and observations worthy of notice. 
 
 " ' The hospitable mission of a station shall be, to receive all travellers 
 whom the chief shall deem worthy; to provide them, at their cost at the 
 place, with instruments, goods, and provisions, as well as guides and in- 
 terpreters ; to inform them as to the best routes to follow, and to transmit 
 their correspondence. It will also be the duty of a station to insui'e as 
 rapid and as regular communication as possible from post to post between 
 the coast and the interior. 
 
 " ' One of the ulterior objects of the stations will be, by their civilising 
 influences, to sujjpress the slave trade.' 
 
 " The result of this movement has been the opening up of a highway, so 
 to say, from Zanzibar to Lake Tacganika, mostly with capital furnished 
 by the Belgians, the last of the stations being at Karema, on the lake, 
 two of the intermediary stations being founded respectively by the French 
 and German branches of the Association. 
 
 " After .Stanley discovered the Upper Congo, in 1877, a branch of the 
 International Association was formed the year following for special work 
 on the Congo, under the name of the Comite d'Etudes of the Upper 
 Congo, but under tlie flag of the Association, and special contributions for 
 it were made by ]ihilantlu-o}iic friends of the Association. This work, 
 whicli the King of tlie Belgians has taken under his especial jiersonal and 
 financial protection, has developed to extraordinary proportions, and lias 
 had for practical result the opening-up to civilising influences and to the 
 world's traffic this vast, populous, and fertile region, and securing certain 
 destruction to the slave trade wherever its flag floats. The only practical
 
 38 THE COXGO. 
 
 1877. difficulty in this wonderful progress proves to be an unrecognised flag, 
 Brussels, which is liable to be misunderstood or abused, and the people under it 
 subjected to imiieiliments in their pliilanthropic work on the part of those 
 engaged in the slave trade, or for other selfish ends. 
 
 " I have the honour to be, very resjjectfully yours, 
 
 "H. S. Sanford, 
 " Member of the Executive Committee of the 
 International African Association." 
 
 It was well known to me that His Majesty King- 
 Le'opold II. was the Founder and President of the 
 African International Association, and also the Founder 
 of the .society called Comite d'Etudes du Haut Congo, 
 Avhicli later became known as the International Associa- 
 tion of the Congo, and that the two societies had the 
 same secretary and the same bureau, but both were kept 
 distinctly apart, as the contributed funds and the con- 
 tributions were entirely separate. On the Committee 
 of the International Association no Englishman sat, 
 but on that of the Comite' d'Etudes du Haut Congo 
 Great Britain was represented by two English gentle- 
 men well known in commercial circles for their enter- 
 prise and their benevolence ; and many more doubtless 
 would have joined but for an unfortunate incident in 
 connection with the chano-e of name of the Afrikaan- 
 sche Handels-Yereeniging of Rotterdam to that of the 
 Afrikaansche Handels-Yenootschap, for which change 
 the Comite' d'Etudes du Haut Congo was in no way 
 responsible. 
 
 The first relations that I had with the African Inter- 
 national Association were in consequence of a short 
 letter of instruction received just as I was on the point 
 of starting for Egypt to meet the Albion. In tliat letter
 
 AN EXPEDITION IN DISTBESS. 39 
 
 I was requested to collect all information respecting the 
 condition of tlie Association's first Expedition, which 
 was reported to be in distress somewhere in Mirambo's 
 country in Unyamwezi, in East Central Africa. If tlie 
 report was true, I was authorised to take all measures 
 necessary for the rescue of the travellers. 
 
 In December 1877, on my return round the Cape 
 from Western Africa, I had met the leaders of the 
 first International Expedition at Zanzibar ; but soon 
 after my arrival in Europe I heard that two of the 
 travellers had succumbed to the heat and the indiscre- 
 tions which inexperienced men generally and uncon- 
 sciously commit in tropic lands. The command of the 
 Expedition had afterwards devolved upon Lieutenant 
 Cambier, who had succeeded in taking his Expedition 
 into Unyanyembe, and by some means had got into 
 some difficulties with Mirambo, owing to engagements 
 of an entangling nature with a Mons. Broyon, a Swiss 
 travelling trader well known at that time on the East 
 Coast of Africa. 
 
 The Albion duly arrived at Zanzibar, and after many 
 efforts made to elicit the exact condition of affairs, 
 I engaged couriers to convey the following letter of 
 instructions to Lieutenant Cambier: — 
 
 " Zanzibar, E. C. A. 
 " M. Cambikr, Commanding Expedition International Association. 
 
 " Sir, 
 
 " I have been requested by His Majesty the Iviiig of the I'.elt^ians, 
 and Colonel Htrauch, Secretary-General of the Association, on this my 
 visit to Zanzibar, to give my best advice and, if necessary, assistance to 
 you and your comrades in Africa. I write this letter with the view of 
 assisting you with my advice out of the troubles whicli your letters, 
 
 Zauzil.mr.
 
 40 TEE CONGO. 
 
 1879. and those of Doctor Dutrieux, give me to understand you are in at the 
 Zanzibar, present time. 
 
 "In brief, the difficulties under which you suffer, as I understand 
 them, are as follows : — 
 
 " You visited Mirambo, King of Uramlx), Unyamwezi, and T^ecame his 
 friend and ' blood-brother.' M. Broyoil, advancing towards Ujiji with the 
 London ^lissionary Society's caravan, was met by you. Tou had left forty 
 man-loads at Urambo ; but on witnessing Mirambo's seizure of over 30O 
 loads of goods from the caravan of M. Broyon, you thought it dangerous 
 to trust your person in the j^ower of Mirambo a second time, and accord- 
 ingly fled with M. Broyon to TJnyanyembe, and you are now staying at 
 Ta1x)ra, -nith the prospect of fighting 3ilirambo in company with the 
 Arabs. 
 
 " It is to be regretted that you vi.sited ^Mirambo, not because he might 
 at any time prove faithless to his friendly vows, but because the Inter- 
 national Society's objects did not Lie in that direction, and might have 
 . been better secured on a more southern route. You, however, are not to 
 blame for this, as I xmderstand that you received orders fi-om Baron 
 Grendal to do exactly as you have done. "With your jjermission I shall 
 briefly state what the objects of the International Society are. The society 
 wishes to establish stations between Nyangwe and the Ea.st Coast, along 
 the best secured and most feasible route that may be found between 
 Bagamoyo and Ma-sikamba on the Tanganika Lake, and Mompara's on 
 the Tanganika and Jvyangwe route. Being an eminently iaoffensive and 
 philanthropic society, stations cannot be established by its officers or 
 agents in exposed countries like those districts in the neighbourhood of 
 Unyamyembe, northern or central Unyamwezi, but in localities removed 
 as far as possible from the chances of strife, visits of Euga-Enga, invasions 
 of barbarous and powerful chiefs like ilirambo and Xyungu. Neither 
 wotild it l:>e wisdom to establish any station in the iromediate neighbour- 
 hood of powerful Arab stations like Tabora or Ujiji, as the local ix>litics, 
 manners, customs, life, and privileges of the Arabs at these stations are 
 at variance 'nith the objects of a peaceful society like the International, 
 and a too familiar intimacy with the slave-trading Arabs would embroil 
 the agents and officers of the society in matters with which they have no 
 concern. 
 
 " If the International Society can secure an honourable and peaceful 
 footing among inoffensive tribes, and a tolerably safe route Ijetween 
 Masikamba and the coast (oriental) one of its first objects has been 
 attained, and this should be done before attempting another step. In 
 considering your situation, I perceive that you have the opix»rtunity of 
 securing this grand success for the International Society, and were I in 
 your 2X)sition, and possessing youi- advantages, this would be my first aim. 
 You have abundance of men, and means at least sufficient to attempt 
 this essential duty. In 1871, when affairs were in a far more desperate
 
 IXSTBUCTIONS TO M. CAMBIER. 41 
 
 condition than they are now, I left Unyamyembe for Ujiji with twenty- 18"9* 
 four Zauzibaris and a few score of native porters, succeeded in discovering Zanzibar 
 Dr. Livingstone despite Mirambo's bandits and the hostility of the Arabs. 
 You, armed with my experience, and assisted by eighty Zanzibaris, can do 
 much more than I was enabled to do. 
 
 " M. DutaUs, of the second Expedition, which will shortly start, will 
 inclose you my credentials ; and the keen interest I take in the success of 
 the International's operations are my excuses for thus intruding on you 
 my advice. 
 
 ".Sixty armed men, bearing loads, and twenty ordinary pagazis arc 
 
 sufficient for the enterprise herein suggested to you. We will suppose 
 
 you have eighty loads, which ought to consist of forty bales of mixed 
 
 cloths, principally Merikani and Kaniki, and forty loads of beads as 
 
 follows : — • 
 
 " 12 bags of Sam-sam. 
 
 10 „ blue Mutoonda. 
 
 12 ;, cowrie-shells. 
 
 2 „ white (Merikani) beads. 
 
 2 „ brown (Kadunduguru). 
 
 1 „ blue (Lungia) small. 
 
 1 „ i^ink „ small. 
 
 40 
 
 If you have not these goods in such proportion you will be able to procure 
 them at Unyanyembe, and if you have not the number of men supposed 
 above you may enlist these also there. The goods for their advance pay 
 should not be given from yoiu- provision or travelling stock, but from 
 goods purchased for that piu-pose from the Arabs at Unyanyembe. 
 
 " Your other loads should consist of — 
 
 "Tent lload. 
 
 Cooking utensils .. .. 1 „ 
 
 Bedding .. .. .. .. 1 „ 
 
 Ammunition .. .. .. 14 „ 
 
 Miscellaneous .. .. .. 6 „ 
 
 23 „ 
 making a total of — 
 
 "Cloth 40 loads. 
 
 Beads 40 „ 
 
 Miscellaneous .. .. ..23 „ 
 
 103 „ 
 
 These loads of material ought to support you and your Expedition at 
 Masikamba on the Tanganika for three years, without stinting yourself or
 
 42 THE CONGO. 
 
 1^70. men of auy of the necessaries of life, or any of the productions of Central 
 Zanzibar. Africa whicli may be needful for comfortable sujiport. 
 
 " I should advise you to commence organising at once this exj)editiou 
 in such a manner that it cannot easily become demoralised or deterred 
 from pursuing the plain ])ath of duty. You should leave M. Dutrieux 
 at Tabora, for he, after your departure, can form another expedition, and 
 t-ake position at some locality east of you; besides, it is my belief that the 
 less white men you have -with you on this expedition the better it will be 
 for the interests of the International Society. You need no companion 
 nor help for this task ; you Avill march quicker, and all your people will 
 jH-efer to be under one man rather than under two ; besides, you are simply 
 about to occuiTy a station in advance of all others, and to remain there 
 until you hear from Colonel Strauch. Before departure you, as chief, 
 should command M. Dutrieux to collect a force of sixty men, to be held in 
 readiness by him until he shall receive orders from Brussels, or shall hear 
 from some one here at Zanzibar entitled to send him his instructions, 
 you should also see before your departure that M. Dutrieux has in his 
 house — 
 
 " 30 bales of cloth. 
 
 10 bags of Sam-sam beads. 
 
 2 „ Mutoonda „ 
 
 2 „ Merikani „ 
 
 2 „ Kadunduguru beads. 
 
 1 „ Pink I . ... 
 
 \ (small) „ 
 1 „ Blue ) 
 
 You should instruct him that this is a suj^ply against a sudden demand 
 from some expedition, or a provision for himself when he shall have re- 
 ceived his instructions from Brussels. This stock should not be drawn 
 on by him, but he should obtain his goods for the support of himself or 
 men from a special stock i:)urchased for that imrpose. M. Dutrieux 
 should also, while he resides at Unyanyembe, abstain from interfering in 
 any local politics, and observe friendly intercourse with Arabs as well as 
 natives. 
 
 " I enclose you a small chart of an excellent route from Tabora to your 
 station, Masikamba, on the Tanganika. Masikamba is about a month's 
 journey from Tabora. I believe three Arabs have already located them- 
 selves there. The name of the village, I believe, is Karema, the chief of 
 which is Masikamba. I advise you to organise and equip your expedition 
 as above suggested, and take the road within ten days after the receipt of 
 this letter. 
 
 " On arriving at Masikamlja you should endeavour to obtain the loan of 
 a canoe, and, manning it with ten or fifteen men, proceed to Ujiji, where 
 you might purchase one large canoe from Moeni Kheri or Sultan Bin
 
 IXSTBUCTIOXS TO 21. CAMBIEE. 43 
 
 Kassim. You ought to get a good cauoe for 200 dollars, whicli you will i-ST^. 
 either pay in goods or an order for that amount on M. Grefulhe. You Zanzibar, 
 may then hii-e Wajiji sailors to take the canoe to Masikamba, you of 
 coui-se accompanying them. By means of this canoe you Trill render 
 yourself independent of the Arabs and natives, and have the means of 
 crossing over to Mompara's, on the western side of the lake, ■when you are 
 relieved by your successor, and you receive your instructions to move 
 westward. However eager you are to explore the interesting countries 
 west of the Tanganika, it would be impolitic for you to abandon Masi- 
 kamlia until your successor arrives there ; and I would strongly recom- 
 mend you not to abandon your station until then. Perhaps, when you 
 receive orders to move west, M. Dutrieux will appear Tvith his caravan to 
 relieve you, that you may proceed to Bambarre in Manyema, M. Dutrieux 
 taking charge of Masikamba, and the duty of transporting you and your 
 caravan to Mompara's or Uguhha. Then, when you have stationed 
 yourself at Bambarre, after a few weeks M. Dutrieux will be relieved by 
 Captain Poi^elin or 31. DutaUs, to allow him to relieve you while you 
 proceed to Xyangwe. This mode of proceeding will secure for the Inter- 
 national Society the folloTsing good stations : — 
 
 " Nyangwe . commanded by yourself. 
 
 Bambarre . „ „ M. Dutrieux. 
 
 Masikamba . „ „ M. Dutalis. 
 
 -.r (Captain Lamborel 
 
 ^^■^^y^^'' • " "I orPopeUn. 
 
 .Tiwe-la-Singa ,, „ a French officer. 
 
 Mpwapwa or i 
 
 another station \" " ' 
 
 " The International Society will thus have secured a safe and peaceful 
 route betweeii Xyang-we and Zanzibar, uninterrupted by Mirambo, Xy- 
 ungu, or other barbarous chieftains, and the work of exploration and 
 philanthropy may then be said to have begim, and may continue without 
 fear of disasters, other than those caused by sickness. 
 
 " This letter of advice, as you will observe, refers only to the organisa- 
 tion of your expedition and its destination, and it has been written by 
 the special request of His Majesty the King and Colonel Strauch. I shall 
 request M. Dutalis, whom I have brought with me to Zanzibar, to be 
 more explicit concerning my credentials and other minor matters which 
 will be of interest to you. 
 
 " A copy of this letter will be sent to Brussels to Colonel Strauch, who 
 T\ill indorse and confirm all herein written; but, meantime, I liojie that 
 you will perceive that it would be prudent and wise to act inmicdiately 
 in accordance with the advice given. 
 
 "I have only to add that I wish you the very lx;st succe.ss in tin's
 
 44 THE CONGO. 
 
 1879. enterprise, and to assure you that the day you shall plant the flag of the 
 
 Zanzibar. International Society at Masikamba's, on the Lake Tanganika, will have 
 
 seen one brilliant success for this humane and philanthropic body, and 
 
 that you will deserve and obtain an honourable recognition for your 
 
 gallant service. 
 
 " I have the honour to be. Sir, 
 
 " Your most obedient servant, 
 
 (Signed) " Henry M. Stanley." 
 
 It may be a matter of interest to the reader to know 
 that the letter was safely received by Lieutenant Cam- 
 bier, and that he arrived at the Tanganika near the 
 locality specified. Although the exact spot I had fixed 
 in my mind for the station was not occupied, still all 
 reports from the Tanganika, from successive chiefs of 
 the station, generally agree that Karema is now in a 
 most prosperous condition, having served by its pro- 
 mise of refuge at a distressed period to draw near its 
 friendly walls an increasing population, by which the 
 Commandant is regarded as the umpire and arbiter in 
 matters that, without him, could only have been solved 
 by bloodshed and spoliation. 
 
 The second International Expedition, which set out 
 from Zanzibar under the command of Captain Popelin. 
 was also organised by me during my stay at Zanzibar. 
 Lieutenant Dutalis was initiated into the mode of life 
 that would have to be followed by him during various 
 excursions which I made up the AVami, the Rufiji as far 
 as the rapids, and to the island of Mafia, and the port 
 of Dar Salaam. 
 
 The following letters and instructions to Captain 
 Popelin, commanding the second Expedition, may
 
 CAPTAIN POPELIN's EXPEDITION. 45 
 
 prove of some service to intending explorers starting 1879. 
 
 ilay 16. 
 
 from the East Coast : — Zanzibar. 
 
 "Zanzibar, 2Imj im, 1879. 
 
 " Dear Sir, 
 
 " As you have been delayed longer than originally projDOsed, I may 
 no longer wait for you, having other very important and pressing 
 business of my own to perform ; but in order to assist you to the utmost 
 of my power, as requested by the Secretary-General of the Association, I 
 have embodied some advice to you in the accompanying propositions 
 which cannot fail, if followed, to contribute to the success of your 
 exjiedition. 
 
 " Beyond what the " propositions " contain, I have only to say that 
 Monsieur Grefulhe will be." able to purchase the cloth, beads, and 
 wire mentioned in the list inclosed, and to see that they are 
 packed and corded according to custom. If Monsieur Grefulhe is 
 unable to do so from disinclination or other reason, a Hindi called 
 Jetta Wali, known to the American consul, will be able to do so to your 
 satisfaction. 
 
 " Monsieur Grefulhe can also enlist your thirty "Wangwana and two or 
 three good lads, make contract, and pay them advance. 
 
 " I should caution you i^articularly that Monsieur Dutalis should be 
 sent to Bagamoyo to arrange with the Hindi Saywa respecting the 
 Wanyamwezi (100) and a house as soon as possible, and that he should 
 take with him to Bagamoyo one boy, one cook, one cook's mate, and two 
 or tlu'ce Wangwana with rifles to prepare for the reception of yourself 
 and companions, Wangwana and stores. 
 
 " Three good donkeys, averaging in price from fifty to eighty dollars, 
 should be purchased with their saddles and equipments for the Europeans, 
 wliich should be sent to Bagamoyo with Monsieur Dutalis. 
 
 " If you arrive before the 30th May, one week should be enough to 
 enable you to look about you at Zanzibar. Then the order should be 
 given to Monsieur Grefulhe to begin enlisting Wangwana, and to i^ur- 
 chase your stores. Three weeks should be enough for you to prepare and 
 complete everything at Zanzibar, and about the 24th June next you 
 should sail for Bagamoyo. At Bagamoyo you should muster yoiir pagazis, 
 and give each his load, and if you have more luggage than stated in list, 
 pagazis should be secui-ed immediately. Pere Oscar at Bagamoyo will 
 assist you with his vast experience, and any advice you may ask from liim 
 will, I am sTiro, be given at once. 
 
 " By the 10th July you should l)e in a state to leave Bagamoyo for 
 Sliamba Goncra, your first stjition or camp. 
 
 " On arriving at Chunyu, one camp from Mpwapwa, be not tempted to 
 take the southern route Ihimigh Ugogo, but make a direct march across
 
 46 THE COXGO. 
 
 1871'. Marenga Mkali, from 4 a.m. to 8 p.m., resting en route from 10.30 r.M. to 
 May 16. ^ ^ ^^^ your camps tlirougli Ugogo should be — 
 
 "1st. Cliikombo. 
 2nd. Itmnbi. 
 3rd. Leehnmwa. 
 4th. Dudoma. 
 5th. Mwitikira. 
 6th. Zingeh. 
 
 7th. Camp in wilderness. 
 8th. Kitalalo. 
 9th. Miikoudokwa. 
 
 " Ou arriving near Jiwc la Singa, make direct west for Ugunda, leaving 
 road to Unyanyembe on your right. There discharge your pagazis, and 
 proceed with a few "Wangwana alone to Unyanyembe to procure ])agazis 
 for the Tanganika, either Wangwana or Wanyamwezi. 
 
 " After obtaining your porters at Unyanyembe proceed from Ugunda to 
 Mpokwa, ten days ; thence to Masikamba's, on Tanganika, ten days. 
 
 " On arriving here you will be governed by such instructions as you 
 may have received from the Committee and Colonel Strauch. 
 
 " Bear in mind, please, that not one proposition here is to be followed if 
 you suppose or know it to be conflicting with your orders from home. 
 This advice, which I proffer to you, is only to be taken provided it is in 
 harmony with your own official instructions. My sympathy with your work 
 is a sufficient reason why I should trouble you with this note and advice. 
 
 " You must be watchful and wary night and day; you must be patient 
 at all times, both with your white and dark companions. Be kind to 
 your blacks ; do not tease or worry them with unnecessary orders, but 
 such duties as are necessary, see that they are executed efficiently. 
 
 " Construct a bush fence* round your camp each night after crossing 
 the Kingani Eiver. Eush not into danger by any overweening confidence 
 in your breech-loading rifles and military knowledge. Be not tempted to 
 try your mettle against the native chiefs, for you will certainly gain no 
 honour, but possibly you may rush to your own destruction. 
 
 " Be calm in all contentions with native chiefs ; and one golden rule 
 which you shoiild remember is, ' Do not fire the first shot,' whatever may 
 be the xjrovocation. 
 
 " Eemember also, when purchasing anything or paying tribute, that the 
 natives always demand nearly twice as much as they expect. This custom 
 refers to Ai-abs, Wangwana, and natives in Africa. 
 
 " Keep clear of all squabbles in which you have no interest. 
 
 '•' Also, should yoiu- European companions disagree together, you should 
 remember that if you take one side in preference to the other, you will 
 have alienated the other's goodwill; as they are independent and iutelli- 
 
 * Boma, or zareeba.
 
 :\r:iy 16. 
 Zanzibar. 
 
 FBOPOSITIOXS FOB OBGAXISATIOX. 47 
 
 gent enough to settle it among themselves, suffer them to do so, and yonr 1S7& 
 own comfort and peace of mind will be thus secured. 
 
 " In order to ensure peace, each European should sleep in his own tent, 
 and only meet at meal-times. Then disperse each man to his own tent or 
 duty. It is by the prolonged discussion of trivial matters, and unneces- 
 .sary conversation, that most quarrels begin, any course, therefore, that 
 will prevent quarrels had better be followed. Banish from youi- midst all 
 reports, sayings, &c., that one European might bring against the other ; 
 for, even if true, it is evident that you cannot improve your condition by 
 taking notice of them. If you allot each person his separate duty and 
 see that it is done as chief of the expedition, in a calm and dignified 
 manner, it will be clear to you that you have done all that you are in- 
 structed to do. It would only provoke anger to maintain a discussion 
 upon a plain matter of duty. 
 
 " Yon are all concerned in j^roving that the confidence of the Societe 
 Internationale was properly given to you, and it becomes a point of honour 
 with each Eui'opean to observe this faithfully. 
 
 " I have now said all that I would gladly have told you in person ; all I 
 can say now is to devoutly wish God's blessing on your companions, white 
 and dark, and on your enterprise, and subscribe myself 
 
 " Faithfully yours, 
 
 " Henry M. Stanley. 
 "M. Captain Popelin, 
 
 " Chief of the Second Belgian Expedition to Inner Africa. 
 
 " Pkopositions for the Organisation of the Second Expedition 
 
 TO Ujiji. 
 
 " 1st. An expedition to Ujiji ought to consist of thirty "Waugwana and 
 10(» "Wanyamwezi. 
 
 '■ iiid. The Wangwana may be obtained at Zanzibar at from |5 to $G 
 per mouth. 
 
 "3rd. They should be well chosen, respectable looking, and in good 
 Iioalth and condition. 
 
 '■ itli. The leader should observe carefully whether any of theWangwana 
 are suflfering from rupture, ulcers, dysentery, or whether they are slaves, 
 or eaters of opium, if so they should be rejected. 
 
 "5th. The Wangwana should be armed with Snider, Kemington, or 
 rVimblaine breechloading rifles. 
 
 " To each rifle in the Expedition should bo prepared 300 cartridges. 
 Ilacii cartridge-box should be about thirty inches long, nine inches wide, 
 five inches deep; lids should be screwed; box lined witli zinc or tin or 
 .soldered air and water-tight; box should not weigh, with cartridges 
 witliin, over sixty-five pounds. 
 
 '• Ivicli white man should have a boy for gunbcarcr, at fi'om $2'50 to $o
 
 Zanzibar. 
 
 48 THE coy GO. 
 
 1879, per month. If he is alone, then there Bhould be two or three boys. Such 
 May 16, ^^^y^,^ ^^ arriving in camp, will become tent-boys, waiting or messenger- 
 boys. 
 
 " To thirty Wangwana there should be four chiefs, the principal chief 
 and three sub-chiefs. 
 
 " The principal chief should receive from $10 to $15 per month, and 
 should Ije a respectable and exi:>erienced man. 
 
 " The sub-chiefs should receive a dollar or two more than the privates 
 of the expedition. 
 
 " Three weeks ought to be ample time for the organisation of an expedi- 
 tion of this strength. "When it is decided to l;»egin organising, communi- 
 cation should be made with the Hindi Saywa at Bagamoyo about a house 
 and the 100 "Wanvamwezi porters, and such arrangements entered into as 
 will secure good men. Probably it would be best to arrange with the 
 Hindi that, for the safe arrival of the "\i\"anyamwezi at Unyanyembe, so 
 much i)er head should be paid to him. It would l>e far the safest plan. 
 
 " If there are more than one white with this esx>edition, one should be 
 detailed to attend to this last work at Bagamoyo, and should be com- 
 petent to complete all these arrangements by the time that his friend at 
 Zanzibar will have finished organising his party of Wangwana. 
 
 " Fout days before departure, after seeing that all the cloth-bales are 
 arranged jjroperly, corded, matted and corded over again, and numbered, 
 with a comjjlete list of the various cloths contained in each bale entered 
 in a book, the Wangwana should be called up to sign the agreement, and 
 to receive not more than three months pay in advance, before a consul, or 
 a respectable merchant of Zanzibar as witness. 
 
 "Two days li^fore departure from Zanzibar a sufficient number of 
 Arab dhows should be secured to convey the Expedition, stores, goods, 
 animals, &c., to Bagamoyo. On arrival at Bagamoyo everything should 
 be housed carefully in the building already rented by the month by 
 the gentleman who was detailed for this purjKjse. 
 
 " If the Wanyamwezi have already been secured from Saywa, they should 
 be mustered to receive their loads, and the day of the first journey men- 
 tioned to them. 
 
 " The first day's journey should not be further than to Shamba Gonera, 
 three miles west of Bagamoyo. 
 
 " The nest day should be a halt to see if everything is in proper order 
 for the journey, and such necessary trifles as the following should be 
 attended to : 
 
 " 1st. Fifty rupees in silver should be kept as a reserve. 
 
 " 2nd. Ten ten-dollars gold pieces should be kept in reserve. 
 
 " 3rd. Twenty rupees in pice should l^e kept in reserve. 
 
 '•' 4th. Xot less than five days' rations should be distributed in rice to the 
 "SVangwana and Wanyamwezi, a day's ration l^ing a kubaba each^ or 
 I2 lbs. jjer man j>er day.
 
 ATTENTIONS AT ZANZIBAR. 49 
 
 " 5t]i. 200 lbs. of rice should be conveyed for a reserve for tlie whites. 1879. 
 
 " 6th. All last wordswith the coast should be made at this place, because ^^''^7 ^^• 
 it would be impolitic to halt after moving from Shamba Gonera until Zanzibar, 
 three good days' journey have been made, because, besides consuming 
 IH'ovisions heedlessly where j^rovisions are scarce, it would be offering- 
 inducements to the weak-minded among the men to desert. 
 
 " After the first three days' march halt one day, then make two days' 
 journey and rest. Thus make it alternately three days' march and one 
 day's halt, then two days' march and one day's halt, as far as Mpwapwa. 
 
 " At Mpwapwa halt three days, and distribute six days' provisions to 
 each man. In Ugogo take the northern route according to my latest map. 
 
 "All arrangements for tribute with the Wagogo suffer your chief to make, 
 subject to your own approbation, always impressively advising him to 
 endeavour to reduce the tribute as low as possible. 
 
 " Your temper will be much tried in Ugogo, but in this land of clamorous, 
 greedy and extortionate natives it will be your duty to remember that your 
 best weapon against them is patience and good nature. 
 
 " Beyond Ugogo the road is tolerably free from trouble, and, as you will 
 liave gained experience, it is unnecessary to give advice how to proceed." 
 
 With the above and various other missions, and the 
 enhstment of a select body of sixty-eight Zanzibaris 
 for the Congo Expedition, three-fourths of whom had 
 accompanied me across Africa, my time was fully 
 occupied. 
 
 The Sultan of Zanzibar showed great kindness to 
 our new Expedition by loading the store-rooms of our 
 steamer with abundance of provisions, while scores of 
 fowls, geese, and ducks, besides half-a-dozen bullocks, 
 insured a considerable supply of fresh meat. 
 
 Captain Hathorne, the American consul, and Mons. 
 Grcfulhc, a French merchant at Zanzibar, were most 
 assiduous in polite attentions and profuse in their hos- 
 pitality, and towards the latter part of May 1879 the 
 steamer Albion departed on her long voyage to the 
 liiver Congo, by way of the Red Sea and the Mediter- 
 ranean, 
 
 VOL. I. E
 
 50 THE CONGO. 
 
 CHAPTER Y. 
 
 EN ROUTE TO THE COXGO. 
 
 Bankruptcy of Dutch mercliants at the mouth of the Congo ; its effect — 
 Letter to Colonel Strauch — The Expedition charged with being 
 mysterious — Groundlessness of the charge — My personal conduct iu 
 the matter — Accident to the AWon — Compelled to call at Sierra 
 Leone — An amusing misunderstanding — An old friend — Kind atten- 
 tions — Arrival at the mouth of the Congo. 
 
 1879. As I Lave before related, the " Internationale Associa- 
 
 Julv. 
 
 Zanzibar ^^^^^ Africaine " was organised in 187G for tlie purpose 
 of erecting a line of stations from the East Coast into 
 the interior, as far as the interest of their subscribed 
 fund would permit, for the benefit principally of such 
 travellers as might by reverses be compelled to fall 
 back to recruit and renew their efforts. 
 
 The " Committee of Study of the UpiDer Congo " by 
 their very title only undertook the Congo River as the 
 object of their work. There were several merchants 
 connected with the latter society who had no con- 
 nection with the other. At the outset the latter had 
 separate and distinct objects in view, with the ulti- 
 mate intention of embarking in a grander enterprise 
 if the reports from the Congo region were favourable. 
 But while I was on my way from Zanzibar to Aden, 
 the Dutch merchants possessing a large establishment
 
 BANKRUPTCY OF DUTCH MERCHANTS. 51 
 
 at the mouth of the Congo, having embarked in various i879. 
 
 July. 
 
 projects beyond their means, failed at a crisis to meet Aden, 
 their engagements, and consequently were declared 
 bankrujDt. Had this great house been the solvent 
 establishment it was generally credited to be, these 
 merchants would have been by no means unimportant 
 factors in the tentative enterprise about to be begun. 
 
 On arriving at Aden, however, I found a telegram 
 awaiting me declaring that the said Dutch merchants 
 had become bankrupts, and that one of the principal 
 directors had fled to America, while another had at- 
 tempted to commit suicide. The presence of these and 
 other merchants had given a commercial character to 
 the enterprise ; and as the succeeding and more stable 
 company, called the "AfrikaanscheYenootschap," which 
 was formed in place of the " Handels Yereeniging," 
 solicited the committee to refund the subscriptions 
 paid in by its predecessor, the committee availed itself 
 of the opportunity to return every subscription to the 
 merchants of all nationalities who had previously ex- 
 pressed by their various subscriptions their sympathy 
 with the project. 
 
 There then remained connected with the " Committee 
 of Study of the Upper Congo" only those who managed 
 the affairs of the Internationale Association Africaine. 
 Hence the committee at a later period, having satisfied 
 itself that progress and stability were secured, assumed 
 the title of " Association Internationale du Congo," 
 win'ch, be it remembered, was originally started with 
 the philanthropic motive of opening up the (,^ongo 
 
 E 2
 
 52 THE CONGO. 
 
 1879. basin, and of exploring and developing, according to 
 Gibraltar, the cxtcnt of its mcans, the resources oi the country 
 around each station as soon as it was founded. 
 
 At Gibraltar, I received my final instructions, which 
 bore of course considerable amendments to those I had 
 originally received. 
 
 The following letter will prove this, and it will also 
 no doubt enlighten the reader as to the ideas which we 
 then entertained respecting our novel and unique enter- 
 prise before the expedition had arrived near the scene 
 of its labours : — 
 
 GiBBALTAB, JvXy 8th, 1879. 
 
 " Dear Col. StkaucHj — 
 
 " I have re-read your notes with care, and beg leave to remark 
 upon them as follows, and in succeasive order :— 
 
 " 1st. Ton say, ' The best means would be of obtaining from the Congo 
 chiefs concessions of ground, with privileges of making roads, and 
 reducing as much land under cultivation as we should be able to 
 cultivate.' 
 
 " A footing cannot be made on the Congo without having first entered 
 into agreement or treaty with the cliiefs either for commercial or 
 philanthropic purposes. This must be done with tact and generosity, 
 exercising large forbearance in all communications. Such privileges as 
 they may grant to us must be paid for, and to meet all such exigences I 
 am liberally provided. I entertain no fear that the natives will place 
 any impediment in my way, and precaxitions will be taken to prevent 
 suspicion and ignorance, aggravating either party in the proposed treaties, 
 to the destruction of our hopes. As the greatest danger falls to the share 
 of the pioneer, so the burden of cost generally falls upon the promoter 
 of a new enterprise, We are therefore prepared for the danger and the 
 cost. 
 
 " 2nd. You say, ' The stations should be occupied by coloured men — 
 freemen, under the superintendence of white men.' 
 
 " Indeed with any person but a genuine freebom and free-living man 
 nothing could be done in Congo Land, and I do not believe that in our 
 direst extremity we should be wilhng to enlist the ser^-ices or place 
 dei>endence in any person or i^ersons other than free. 
 
 "3rd. You say, 'It would be wise to extend the influence of the 
 stations on the chiefs and tribes dwelling near them, of whom a republican
 
 LETTER TO COLONEL STEAUOM. 53 
 
 eonfecleration of free negroes might be formed, sucli confederation to be 1879. 
 independent except that the King, to whom its conception and formation "'^"'^ ^• 
 was due, reserved the right to appoint the President, who shoukl reside in ^'"■^''ilt-'*^* 
 Europe.' You say also ' that a confederation thus formed might gTant 
 concessions (with j^ower to make good what they granted) to societies 
 for the construction of works of public utility, or perhaps might be able 
 to raise loans like Liberia and Sarawak, and construct theu- own i^ublic 
 works.' 
 
 '•' I expect a permanent influence for good upon the people of Congo Land 
 as a natural result of fair-dealing traffic at the various stations that we 
 may establish ; that this influence will be extraordinarily extensive I do 
 not delude myself, for we labour according to our means only, and we 
 have too many definite objects in view to deviate from our appointed 
 path with the mere purpose of enlarging our influence around us. Yoii 
 must remember that though oiu- path is long it will be for some time 
 extremely narrow, and neither are oiu* present resources ample enough 
 to justify oui' seeking to widen as well as lengthen our influence. Along 
 the line of our route you may rest assured that such influence as we may 
 have will be due to our upright and strictly honourable commerce, or 
 enterprise with such natives as may seek by self-interest oiir acquaint- 
 ance. We shall require but mere contact to satisfy all and any natives 
 that our intentions are jjure and honourable, seeking their own good 
 (materially and socially) more than our interests. We go to spread 
 what blessings arise from amiable and just intercourse with people who 
 liitherto have been strangers to them, I know the natives of Africa to 
 be clever enough to appreciate this, and wise enough to wish to cultivate 
 all material good. For this reason I apprehend no fears, when once the 
 stations are established, that they will seek to destroy what we build 
 upon fairness and strictest equity, but that for this good we may do 
 them, they will immediately and at once form into a political confedera- 
 tion or imion for tlie general benefit I entertain no hope ; on the con- 
 trary, they will retain their own several chiefs, their own degraded customs, 
 be as jealous as ever of every tribal right, and resent every foreign 
 interference in their own customs, or personal modes of life. If we were 
 able to introduce a sufficient number of persons already inoculated with 
 European ways and manners as to form a balance of i)ower, I might then 
 expect that the task would not be difficult by the influence of members 
 and wealtli to bring the largest number of the tribes to acquiesce iu what 
 was ordained for the general welfare. All we can hope at present in 
 brief is to win suffrage to live and move about without fear of violence, 
 by patience, good nature, loyal friendship, and honourable traffic. 
 Whatever progress we may expect of them can only be made in its own 
 good time. Man, of no matter what colour he is, is a slow creature, dull 
 and incapable frequently of judging what is good for liimsclf, or unhesi- 
 tatingly accepting another's judgment of what is best for him. Such
 
 64 THE CONGO. 
 
 1879. chiefs as "we may find en route we miLst accept as the tribes appoint for 
 July 8. themselves, and make the most we can of them by generosity and tact. 
 Gibraltar, i^q must subsidise the various chiefs, each and separate, until they learn 
 that it is for their own interest to conform to what we wish. We must 
 endeavour to induce them to accept their neigh1x)urs as friends, on the 
 ground that as they are our friends they must be their friends. It is a 
 very simple policy, and one the African imderstands. 
 
 " 4th. You say, ' This project is not to create a Belgian colony., but to 
 establish a powerful negro state.' 
 
 "I understand that there is no intention to establish a Belgian colony, 
 but your other alternative is far more difficult. It would be madness for 
 one in my position to attempt it, except so far as one course might 
 follow another in the natural sequence of things. I repeat we must 
 leave the jtettj tribes as we found them, and leave each and all 
 to observe for themselves what is acceptable. To such as seek the 
 protection, comfort, and care of the stations, a kindly refuge will be 
 granted, and whatever may be done to improve their condition, such will 
 ^}e given to the utmost of our power, with the utmost goodwill, with ;■ 
 view of not only consolidating the influence of the stations, but of 
 improving our means of civilising such peoples as may come in immediate 
 contact or relationshiio with us. 
 
 " oth. To the following note I would reply that over the stations, or the 
 ground attached to the stations, the managers of the stations would have 
 the moral right of considering themselves legitimate owners, and the 
 natives would readily accede to this, as they are firm believers in the 
 sajing that every man's house is his castle, and every man's land his 
 own. 
 
 " 6tli. You say, ' Each station should be a little commonwealth.' 
 
 " So it will be, but you might go further and say that though each 
 station is a little sovereign commonwealth, yet it is but part and parcel 
 of a larger commonwealth, which is ruled over by the manager appointed 
 by those who founded, promoted, and sustained the unique enterjirise. 
 
 "I beg you, my dear Colonel, with these remarks which I havr 
 appended to your notes at your own request, to believe me now as ever, 
 " Yours very faithfully, 
 
 (Signed) " Hexey M. Stanley. 
 
 " Col. SxEArcH, 
 " Hotel Eoyal, Gibraltar." 
 
 Following the preceding letter it is necessary that I 
 should make an explanation regarding the •' silence and 
 mystery " which we were accused of maintaining about 
 our destination and intentions, as chagrined editors of
 
 charctE of mystification. 55 
 
 journals and magazines about this time often indulged 1879. 
 
 f. July y. 
 
 m some extraordmary guesses as to the nature ot my Gibraltar, 
 mission. 
 
 It is my opinion that nothing could he more unjust 
 than the accusation that there was an intention of 
 
 COLONEL HTllAUCH. 
 
 mystifying anybody "wlio had a right to know the 
 olject of the expedition then on its way to the Congo. 
 I have constantly asserted that the conduct of the 
 committee was singularly indiscreet in divulging its 
 intentions to so many representatives of nationalities as
 
 56 THE CONGO. 
 
 1879. were present at the Conference. That success was at 
 
 Julys. 
 
 Gibraltar. *^^ attainable after the indiscretion was exceedingly 
 doubtful ; for it was well known to those wlio reflected 
 at all upon the circumstances that the so-called Greo- 
 graphical and Commercial societies were not intended 
 solely to advance geographical knowledge, but also to 
 further the political interests of their Governments. 
 
 The Committee was informed of this as of other 
 facts, but yet its members conducted themselves openly, 
 and without guile. 
 
 To me, indeed, it is a cause of wonder that we were 
 able to effect anything, even to make a landing on 
 the Congo. On the Council there were five nations 
 represented, and a number of persons had been applied 
 to for subscriptions whom we discovered afterwards 
 entertained not the least sympathy with the projected 
 enterprise. The Comite d'Etudes du Haut Congo 
 ought, if we hold the scales of reason justly, to be 
 censurable for their simple and credulous guilelessness, 
 rather than for studious mystification. 
 
 At the same time, I boldly declare that I personally 
 resorted to every method of withholding information 
 respecting my mission, for the very good reason, that 
 I wished it to succeed. I have restrained myself from 
 writing to dear and valued friends, because it was 
 dangerous to the interests .of the work which I had 
 undertaken to perform. It was for this reason that I 
 maintained an absolute silence for several years respect- 
 ing myself and my actions. If my friends still feel 
 aggrieved at this, I have the consolation of feeling that
 
 ACCIDENT TO THE ALBIOX. 57 
 
 my conscience still approves my action ; and my only i^'p- 
 regret is tliat I know tlie names of those who were not siena 
 
 Leone. 
 
 SO consistent in this reserve, and who, while professing 
 warmest sympathy and support, armed many an advei- 
 sary against our mission. 
 
 While off Goree an accident occurred to the crown 
 of one of the furnaces of the steamer ^/iw??, and Capt. 
 Thompson was compelled to enter the port of Sierra 
 Leone for repairs. 
 
 The follow^ing j^ortion of the report to the President 
 
 of the Association, dated Sierra Leone, 30th July, 1879, 
 
 hears upon wh.at followed : — 
 
 " These repairs nearly involved me in a little trouble — though it afforded 
 me a great deal of amusement — with the colonial authorities. It appeals 
 that some peojDle have been playing scandalous tricks with Her Britannic 
 Majesty's dark colonials, and importing to the equatorial islands of 
 Princes and St. Thomas, under fraudful pretensions, the loyal blacks of 
 Sierra Leone. Consequently, when the hawk-eyed and vigilant Collector 
 of Customs, Hansens, or Hansons, I believe his name is, discovered a 
 small steamer like the Albion with so many coloured people on board^ 
 under charge of a gentleman named Swinbiu-nc, he was justified, if the 
 responses were not direct, to attempt penetrating further into what 
 appeared to him extremely singular ; and my poor young secretary, not 
 accustomed to be confronted and questioned by dread Government 
 officers, soon grew confused, whereupon — but here Mr. Collector was 
 invited to the cabin, and presently made aware that I was about to lead 
 another expedition into Africa, and the fierce governmental wi'atli sub- 
 sided, I am happy to say." 
 
 Lest other consequences, the nature of which will he 
 discovered hy perusal, should result, I wrote the fol- 
 lowing letter to the Governor : — 
 
 " Confidential. " SS. Albion, Pokt of Silura Leone, JkIi/ }S~0. 
 
 " De.\u Sir, — 
 
 " I am informed by my secretary, !Mr. Swinburne, that the Doctor 
 Rowe whom both he and I met at the Volta with Capt. Glover's forces 
 in December, 1873, is His Excellency the Governor of this colony.
 
 08 THE coy GO. 
 
 1879. If true, permit me to congratiilate you upon the liigli position you have 
 
 '^^^^' attained, and to assm-e you that I am glad to hear that the British 
 
 Sierra Government did not forget, in its distribution of rewards and honours, one 
 
 so highly recommended by Captain, now Governor, Sii- John Glover, as 
 
 yourself. 
 
 " I have been so troubled by fevers, which, though of no serious nature, 
 have been very annoying, since my explorations on the east coast of the 
 rivers Wami, Kingani, Eufiji, and Mombassa Creek during the height of 
 the rainy season, that I have since been unable to visit any one, and to 
 prevent good-natured attentions from my numerous friends en rotde, and 
 in the hope that I should feel bettered by a rigid dietary before launching 
 out on my next exploration, I have requested the captain to kindly 
 conceal the fact that I was on board. Being an African yourself of large 
 experience yoix will readily acknowledge that such a course of living is 
 more likely to ensure good health on the continent than to beget bilious 
 humours by self-indulgence. At every call port then I have instructed 
 Mr. Swinburne what to do, so that I might be left free to cure the last 
 remnants of the ague before exposing myself to new attacks. 
 
 " I dare say you have read paragraphs in the Tirnes and other i^apers 
 relating to this present expedition which I am again leading to Africa. 
 Most of the men on board are my old comrades of the Daily Telegraph 
 and Aew York Herald expedition which came down the Congo in 1877. 
 Some are from Livingstone's expedition and my search expedition after 
 Livingstone ; the others are their friends. The Prince of Zanzibar was 
 applied to, and he very kindly granted me permission to enlist such as I 
 wanted, and he also very generously supplied me with all such stores as 
 I needed during the voyage, besides letters of recommendation. 
 
 " I chartered this vessel in behalf of a body of philanthropists of whom 
 the King of the Belgians is at the head, whose purpose is to open to the 
 world of commerce and Christian missions the Congo river. As explora- 
 tion from the western coast is impracticable unless a portion of the 
 expedition consists of men acquainted with travel ia these parts, it was 
 thought best to re-engage a few of my last expedition who had personal 
 experience with the natives along the Lower Congo, and with whom they 
 had made firm friendsliip. Though an uncommonly expensive pro- 
 ceeding it was the only alternative that promised success, and I was 
 compelled to adopt it. While on our voyage we have experienced several 
 small misfortunes. I had intended to have explored the Ozi and Jub 
 rivers, but in leaving Mombassa we lost our port anchor, and the 
 increasing monsoon winds, and the death of our first mate, compelled me 
 to defer this exploration until it shall please Providence to permit us 
 another visit to the eastern shores. A few days also after leaving 
 Gibraltar the crowns of our furnaces showed signs of weakening, but the 
 engineers speak hopefully at present, and say that they will be able in a 
 day or so to efficiently repair them.
 
 AT BANANA POINT. 59 
 
 " i\Ieantiine if you in your eminent iDOsition can expedite oiu* dej)arture 1879. 
 for the scene of oiu- labours, I sliall consider myself greatly indebted to 
 you. I am anxious about our own healths as much as for the health of Leone 
 my men, who, though at present enjoying excellent health, one cannot say 
 what a iDroti'acted detention on board may effect. I hav3 been very 
 fortunate in being able to keep the Zanzibaris in perfect health, by 
 Tuiremitting attention to their comfort so far, and I hope and pray that I 
 may be able to do so to the end of our voyage. You can contribute to 
 this greatly by the exercise of your powerful position, and such good 
 oflBces as we may need. It will be a great favour to me also if you can 
 permit me to remain incog, for the present, as I do not feel well enough 
 to explore Sierra Leone. 
 
 " With many apologies for the length of this letter, I beg to subscribe 
 myself, 
 
 " Very sincerely yoiu-s, 
 
 (Signed) " Henry M. Stanley. 
 " To His Excellency C4ov. Sir Sa3it:el Eowe." 
 
 " The Governor, one of the best colonial officers that Her Majesty has 
 appointed to West Africa, was unusually kind to us, and through his 
 inliuence we were speedily ready for sea. In the afternoon the Governor's 
 steam launch took us down to a pic-nic in a shady spot near the light- 
 house. The iieople are in perfect health and spirits, and, when the ugly 
 suspicions relating to them were strongest, preserved their composure and 
 good humour admirably. The captain tells me we shall be able to leaver 
 on Thursday. I count twenty days between here and the Congo ; if 
 nothing breaks down we ought to be there in eleven days. It will then 
 require some days to hear and digest and well consider all reports, after 
 v/hich T shall make a reconnaisance up river. I am devoured with a wisli 
 to set my foot on terra firina, and begin the great work. Tlie prospect to 
 me has nothing ominous, though I must ever regret that the mission has 
 been so long deferred, and that so many impediments interfered Avith the 
 execution of w-hat was long ago determined upon. 
 
 " To the President, Col. Sthauch." 
 
 In the preceding pages I have told the story of 
 two years. On the 12th August, 1877, I arrived at 
 ]>aiiana Point after crossing Africa, and descending its 
 greatest river. On the l4th August, 1870, I arrived 
 l)efore the inouth of this river to ascend it, with the 
 novel mission of sowin;r alonjr its banks civilised settle- 
 nients, to peacefully conquer and subdue it, to remould
 
 60 THE CONGO. 
 
 1879. it iu barmonj with modern ideas into National States, 
 
 Auznst 14. Tin 
 
 Banana Pt. ^vitbin Tvliose liinits the European merchant shall 
 o-o hand in hand with the dark African trader, and 
 justice and law and order shall prevail, and murder 
 and lawlessness and the cruel barter of slaves shall for 
 ever cease.
 
 APPROACHING LAND. 61 
 
 CHAPTER YI. 
 
 BAXAXA POINT. 
 
 Approaching land — Appearance of the coast— The majestic Congo — The 
 factories — Our manly pilot — ^Banana Point — A good anchorage — 
 Effects of tropic life — Advice as to clothing, food, and general be- 
 haviour — -The "petit verre de Co[]nac" — Senseless abuse of Africa — 
 Description of our boats — The eccentricities of the En Avant — 
 Clamours among the staff — Expenses, pay, and precedence — Descrip- 
 tion of the factories — A factory dinner — Youth of the managers — 
 The coloured helps — A busy scene— A varied collection of stores — 
 Immense powder supply and its purpose — A melancholy spot — 
 Banana Creek — Seething mud — Local origin of the name " Banana " 
 — Prediction regarding the fate of the peninsula. 
 
 While yet a fall day's steaming from our destination, 1879. 
 
 August 14. 
 
 we observed that the ocean became stained ; the blue Banana Pt. 
 changed to a muddy green, which in a few hours 
 changed to a pale brown, while weeds and forest debris 
 languidly rose and fell on the low, broad rollers that 
 seem to be continually advancing from the south-west 
 towards the Continent lying a few scores of miles east. 
 About n o'clock on the morning of the 14tli August, 
 1879, wc were near enough to the shore to be able to 
 define its features. To our left stretched a land very 
 little in accordance with our ideas of tropical luxuri- 
 ance. The sea-line was backed by low, reddish clif?s, 
 and beyond these extended a gradually rising land 
 covered with sere grass, dotted here and there with
 
 62 THE CONGO. 
 
 , ^''~^\, clusters of trees or crroves, which, no douLt, marked 
 
 August 14. o 7 7 
 
 Banana Pt. the site of thc sinall native villages ; there "u-ere but 
 few prominent hills to be seen anywhere ; but it was 
 noticeable that towards the interior there was a gene- 
 ral uplift of the land, and a greater irregularity in 
 its contour, until it culminated in a ridge of hills of 
 nearly uniform altitude running N.N.E. and S.S.W. 
 
 Over the prow^ of the steamer, however, there w^as to 
 be seen a large triangular mass of forest-land, probably 
 about twenty miles wade at the base, both sides of 
 w^hich, as the eyes followed them towards the interior, 
 seemed to be almost meeting in a point far inland, and 
 parallel with these, a few miles off on tlie north, the 
 hilly ridge already mentioned, having suddenly curved, 
 ran due east, while nearly a similar line of hills 
 appeared from the south curving in like manner and 
 running eastward. Within the area thus described 
 lay the valley of the Lower Congo. Through the 
 centre of this valley and forested triangle flowed the 
 mighty river, with an average breadth of about three 
 and a third English miles, widening at the mouth to 
 seven and a third English miles, that is from Banana 
 Point on the north to Shark's Point on the south. 
 
 To the south the land extends with much the same 
 appearance as that which characterises the boundaries 
 of the Congo Talley northward, with the exception 
 perhaps that the cliffs near the sea-line are more con- 
 tinuous and of a more rufous colour. 
 
 But it was now near noon, and gradually, as we 
 approached, the Congo disclosed itself like a huge
 
 VIEW FROM THE SEA. 63 
 
 valve; a broad stream of daylight lias disparted the isro. 
 
 -, r 1 • • 1 1 • August 14-. 
 
 triangular mass ot woods into two sections, and bearing Banaaa Pt 
 down npon us we see a majestic stretch of river twenty 
 miles long, of immense volume and force, whose power 
 we are made to feel by the very slow progress we 
 make, despite the full head of steam with which the 
 Albion had been prepared for the ascent of the river 
 proper. 
 
 With Shark's Point, which lies now on our right, 
 and its hook of land half enfolding Diegos Bay, with 
 Point Padron and its monumental stone of the old 
 Portuguese navigator far receding, and the long, high, 
 scarcely penetrable wall of tall woods whicli darkly 
 fringes the southern shore, we have nothing to do ; 
 for on our left, brilliantly white witli lime-wash, on a 
 projecting tongue of fine sand, squats low a long line 
 of Congo factories, which occupy nearly the whole 
 length of the sandy peninsula known as Banana Point. 
 This sandy tongue is so low that the dark hulls of 
 the shipping in the harbour seem to be riding on a 
 plane higher than the ground covered by the buildings. 
 High up, on most ambitious spars, above buildings and 
 shipping, wave the various national flags of Holland, 
 France, and Great Britain. 
 
 Abreast of the point a boat descends towards us 
 bearing a pilot, the very sight of whose size and build 
 is inspiring. He tells us he has been living on that low, 
 spit-like projection of sand, and guiding the shipping 
 in and out of the harbour of Banana for the past ten 
 years. He stands before us a splendid specimen of
 
 64 TEE COXGO. 
 
 1879. robust and healthy manhood, over six feet in height 
 Banana Pt. ^nd sixtccn stone weight, with clothes so well-fitted 
 and clean that they would have graced the boulevards 
 of Nice. Let intending settlers on the Congo note this 
 and other similar facts, for possibly by due reflection 
 they may learn something of how to live in a tropic 
 climate. 
 
 Banana Point is about two and a half miles long, 
 extending from near the mouth of Mputu Creek to its 
 extreme southern end, and tapering gradually from a 
 mile -wide base-line to a point adapted for building 
 ground scarcely 40 yards wide. It folds in a harbour 
 into which ships drawing not more than 21 feet can 
 easily enter, and its width varies from half a mile to a 
 mile and a quarter, the water area being about 4500 
 acres good anchorage, easily accessible to the boats, 
 launches and lighters from the various factories on the 
 Point. It is an improvable place for the conveniences 
 of shipping, the improvement being only a question 
 of the expense of building wharves along a line of two 
 miles to afford ample accommodation. The islands, 
 also, between which Banana and Pirate Creeks flow, 
 if improved as commerce gi'ows, might be made useful 
 to accommodate shippers. 
 
 In a short hour from the time when our genial pilot, 
 ^Ir. Youngblood — whose physical system and nature, 
 as I have before remarked, correspond with his 
 name — came aboard, the Albion had ghded quietly in 
 and cast anchor abreast the upper end of the Dutch 
 factories. ^hen we were well within the still Congo
 
 CLOTHING AXD FOOD IX THE TROPICS. G5 
 
 haven \xq began to experience the heat. The tall is79. 
 
 August 14. 
 
 woods and mangroves that stretched from Huard Point Banana Pt. 
 to Bula-mhemba Point warded off the dying land-breeze, 
 and some time would yet elapse before the cooler 
 sea-breeze from the S.W. would rise to cool the now 
 cojDiously perspiring body. 
 
 From this moment of arrival the body undergoes 
 a new experience, and a wise man will begin to govern 
 his appetite and his conduct accordingly. The head 
 that was covered with a proud luxuriance of flowing- 
 locks, or bristled bushy and thick, miust be shorn close ; 
 the body must be divested of that wind and rain-proof 
 armour of linen and wool in which it was accustomed 
 to be encased in high latitudes, and must assume, if 
 ease and pleasure are preferable to discomfort, garments 
 of soft, loose, light flannels. That head-covering which 
 London and Paris patronise must give place to the 
 helmet and pugo'aree, or to a well-ventilated light 
 cap with curtain. And as those decorous externals of 
 Europe, with their sombre colouring and cumbrous 
 thickness, must yield to the more graceful and airy 
 flannel of the tropics, so the api^etite, the extravagant 
 power of digestion, the seemingly uncontrollable and 
 ever-famished lust for animal food, and the distem- 
 pered greed for ardent drinks, must be governed by 
 an absolutely new mj'ime. Any liquid that is exciting, 
 or as others may choose to term it exhilarating, or 
 inspiring, the unseasoned European must avoid during 
 daylight, whether it be in the guise of the commonly 
 believed innocuous lager, mild Pilsen, watery claret, 
 
 VOL. I. p
 
 66 THE CONGO. 
 
 1S7K. vin ordinaire, or any other " innocent " wine or beer. 
 
 Au^. 14. 
 
 Banana Pt. Otherwise the slightest indiscretion, the least unusual 
 effort or spasmodic industry, may in one short hour 
 prove fatal. It is my duty not to pander to a 
 depraved taste, nor to be too nice in offending it. I 
 am compelled to speak strongly by our losses, by my 
 own grief in remembering the young, the strong, and 
 the brave who have slain themselves through their 
 own ignorance. 
 
 " Un petit verre de Cognac ? " — " a glass of small 
 beer ? " " What can they matter ? " ask the inexpe- 
 rienced pleadingty. 
 
 To me, personally, nothing ! To you, a sudden death, 
 perhaps — a coup de soleill A frantic and insensate 
 rush to the hot sun out of the cool shade, an imprudent 
 exposure, may be followed by a bilious fever of who- 
 knows-what severity, or a rheumatic fever that will lay 
 you prostrate for weeks, perhaps utterly unfitting you 
 for your work and future usefulness. You were inspired 
 by that petit verre of Cognac — which had you not 
 taken, you might have been more deliberate in your 
 movements, and more prudent than to needlessly exert 
 yourself in the presence of an enemy so formidable as 
 is the tropic sun to a white man's head, when sensitised 
 by the fumes of Cognac. 
 
 Should you recover, you will blame Africa. " Africa 
 is cruel ! Africa is murderous ! Africa means death 
 to the European!" And your stupid unreflecting friends 
 with their cowardly jargon in Europe will echo the cry 
 — simply because a weakling like you could not resist
 
 THE PETIT VEREE. 67 
 
 your j??^?'^^ v^rre at midday. Must all this continent be 1879. 
 
 . . Aug. 14. 
 
 subjected to the scourge 01 your vituperative powers ? Banana Pt. 
 
 " A man cannot exist on tea and coffee, or be con- 
 tinually drinking soup and water ! " whines one whose 
 propensities are alarmed. 
 
 I do not demand that you should confine yourself 
 to tea, or coffee, or soup — or water, or lemonade, or 
 seltzer, Apollinaris, or whatever other agreeable liquid 
 you may wish to quench your thirst. I only suggest 
 that if you wish to enjoy Africa, and do your pledged 
 duty, avoid stimulants, under whatever name they may 
 be, during the day ; in the evening moderate indul- 
 gence with your dinner in clarets, Madeira, or white 
 wines and champagnes is not harmful but l)eneficial. 
 xVt the same time this advice is not especially intended 
 for you ; but for young men desirous of distinguishing 
 themselves for their ability to live and work in Africa. 
 The brave man is he who dare live, and will not yield 
 to death without a contest. 
 
 But enough — at the present time I see our officers 
 coming aboard to hear the news from the Albion. 
 
 By this time the officers of the expedition, consisting 
 of an American, two English, five Belgians, two Danes, 
 and one Frenchman — quite an international group — 
 had discovered that the long-expected Albion, with her 
 passenger list made up mainly of Zanzibaris, had 
 arrived, and they came aboard to pay their respects. 
 
 The steamer Barga, after discharging her cargo 
 and passengers, had departed for p]urope. The cargo 
 was most miscellaneous in character, as may well be 
 
 F 2
 
 68 THE CONGO. 
 
 1879. imagined, since the expedition was for the purpose of 
 
 Aug. 14. ITT — 1 
 
 Banana Pt. founding permanent establishments, in tiie capacious 
 hold of the good steamer there had been about twenty 
 huts, besides the chiefs chalet which was to crown for 
 years a conspicuous coign — the hill of Tivi — and a 
 small flotilla of steamers which now rode each intact, 
 and prond of its brand-new coating of gray paint and 
 gay striped awning fringed with red. This flotilla 
 consisted of — 
 
 Steel twin screw-steamer La Belgique, 65 feet long, 11 feet beam Oj 
 feet dranght, 16 nominal horse jxtwer ; measurement, 30 tons. 
 
 Zsperance, 42 feet long, 7 feet beam ; 6 hoKe power nominal ; screw. 
 
 £n Avant, paddle lx)at, 43 feet long, 7 feet 11 inches beam; 6 horse 
 power nominal ; draught, 11 inches. 
 
 Eoyal, screw. Mahogany lifeboat built by White, of Cowes ; 30 feet 
 long, 6 feet beam, fitted with mahogany cabin, plate glass, bine 
 silk hangings, equipment rich, being the special gift to the expedi- 
 tion by His Majesty the King of the Belgians. 
 
 Steel lighter, 60 feet long, 7 feet beam, 4 feet deep ; capacity, 12 tons. 
 
 Steel hghter, 40 feet long by 6 feet beam, 8 feet deep ; capacity, 6 tons. 
 
 Jeune Africaine, screw launch, 24 feet long, 5 feet 10 inches beam. 
 
 "Wooden whale boat, 33 feet long, 6 feet beam ; capacity, 3^ tons. 
 
 The total cost of which was £4725, exclusive of 
 freisiht. 
 
 All these boats in a line along the shore made a verv 
 pretty sight. The Esperance was so far advanced that 
 she was actually at work, snorting loudh- as she darted 
 about to test her machiner}-. By closer examination, 
 however, I discovered much work to be done before 
 the flotilla could ascend the powerful stream safely. 
 The Belgique required a fender all round ; the Esjje- 
 rance was almost unmanageable — rudder too narrow, 
 crunwale too low ; the. En Avant was cruiltv of extra-
 
 ECGENTEICITIES OF THE EX AYAXT. 69 
 
 ordinary freaks, and as stubborn as the donkev is 1879. 
 
 Aug. 14, 
 
 generally supposed to be. At one moment she had Banana Pt. 
 oyer ten atmospheres of steam, and rushed madly on, 
 while we, expectantly watching the first signs of an 
 explosion, were ready to jump overboard ; but suddenly 
 the gauge indicated descent, and the paddle-wheels 
 cjuld scarcely revolve, while the rudder never had the 
 slightest control of her movements. The poor engineer 
 was in a most painful plight, for he w^as being tested 
 as much as his steamer. All the engineers of the flotilla 
 frequently assembled to discuss the causes of this 
 aiysterious behaviour of the much-abused boat. The 
 Guilders ought to have been present to hear the severe 
 •riticisms of the Board. Her gunwale was also too 
 .ow, her rudder too narrow, and the back-plate of the 
 ooiler had to be plastered with mud to cause a draught 
 in the furnace at all, despite the continued blast from 
 the escape pipes. The boat did not gain our good 
 opinion until she had nearly driven her first engineer 
 to the verge of suicide, given unspeakable mortifica- 
 tion to her second, and impressed her third with a 
 deep and bitter sense of utter failure. The fourth 
 mechanician was an Italian named Francesco Flamini 
 — a quiet, painstaking man. Being informed of the 
 steamer's eccentricities — and of the failure of each 
 engineer, with the various changes and experiments 
 that had been made, he pursed his lips and puckered 
 his brow, and meditated. It was interesting to watch 
 him. Finally he opened the furnace door and gazed 
 inside, and presently lifting his head, lie said —
 
 70 THE CONGO. 
 
 1879. "I will make this steamer travel as cmickly as any 
 
 Aug. 14. 
 
 Banana Pt. Other/' and — to cut the story short — he did. He merely 
 shifted the firebars higher up, and kept a regular 
 supply of water in the boiler. Ever afterwards she 
 performed her duty. She travelled to Yivi, breasted 
 boldly the rapids above Manyanga, pioneered the way 
 to Lake Leopold IL, and was the first to cleave the 
 waters of the Biyere, and the first to steam up to 
 Stanley Falls. Oh, an epic poem might now be 
 written of the brave little boat ! At the same time I 
 do not quite exempt her builders from censure for 
 having, despatched her to the Congo without a suffi- 
 cient trial. 
 
 I have long since shuffled off the mortal coil of 
 worries and anxieties that gradually revealed them- 
 selves to me as day by day we laboured to get these 
 boats ready for the rough service they were destined 
 to perform. I had no efficient skipper to take charge 
 of this work, and I have never been honoured with 
 the assistance of an efficient second. I therefore am not 
 going to worry the reader with a nauseating criticism 
 of any particular man's weaknesses, though I prefer 
 not to pass over in silencethe least exhibition of worth. 
 Greneralities, however, may be pardoned, else how will 
 the character of our work be e\'er understood ? To 
 neglect these might subject me to the imputation of 
 being interested in withholding information, a charge 
 which might detract from the veracity of the narrative. 
 
 First their contracts and rank were complained of 
 by the various assistants. Almost all of them clamoured
 
 TROUBLESOME ASSISTANTS. 71 
 
 for " expenses of all kinds,"' which included, so I was isto. 
 made to understand, wine, tobacco, cigars^ clothes, shoes, Banana Pt. 
 board and lodging, and certain nameless extravagances. 
 One said that he would not stay on the Congo unless 
 these were granted to him freely ; another asserted that 
 if he was expected to drive a steam-launch unassisted, 
 he must have higher pay, and that if he was to be de- 
 tailed for the interior, his pay should be increased still 
 more. Another — an eno-ineer — asserted that he was 
 engaged as sub-commander of the expedition ; that he, 
 a descendant of all the , would never have ven- 
 tured into Africa upon such a miserable stipend ; he had 
 come for honour, reputation, fame ; he would write to 
 the newspapers, &c.* Another engineer complained that 
 he was not accorded his proper rank ; being in charge 
 of the engines of the 30-ton steamer, he certainly 
 was equal to the general accountant of the expedition. 
 The gentleman in charge of the smallest steam-launch 
 thought himself superior to the sailor in charge of a 
 rowing boat, and considered himself disparaged by 
 being requested to mess at the same table as the latter. 
 
 All this was, of course, the result of raw inexperience 
 and misapprehension, heightened, perhaps, by the mis- 
 chievous practice of imbibing strong wine at their 
 midday meal. 
 
 Tlie tv/o Danish sailors, Martin and Albert, were 
 tlie only two who had no coniDlaints, and who seemed 
 contented with their lot. 
 
 The excited men, however, were gradually soothed, 
 * This was a threat freqiiently used.
 
 1879. 
 Aug. 14. 
 
 lianaua Pt, 
 
 72 377^ CONGO. 
 
 Their tender siisceptibilities were considerably flattered, 
 and after a sliort time harmony was restored, with the 
 promise of explaining to the Committee at the first 
 opportunity. As for quarrelling about rank, it was 
 absurd. Were we not all brothers, comrades, partisans 
 in a grand international cause, the vanguard of civili- 
 sation? &c. "Where is the man with a soul so dead 
 to honour, to fame, to immortality ? " &e. The first 
 mutiny was hushed, and "■ all hands turned to." 
 
 The " Dutch House " has been mentioned more than 
 once. In 1879 the term stood for the Afrikaansche 
 Handels-Yereeniging,* or African Trading Company, of 
 Rotterdam ; Messrs. Pincoffs & Kerdyck had been lately 
 the enterprising managers. Young Mr. Kerdyck, the 
 brother of the elder Kerdyck, had appeared at Banana 
 Point in 1869, and after purchasing the ground, and 
 a few buildings from the French firm of Regis & Co., 
 had proceeded to establish, on a permanent basis, a 
 business which rapidly grew into such grand propor- 
 tions that the buildings, with their yards, sheds, and 
 courts, cover a space of about 700 acres, all pure sand, 
 lifted about four feet above high water. 
 
 A large number of people are employed, both white 
 and black. The whites may be best seen at dinner, 
 ranged on the sides of two long tables. A glance at 
 their faces serves almost to reconcile one to Africa. 
 It may be said to be assuring when we are asked to 
 partake of the hospitality. For, despite the abundance 
 
 * Towards the end of the year the Afrikaansche Genootschap suc- 
 ceeded to its business.
 
 YOUTHFUL MANAGERS. 73 
 
 with, whicli the tables bencl, hearty appetites generally 1879. 
 
 Auc. 14-. 
 
 contrive to reduce the portion left for the kitchen BanLa pt, 
 considerably before tlie dinner is over. When I was 
 first tisbered into the dining-room and saw the array 
 of plates, the tout ensemble was to my view extremely 
 like to a Port Said table cVhote. 
 
 There are very yonng faces to be seen at the table, 
 and a few veterans. They started their tropic life 
 when young, some at sixteen years old, but mostly all 
 between seventeen and tw^enty. The chief manager, 
 Mr. A. de Bloeme, director of nearly eighty commercial 
 factories, I was told, was only twenty-seven, and he 
 had already counted nine years of service. Mr. Antoine 
 Greshoff, now manager of the commercial factory of 
 Boma, was only twenty-two, and he was in his fifth 
 year of service. Mons. Muller, another very young- 
 man, almost beardless, had experienced seven years of 
 r^ongo life. Mr. Gray, however one of the veterans of 
 the coast, had been " out " sixteen years, w^ithout having 
 once returned to Europe. And here he stood to rival 
 Mr. Youngblood, the pilot, as a healthy representative 
 of how a European could endure the tropics. 
 
 The coloured help of this establishment requires a 
 full-grown village to house its numbers. The people 
 with their wives and children represent every tribal 
 district along the coast to Cape Lopez, and distant parts 
 of Interior Ngoyo, and the land of the Bateke and 
 Basundi. Kruboys — strong-] imbed, broad-chested, fine- 
 muscled men of the labouring class — are also here by 
 the score. Along the beach or on the piers they may
 
 74 THE COS GO. 
 
 i?79. be seen in loin-clouts and hats witli brims of amiDle 
 
 Aug. 14. . . 
 
 Banana Pt. prominence and girth, and a grotesque variety of caps, 
 heave-yo-ing upon heavy weights, rolling lime-washed 
 casks of palm-oil, cooking the rich, yellow butter of the 
 Elais guineensis, running it into other casks ; at the 
 coal yard loading trucks, bearing sacks of palm-kernels 
 or shelled ground-nuts. Under the lengthy sheds are 
 the boat-builders building new lighters or dingeys. 
 The Kabinda cask-makers are hammering down the 
 iron hoops with a din that shocks the ears. Along the 
 beach the boats come and go, or the galliots enter, laden 
 with fresh water from the south bank, or with African 
 produce from Ponta da Lenha and Boma, and perhaps 
 from Mussuko, higher up the Congo. 
 
 Scattered at corners of sheds, or in heaps along 
 the beach, are the iron refuse of vears of business 
 of this large and prosperous establishment : ancient 
 anchors with broken flukes, ancient howitzers and 
 carronades with no one knows wliat history, and heaps 
 of old cable, iron bars and hoops, amidst a miscel- 
 laneous debris of old metal. Under another large shed 
 are perhaps stored 5000 tons of coal, for this House 
 has the monopoly of coaling the men-of-war and mail 
 and casual steamers. 
 
 To examine the interior parts of these lengthy plank 
 buildings is a good day's work. In them may be seen 
 enough to make a Manchester cotton manufacturer 
 weep with pleasure, for there may be, piled up high 
 in bales upon bales, a million yards of cotton, from the 
 finest to the flimsiest qualit}' ; huge dry-goods cases,
 
 IMMENSE POWDER SUPPLY. 75 
 
 where the British Government seems to have disposed i870. 
 
 Aug. 14. 
 
 of the old red coats of their army years ago. In Bauaua Pt. 
 another store Birmingham and Sheffield might rejoice 
 at the sight of the iron kettles and pots and pans, the 
 tons of cutlery, the thousands of flintlock muskets 
 and percussion guns, and the stores of brass bells. In 
 another place the millowners of Eochdale, looking at 
 the piles of red and blue savelist, might have cause 
 to wish that there were more enterprising Dutch 
 Houses to buy from them the cunning labour of their 
 looms, and to disperse it over broad Africa. 
 
 At the extreme end of the Peninsula of Banana is 
 tlie powder magazine, containing enough pow^der appa- 
 rently to salute the dead for a century to come ; but 
 no, we shall be informed, just enough to last until the 
 next ship comes — " expected shortly." This might be 
 alarmino' at first if we did not remember that almost 
 every child that dies receives a salute of honour of five 
 shots, while a woman has ten, and a man twenty : for 
 a chief ten or twelve barrels might not suffice. When 
 employed for such harmless purposes, we are tempted 
 to regard the dangerous compound in the light of a 
 beneficent element of trade. 
 
 Close by, and between the i:)Owder magazine and the 
 white factory buildings of Banana, is the cemeter}^ 
 where many a one sleeps fast and-long, whom not even 
 the explosion of all those tons of powder would awaken 
 ngain to tedious life. Here on the shore the waves of 
 the Atlantic beat loud and solemn, dirge-like, mourning 
 the loss of those wlio appeared in the tropic land only
 
 76 THE CONGO. 
 
 1870. to pass to their final rest. It is a place to be avoided 
 
 Aug. 14. 
 
 Banana Pt. ^Y tliose apt to be afilicted with jJi'esentiments. The 
 sound of those waves, the view of that dead sand and 
 the blank waste of sea-waters, which yon feel are so 
 wide and stretch so far, the thought that you cannot, 
 if you would, sail away on thera — all are likely to 
 engender a profound melancholy ; for those silent 
 mounds seem to menace yourself — you, so ignorant 
 of how to live in this land w'hich has already slain so 
 many as strong, if not stronger, tlian yourself. Away 
 from the scene, to the habitations of the living ! 
 
 Tlie Dutch know how to make their young men com- 
 fortable. The tahle d'hote, w^ith its varied abundance, 
 may be cited as one proof; the neat frame houses, lofty 
 and cool, another. They have a medico at hand 
 wdio possesses a well-stocked dispensary ; they have a 
 billiard-table ; they have a number of riding-asses ; and 
 though the sand enclosed by the buildings is by no 
 means tempting to a pedestrian, still the beach is as 
 firm as asphalt, and the cool sea-breeze from the South 
 Atlantic is grateful after a windless day. 
 
 Beyond the larger area occupied by the Dutch House 
 begins the establishment of Daumas, Beraud & Co.^ 
 who trade in the same produce and conduct it in a 
 similar manner to the Dutch method, though on a 
 much humbler scale. Further north, and separated 
 from this by a few rubbish heaps and stagnant pools, 
 is the establishment of the Congo and Central African 
 Company on a still smaller scale. When we have 
 seen all these, the features of Banana are described,
 
 SEETHING MUD. 77 
 
 and the traveller for the interior will wish to depart as isto. 
 
 ... . ^ Aug. 14. 
 
 soon as possible. Banaua Pt. 
 
 The mangroves of Hnard Point across the harbour, 
 and which cover the low mud deposit which separates 
 Banana Creek from that of Pirate Creek, are not 
 worthy of exploration, neither are the dull, sombre, 
 monotonous creek-banks, which you will see if you 
 ascend either creek, worthy of regard. 
 
 If you ascend up Banana Creek, there is deep water 
 sufficient for small vessels, and you will emerge out of 
 the creek somewhere in the neighbourhood of Ponta 
 da Lenha. A journey up Pirate Creek, a famous route 
 in slave times, will take you finally in the same 
 direction. If the tide is low, the view of the seething 
 mud, alive with crabs of all sizes, which enter in and 
 emerge out of their holes incessantly, will be rather de- 
 pressing than otherwise. If you loiter in this waste of 
 foetid mud, be warned that you endanger your health. 
 Those scraggy roots of tlie mangrove are like so 
 many forked radish standing on the tips of their roots ; 
 liowever fantastic they may be, the sense of dreariness 
 and desolation and homelessness raises such a chilling 
 feeling — though this, I admit, depends on personal tem- 
 perament — that an ascent up the Congo, the cleaving 
 of that tawny and powerful and billowy flood in a 
 swift steamer, is far more exhilarating. 
 
 I have never been able to discover why this low 
 peninsula of sand, whose highest crest is not twelve feet 
 above low-water, and only six feet above high-water, 
 came to be distinguished with the title of Banana, as
 
 78 TEE CONGO. 
 
 1879. the name is suggestive of a tropic plant we shall, in 
 Banana Pt. ^^^^^ tlistrict, look foF in vain to-day. I can well ima- 
 gine why, bnt this is not history. I can imagine that 
 before the advent of the modern establishment, which 
 has so overgrown the Point, that Regis & Co.'s factory 
 was situated nearer the centre ; and towards the Point, 
 possibly where the Dutch flagstaff stands, a few banana 
 plants throve, just hke the pahns which flourish in the 
 same neighbourhood at the present time. 
 
 Three hundred years ago, if old maps are to be 
 followed, the peninsula was not so long. A mere 
 blunted-hook shaped cape existed, called Cape Palmas, 
 and it may very possibly be so again — at least the 
 Dutch have a suspicion that it might happen, and they 
 have taken precautions. Stakes and piles and stone 
 debris protect the inner shore of the point, and many 
 a ship-load of rocks has already been carried and piled 
 along the sea-board. 
 
 Once or twice in my life I have predicted success- 
 fully, and reason now suggests a disastrous combination 
 of a hurricane, or long-enduring tornado from the 
 westward or north-west, damming m^ the Congo in the 
 month of December to the overflow of that low point, 
 and with the receding tide scouring the Banana j^enin- 
 sula clean down to the firm rocks that first attracted 
 the sands and sediment to form this prolongation.
 
 J 
 
 LoiLilcm Sampson Low.Marston.Searlv ^Rivuigtoii 
 
 ^^
 
 THE START UP THE CONGO. 
 
 CHAPTER YII. 
 
 UP THE " MIGHTY " COXGO. 
 
 The flotilla proceeds up the river — Braving the giant stream — Silence on 
 the wooded shores — Kissanga — Pouta da Lenha — Dutch factories — 
 Guarding against floods — The dangers of hospitality — Depth of the 
 river : its volume— The dry and rainy seasons — Tidal action — Fetish 
 rock — " The d — 1 had done it " — Ma-taddi Nzazzi, " Lightning 
 Stone" — Boma, the principal emporium of trade — Means of com- 
 munication — Loneliness and cheerlessness^A refreshing change — 
 African sunshine — The blood-curdling history of Boma — Horrors of 
 the slave trade — -A terrible punishment — The trade of Boma — The 
 "wicked white man" — Progress of Boma — Historical treatment of 
 the river — Hungry whites— Baffled by the stream — " Hippopotamus ? 
 that's a rock, mim ! " — A dead shot — Departure of the SS. Albion 
 for Europe. 
 
 Sevex days after the arrival of the Albion in ists. 
 
 ... A"S- -1- 
 
 Banana Creek, the expedition flotilla was ready for Banana pt. 
 
 ascending the Congo. The Albion herself had been 
 
 beached, scraped, scrubbed and painted, and nuich 
 
 other work required by serious and sober prevision 
 
 had been performed. On the morning of August 21st, 
 
 the steam whistles sounded the signal, and we all 
 
 steamed out of Banana Haven. It was an event that 
 
 may well be called the inauguration of a new era for 
 
 the Congo basin, just as a grander array of mighty 
 
 ships in the year 1869 inaugurated the union of the 
 
 Red Sea with the Mediterranean.
 
 80 THE CONGO. 
 
 1870. The Lower Congo has been ascended many a time 
 
 Auo-. 21. 
 
 BanrnaPt. sinco the date of its discovery, but it has never been 
 described satisfactorily. For my previous omission in 
 1877 I could well be excused, for my fatigues had 
 utterly prostrated me, and it was the blue Atlantic that 
 I yearned for — I and my poor fellows. 
 
 But now, strong with health, both they and I look 
 upon it with different eyes. The voluminous flood, 
 which we had followed all the long way to its spacious 
 bourne, and had seen under all aspects — now tranquil as 
 a summer's dream, anon raging with horrent-creamed 
 crests above deep brown hollows, engulfing our unwary 
 mates, menacing our frail low barks — smiled on us 
 to-day, as with calm but interested glance we gazed 
 down secure from high decks on its placid surface. 
 We have forgiven it long ago ; we have buried the 
 past, for time has softened our memories of its 
 treacherv. We feel still that it is a dano'erous river 
 to be trifled with. It has awful power when ruffled 
 by impeding rocks, or when its waves rise up, re- 
 monstrant to the breeze, and fall heavy and sullen. 
 But we also have power now — -power gained by know- 
 ledge and harsh experience. We will brave the giant 
 stream with steel cutters driven by steam! 
 
 With the sea astern, we head up the long stretch, 
 over three miles wide, along a course whose depth 
 varies from 60 feet to 900 feet, and with a current 
 in mid-stream of five knots. On either hand the 
 dark- green walls of mangrove, intermixed with palm 
 fronds, are apparently impenetrable, though the charts
 
 KISSAXGA. 81 
 
 tell us that many a lazy creek traces its winding* course 1879. 
 amid the cool and silent shades of embracino; leafa2:e, p T * 
 In an hour we are abreast of Bulambemba Point, on ''*^"'''* ^'*- 
 the north bank, which was and is known still as 
 Fathomless Point, though it is not accurately described 
 by that term. There is, however, abundance of water, 
 for our pilot edges the steamer towards it; and finally 
 straightens the steamer up river, keeping about half a 
 mile off the shore, along the northern bank. It is a low 
 land, or a banked deposit of rich, damp, foetid alluvium 
 and many towering trees, which shelter a thick bush 
 and scrub most uninviting to look at. A break here 
 and there shows the entrance or debouchure of a narrow 
 creek, within the mazes of which a flotilla of narrow 
 piratical canoes might well hide. It is devoid of all 
 animate nature : not a bird is seen, not a movement 
 breaks the melancholy interest with which uncon- 
 sciously we regard it. Neither on the north bank nor 
 on the south Ijank, nor yet on the river, is there aught 
 to disturb this lifelessness of sleeping nature. The 
 river-flood glides on serene in one unbroken, unruffled 
 mass, but yet with an unmistakably resistless, though 
 silent energy. On the wooded shores there is a solemn 
 loneliness as of death ; on the tranrpiil mass of cease- 
 less moving water we only see the peace of an undis- 
 turbed slumber. 
 
 AVlien about 14 miles from l^anana we steer, to avoid 
 the shallows of Scotchman Head, towards a cluster of 
 factories, known as Kissanga, situate on the south bank, 
 seven miles higher up ; thence close in shore for a few 
 
 vor.. T. a
 
 82 THE COXGO. 
 
 1879. miles, and tben, when the fiictories of Ponta da Lenha 
 
 Aug. 21. 
 
 Kissanga. appear well in sight, we strike straight up the deeper 
 branch of the Congo, which runs by these, thus avoiding 
 the less known Sonho branch, and the more intricate 
 channels winding erratically between the island gi'oups 
 of Drapei-, Monkey, Robson, Stocking, and Farquhar. 
 These various names of uninhabitable forest-clothed 
 mud-deposits were first made known to us through 
 the survey chart of Captain Maxwell, 1793. Though 
 they are meaningless enough nowadays, they do as 
 well as others would, since there are no remarkable 
 peculiarities distingniishing one islet from another. 
 They are all wooded densely, as well as the banks. 
 Xorth, south, and middle channels might serve better 
 to describe the channels than that of Maxwell, which 
 stands for the north, Sonho in place of the south, and 
 Mamballa for the middle. 
 
 Kissanga is situate in a semi-circular clearing on 
 dry, black vegetable soil, and close to the water's edge, 
 for the convenience of factory business, such as rolling 
 15-cwt. casks of palm-oil aboard the launches and 
 galliots, and the quick discharging of cargo. There 
 are three factories even here, but the stranger is apt 
 to wonder where the customers come from ; for behind 
 the buildings there is scarcely sixty yards of open 
 ground, and beyond these rise the living wall of dark- 
 green forest, with its interwoven creepers and palmate 
 leafage and broad-leafed plants for undergrowth. A 
 more searching investigation along the bank will dis- 
 cover the mazy lagoons which pierce the shore, and lead
 
 PliECAUTIONS AGAINST FLOODS. 83 
 
 to firm foot-paths on the main, which reach to the 1879. 
 
 Auo-. '21. 
 
 villages of the Miishirongos. that are freely scattered Kislincra. 
 on the level grassy plain or rolling country behind the 
 forest screen. The Sonho channel washes the southern 
 shore, and the strong current soon brings the trading 
 natives with a cargo close alongside the factory landing- 
 place, while by hugging the shore the ascent is easy 
 for narrow canoes. 
 
 Exactly four hours brings the Albion, Belgiijue, 
 Royal and Esperance to Ponta da Lenha, or Wood 
 Point, which also is a* decided misnomer, when all the 
 shores are curtained with a tropic sea-wood, and every 
 inch of the islands appears to be cloistered by im- 
 j^enetrable masses of dark-green groves. Here are 
 three factories, each consisting of a mass of plank and 
 other structures, some roofed with tarred felt, and 
 others thatched. 
 
 The Dutch are, as usual, far ahead in the style^ 
 arrangement, and soHdity of their structures. They 
 are perpetually improving, building, and solidifying 
 their landed possessions and establishments. At 
 Banana they have lavished thousands of pounds in 
 their industrial war against flood encroachments, and 
 here, warned by the increasing force of the Congo 
 against the frail substratum of their island, their 
 Dutch instincts have been roused, and they are busy 
 <lriving piles — massive teak and red-wood piles — deep 
 in the mud, to restrain the inroads of the impetuous 
 current. 
 
 Under the broad and commodious verandahs of their 
 
 G 2
 
 84 TEE CONGO. 
 
 1879. islet home is a delicious cool place on a Lot, glaring 
 
 Aug, 21. . 
 
 Ponta da suniiv day. There you may sit at ease watching the 
 brown river flow swiftly by, angered just here by 
 steep bulk-heads, and venting its muttered wratli with 
 a moanine: o-uro'le. The view of the backo-round of 
 jungly forest formed on one of the Draper Islands 
 just half a mile away, and the steady-flowiug river, 
 brightened and gleaming, is soothing to the eyes, and 
 the mysterious unanah'sable sounds issuing from the 
 dark tall forest close behind us woo one to drowsi- 
 ness, although antidotes of seltzer, or good hot tea, are 
 to be had from the ebon-hued servitors of the Dutch 
 House. The master of the factory, too, on these occa- 
 sions places his time at the disposal of the guest, as 
 though he were a incutre cVhotel. I regret to have to 
 record also that stronger licjuids, the bane of Western 
 Africa, are only too temptingly displayed and proffered, 
 through a spirit and a general custom of mistaken 
 hospitality. To the thirsty one, slightly fatigued, or 
 suffering under a sense of trifling lassitude, these 
 invitations so readily given are almost irresistible. 
 It may be that people might in time be educated by 
 such' sufr^estions as the above to withhold, and never 
 offer these baits to inebriety and debility unless they 
 are urgently requested to do so, w^hen, of course, they 
 are to be excused. 
 
 How much do sailors, engineers, and the illiterate 
 class of men reason about what is beneficial ? Or 
 when were such people educated in the philosophy of 
 living, and the proper uses of that lusty life with
 
 POXTA DA LENHA. 85 
 
 Avliicli tliev bave been endowed ? Even the climates 1879. 
 
 Aug. 21. 
 they were born in they scarcely nnderstood ; but when, Pontad:i 
 
 with their tender, pale, and imtanned skins, and their 
 wealth of fat, engendered by ever-existing plentv, they 
 appear at the tropics, with its meagre diet and lack of 
 variety, how can they be taught that the lassitude they 
 feel, after hours of copious perspiration, is only caused 
 l)y Xature making her eifort to live under the condi- 
 tions so suddenly imposed upon her? 
 
 Ponta da Lenha, or the Wood Point, is thirty-four 
 statute miles, or twenty-eight sea miles by the steamer's 
 track, from the anchorage in Banana Creek. Though 
 situate on an island, it is within easy reach of the 
 natives of the mainland north, w-ho bring their palm- 
 oil, kernels, and ground nuts, live-stock and vegetables, 
 to their favourite factories to exchano-e for cotton cloth 
 of all qualities and colours, cutlery, powder, and guns. 
 
 As far as this cluster of barter establishments the 
 SS. Great Eastern might easily enter from the sea, and 
 lie snugly alongside the Dutch wdiarf. Men-of-war — 
 British, Dutch, Portuguese and French — have fre- 
 quently ascended to this place. It is well protected 
 from the sea-breeze, as one may see by the slight north- 
 east curve w^e made from above Kissano-a. A few 
 miles above, how^ever, a shifting bar j^reventsthe ascent 
 of ocean steamers. The local pilots are not unanimous 
 as to a safe draught — some say 12 feet, others 10 feet ; 
 it depends principally upon the skill and local know- 
 ledge gained by the pilot. In 1882 I ascended in the 
 Hiirhiirai/, drawing 15 feet aft, safely and without
 
 86 THE CONGO. 
 
 1879, touch, and descended drawing even 17 feet inches 
 
 Aug. 21. . . 
 
 r-.ntada without accidcnt. Others^ again, have not been so 
 fortunate ; various tedious delays have been caused to 
 vessels drawing 12 feet.* 
 
 All these discrepancies will be removed as the 
 requirements of navigation demand more reliable 
 knowledge. My personal opinion is that the maxi- 
 mum depth that could be obtained in the rainy season 
 would be 22 feet, and in the lowest of the dry season 
 16 feet. 
 
 In order to understand why there should be such a 
 
 difference between the depth during the rainy and the 
 
 dry seasons, let me observe here that a certain section 
 
 of tlie Kiver Congo above Stanley Pool, after nearly an 
 
 entire day's experiments, showed that in the early part 
 
 of March, when the river was nearly lowest, a volume 
 
 of 1,440,000 cubic feet of water flowed per second ; and, 
 
 by taking the altitude of high level as plainly visible on 
 
 a high cliffy rock, my calculations prove that at least 
 
 2.530,000 cubic feet of water must flow every second 
 
 at the height of the rainy season. Before this water 
 
 reaches the sea a multitude of rivers have joined their 
 
 tribute to this volume, a quantity which only the 
 
 Amazon can surpass. Nay, if old Captain Maxwell's 
 
 chart of 1793 is to be relied uj)on, I find, on calculating 
 
 his items of soundings and current and breadth, that 
 
 a few miles above Boma a volume of 4,382,000 cubic 
 
 * The following vessels have reported differently :—H.M.S. Arkl, 
 1875, reports 3 fathoms as lowest; Torch, 1872, 2 fathoms; Firefly, 
 1880, 4 fathoms ; French ship Sagitaire, 1883, less than 13 feet.
 
 RISE AXIJ FALL OF THE BIVEE. 87 
 
 feet per second is attained ! I do not by any means 1879. 
 voucli for the accuracy of bis soundings, and I tbink Pontada 
 that the force of the current may bave been ascertained 
 by rough guess. 
 
 Then, if a river becomes nearly doubled in volume 
 twice a year, it is important to know what months are 
 the dry and rainy seasons. 
 
 Briefly, this not being the place for all the informa- 
 tion gathered, I may state that a sensible rise of the 
 river be2:ins at Boma in the latter half of March, and 
 is full rise between the 1st and 3 1st of May; after this 
 there is a gradual decline until the beginning of 
 August, from which time there is no change until about 
 the 1st of September, The rise from March to May 
 inclusive is called the lesser rise. 
 
 From the 1st of September to between the 15tli to 
 the 2.')th of December is the greater rise. Between 
 the 13th of January and the 10th of March there is 
 a steady fall, after which time the river is changeless, 
 until the lesser rise recommences at its usual date. 
 
 Besides the due observation of the month for the 
 ascent, the effect of the tide ebb and flood must be 
 taken into consideration. At Banana the tide rises 
 G feet; at Ponta da Lenha about 21 inches — others 
 say 18 inches. At Boma the effect of it is but 2 or 
 3 inches. The ebb races near the mouth at the rate of 
 a few knots per hour, and lasts nearly as long again 
 as the flood. AVitli all this, it must not be supposed 
 that the sea is admitted into the Congo. The flood is 
 simply the effect of the pressure of the sea upon the
 
 88, THE CONGO. 
 
 1S79. current of the river, which, checked in its velocity, 
 
 Aug. 21. . . 
 
 Pontada Tiscs to the height above mentioned. 
 
 After a night spent in comfort at Ponta da Lenha, 
 although tlie entire flotilla had not made its appear- 
 ance — for the En Avant, which should have been most 
 forward, was decidedly en arriere on this day — we de- 
 parted from the landing-place and steamed up towards 
 Boma in due order, the Albion, though but a small 
 steamer, a veritable elephant compared to the dainty 
 mosquito flotilla, which made far more noise with their 
 high-pressure engines than a dozen Albions would 
 have made. 
 
 It was a cool early morning, and the sun had not 
 ventured out from behind the thick banks of light-grey 
 clouds, where he lurked j)ale and rayless. The absence 
 of his warmth gave rather a chilly, gloomy aspect to 
 the stolid lifeless banks, with their continued monotone 
 of colouring — a dead green-black, without sheen or 
 movement — except that which a stray calamus made 
 as, brushed hither and thither by the chill morning 
 breeze, it aimlessly sought the support of a stiff 
 stalk or limb, or that made bv the ever-noddinsr 
 water-reeds. 
 
 As we continue steamirg upward, gradually the 
 dense bush looms up less tall and dark ; it becomes lower 
 and scantier, while the palms on the islands become 
 more conspicuous. The sea-loving mangrove, with its 
 sickening ooze and fantastic centipedal roots, has quite 
 disappeared, and now grassy plains, strangely silent, yet 
 waving and nodding wildly, recede inland towards the
 
 GEE AT BREADTH OF THE BIVEE. 
 
 80 
 
 liig'li land which we saw from the sea trending eastward. 
 The hills of vrhich it consists form an irrro-idar rido-e 
 deeply indented in slope and summit-line. Looking 
 at the sonth bank, after getting above Stocking Island, 
 we see similar plains stretching towards a similar hilly 
 ridge ; and following both ridges with our eyes, we see 
 them away np river, a few miles above Boma, appa- 
 rently meet, and the course of the river is untraceable 
 
 1879. 
 Aug. 21. 
 
 Ponta da 
 Lenha. 
 
 .^i^„ 
 
 THE FORESTED BAXKS OF THE I.OWEK COXGO. 
 
 by a stranger. And here for the first time we can 
 \vell see the enormous breadtli of the stream, for from 
 bank to bank, clearly exposed, it is about four and 
 a half miles. 
 
 At 10.30 x.yi. we were passing within a few hundred 
 yards of the rock called Fetish (bewitched), a low and 
 isolated hilly headland, topped with large masses of 
 granite, clifty in its river front, having in its outlines 
 something of the appearance of a huge monumental
 
 90 THE CONGO. 
 
 1879. stone. To the rear and on tlie sides stretches an 
 
 Aug. 21. . , . • r T' 
 
 Pontada extensivc and low-lying rich grass plain, a leeding- 
 groimd for the hippopotami, though the inhabitants 
 of a few villages which are in the neighbourhood 
 have endeavoured, with ill-success, to cultivate some 
 ground. 
 
 In the old sailing days, I am told by the pilot, few 
 cared to approach the neighbourhood of the Fetish 
 Rock. Whether from sheer bewitchment, or the eccen- 
 tricities of the ever-boiling flood, tradition becomes 
 piquant when reciting the odd adventures that have 
 befallen the helpless ships ; how they suddenly were 
 sheered off their course and curvetted round and round 
 with lazy see-saw motions of prow and stern, and were 
 swung far off after the dance, with distracted sails and 
 slack ropes and braces, while the pale sailors gazed 
 upon one another blankly, and finally swore "the d — 1 
 had done it," I myself tell the pilot that I believe all 
 this, "for, my friend, it was a wicked time altogether, 
 for tlien white men believed that to buy and sell their 
 black brothers was a work sanctioned by God." 
 
 Steamers, however, pay no heed to the contemptible 
 whirlpools, though they are noisy, and we proceed 
 upward without a flaw in our coui^se, having now deep 
 Avater under our keels. Looking round for wonders, 
 we are shown a feature on the crest of a tall hill on 
 the northern shore, said to be the Lightning Stone, by 
 natives known as Ma-taddi Nzazzi, and sometimes also 
 as Limbu Li Nzambi, the finger of God. It is merely 
 the core of the mountain rock, revealed ages ago by
 
 BOMA. ni 
 
 the washiiio- away of the soil from the smooth dome- 1879. 
 
 ° "^ Aug. 2-2. 
 
 hke summit, and to-day it stands, not a poor resem- Boma. 
 blance to a hghthouse, or some monumental structure. 
 
 Precisely four hours of continued steaming from 
 Ponta da Lenha brought both Albion and Belgiqiie, with 
 tlieir respective barges, alongside the wharf of one of 
 the Dutch factories of Boma. 
 
 A few hundred yards from the pier, Boma, the prin- 
 cipal emporium of trade on the Congo, was well and 
 fully seen from end to end, curving along the bended 
 shore. It consists of a congeries of factories, that is, a 
 number of detached buildings used as stores or sheds, 
 or workshops, flanking the dwelling-house of their 
 owner, or of the chief factor of some English, Dutch, 
 French, or Portuguese company established in Europe, 
 which has sent its agents to scatter these trading 
 stations at every available point along both banks 
 of the river. There were not quite so many in 1879 
 as nov7 in 1885. These various companies have 
 .several factories, especially the Dutch and English and 
 French. The central depot is at Banana Point, where 
 the goods from the ocean steamers are received, un~ 
 shipped, stored in the go-downs or stores, and dis- 
 tributed by the pri\'ate steamers belonging to the 
 central establishment. The Dutch possess the Prince 
 Jlendrik, Carl Nieman^ Banana, and Morian. The 
 tliree first named are capacious steamers, able to steam 
 to Europe. The Morian is a 40-ton tug, employed to 
 tow galliots, ships, barges, and lighters to the upper 
 ]-)ortions of the Lower Congo. The Prince Hendrik
 
 92 THE COXGO. 
 
 1879. and Carl Nleman collect the ijroduce from the coast 
 
 Aug. 
 
 Bomn. factories, and at stated periods the ocean steamer 
 arrives from Eotterdani and ^ladeira to Banana Point 
 in twenty-five days, and, after a short stay in port, 
 departs, loaded with rubber, oil, gum, kernels, ground- 
 nuts, ivory, orchilla -weed, coftee, and various other 
 products. 
 
 The English house keeps its river and coast steamer, 
 the Kahinda, 250 tons, collecting from its scattered 
 factories the African produce, ready for their Liverpool 
 steamer, the Angola. 
 
 The Congo and Central African Company employs 
 irs river steamer, the Albuquerque, of 250 tons, in the 
 collection of produce, but this house, I believe, ships by 
 the English mail steamers, which call once a month. 
 
 The French and Portuguese employ galliots or 
 schooners, launches, and canoes, and ship by sailing 
 vessels frequently. 
 
 If we add to these various vessels that ply up and 
 down the Congo, between Banana and Boma, the native 
 canoes belonging to the aboriginal chiefs, the Congo 
 cannot be said to be quite devoid of evidences of 
 trade-movement. 
 
 Xotwithstandiug, the general prospect, whether over 
 river or land, is not prepossessing ; the eye is dis- 
 satisfied, it hungers after more evidences of man and 
 commerce ; probably the human gregarious instincts 
 are shocked, or chilled by the unaccountable feeling of 
 loneliness. Look resolutely away, or over the factories 
 at your feet, from the crest of yonder hill, and you
 
 LONELINESS AND CIIEERLESSNESS. 93 
 
 will understand why. Tliere is a grand sweep of is79. 
 
 Aug. 22. 
 
 massive hills lifting nnd falling to the north ; a long Boma, 
 undulating line of hilly land is visible across iha river, 
 stretching away into the grey distance; there is a 
 mighty breadth of living water slowly moving towards 
 the sea, but I can detect no boat, large or small, just 
 at this present moment, on any part of its hundred 
 square miles of surface. Over all the vast area of 
 land, visible upland and plain, I see no aspiring tower 
 or dome, or chimney, nor even the likeness of a human 
 structure. Unfortunately not even a column of smoke 
 threads through the silent air to suggest the thought 
 that I am not alone. All is nature, large, ample, 
 untouched and apparently unvisited by man. From 
 all I can see I may have been the first man, black or 
 white, who has ever stood on the ungrateful soil under 
 my feet. Truly this would be the impression of the 
 view only a few miles removed from Boma ; but here 
 I can turn my eyes at will to recall my unreal fancies, 
 to gaze down upon the consoling and warm view 
 of the Boma establishments ranged along the northern 
 bank, with their tall flagstaffs and white-washed 
 residences, and the long sombre thatched roofs of the 
 stores and sheds, with sufticient leafy trees scattered 
 about, and the tapering masts of steamers and sailing- 
 vessels, topped by the gay national flags, all combin- 
 ing to make a pretty picture worth a sketch. 
 . The feeling of loneliness and cheerlessness, touched 
 upon above, is intensified through iha fact that the 
 heavy lines of hills, and broad expansion of jilain, lack
 
 94 7777: CONGO. 
 
 1870. the deep dark masses of forest in ever-living exuber- 
 
 Aug. 22. , . , , 
 
 Boma. ^^^® Avliicii Ave are ever apt to associate with the 
 tropics. The grotesque baobabs, thinly scattered Avith 
 their feeble crowns of leafage on bits of terraces and 
 tabular bits of hills, in no wa^^ compensate for the 
 general and unlovely nakedness of tlie view. At this 
 season — August — all nature appears parched, sere, 
 withered, voiceless, except along the various channels 
 of the Congo. This almost entire absence of vegeta- 
 tion is due to fires, which during every dry season 
 consume the robust crops of grass. It is also attribut- 
 able to the minute hilly sections into which the land 
 has been cut by heavy rains, and the steep and rapid 
 drainage of every slope and rounded summit which 
 sweeps away the de'bris of dead vegetation before it 
 has had time to affect the soil. 
 
 A month or so later the first rains fall, and the 
 aspect appears much more gracious and soft, for the 
 grass peeps out at once young and tender and green ; 
 and lo ! the land under the influence of moisture and 
 temperate sunshine, has been transfigured into a fairer 
 development. "When suff"used witli a vivid green, it 
 rivals the softness of English Xorthumbria, rejoicing 
 animal nature, bringing out the birds, and herds of 
 cattle, and flocks of goats, which before liad been 
 missed from the scene. 
 
 When speaking of African sunshine, it must be re- 
 membered that there are different qualities of sunshine. 
 For instance, there is the hard, white, naked, undis- 
 guised sunshine of Xorth-eastern America ; there is
 
 AFRICAN SUNSHINE. 95 
 
 tlie warm, drowsy, hazy sunshine of the Enghsh 1879 
 
 Alio* ^^ 
 
 summer ; there is the bright, cheery, purified sunshine ^ 
 of the Mediterranean. African sunshine, however, 
 always appears to me, with all its great heat, to be 
 a kind of superior moonlight, judging from its effects 
 on scenery. Once or twice in this book I write of 
 '• solemn-looking " hills. I can only attribute this 
 apparent solemnity to the peculiar sunshine. It deepens 
 the shadows, and darkens the dark-green foliage of the 
 forest, while it imparts a wan appearance or a cold 
 reflection of liglit to naked slopes and woodless hill- 
 tops. Its effect is a chill austerity — an indescribable 
 solemnity, a repelling unsociability. Your sympathies 
 are not warmed by it ; silence has set its seal upon it ; 
 before it you become speechless. Gaze your utmost on 
 the scene, admire it as you may, worship it if you will, 
 but your love is not needed. Speak not of grace or of 
 loveliness in connection with it. Serene it may be, 
 but it is a passionless serenity. It is to be contem- 
 plated, but not to be spoken to, for your regard is fixed 
 u[)on a voiceless, sphynx-like immobility, belonging 
 more to an unsubstantial dreamland than to a real 
 earth. 
 
 If you think of this attempt at analysing the cause 
 of this unspeakable loneliness, when next you gaze 
 upon African hill-scenes you will perhaps admit the 
 truth of these remarks. You will perceive that it 
 is purely a want of sympathy between you and them, 
 owing entirely to the strange sunshine. If you doubt 
 it, view the same scenes in the months (jf October
 
 96 THE CONGO. 
 
 1879. and Xovember, and bear witness to tlieir vivid colour- 
 
 Aug. 22. . 
 
 Boma. iiig wrought bj the spring-tide of Nature. 
 
 Boma (Mboma) has a history, a cruel blood-curdling 
 history, fraught with liorror, and woe, and suffering. 
 Inhumanity of man to man has been exemplified 
 here for over two centuries by the pitiless persecution 
 of black men, by sordid whites. The natives formerly 
 were purchased by thousands, forciljly expatriated, 
 enchained by dozens, packed closely in the holds of 
 slave-ships, and shipped to the Brazils, West Indies, 
 and North America, whence they never i-eturned. 
 Whole fleets have been maintained to carry on the 
 slave traffic, and have anchored in this neighbourhood. 
 The miscellany of merchandise, and the stores of gin 
 and rum in their holds, have induced the people of 
 Boma to seek by all iniquitous means to gather the 
 victims of superstition, folly, ignorance, and of violence 
 from all parts inland. As this evil spread abroad, 
 other neighbouring districts, Ponta da Lenha, Nokki, 
 Mussuko, and all the river and coast towns, despatched 
 their emissaries until there was not a village in all 
 the wide space between the sea and the meridian of 
 Stanley Pool which had not cause to curse the evil 
 that had suddenly covered the land with mourning 
 and woe. 
 
 Now do you wonder, as you look about over the 
 large area of wilderness and sterility, that so much of 
 those rich plains, now covered with mournfully rustling 
 grass, lies untilled? Had this land but the population 
 which has grouped itself in crowded numbers along
 
 A TERRIBLE PUNISHMENT. 97 
 
 the Upper Congo and its upper affluents, modern Boma 1879. 
 would have been a city of some magnitude; for the BomH. 
 legitimate trade which has sprung np since Britain 
 moved Europe and America to tenderness and com- 
 passion, had sufficed to have stimulated the many, as 
 it has the few relics of vanished tribes now living, 
 to honourable industry in developing the natural 
 resources of the land. Oh, if in the coming times, 
 which I see with eyes inspired by faith, the land shall 
 be redeemed from its present torpid deadness ; when 
 o-eneraticns shall be born under the benig-n influence 
 of civilised institutions, when the land has been helped 
 by the fostering care of a Government, and the plains 
 and the valleys shall rejoice in fatness and plenty, 
 tlien let that nation that initiated the slave-trade in 
 these regions beware the pen of the Congo poet ! 
 
 Modern Boma, however, in 1879 could only show 
 one man who knew through personal experience what 
 old Boma had been. He, and another living at some 
 obscure factory lower down, had been guilty two years 
 before of having committed a crime, which I doubt 
 even the annals of old Boma could match. His stores 
 were burnt one night, much stealing of gin and cloth 
 had become common — the dissatisfaction among the 
 slaves he owned being shown by this method of re- 
 taliation on their unkind master. The guilty parties 
 were discovered. The master caught them, encircled 
 their necks with iron-collars, rove a short chain 
 through the collar loops, and riveted the end-link, 
 which was split purposely, over another link of the 
 
 VOL. I. u
 
 98 THE CONGO. 
 
 1879. chain near the middle of the gang. The slaves being 
 
 Aug. 22. 
 
 Boma. thus sccured, their hands were bound behind, and then 
 they were put into a boat and rowed into mid-channel, 
 where they were hustled over the side one after 
 another into the river, and, thus chained and fettered, 
 were soon drowned. 
 
 A few hours after death the bodies floated down with 
 the flood, and were stranded somewhere below on a 
 sand-bank, to be discovered by Captain Hopkins, H.B. 
 Majesty's Consul, during one of his tours of inspection 
 and while bound up river, who, on examination of the 
 chain, found the name of the owner on it. 
 
 Since the commission of that crime modern Boma 
 has been free from stain and guilt. Its trade is now very 
 innocent — the butter of the oil-palm, rubber from the 
 forests, kernels from the oil-nuts, nuts from the ground, 
 copal from old deposits, ivory spoils of the elephant, 
 &c.,have sufficed to keep the natives busy in the collec- 
 tion of them ; and the barter of cottons from Manchester 
 and Glasgow, woollen-savelist from Rochdale, blankets 
 from Yorkshire, cutlery and guns from Sheffield and 
 Birmingham, crockery and hardware and beads and 
 brass-wire from various parts of Europe, gin and 
 rum from Holland and Hamburg, tobacco and fish 
 from America, have been remunerative to the British, 
 French, Dutch and Portuguese traders who have 
 established themselves in the neighbourhood of the 
 once great slave mart of the Congo. 
 
 Granted that some of the traders of modern Boma 
 have not acted always in consonance with the strictest
 
 CONTENT OF THE NATIVES. 
 
 99 
 
 principles of justice and equity in their dealings with 
 the natives, yet the happy results visible from their 
 influence throughout a wide area inland prove that 
 they have more frequently been swayed by the desire 
 to be upright than otherwise. As we note the character 
 
 1879. 
 Aug. 22. 
 
 Boma. 
 
 GKOUP OF NATIVES — MEN, WOMEN, AND YOUTHS. 
 
 of the present intercourse between whites and blacks, 
 we become convinced that no ill-will exists ; we see 
 tliat tlie natives do not seem embittered or soured, but, 
 on the contrary, that a pleasant familiarity and con- 
 fident bearing marks their behaviour as they tread 
 the river street of Boma. Tliough they would be 
 
 H 2
 
 100 TEE CONGO. 
 
 1879. powerless to resist the auxiliaries that a union of 
 
 Aug. 22. 
 
 Boma. traders could call to its aid, the natives, on closer 
 investigation, are found to be secure against tyranny, 
 oppression, and persistent evil-doing of the whites, by 
 the very interests which have compelled the traders 
 to make their homes here by the Congo riverside. 
 The fierce and sharp competition which exists between 
 the traders to secure the largest trade, and which finds 
 vent in the undertone of talk at their various tables, 
 supplies a better protection for the natives than a 
 whole fleet of cruisers could afford. The wicked white 
 man, with foul-mouthed vituperation, is shunned and 
 tabooed and is boycotted completely. His name and 
 character are known along the byways and highways 
 of the trade carriers. A reduction of trade and 
 absolute ruin follows, which speedily drives him 
 away, and the liberal and kindly white reaps the 
 advantage. 
 
 The fear that the traders in general have been 
 hardly dealt with compels me to do them this justice. 
 Missionaries, who possibly have misrepresented them, 
 may have been vainly seeking an arcadia at Boma 
 and other places. Instead of creating one for them- 
 selves far removed from the busy centres of commerce, 
 the missionaries follow in the steps of the traders, and 
 grumble that the traders do not sacrifice what they 
 have gained to the sentiments by which they them- 
 selves are governed. 
 
 Since 1879 Boma has considerably increased in size. 
 The French Catholic mission has established itself on a
 
 NO CLASSIC ASSOCIATIONS. 101 
 
 low bill on the river banks, separating the Englisb .^^^02 
 factories from tbe other European emporiums of trade. Boma. 
 The banks of Crocodile Creek, which serpentines a 
 course by a low meadow near the lower end of Boma, 
 have been altered. On the eastern side of the creek is 
 the Association Accountant's frame chalet, the property 
 of the International Association, and near the machine- 
 shops, coal-sheds, " go-downs," and the coloured em- 
 ployes' little village, all of which a Decauville railway 
 connects with a new iron pier projecting well out into 
 deep water. On a breezy plateau a mile off, com- 
 manding an extensive view of the valley of the Lower 
 Congo, is the commodious hospital of the International 
 Association,' a residence in which I know by experience 
 is not by any means disagreeable ; nay, rather desir- 
 able if the mind is occupied. Finally, on the western 
 side of the creek, Boma is extending; two factories 
 being already established, and there is every reason 
 to believe that it will grow more, with what rapidity 
 depends of course upon the development of the 
 interior. 
 
 The reader will have guessed, by my omission to 
 mention the fact, that, though the Congo in volume is 
 equal to the Nile, the Zambezi, and the Niger together, 
 it is utterly barren of classic associations. Let not the 
 stress made upon this be too great. It is true that 
 Livingstone once humorously said that he would not 
 be made into " black man's pot " for it. As tliis great 
 and dear sacrifice is not required of us we propose to 
 be more tender in dealing with it.
 
 102 THE CONGO. 
 
 1879. Neither rovino; ancients nor wanderius; moderns of 
 Aug. 22. .... . 
 
 Boma. great renoVn have visited it. No grand event is con- 
 nected with its name ; nothing has ever been performed 
 in connection with the Congo to make its history popu- 
 larly interesting to those who are not engaged in com- 
 merce or some special study of it. No military, naval, 
 or scientific enterprise of any magnitude is associated 
 with its name, if we except Tuckey's expedition. It has 
 a dismal local history that arouses a gruesome feeling 
 when we recall the slave-trading days. Ships of war 
 of many nations have ascended the river ; they have 
 anchored for a short time abreast of Boma, and have 
 then sailed away. British consuls and other European 
 naval officers have visited Boma frequently, and of late 
 years some have even ventured as far as the lowest 
 of the Livingstone Falls, known as Yellala. Dutch, 
 English, French, and Portuguese traders have made 
 noble efforts to obtain the largest trade in local pro- 
 duce. Among authors and wandering litterateurs, 
 Captain Richard Francis Burton and Joachim Monteiro 
 are known to have visited the Lower Congo ; and 
 lately Mr. H. H. Johnston, a young traveller of 
 promise, has written a charming account of his travels 
 to Bolobo ; but even the former, who is unequalled 
 in the art of exhausting any topic of interest to him, 
 has failed to discover one fact connected with the 
 history of the Congo to make a lasting impression on 
 account of its intrinsic worth. It is owing probably 
 to this extreme historical barrenness that the poet 
 Camoens' stanza relating to it is so often quoted : —
 
 A FES TILE ISLAND. 103 
 
 " AUi mui grande reino esta de Congo, 1S79. 
 
 Per nos ja convertido a fe de Christo, "°* """ 
 
 Per onde o Zaire passa claro e longo, 
 Eio pelos antiguos nunca Tisto." 
 
 Translation. 
 
 " Here the great kingdora of Congo lies, 
 That we converted to Christian faith. 
 By which tlie Zaire flows clear and long, 
 A stream unseen in ancient days." 
 
 Camoens, Lusiads V. 
 
 The island opposite Boma has been farmed by the 
 Dutch from the princes of the mainland, and I am told 
 that the gardens are very thriving, and that European 
 vegetables take to the soil kindly. In the gardens of 
 Boma some of the traders have reall}^ distinguished 
 themselves in horticulture. Oranges, citrons, limes, 
 papaws, guavas and pineapples, are among the fruits 
 obtainable in the season ; while European and sweet 
 potatoes, tomatoes, onions, turnips, lettuce, cabbage, 
 beet, carrots, and beans, thrive sufficiently well. The 
 eucalyptus has also been tested, but it has been found, 
 after growing to 15 feet high, to perish, probably 
 owing to an exposed position. 
 
 Fresh meat from bullock, sheep, goat, and fowls, 
 including ducks, may be also obtained, so that with 
 rice, wheaten bread, and the help of a good cook, a 
 European has no cause to regret Congo life, provided 
 discretion governs his conduct regarding " pegs," and 
 cold draughts are avoided. 
 
 Meantime, while acting as guide to the reader, we 
 must not forget the absent steamers of the international 
 flotilla. The Albion and Behjique had arrived simul-
 
 104 THE CONGO. 
 
 1879, taneously, after four liours' steaming from Ponta da 
 
 Aug. 22, 
 
 Bcn.a. Lenha, but it was fast upon 11 p.m. before the English 
 boat Royal was beard puffing bravely, towing the paddle 
 boat En Avant, and half an hour later before the Espe- 
 rance appeared with the 40-foot steel barge. 
 
 The whites on board were terribly hungry, and 
 savagely out of humour, but a bountiful repast dulled 
 the disposition which w^as sharp previously for wordy 
 warfare. All agreed, however, on tlie safe neutral 
 ground of blaming the builders of the En Avant, for 
 these were the days before Flamini's genius came to the 
 rescue and converted an apparently worthless craft into 
 a marvel of utility. A shorthand reporter present on 
 that evening, among the raw lads of Denmark and the 
 young gentlemen from Belgium, might have enabled 
 me to publish for public benefit, and especially for the 
 nse of future navigators, the various discoveries made 
 among sand-bars and blind water-alleys ; lovers of 
 natural history too might have been highly amused, if 
 not instructed, about the merits of vari-coloured mos- 
 quitoes, their size, and the peculiar effect of the bite. 
 Though I know something of Africa, I was not aware 
 of the extent to which susceptible natures could enlarge 
 trivialities. Inexperience evidently possesses micro- 
 scopic powers of enlargement. However, I have but 
 a poor memory sometimes, and I fear I cannot rehearse 
 the stories related that evening with due justice. 
 
 The next day after arrival at Boma the Albion con- 
 tinues to discharge her cargo, and the Belgique is also 
 emptied. On the 25th the latter is despatched down to
 
 A EECONNAISSANCE. 105 
 
 Banana Point for another caro-o; and the 26th, havins; /S'^^- 
 
 o ' 7 o Aug. 26. 
 
 cleared the Albion, she is also despatched down the river Boma. 
 for the wooden huts, lumber, machinery, and hardware. 
 
 On the 28th the Albion returns to Boma, with her 
 decks lumbered and holds full, and on the 30th, having 
 employed the day before in steaming up the Congo to 
 explore for a new camp, with a Kabinda native for a 
 pilot, she is steamed up to Mussuko on the south bank, 
 four hours above Boma. So convenient was the landing- 
 place of Mussuko, that we could tie the steamers along- 
 side the shore in three fathoms of water. 
 
 While cargo was discharged in afternoon. Captain 
 George Thompson of the Albion and myself proceeded 
 up river in the life-boat Royal on reconnaissance, and 
 without a pilot, to secure another camp to move to 
 when the goods should all have been brought from 
 Boma to Mussuko, and if possible to employ the Albion s 
 services to transport the 600 tons of material lying 
 at Banana Point and Boma. 
 
 Two hours and a half brought us to the little islet 
 marked Zunga-chya-Idi on Tuckey's chart, the island 
 being opposite the mouth of the little river Lufu, issuing 
 from the north shore. 
 
 Viewing a fine green grassed plateau on the north 
 bank, about two miles higher up, and which rose some 
 300 feet above the river, we ventured from the cove 
 near the Lufu and dared the stream. Ignorant of the 
 proper course that ought to have been taken, and having 
 a profound belief in the powers of steam, we steered 
 the tiny launch for nearly the centre of the river,
 
 106 THE CONGO. 
 
 1879. where we kept her with a full head of steam for several 
 
 Aug. 30. . 
 
 Mussako. minutes struggling against the mighty current. Now, 
 if you place a bottle cork in a basin of water, and stir 
 the water violently about, you may form an idea of the 
 style of current at this particular place. The efforts 
 of the little steamer to make headway in the whirling 
 bubbling cauldron were frantic. We were swung and 
 pirouetted about by the volumed force, belched upward, 
 sideways, and as many yards back as we had advanced 
 in the subsidence of the whirl, and presently found the 
 bow rising before us on an uplifted ridge of water, and 
 again we were swept backward to become once more 
 the slight plaything of the wrathful and tumultuous 
 waters. "With our faith in steam power considerably 
 diminished, we retreated, baiSed, and went racing down 
 the river towards our camp. 
 
 "Wishing to give our worthy skipper a little taste of 
 the pleasure of African game shooting, on arriving 
 half-way down Palmyra Reach, we searched for the 
 hippopotami which we supposed usually haunted the 
 shore near by, for the sake of the succulent grasses 
 that grew on the low-terraced land. Xor were we 
 disappointed. A hippopotamus was sighted, body iu 
 the water, head resting on a bank, either profoundly 
 asleep, or lost in deep meditation. 
 
 " That a hippopotamus ? " cries sea-bred Thompson. 
 " That's a rock, mun ! " 
 
 An Express rifle was fired into the animal's brain, 
 and not the slightest movement followed. 
 
 " There," cries the sea-wise skipper. " I told you.
 
 iiii I iiiwfw'i 111! I mi
 
 A DEAD SHOT. 107 
 
 You've fired at a rock sure enouo-h this time. Ain't ,^^'^l- 
 
 o Aug. 30. 
 
 you ashamed of yourself?" he asks with a beaming Mussuko. 
 look of triumph. 
 
 " Well, we shall see. Gently ahead, boy " — to the 
 coloured engineer ; and a few turns of the screw 
 brought us aground, which enabled Mr. Thompson, 
 who was a jewel of a sea-captain, but a lubber among 
 hippos, to distinguish between a hippo's head and a 
 rock ; but who was not quite satisfied until, like 
 another Thomas Didymus, he had buried three fingers 
 in the wound. 
 
 I will pass over the complimentary remarks uttered 
 by George Thompson, Captain of the SS. Albion, and 
 introduce the reader by a sketch of the scene that 
 followed, when the young Danes and Scotchmen on 
 the Albion were brought up in the whaleboat to drag 
 the beast ashore and cut the meat up for distribution 
 among our people. 
 
 Albert, in a frenzy of delight, must first bestride the 
 carcase, that he might write to his papa at Copenhagen, 
 how he bestrode a hippopotamus, and Martin must 
 spank the broad rump with open hand to his own 
 grief; and there is opening of the jaws to judge, 
 without peril, of the cavernous extent, count the solid 
 molars and gleaming tusks, which could have nipped 
 the strongest man in twain had the beast been alive, 
 and many other freaks which curious inexperience is 
 prone to indulge in. 
 
 Until September 13th, the Albion was busily em- 
 ployed, with the Belfjique, in conveying the multi-
 
 108 TEE CONGO. 
 
 1879. tudinous effects with which we proposed to effect a per- 
 Mussuko, manent lodgment on some unknown point on the north 
 or south side of the river. As fast as the goods and 
 effects were brought to the landing-place at Mussuko 
 they were discharged on the shore by relays of our force, 
 while others stored the perishable materials within the 
 factory, the coarser articles being piled in order near the 
 landing-place. The SS. Albion of Leith was now re- 
 leased from river duty, taken down to Banana Point, 
 coaled for her long voyage, and sent home on the 17th, 
 direct to Europe. She carried our letters, containing 
 the reports of our first movements up the Congo, 
 wherein I felt we must congratulate ourselves upon the 
 fact, that in thirty-four days we had advanced to our 
 first base of operations about ninety miles from the sea, 
 with all our materials, with our flotilla in working order, 
 and every promise of future success.
 
 VIEW UP THE mVEB. 109 
 
 CHAPTER Till. 
 
 UP THE COXGO : FROil BOilA TO VI VI. 
 
 Buka Island— Chinsalla Creek — Prince's Island — Burial-place of oflBcers 
 of the Tuckey Expedition — Tinda-le-Xzaddi village — Mussuko — 
 Number of trading establishments — Xavigation of the Congo — 
 Ultimate point of navigation — Eeconnaissance for a site for our chief 
 station — Amount of steam-power requii-ed to breast the current — 
 Dedede, the merry chief, tells us of a site — Castle Hill — " Sure, it 
 is beautiful, this ! " — A fiery clearance — Amiable natives — Features 
 of the district — Access and routes to the station — Arrangements for a 
 "palaver" — Advantages of the Yivi country; its exploration — The 
 five chiefs of Yivi and their men-at-arms — A splendid market for old 
 clothes — The " palaver " — A tight bargain — Congoese shrewdness in 
 trade — ^Lingenji, the boy trader of Bolobo — "Are not Yivi and 
 Nsanda one ? " — The bargain closed. 
 
 Viewed from Boma upward we are scarcely able to 1879. 
 trace tlie direction from which the Congo flows to widen -^^^^ 
 out into the expansive broad-bosomed stream we have 
 become acquainted with in our ascent from Banana 
 Creek. The hilly ridges on the north and south shores 
 — that were not visible until we were within about 
 fifteen miles of Boma, but which had still run easterly 
 in almost parallel lines witli our course some distance 
 inland — are seen to almost meet just above Boma, 
 and isolated spurs, or rocky points sharply projected 
 from the hitherto uniform lines, impede the view up 
 stream. 
 
 Steaming upward from the factory-Hned shores of
 
 no 
 
 TEE CONGO. 
 
 1879. 
 Sept. 
 
 Buka Is 
 
 Boma, and keeping well off the shore, we deflect our 
 course gradually to the rising grove-clad head of Buka 
 Island, or the Isle of Crocodiles, as it was anciently 
 called by the natives. The north main shore has curved 
 in a southerly direction from the east. Approaching 
 Buka Island we see on our left the narrow sinuous 
 Chinsalla Creek, separating the main from Prince's 
 
 IM'^-..^^* 
 
 ISLAND OX THE LOWER CONGO. 
 
 Island, and enter a deep channel between the west end 
 of Prince's and the east end of Buka Islands. A 
 glance at the sketch will show the nature of the vege- 
 tation and trees which clothe the slopes. It is this gap 
 between the two islands that dispart the Congo into the 
 two broad branches visible at Boma. 
 
 Rounding Prince's Island to the east we see the 
 Congo flowing in one united river towards us through
 
 PBIXCrS ISLAXD. Ill 
 
 a deep trough, the sides of which slope roughly upward 1879. 
 to the height of 300 feet, and above Nokki gradually pence's is. 
 rise to 900 and 1100 feet. Confined to the average 
 breadth of about 1400 yards, its force is increased to a 
 current of four-and-a-half knots an hour, while 150, 
 200, and even 300 feet soundings are obtained at the 
 narrower portions. 
 
 Prince's Island is the burial place of several of the 
 officers of the Tuckey Expedition, and in it are also 
 buried the remains of the Boma chiefs. The river sides 
 of the islands are clothed in a luxuriant tropical tangle 
 out of which many a palm and its feathered fronds 
 arises graceful to the view. On the creek side may 
 be found a grassy terrace, over which a narrow path is 
 traced by the natives. Its summit is jagged and un- 
 even ; the grey rock peeps out bare amid the heads 
 of vivid crowns of trees, 
 
 AVhen we have well passed Prince's Isle, the view to 
 the stranger is enticing enough to lead him to expect 
 that round the sharp rocky points something unusual 
 will requite him for the time given to the ascent. But 
 the utter absence of artificial scenes throughout all the 
 rude and rough prospect soon makes him feel that once 
 seen the view is in no way worth a second trip. 
 
 Those steep slopes of red clay earth thickly strewn 
 witli grey blocks of stone and quartz ; those ever repeat- 
 ing conformations of almost precipitous spurs alter- 
 nating with gullies scantily green with poor bush ; 
 those narrow bits of terraces adorned with a palm 
 or two, with bluffy river frontage and long line of
 
 112 THE CONGO. 
 
 1879. dark naked grit-rock, and the deep broad brown-faced 
 Mussuko. river confined witbin its rocky bed and sides by two 
 almost uniform lines of high hills, cannot offer anythiog 
 that is very agreeable to the eye. We are never freed 
 from a faint feeling that all we look upon verges upon 
 the desolate ; there is an unmistakable poverty in the 
 aspect, and in August, when the grass is bleached white, 
 there is a visible thirstiness. 
 
 The point on the southern side seen at the end of the 
 first reach, is that known as Makula, and in the centre 
 of the concave opposite is the village of Vinda-le-Nzaddi 
 or " Yinda by the River." When we have swept past 
 this the long view up the river is rendered more attrac- 
 tive by the factories of Mussuko, where the concave is 
 now on the southern shore, and the point opposite to 
 it is distinguished by the curious name of Fiddler's 
 Elbow, a designation which perpetuates a freak of 
 humour on the part of old Captain Maxwell, 1793. 
 
 By the time we have arrived at Mussuko, the slopes 
 of the river gorge are perceptibly higher and steeper, 
 but as we round the bend of Mussuko to look up the 
 river the north shore seems gradually to subside in alti- 
 tude to a clump of low hill-tops, at the foot of which was 
 once a village called Sanda Congo. This reach of river 
 is known as Palmyra reach, from a number of flourish- 
 ing palms on the narrow terrace which extends be- 
 tween the base of the hills and the river. The northern 
 or right side of the river is here very foul with rocks, 
 but the southern side is free as far as " Diamond " 
 Eock, right opposite Sanda Congo bend.
 
 FACTORIES AT NKONGOLO. 113 
 
 By skirting Diamond Rock, within tliirty ^'ards, or i879. 
 as tlie safer plan, when a mile below Diamond Rock, xokid. 
 striking obliquely across the river until well clear of the 
 troubled waters which impinge upon some rocks near 
 the centre opposite the Diamond Rock, a vessel of any 
 draught can safely pass upward into the next reach at 
 the head of which the factories of Nokki are fully in 
 view. 
 
 Opposite Nokki, on the north point, is Nkongolo, 
 wliere the International Association have now erected 
 a two-storied chalet and some store-houses, but in 1879 
 there were only two factories above Boma, that of 
 Scott's at Mussuko, and Faro's at Nokki. In 1885, 
 however, there are nineteen establishments (only six of 
 which are on the north), commercial, religious, and 
 philanthropic, between Yellala and Boma, which have 
 considerably animated the hitherto lonely river 
 trough. 
 
 Although in the old slave-trading days many a 
 sailing vessel had no doubt ascended the Congo, even 
 as far as Nokki, later navigators had not been so bold, 
 and in 1870 the traders were not confident in their 
 assertions that the Alhion could ascend as far as 
 Mussuko, But now, in 1885, the steamers dash boldly 
 up to tlie landing place of Yivi, and a sturdy pilot 
 possessing nerve and local knowledge may take a 
 vessel with a draught of fifteen feet to Yivi as easily 
 as to Boma. 
 
 On the 26th of September the quick and 2:»owcrful 
 steam-launch Esperance having been prepared, was 
 
 VOL. I. I
 
 114, THE CONGO. 
 
 1879. steamed ui) from Mussuko landini^-place at 1.30 p.m., 
 
 Sept. 26. . t . 
 
 Xokki. with provisions enough on board to feed a party of 
 three wliites and ten colom-ed men for a more deU- 
 berate and final reconnaissance which should fix for 
 ever the ultimate point of navigability, and the site for 
 the principal station of the Comite d'Etudes du Haut 
 Congo. At 2.20 p.m. we passed Nokki, and the first 
 view of the reach before us proved clearly that the 
 river trough was now assuming the appearance of a 
 canon, for, from immediately behind Nkongolo station 
 to the end of the reach, the north bank is a cliff 
 gradually rising from 600 feet to 1000 feet, from the 
 verge of which there is almost a sheer drop down to 
 the water. The south shore, though lofty behind 
 Nokki, appears to sweep down gradually to the Point 
 of Tunduwa. 
 
 The Esperance passed rapidly upward close to the 
 bank in almost still water, her speed increasing as we 
 drew near Tunduwa Point owing to the back current. 
 Keeping within ten 3'ards of the shore, we turned up 
 the reach leading to Yivi_, to breast which current as 
 it rushes down the narrowed canon requires nine-knot 
 power, otherwise it will be useless to attempt journey- 
 ing further. At the foot of the Yivi reach, the river is 
 scarcely 600 yards wide, though of an unusual depth, 
 possibly 300 feet. Confined within this narrow gullet, 
 and before emjDtying into the broad-like expansion called 
 Mayumba Bay, which bathes the base of the cliffs just 
 mentioned, the river in the centre acquires great force, 
 and has too swift a current to be attempted by any
 
 CASTLE HILL AT VIVL 415 
 
 ordinary nine-knot steamer. But by clino'ino- within i879. 
 
 . . , 1 Sept. 26. 
 
 biscnit-throw of the south shore, and watching sharply y;,.; 
 the curve of the point, the steamers of the Association 
 and the Kahinda of 250 tons, and the Morian of 40 tons, 
 have been able to master the difficultv. But there is 
 no reason why a 5000-ton steamer .should not pass if 
 she possessed sufficient power, and was handled by an 
 intelligent and experienced pilot. 
 
 As we ascended along the southern shore the current 
 perceptibly slackened as the river slowly widened 
 again, and we made good headway. Half way up the 
 reach, from abreast of a low green grassy terrace, we 
 struck across the river to the north side and crept up 
 without difficulty to the mouth of the Lufu River, which 
 separates Ichimpi and Chionzo District from that of 
 Tivi. It being 5 o'clock we encamped on the eastern 
 side of the Lufu on Yivi territory, to make a thorough 
 inspection on the morrow. 
 
 Calavanga Islet, mentioned by Tuckey, lay just below 
 us a hundred yards oil". The smaller rapids of Yivi — 
 into a whirlpool of which Tuckey 's punt disappeared — • 
 sounded its wild moaning unchanging rhythm almost 
 abreast of us ; the Nomaza Cove, of the same navigator, 
 is in full view nearly opposite, just above Mataddi Point 
 (Rocky Point) ; and some 000 feet above us towers the 
 steep mount now known as Castle Hill, on account of 
 its slight resemblance to a castle wall when seen from 
 a camp above. As it finally proved that we were iu 
 close vicinity to the site of our future greatest entrepot, 
 \'ivi, I ]nay as well, then, summarise the time that 
 
 I 2
 
 IIG THE CONGO. 
 
 1879. will be employed by a nine-knot steamer steaming from 
 
 Sept. 26. \ . 
 
 Banana Creek to Tivi : — 
 
 yivi. 
 
 H. 
 
 M. 
 
 3 
 
 30 
 
 o 
 o 
 
 30 
 
 3 
 
 45 
 
 1 
 
 15 
 
 1 
 
 10 
 
 . Hours 13 
 
 10 
 
 Banana Creek to Ponta da Lenlia 
 Ponta da Lenlia to Boma 
 Boma to Mussuko 
 Mussuko to Xokki 
 Isokki to XiTi 
 
 Sea to limit of Xavigation . 
 
 De-de-de', the singing and gay cbief of the Nsanda 
 village from which in 1877 I despatched a i^artj to 
 obtain relief for my starving caravan, had been met by 
 ns in Boma with his lingster Xsakala, and by an all- 
 powerful gift had been bribed to accompany us in the 
 search for a station. According to him and his fellow- 
 voyagers there would be no difficulty at all in finding a 
 capital site within a few hours' march of Nsanda. As I 
 liad already ascended as far as I thought safe, I was in 
 considerable doubt of this statement. At the same time, 
 tempted by his assurance and led by curiosity, I had 
 arrived thus far, and on the morning after our arrival 
 at the Lufu. my friend was requested to show the spot 
 he thought would suit me. He took me to the crest 
 of the little hill behind our camp, led me to a spot 
 whence a clear view was obtainable, and with his 
 finger pointed out a deep water passage, a little to 
 the left of the track followed by the Royal in her 
 vain attempt to ascend the tumultuous centre. As he 
 professed to have a full knowlege of the course up, we 
 embarked on board the Esperance., whicli had already 
 full steam.
 
 DE-DE-DE PROPOSES A SITE. 117 
 
 Xot five minutes later we \Yere in the seventy-foot i879. 
 
 Sept. 27. 
 
 Avicle channel struggling up bravely. On our right a vivi. 
 few yards off was the central body of the river, heaved 
 into a watery ridge which every minute dissolved into 
 a congeries of whirlpools, and colliding glassy masses 
 that presently embraced wildly, and became involved 
 under the vexed surface, and ever and again upheaved 
 anew in circular mounds which rolled down by pres- 
 sure from above into the broader quieter water below. 
 On our left was a number of rocky islets forming little 
 nooks and watery recesses at the present low stage of 
 the river, but which during high water are covered 
 with spray, and have to bear the rage of many strong 
 streams seeking reunion with the parent flood from 
 w^hicli they have for a time been parted. With a long- 
 pole we kept sounding constantly and carefully this deep 
 channel, to be informed of its future utility. Thence 
 emerging after a short time, w^e sped on at a quicker 
 rate through an undisturbed river to a broad sandy 
 landing-place at the foot of an isolated level-topped 
 spur, projected straight river-ward from the slope of 
 Castle Hill. The river-head of this hill dropped pre- 
 cipitously down to our standpoint, a depth of over 300 
 feet, as I guessed, its eastern side to a depth of about 
 1 00 feet, its western side to the sandy beach on which 
 we stood, with a long sweeping slope. 
 
 It was at the base of this cliff-faced rock, which 
 IVowned so grim and silent above us, that De-de-de' 
 proposed we should take up our position and build an 
 emporium to whicli all tlie world of Inner Africa could
 
 118 THE CONGO. 
 
 1S7'.'. come and trade. A sand i)lot, one luuidred yards lon^" 
 
 Sept. 27. . c/ & 
 
 vivi. and fifty yards deep, which to our strange eyes led 
 nowhere except to a grassy forest some fifteen feet high, 
 or back again to the deep forceful river, or up that tall, 
 upright grim rock ! 
 
 " Which way, my friend De'-de-de ? " 
 
 " Why cut the grass away and Imild. Sure, it is 
 beautiful, this !" he replied. 
 
 So we set fire to the grass, for in its present density 
 it was not penetrable. Piercing it with a score of ten- 
 fathom-long tongues of flame, in an hour the fire was 
 running wild up the slopes of Castle Hill, had gone 
 raging clear over the western slope and summit of 
 the high bluff and dipped into the little valley on 
 the eastern side, where, sheltered from the wind, it 
 dallied and smouldered. 
 
 Meantime we had enjoyed our morning meal, and 
 reminded of what a wise man had uttered once, 
 " Honour to him who makes a road through the impas- 
 sable," plunged up the steep slope before us, and after 
 a short but severe struggle, we had made an ascent of 
 343 feet, so our aneroids and boiling apparatus proved 
 later, and had surmounted the isolated hill. 
 
 The view we obtained was worth the struggle of the 
 ascent. We found ourselves on a curious platform, 
 250 yards long by 45 yards wide, almost level, and 
 habitable, with improvements, 343 feet above the 
 river. Two sides of it — the river and the eastern — were 
 absolutely unclimbable ; on the western it was tedious, 
 though a road might improve that, and from the
 
 VIVI STATION. 119 
 
 landward end of it the Castle Hill sloped up stiffly iS79. 
 steep to about 650 feet higher. Across the ravine, yivi. 
 which bounded this platform on the east, was a nobler 
 plateau, probably a square mile in surface, which made 
 me envious. 
 
 From a rocky coign overlooking the river, and from 
 whence I viewed the whole as on a map, I began to 
 
 DOWN THK HIVEU I-K(»M VIVI. 
 
 study the value of this platform, and rehearsed to my- 
 self what I wished to discover. I had fancied I should 
 want a place easy of access from the sea, a neighbour- 
 ing population of a conciliatory tendency, salubrity of 
 position ; a spot whence a feasible route to the interior 
 could be made. "While pondering over the problem, 
 some of the aborigines from Cliiusalla, a village in a
 
 120 THE CONGO. 
 
 1879. Ijollow to the left of the larger plateau, presented 
 
 ?ept. 27. 
 
 vivi. themselves before me, and ere long I had one of my 
 ideals resolved by the unmistakable amiability mani- 
 fested on their features. 
 
 I turned my thoughts again to the river. Do"\vn as 
 fiir as Mayumba Bay and Tunduwa Point, up to the 
 cliffy river-front of the gigantic mountain mass of 
 Palaballa, the wliole of the south bank was visible. 
 Xu-ampozo River, opposite to where I stood, whitening 
 over rock and boulder in its steep bed, tumbled into 
 the Congo. Xomaza Cove of Tuckey was 1500 yards 
 from us in an air-line, the river in its narrowest part 
 here was about 000 yards wide. On our side, begin- 
 ning from above river, Avas the broad terrace of Tivi, 
 of the same altitude as the hill from whence we ob- 
 .served ; then came the ravine of Nkusu, with a dry 
 stream-bed in its bottom ; then our hill, sloping down 
 into an amphitheatral sweep, which would have been 
 more useful but for the river-front of it bristling with 
 irremovable rocky islets. Behind or north of this low 
 bottom rose Castle Hill, 950 feet high, whose curious 
 rocks near the summit in detached horizontal layers 
 resembled antique and decayed walls. Bounding, on 
 the west, the amphitheatral sweep at the base of Castle 
 Hill, rose the jagged buttress whence we had first gazed 
 on this very hill ; while beyond and below this flowed 
 the Lufu into the covelet fronted by Calavanga islet, 
 and from the narrow Lufu River rose in a grand mass 
 the large unbroken and stupendous Chionzo Plateau, 
 on the airy summit of which we saw a grove of palms,
 
 ADVANTAGES OF QUE POSITIOX. 121 
 
 waving, wc were told, over the village of Icliimpi. 1879. 
 
 Sept. 27. 
 
 Taking it all together it was not an uninteresting yj^i 
 view ; there was a certain solemnity about the massive, 
 bold, and silent features that I could well have dis- 
 pensed with. But I had come for practical purposes ; 
 and the artistic will be appreciated according as it suits 
 my interest. 
 
 Mentally reviewing the various sites I had reserved 
 for comparison with the very highest I could find, I 
 knew of none to compare with the pjresent one for 
 salubrity. For here, on this comparatively narrow rock 
 pkitform, was all the quick drainage that was needed. 
 Insalubrity — whence could it arise here ? The artis- 
 tic — what spot on the lower river can match this ? 
 " The station must be left with a small garrison while 
 you wander far inland ; forget not to provide that," 
 whispered prudence. Well, if anything is defensible 
 against people only armed with flint-locks, certainly 
 this position will be almost impregnable. 
 
 Accessibility from the sea-ward ? Feasibility of 
 route into the interior ? 
 
 The accessibility must be provided for by a more 
 thorough exploration of the waters. If Tuckey could 
 sail his naval sloop into yon Nomaza Cove, surely we 
 in the days of steamers may drive our Belgi(]ue through 
 I hat current without impediment or trouble. And as 
 for a route into tlie interior, I think that will de})end on 
 our own industry, though it looks — hemmed in as we 
 are by that massive 1100-fect high ridge of Tivi — a 
 dubious and a difficult task.
 
 1879. 
 Sept. 2' 
 
 Vivi. 
 
 122 
 
 THE CONGO. 
 
 But, before deciding, I will liave a look at the ap- 
 proaches to that larger terrace from the river side ; and 
 I must have a touch at the bottom of those wild waters 
 and of the north and south channel again. So we de- 
 scended into the Nkusu ravine, a hundred feet below 
 us; we crossed the now dry bed of it, and, making our 
 
 NATIVE HOUSE WITH A FAMILY GROUP. 
 
 way up a high tangled mass of tall grass and reeds, 
 we arrived panting on the longer terrace. After a 
 rough survey we again descended to the river, and the 
 huge rock masses there visible and the general inac- 
 cessibility entirely extinguished our hope that we_, witli 
 our small force of labourers, could render it easier of
 
 ARBANGING FOB A '' PALAVEIl.'' 123 
 
 access witliin a reasonable period. Then Massalla, the 1879. 
 
 ^ Sept. 27- 
 
 Hngster of Chinsalla village, in the hollow north of the vivi. 
 terrace, invited ns to his house, and, while partaking of 
 his hospitable draughts of fresh palm-juice, we listened 
 to the gossipy revelations he made regarding the chiefs 
 of Yivi district. From him we learned that there 
 were five chiefs, each of whom had a village and 
 was independent of the other, though Yivi Mavungu, 
 who dwelt with his immediate dependants upon the 
 highest crest of Yivi mountain, was the acknowledged 
 senior. 
 
 The deep cool shade of the umbrageous trees, the 
 effect of the effervescing draught of palm juice, the ami- 
 ability of the villagers, the visible signs of the fertility 
 of the soil all around the small village and between 
 its dwarfed dwellings, were fast encroaching upon my 
 affections, creating a liking for the locality, and 
 sapping that cynical indifference with which I had at 
 first associated Yivi with the scene of our preliminary 
 labours. 
 
 Would Massalla be good enough to collect the chiefs 
 of Yivi at our encampment near the landing-place, to 
 hold a " palaver" ? I would meanwhile ascend to the 
 summit of Castle Hill, take a wider view around, 
 descend again to the steamer, and with the Ksperance, 
 a sounding-lead, and long sounding-pole, make a 
 sufficient survey for present uses. To this proposition 
 Massalla, encouraged by the friendly females Avho had 
 thronged about us, gave a willing assent. 
 
 A stifl' climl) up a steep rugged infliuo to another
 
 124 THE coy 00. 
 
 1879. terrace or platform, 150 feet hio-lier tLan the first we 
 
 Sept. 27. -^ ' ® 
 
 Vivi. had explored, and a longer, steeper ascent, lasting over 
 half an hour, brought us just beneath the bluff rock 
 walls we had compared to an old castle ruin. A few 
 minutes later brought us to the crown of the Olympian 
 height dubbed Castle Hill. As the eye swept rapidly 
 over the view of massive and glorious sweeps of laud 
 and numberless detached hills, with the winding Congo 
 a thousand feet beneath us, the cool breeze fanning our 
 perspiring faces hot from the ascent, we felt ourselves 
 repaid in some degree for the toil of coming. For the 
 land, with its rude and bold irregularities of lofty hills 
 and profoundly deep ravines, the general admirable 
 careless disorder, in which it had been fixed by potent 
 agencies^ and worn by ages of hard baking and tropic 
 rain-storm, the whole being lightened by the broad 
 waving band of silvered water beneath, made a pros- 
 pect which won from us an ungrudging compliment 
 upon its solemn melancholy beauty. But it had not 
 the quality of fixing the affectrons. The churlish soil 
 had rejected the copious wealth of water, and its 
 intrinsic value, through its merciless ruggedness, and 
 the departing water had revenged itself by washing 
 away every bit of vegetable humus that each dry 
 season had left for its nourishment, while it exposed 
 large patches of brick-red ungrateful clay, inter- 
 spersed amid equally large patches well strewn with 
 quartz. 
 
 The larger terrace near Chinsalla villao-e below 
 us appeared adapted for cultivation and settlement.
 
 SURROUNDINGS OF VIVA. 
 
 125 
 
 judging from our examination of tlie ample fold of i879. 
 
 Sept. 27. 
 
 ground of wliicli it formed a part. The rocky plat- vivi. 
 form below us looked like a short pier projected from 
 the slope extending from us for the purpose of 
 throwing a bridge across the Congo. To the westward 
 the noble outline of Chionzo Plateau spread as far as 
 the eye could note in gentle waves of grass-covered 
 
 SKETCH MAP OF VIVI. 
 
 land, topped here and there by palmy clusters or 
 groves of- cottonwood. Behind us, or northward, Vivi 
 ridge, now like a giant mountain hump, two or three 
 hundred feet hiMier than Castle Hill, was fully 
 revealed as above. 
 
 Along its spine were scattered a few tall groves,
 
 120 THE CONGO. 
 
 1879. under whose shade we knew, later, were nestled the 
 
 Sept. 27. 
 
 vivi. dark peoj^le of Yivi. 
 
 In imagination I supposed myself planted on the 
 larger plateau within the loop formed by the mountain 
 masses of Yivi ridge and Castle Hill on one half, and 
 the river, deep down, forming the sides of the other 
 lialf. It appeared to me as though I should be im- 
 prisoned within it if a means of exit were not found 
 towards the interior. I therefore rose and strode 
 rapidly along the spur of Castle Hill, climbed up the 
 easy gradient to the higher Yivi ridge, where from a 
 commanding spot I obtained a view of a land whose 
 noble scene was most impressive. 
 
 I now began for the first time to grasp the details of 
 the topographical situation. The slope facing inland of 
 Yiva ridge declines easily along ; one of the spurs ex- 
 tending from it down to the valley of the Loa, a tribu- 
 tary of the Lufu, whose course is from the northward in 
 a cleavage of a tableland down towards the foot of Yivi 
 ridge, and, joined by the Loa, it winds through a rocky 
 and narrow ravine, along the base of the slope of 
 Castle Hill, to empty in front of Galavanga islet — thus 
 forming an unmistakable divisional line between Yivi 
 district and the great, broad, tabular mass of Chionzo 
 Plateau. The parted plateaus caused by the sunken 
 line of the Lufu offered in their expanding wide levels 
 nothing very terrible or unpromising to the formation 
 of a wagon-road over them ; the plateau of Kulu, 
 cut by the Loa, was equally good. As I critically 
 examined the scene, I judged that the valley of the
 
 ACCESSIBILITY OF THE STATION. 127 
 
 Loa was miicli of the same altitude as Chinsalla i879. 
 plateau, on or near which the first station might " y'iyx 
 possibly be constructed, and a road skirting the con- 
 tour of Castle Hill ridge leading from the pier-like 
 platform first examined, or the Chinsalla terrace, 
 seemed feasible. 
 
 The mind works rapidly and eagerly wdien its interest 
 is excited. As fast as the eye searched for all these 
 details the mind leaped into the future. I already 
 viewed tlie completed station, the broad, well-travelled 
 turnpike-road, the marching columns of tradespeople, 
 the stream of traffic, and the incessant moving to and 
 fro of multitudes. But, alas ! when the memory re- 
 verted to the scanty band of labourers which were 
 awaiting my decision, I could not conceal from myself 
 the fact that all these bright scenes were unreal isable 
 and impossible through our poverty of labour-power. 
 
 An hour's descent from my wind-swept altitude re- 
 turned us to our encampment on the sandy beach at tlie 
 base of the pier-platform, fullj- fatigued, though, after 
 the hunger was satisfied and the limbs rested a short 
 time, my interest was now excited by the desire to see 
 the last problem — that of accessibility by river from the 
 sea — solved before the chiefs of Yivi should assemble 
 to discuss the political questions. 
 
 Accordingly we proceeded in the Esperance straight 
 into the stream. Turning her head down the channel 
 we had ascended, and, shutting off steam, we floated 
 witli the current, sounding quickly with a twelve-foot 
 pole on either side of the bow, while witli a similar
 
 128 THE COXGO. 
 
 1879. pole other soundings were taken at the stern ; and, 
 
 Sept. 27. 
 
 Vivi. having reached Calavanga islet, we turned her head 
 up for another course of soundings and to familiarise 
 ourselves with the channel. VTe then steamed up 
 along the shore, and with pole and line ascertained 
 the depth up as far as the turn leading to Upper Tivi 
 Rapids ; then across the river to the foot of the might}^ 
 cliffs above the Nuampozo River on the south side. 
 Judging that the depth about here must be unusual, 
 twenty yards frora the bouldery base of the cliff I cast 
 ray line, and found fifteen fathoms. Another cast at 
 seventy-five or eighty yards from it — a long length 
 of line vanished, and, though we were floating down 
 stream, I discovered that my line floated upward of 
 me much faster, so that we would have to steam ahead 
 a little to keep up with it ; and when brought up rigid 
 I found the lead was inextricably fixed in the rocks 
 beneath. I measured what was left in the boat, and 
 perceived that there must be a depth of ninety fathoms 
 of water at this spot. We discovered two facts in 
 connection with this : viz., that there was a strong 
 under-current of water flowing up stream in this bend, 
 while the surface-water flowed downward, and that the 
 bottom, deep as it was, was covered with great rocks, 
 which could only be caused by a yet greater depth 
 midstream and below, which prevented the deposit of 
 alluvium there. 
 
 Our last piece of water-exploration was performed by 
 descending with the current along the south shore from 
 just below the Nuampozo covelet. T\"e found that by
 
 MEETING TEE CHIEFS OF VIVL 129 
 
 keepino; well in shore, awav from the vicinity of the 1879. 
 
 , . . / "^ , 1 • Sept. 27. 
 
 boisterous waters m the centre, that the river was per- yj^^i, 
 fectly clear to a great depth, and that for the helmsman 
 locally experienced there was no difficulty to hinder 
 the navigation of any ship possessing greater power 
 than the current. 
 
 At 4 P.M. we returned to our camp on the beach 
 (having exhausted ten hours in very useful work), to 
 meet the five chiefs of Yivi district, who, encircled 
 about by about two score of armed men, and led out 
 to me by the smiling Massala, were in due order and 
 according to precedence introduced to me. 
 
 No. 1, the senior lord of Yivi, by name Yivi Ma- 
 vungu of Banza Yivi, sou of his father of the same 
 name, stood out, short of stature and club-footed, with 
 an affected scowl of defiant truculency, which he had 
 intended for one of bland amiability, dressed in a blue 
 lackey's coat, a knit Phrygian cap of vari-coloured 
 cotton, and a lower-cloth of gaudy pattern. 
 
 No. 2, Ngufu-Mpanda, of Banza Sombo, a hale old 
 man with gray hair — a veritable Uncle Tom — in an 
 English red military tunic, a brown felt hat, an ample 
 clotli of check pattern round the lower portion of his 
 body, anklets of brass wire, and a necklace of elephant 
 hair wove through a few fetish relics for good luck. 
 Like Yivi Mavungu, he brought his hand up to his hat, 
 bent his body in a not ungraceful salutation, and 
 " scraped a leg " like a sailor. 
 
 No. 3, Kapita, a humorous-looking elder, of short 
 height, befrocked in a dark blue soldier's coat, a good 
 
 VOL. 1. K
 
 130 THE CONGO. 
 
 1879. cloth round his lower half, ankles and neck beinsr 
 
 Sept. 27. 
 
 vivi. adorned in a fashion similar to the above-mentioned. 
 After a salute, which likewise was an imitation of a 
 sailor's, he retired to make room for — 
 
 No. 4, Yivi Nku, who was not very sober, but rather 
 hilarious in manner, and degraded in feature, in a black 
 cloth frock-coat and black silk hat, and his nether parts 
 encircled by an ample robe of crimson savelist. 
 
 No. 5 was Benzani Congo, a handsome, well-formed 
 young man, in a dark brown coat which belonged once 
 to a London club, a nether robe of spotted blue cotton, 
 neck, ankles, and wrists ringed around with brass wire. 
 
 The men-at-arms were not bad-looking. The profits 
 of trade had sufficed to furnish them all with decent 
 outfits of either printed cottons or unbleached do- 
 mestic, while a striped cotton cap of jaunty Phrygian 
 pattern was sported by nearly all, except a few who 
 preferred the English felt or straw hat. Their weapons 
 were flint-locks, branded " Tower." 
 
 Short as was my view of this concourse of Yivi abori- 
 gines, I foresaw a brilliant future for Africa, if by any 
 miracle of good-fortune I could persuade the dark mil- 
 lions of the interior to cast off their fabrics of grass 
 clothing and don the second-hand costumes visible, say, 
 in Whitechapel. See what a ready market lies here for 
 old clothes ! The garments shed by the military heroes 
 of Europe, of the club lackeys, of the liveried servants 
 of modern Pharaohs, the frock-coats of a lawyer, mer- 
 chant, or a Rothschild ; or perhaps the grave garb of 
 these my publishers, may here find people of the rank
 
 A MABKET FOR OLD CLOTHES. 
 
 131 
 
 of Congo cliieftainsliip to wear them, and strut about 1879. 
 
 , ., . . . Sept. 27. 
 
 ^n grande tenue while on ceremonious visits. vivi. 
 
 Since this period my views have been confirmed by 
 larger experience, and I have seen many thousands of 
 dark Africa's sons who would not feel it to be a dero- 
 
 
 NATIVE CHICKEN SELLER. 
 
 gation of their dignity to wear the cast-off costumes of 
 the pale children of Europe, but would put themselves 
 to some little trouble to gather enough raw produce to 
 give in legitimate exchange for them, that they may 
 wear them rightfully and nobly. 
 
 K 2
 
 132 THE CONGO. 
 
 1879. And now — some on native mats, laid over a lar2;e 
 
 Sept. 27. , , 
 
 vivi. space under the shade of a wide-spreading tree — the 
 chiefs are seated in the fore-ground ; decorously behind, 
 at a respectful distance are the men-at-arms. Massala, 
 the lingster or spokesman, is requested by scowling Vivi 
 Mavungu to address the words of welcome to me ; 
 and a clever interpreter, learned in the English as well 
 as in the dialect of Yivi, conveys them to me in very 
 complimentary form, as thus : — 
 
 " We, the big chiefs of Vivi, are glad to see the 
 mundele (trader, formerly, but now applied to every 
 white). If the mundele has any wish to settle in our 
 country as Massala informs us, we shall welcome him, 
 and will be great friends with him. Let the mundele 
 speak his mind freely." 
 
 I replied : " State that I am glad to hear them speak 
 so kindly to the white man. To-day I do not want 
 much. I want ground to build my houses, for I am 
 about to build many, either here or elsewhere. I want 
 ground enough, if I can get it, to make gardens and 
 fields. Vivi is not good for that unless I go far up ; 
 but what I do get I want for myself and people, and 
 the right to say what white man shall come near me. 
 At Boma the chiefs have cut the ground up small ; 
 there is no room for me. I want plenty of room, and 
 that is why I have come up here. I want to go inland, 
 and must have the right to make roads wherever it is 
 necessary, and all men that pass by those roads must be 
 allowed to pass without interruption. No chief must 
 lay his hand on them and say, * This country is mine ;
 
 CONSULTATION OF TEE CHIEFS. 133 
 
 pay me something ; give me gin, or cloth, or so many 1879. 
 guns.' You have heard of me, I know, for De-de-de, vivj, 
 wlio is here, must have told you. What I saw on the 
 road to Boma must not be repeated here. You have 
 no roads in your country. It is a wilderness of grass, 
 rocks, bush ; and there at Banza Yivi is the end of all 
 life. If you and I can agree, I shall change all that. I 
 am going to stop here to-night ; think of what I have 
 told you, and I will listen. To-morrow you can return 
 at the third hour of the day, and speak." 
 
 After a little consultation together they returned 
 homeward, taking with them De-de'-de' and Nsakala, 
 my friends of 1877, and Massala, the lingster. Each 
 of the chiefs begged for, and received, a bottle of 
 gin. 
 
 About half-an-hour before sunset we were made 
 aware of a curious structure, like a broad high raft, in 
 the middle of the stream about a mile below, that 
 vomited forth black volumes of smoke, and seemed 
 rooted to the spot. Through a glass I could distinguish 
 it as the En Avant, which had managed in some un- 
 accountable way to ascend so far on an errand that we 
 could not divine, unless some calamity had happened 
 during my absence at the camp. Again I sjDed down 
 liver eager to know the cause, only to find that the 
 boat had come thus far in the effort to bring me a 
 1)0X of goods I had vainly been in search of before 
 leaving Mussuko. One of the Zanzibaris employed 
 in m}' first reconnoitring trip had shown tlic way; 
 and, with the scientific help of the chief engineer of
 
 134 
 
 THE CONGO. 
 
 1879. 
 Sept. 27. 
 
 ViTi. 
 
 the flotilla, the En Avant had disclosed her dormant 
 eapahilities. 
 
 After hours of cold dispassionate arguments with 
 myself that night, while seated on the sand in the 
 moonlight, I came to the conviction that I could not 
 better my choice of position, but that industry well 
 directed, and plans vigorously pursued, might vastly 
 
 tOXGO FKOM LAKDIXG-PLACE, YIVI. 
 
 improve what Nature had so carelessly left in disorder. 
 I then retired to a sound and well-deserved rest, and 
 rose next morning at daybreak, to pace the shore with 
 mind alert and busy — too bnsy indeed considering the 
 smallness of the force of men with whose assistance I 
 proposed to perform such marvels. 
 
 Punctually to the time appointed the Yivi chiefs, and 
 their armed retinues appeared tricked out in Congo 
 fashion's garb, second-hand military and lackey coats,
 
 THE PALAVER. 135 
 
 and gay cottons. All tlie men were sober and cleanly. 1872. 
 The mats were unrolled, and the decorous demeanour yi^.j 
 suited to the important palaver was assumed, when 
 suddenly at a signal from the lingster, the salute was 
 given, none rising until the senior in rank had risen, 
 bowed, and resumed his seat. 
 
 The conference bep^an bv the linsrster, Massala, 
 describing how the chiefs had gone home, and con- 
 sulted together for a long time : they had agreed that 
 if the Mundele would stay with them, that of all the 
 land unoccupied by villages, or fields and gardens, I 
 should make my choice, and build as many houses, and 
 make as many roads, and do any kind of work I liked ; 
 that I should be considered as the " Mundele " of 
 Yivi, and no other white man should put foot on Yivi 
 soil, which stretched from the Lufu up to the Banza 
 Kulu district, and inland down to the Loa River, with- 
 out permission from me ; no native chief of inland 
 or river-side should molest any man in my employ 
 within the district of Vivi ; help should be given for 
 work, and the people of V^ivi, such as liked, should 
 engage themselves as workmen ; anybody, white or 
 black, native or foreign, passing to and fro through the 
 land, should do so freely, night and day, without let or' 
 hindrance ; if any disagreement should arise between 
 any of my people, wliite or black, and the jieople 
 of Yivi, they, the chiefs, would promise not to try and 
 revenge themselves, but bring their complaint before 
 <lie Mundele' of Yivi, that he might decide upon the
 
 136 THE C'OXGO. 
 
 1879. right and the wrong of it ; and if any of their people 
 
 vivi. were caught in the act of doing wrong, then the white 
 
 man sljall promise that his chief shall be called to hear 
 
 the case against him, and if the crime is proved, the 
 
 chief shall pay the fine according to custom. 
 
 " All this," continued Massala, " shall be set down in 
 writing, and you shall read it, and the English lingster 
 shall tell it straight to us. But first we must settle 
 what the chiefs shall receive in return for these con- 
 cessions." 
 
 Now the territory of Yivi consists of twenty square 
 miles at the utmost. Its productive part was already 
 occupied and cultivated, with the exception perhaps of 
 500 acres. The rest was all mountain, rock-strewn slope, 
 dry river course, jagged hill-tops, and patches of terraces 
 too much torn up by winding nullahs to be made useful. 
 It was mostly barren, mean, worthless. But then I, 
 like the traders, was not in search of an agricultural 
 dis-trict. I needed a port, a point of debarkation for 
 the interior. Being the Ultima Thule of navigation, 
 labour being so scarce, and the bold sloping walls of 
 the cailon being continuous and so relentlessly high, I 
 must needs accept the position, and by industrious 
 energy attempt to tame its prevailing wildness, and 
 put a veneer, however thin, on the 2}resent undoubted 
 riiggedness. As a matter of fact, therefore, it was for 
 the sake of what a road from Yivi might promote, not 
 for what Yivi in itself was worth, that negotiations 
 were made.
 
 CONGOESE SHREWDNESS IN TRADE. 137 
 
 In the manao'ement of a baro'ain I should back the isro. 
 
 . . . . Sept. 27. 
 
 Congoese native against Jew or Christian, Parsee or vivi. 
 Banyan, in all the round world. Unthinking men 
 may perhaps say cleverness at barter, and shrewdness 
 in trade, consort not with their unsophisticated condi- 
 tion and degraded customs. Unsophisticated is the 
 very last term I should ever apply to an African child 
 or man in connection with the knowledge of how to 
 trade. Apply the term if you please to yourself or to 
 a Red Indian, but it is utterly inapplicable to an 
 African, and this is my seventeenth year of acquaint- 
 ance with him. I have seen a child of eight do more 
 tricks of trade in an hour than the cleverest European 
 trader on the Congo could do in a month. There is 
 a little boy at Bolobo, aged six, named Lingenji, who 
 would make more profit out of a pound's worth of 
 cloth than an English boy of fifteen would make out 
 of £10 worth. Therefore when I write of a Cono-o 
 native, whether he is of the Bakongo, Byyanzi, or 
 Bateke tribes, remember to associate him with an 
 almost inconceivable amount of natural shrewdness, 
 and power of indomitable and untiring chaffer. 
 
 Four hours were expended before the bargain was 
 concluded, and I found myself obliged to pay £32 down 
 in cloth and a rental of £2 per month. The papers 
 confirming this agreement were drawn up in due form, 
 and signed by the respective parties concerned in the 
 ti'ansaction. 
 
 The following quotation from my journal that even-
 
 138 TEE CONGO. 
 
 1879. ing sums up this day's "work truthfully, and even now, 
 
 Sept. 27. 
 
 x\y\, with larger knowledge of the locality, not much im- 
 provement is needed. 
 
 " I am glad we have so happily concluded the nego- 
 tiations. My friend De-de-de of Nsanda pleaded and 
 argued hard, so much so indeed that Yivi Mavungu 
 became suspicious at last, which caused De'-de-de to fall 
 at the feet of each Yivi chief, with finely affected 
 warmth and action, crying out, * Are not Yivi and 
 Nsanda one ? why should I seek to do hurt or harm to 
 Yivi ? ' We had the usual scenes of loud applause and 
 silence in the court." 
 
 " I am not altogether pleased with my purchase. It 
 has been most expensive in the first place, and the rent 
 is high. However, necessity has compelled me to it. 
 It is the highest point of navigation of the Congo 
 opposite which a landing could be effected. The 
 landing-place is scarcely 300 yards long, but if the 
 shores ^vere improved by levelling, available room for 
 ships could be found for 1500 yards. 
 
 " The great difficulty is to be found in the steepness 
 of the hill slopes, though engineers and skilled workmen 
 with effective tools would make light work of it. A 
 city of 20,000 inhabitants might be accommodated on 
 the larger plateau, with sufficient landing conveniences. 
 It ought to be healthy (unless the air exhaled here 
 is impregnated with malaria), and with hydraulic 
 machines for lifting water to the plateau it might 
 bloom like a garden. I have not as yet measured its
 
 CHINSALLA VILLAGE. 139 
 
 actual extent of level, but I should say from my 1879. 
 
 Sept. 27. 
 
 memory that it must be a mile long by half a mile vi^-,, 
 wide. Chinsalla vilJage is in a gentle hollow between 
 this and the first spring of the land rising to Yivi 
 Mountain ; around it palms flourish, cool water is found, 
 and it possesses quite an acreage devoted to gardens 
 and fields."
 
 140 TEE CONGO. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THE FOUNDING OF VIVI : A STORY OF WORK. 
 
 An unpromising iielcl for work — " He makes his mark, and many marks 
 make a road " — The signal given — Work offered to the natives : 
 their astonishment — Road-making — Transport of stores — Mapping 
 the sites of houses — 1 gain the name of BvJa Matari, " Breaker of 
 Rocks" — Garden-making — Duration of our working day — Native 
 fondness of grog — Completing the head-quarters — Extracts from 
 descriptive letters to the President — Officers and men at Vivi. 
 
 1879. A MORE cruel or less promising task than to conquer 
 vi^^i^ * the sternness of that austere and sombre region of Yivi 
 could scarcely be conceived. Its large bold features of 
 solidity, ruggedness, impassiveness, the chaos of stones, 
 worthless scrub, and tangle of grass in hollow, on slope, 
 or summit, breathed a grim defiance that was undeni- 
 able. Yet our task was to temper this obstinacy, to 
 make the position scaleable, even accessible ; to quicken 
 that cold lifelessness ; to reduce that grim defiance to 
 perfect submission ; in a word, to infuse vigorous ani- 
 mation into a scene which no one but the most devoted 
 standard-bearer of Philanthropy could ever have 
 looked at twice with a view to its value. Our only 
 predecessors in this region had been men despatched
 
 Ichimpi_ 
 
 BE.LGIAN FACTORY
 
 Stanford's Gecg' Estai' 
 
 London: Sampson Low, Marston, S*arle &Rivuig«m.
 
 BEGINNING WOBK. 141 
 
 on an errand of geographical exploration, or tourists 1879 
 
 . Sept. 30. 
 
 who had hastily passed through to view the Falls of yivi. 
 Yellala. Trade had shunned it, religious zeal saw no 
 fit field here for its labours; perhaps its grimness of 
 feature had daunted the zealot. But let us see what 
 wakeful diligence, patient industry, and a trustful faith 
 can make of it ; the power of man is great, though 
 he is a feeble, perishable creature ; with little strokes 
 but many, he has before this performed marvels ; his 
 working life counts but a handful of hours, but with 
 every hour — industry inspiring him — he makes his 
 mark, and many marks may make a road. 
 
 With such views we began. The Esperance was 
 despatched with the steel lighter down to Mussuko for 
 men, and provisions of rice and beef, and on her return 
 back again for machettes, hoes, picks, and shovels, 
 crow-bars and sledge-hammers ; then again more men, 
 and more provisions, and a third time for more men, 
 tools, provisions, tents, awnings, canvas sheds. When 
 we numbered a hundred workmen, the slow, laborious 
 work before us was commenced by tracing a line 
 through the half-consumed reeds — from the beach to 
 the summit of the rock platform — now known as Old 
 Vivi Hill. In order to see clearly what gradient could 
 be given to it, this tracing had to be at least fifty feet 
 wide, running at right angles, for the comparatively 
 short length of the Hill (750 feet) did not allow of 
 more angles without a work which would have ab- 
 sorbed months of road-making alone. When measured 
 with a tape-line, the road determined upon from the
 
 142 TEE CONGO. 
 
 1879. beach to the straight was 1965 feet. We divided this 
 
 October 1. _ , 
 
 Vivi. into sections, and made five working squads. At a 
 signal we saluted the dawn of the new era with the 
 inspiring sound of striking picks, ringing hoes, metal- 
 lic strokes of crowbars, and dull thudding of sledge- 
 hammers, which rang out on the morning on the 
 1st of October, 1879, brisk and busy, foretokening the 
 manner and spirit in which we intended to prosecute 
 the first great enterprise up the Congo. 
 
 The chiefs of Yivi were here in gay robes and 
 bright colours ; their retinue was for the first time with- 
 out arms ; they stood empty-handed with brawny muscles 
 which made me envious, and suggested other thoughts. 
 The spirit of industry had been aroused. " See, oh 
 chiefs ! " I said, " I have begun. My young men are 
 at work ; have you no help to give me ? Look at your 
 strong-armed young fellows standing idle, and I have 
 abundance of cloth bound in the bales below, brighter 
 handkerchiefs than any you have yet seen, gay strings 
 of beads and shining brass armlets for the womankind ; 
 collect fifty people, and prepare the top of the hill for me 
 to live upon, cut down the grass, clear the ground of 
 stones, and mark your welcome of my coming among you 
 thus, and to-night at sunset the wage due shall be paid, 
 and a demijohn of good rum shall celebrate the event ! " 
 My clever interpreter, for at this period I knew not 
 the Ki-Kongo dialect, put the above in perhaps still 
 more forcible language. The effect of it was seen in 
 the universal smile which lightened their features, as 
 they all looked at one another inquiringly. But pre-
 
 NATIVE SUBPBISE AT PAID WORK. 143 
 
 sently they were striding towards their respective i879. 
 
 October 1. 
 
 chiefs, man, woman, and child, to discuss the reality of vivi. 
 the offer. 
 
 What ! they who had to delve and dig in their 
 gardens and fields, and plant the fruitful arachide, and 
 collect the palm-nut and crush it to extract the precious 
 kernel, and boil the yellow butter of the palm, then 
 load it in canoes, and float it down to Boma, and spend 
 days in the sale of their produce, and wearily paddle 
 against the stream and brave the danger of the current 
 • luring dreary days, to have a white man in their midst 
 offering to buy wdiat strength lay in their arms and 
 willingness in their spirits for labour ! 
 
 It is an event which neither they, and certainly not 
 their fathers, had ever heard or dreamed of. Its very 
 novelty unexpectedly startles them to demand of each 
 chief the meaning and significance of the offer. The 
 thing was totally destitute of precedents, might there 
 not be mixed in it some small danger of which they 
 wot not ? 
 
 I watch the speaking groups ; I see the grave faces of 
 the chiefs as they appear to be imbued with the gravity 
 (jf the proposition as explained eagerly by the speaker, 
 now and then lighten up with smiles as though they 
 would pooh-pooh some ridiculous alarm suggested by a 
 timid creature. I see the face also of my interpreter, 
 which is like a book ; there is a good-natured contemj)t 
 on it as he hears the vain alarms loudly uttered. At 
 last I note a growing conviction on the faces of the 
 chiefs that after all it might be of great good to them,
 
 144 THE CONGO. 
 
 1879. an enrichment in a small way of the community at 
 
 October 1. 
 
 Vjvi. large, productive of a trifling interest to them in 
 the shape of bottles of gin, social drinks, and — who 
 knows? — perhaps a slight increase to their store of 
 cloth currency. 
 
 The upshot of it all, after due bargaining, is that I 
 count sixty-five men, women, and children of Yivi on 
 the summit of the hill, clearing its face of the rough 
 stones so thickly strewn, and cutting the scrub bush 
 and levelling the ant mounds. I, on the search for 
 omens, like the men of old on the verge of enterprises, 
 take this sight to be a happy augury of the future. 
 
 As yet I had brought no European upon the scene, 
 though four assistants were waiting orders below, be- 
 sides those employed on the steamers running up and 
 down, who were familiarising themselves more and 
 more with the river track. For I had some small dread 
 of their coming to such a work and viewing a scene 
 so barren of accommodation, so depressing in its slow 
 and tedious advance. Besides, the force was too small, 
 and the task at iDresent did not warrant anv sub- 
 division. All hands were fresh and healthy, and a 
 European would be almost a hindrance rather than 
 help. The Belgique, also, day after day required a 
 number of Europeans and labourers to load her at 
 Boma and discharge her at Mussuko, while the Royal 
 the En Avant and the Jeune Africaine needed many 
 improvements and repairs before they could be em- 
 ployed in the strong current between Mussuko and 
 Vivi.
 
 OUR TRANSPORTS. 145 
 
 Between the 1st and the 13th of October, we con- isto. 
 tinned our w^ork, and a road of sufficient breadth yivi. 
 for the transport of the more portable effects to the 
 summit of Yivi Hill was completed, though before the 
 wagons could be hauled up in safety many days of 
 labour had yet to be given to the operations. The 
 Esperanee meantime had been twice a day regularly 
 to Mussuko and back, bringing eacli time three tons 
 of miscellaneous stuff to the landing-place. 
 
 On the 13th of October the Belgique began running 
 up ; then the Englishmen, ]\Ir. John Kirkbright of 
 Birmingham, and ^Ir, A. B. Swinburne of London, were 
 ordered up to the scene, while Mr. Augustus Sparhawk 
 of Boston was brought up from Boma to Mussuko ; his 
 duty, with the assistance of Mr. A. H. Moore, being to 
 superintend the camp and the loading of the Bdgiquc. 
 The En Avant was brought up to act as carrier between 
 the landing-place of Yivi and the beach above the 
 covelet called Belgique Creek (a cove of still water half 
 a mile above the Lufu mouth). The Royal was retained 
 at Yivi to act as a despatch-boat between Yivi and Mus- 
 suko. The Belgique towing the large steel lighter com- 
 menced transporting the wooden house and iron stores 
 so well constructed by Francis Morton & Co. of London. 
 On her arrival at Belgique Creek a force of men 
 marched down from the camp at the landing-place 
 and, quickly discharging the cargo, she was released to 
 depart for another load, while we began to transport 
 ihe house sections and l)uild them in a pile on the 
 Ell Atytnf, which, when loaded, steamed close in shore 
 
 VOL. I. L
 
 146 
 
 THE CONGO. 
 
 1879. to our landing-place, where another force of men quickly 
 
 October 13. 
 
 Vivi. unloaded hei\. and conveyed the sections of huts to the 
 neighbourhood of the camp. 
 
 The Kabindas, Yivi natives, coast labourers, aided by 
 a few Zanzibaris, conveyed them up the new road to the 
 
 8PEC1MEXS OF OUR EMPLOYES. 
 
 summit of Yivi Hill. A day or two after, my tent was 
 taken up and set for the first time on the future site of 
 old Yivi, which, clean cleared of rocks and scrub, was 
 now revealed in all its length and breadth, naked and 
 brick-red of colour, exce2Dt where the face of it was 
 disfigured by massive boulders rolled down from some
 
 MAPPING THE SITES OF HOUSES. 147 
 
 part of the overhano-ino- heio-lit, and which were too 1879. 
 
 ^ 000 October 16. 
 
 ponderous to be touched by the untutored hands of y;^; 
 natives. 
 
 Now, with paper and pencil, and the outUne of the 
 top of Tivi drawn according to scale, did I proceed 
 with -due regard to safety from fire, and to defensive 
 qualities as a provision against result of rupture when 
 absent, to map out the site of each house and store. 
 Then I bethought me of a garden — the place looked so 
 devoid of grace and completeness without it — and for 
 the sake of giving a finish to the plan a long oval was 
 drawn which should represent an enclosure wherein, 
 some time hence, verdure might give relief to eyes 
 aching from sun-glare, and wearying of the view of 
 white-painted structures and a brick-red plaza. When 
 this was done tlie carpenter and his assistants were 
 appointed to begin the construction of the wooden huts ; 
 an engineer, disgusted with driving an engine on a 
 three-ton launch, was detailed with a few men to erect 
 the iron stores ; a force of men was set to excavate an 
 oval basin 150 feet by 40 feet 18 inches deep in the 
 hard, sterile face of the platform. With the earth from 
 this excavation we levelled the ground, and made the 
 foundations for the houses uniform. Gangs of men 
 with crowbars and sledge-hammers were engaged in 
 prising the larger boulders over the precipitous steep 
 to the depths below, and pulverising others for road 
 beds, which should be presently covered with a few 
 inches of clay soil. 
 
 It is for this work of pulverisation of rock that the 
 
 L 2
 
 148 THE CONGO. 
 
 1S79. Yivi chiefs, wonderingly looking on while I taught my 
 vivi. men how to wield a sledge-hammer effectively, bestowed 
 on me the title of Bula Matari — Breaker of Rocks — 
 with which, from the sea to Stanley Falls, all natives of 
 the Congo are now so familiar. It is merely a distinctive 
 title, having no privileges to boast of, but the friend or 
 " son," or " brother" of Bula Matari will not be unkindly 
 treated by the Bakongo, Bateke', or By-yanzi, and that 
 is something surely. 
 
 As fast as a portion of the garden basin was excavated 
 the natives of Yivi, male and female, were engaged to 
 carry the rich black alluvial soil from the Xkusu valley 
 on the eastern side of the hill at so much per hundred 
 boxes of earth. In this operation there were many 
 attempts made to defraud me of my due weight of earth, 
 but a Zanzibari policeman at the head of the road 
 examining each box soon prevented that trick. Five 
 thousand boxfuls of earth for twenty days represent 
 roughly 2000 tons, with which I formed 2000 square 
 feet of a garden, wherein, after dressing and levelling 
 and forming narrow alleys, I planted my nine mango, 
 a few^ orange, avocada pears, and lime plants I had 
 brought from Zanzibar. Beds of carrots, onions, lettuce, 
 parsnips, turnips, cabbage, beets, tomatoes, were made ; 
 some papaw seeds were planted, and a palisade was 
 constructed around it. Thus I formed my garden, 
 which, under careful watering, soon showed green, and 
 in a few months repaid me not only by its pleasant 
 verdure, but contributed much variety of vegetables 
 to the table, limited as it was. In January, 1883, I
 
 DURATION OF OUR WORKING DAY. 149 
 
 g-athered eleven large mangoes, the first year's pro- isio. 
 
 T'ff"- 1 ^ f ^ 11 November. 
 
 auction 01 iriut, and the stones of them were planted at yi^; 
 Le'opoldville to be in 1885 ten feet high. 
 
 With the exception of Sundays, we worked hard 
 every day from 6 a.m. to 11 A.M., when the great gong 
 of Yivi told of breakfast and rest from work. At 
 1 P.M. work was resumed, and lasted till G p.m. The 
 native workmen and Kabindas at sunset were treated 
 to a small glass of grog well mixed with water. Their 
 fondness for it was shown by the manner in which they 
 scoured their gums with the alcoholic liquid. The 
 chiefs require two glasses, as well as the lingsters, and 
 the lords of Tivi during this busy period took parti- 
 cular care on various pretences to linger near the rum 
 bucket, that they might have a trifle of a taste before 
 saying " Good-night," and crawling up to their cool 
 villages on the top of Yivi mountain. 
 
 The good-natured Committee at home, under the idea 
 that we might need some time to lift the Belgique on 
 the stocks for repairs and painting, had despatched to 
 us some large timber 12" x 12". 
 
 The beach of Banana Point, however, afforded a 
 much better place for this than anything we could con- 
 struct in the neighbourhood of a strong current. There- 
 fore, when the head-quarters, the residence of the chief of 
 Vivi Station, was about to be built, this timber sawn up 
 into thick planks, with the addition of some extra plank- 
 ing, enabled me to erect a two-storied chalet, with cellar 
 beneatli, for bottled wine, beer, and liquor, and tinned 
 provisions. The unmanageable and unbreakable heads
 
 150 
 
 THE CONGO. 
 
 1879. of rotten sandstone and mica which cropped out at the 
 
 December. 
 
 YiTi. river end of Vivi Hill, were covered out of sight by 
 building a wall across the face of the hill, and filling 
 up the space with waste stones and rubbish ; surfacing 
 all with a smooth layer of the reddish soil. In the 
 centre of the upper platform thus made, the Yivi head- 
 
 \t:ew of vivi headquarters from xorth. 
 
 quarters was constructed, facing and commanding a 
 view of the entire plaza and garden. 
 
 At the opposite end were the Zanzibari lines, stables, 
 with sheds for hay and bran, and at the foot of the lines 
 were the poultry houses, and goat and pig yards, where 
 also were the blacksmiths' and carpenters' sheds. 
 
 Perhaps the following quotations from letters to the 
 President of the Comitc d'Etude du Haut Congo will
 
 LESCRIPTION OF VJVI STATION. 151 
 
 serve to throw a more vivid light upon our work at this i8^ 
 
 Jan 
 
 period than any retrospective summary that I could yj 
 draw up : — 
 
 " A'lvi, Congo Eiver, January Sth, 1880. 
 "My deak Colonel, 
 
 " Yesterday we comijletecl head-quarters, but we have got to paint 
 it. We shall certainly be through, so far as I am concerned with the 
 l^rincipal and lower station, in a short time, though there will be work 
 enough for the Chief of Vivi and his party for a very long time yet. 
 
 " As we are now rapidly rounding off our work on this station, I like it 
 more than ever, and am quite satisfied with it as being the best place on 
 the river, above the highest mercantile establishment, which is about ten 
 miles below us. 
 
 " Though we are on a hill o-iO feet above the river, limited in area, 
 something similar to the Acropolis at Athens, we look across a narrow 
 valley fifty metres wide and forty metres deep abreast of head- quarters, 
 and command a view of a tolerably level terrace or plateau sufficient for 
 a city I should estimate of 20,000 inhabitants, while if it spreads itself 
 into the depressions and valleys, there is space enough to construct a 
 much larger one, with gardens and parks quantum suff. between the Congo 
 and the mountains, while picturesque scenery meets the eye at every 
 point. 
 
 " Small and humble as our lower station is, it is the most imposing- 
 place on the Congo, and the first view of it, as people tell me coming uj) 
 the river for the first time, is very striking. They say, head-quarters 
 appears like a castle or a church, and a missionary from across the river 
 said it was like a town with a grand promise. ' Certainly,' said he, ' much 
 superior to what it really is when you are once here.' 
 
 "We have also a garden in the centre of the Acropolitan Station, 
 wherein are planted nine mango trees, six papaws, three avocada pear, 
 six oranges, seven lemons, three guavas, and where presently will be sewn 
 the flower seeds, Eucalyptus, etc. 
 
 " In order that you may fully appreciate this garden or park of ours, 
 you should be told that our Acropolis consists principally of a rotten 
 micaceous stone on the surface, while beneath lies the hard uncom- 
 promising gritty trap of the Congo region, and that we had to clear and 
 expose its bald head, on which it was evident that Nature never would 
 consent to nourish verdure. 
 
 " It would have been unspeakably intolerable if our infant station were 
 to have no shade, and last month I remedied this juattcr by depositing 
 two thousand tons of the richest l)lack hothouse soil, that the adjacent 
 valley, prolific in its grasses, afforded. Now I have the satisfaction of see- 
 ing the papaws springing up visibly, the mango leaves deepening their 
 
 IVl.
 
 Jan. 8. 
 Viri 
 
 152 THE CONGO. 
 
 1880^ greenness, the lemon assume a fresher tint, the guavas on the verge of 
 sending out new twigs, and the oranges giving every promise of repay- 
 ing our trouble ; and, astonishing to relate, the palisade I had closely 
 planted around the tiny park have now six-inch long twigs in full leaf, 
 and almost hide the marks of axe and saw by their leaves. 
 
 " The natives round about daily visit us and watch our progress with 
 j)leasure. They and I get along very amicably together, and our inter- 
 course is of the most happy character and irreproachable in its peace- 
 fulness and spirit of felicitous concord. If continued in this msnner 
 without the meddling of strangers, the fabulous arcadia caimot compete 
 with it in its fewness of squabbles. 
 
 " There is no slave trade in any part of the country in our vicinity. It 
 may chance that a chief may have two or three domestic slaves, but you 
 will better understand what I mean, if I .say that a miserable face Ijetoken- 
 ing suffering, soitow, discontent with its owners' lot, I have not seen in all 
 this district of Yivi. 
 
 " I have great pleasure in informing you of the arrival of Mr. Deanes, 
 2nd Engineer of the Albion and Francois Flamini, an Italian Engineer ; 
 both are of very good character, with considerable promise of work about 
 them. 
 
 " I feel as.sured that these will not worry me about ' expenses of tout 
 nature,' that they will be prompt in obedience, respectful in demeanour, 
 active in youi- intere.sts, assiduous in their duties ; and they will not 
 threaten me with what they will do in case of non-compliance will j^re- 
 lX)sterous demand.s, or for expostulating with them upon neglect of duty ; 
 that they will not think it beneath their dignity to \ye seen in their shirt- 
 sleeves, as I divest myself of coat and devote myself to manual labour from 
 the rising of the sun to its setting. I like to feel that I am accompanied 
 by a band of men to whom I have not to preach daily about the glorious 
 dignity of doing one's duty. 
 
 " You will appreciate this fact better when I tell you that I have not 
 
 seen the Belgiqwe, nor Captain L E G A , since the 
 
 16th of October, two months and twenty-three days. These people have 
 kept our steamer down at Banana all this time on the pretence of repairing 
 her. By the bills sent to me occasionally I am informed that I am in debt 
 in a sum of £75 for medical attendance. The Europeans with me are un- 
 commonly well, but it is perhaps because they are not permitted the freest 
 access to Portuguese wine. 
 
 " I have no particular preference for any nationality here. Duty is 
 our law, rule and guide. Be he Dutchman, Greek, Turk, Portuguese, 
 Dane, Belgian, Englishman, or American, is perfectly immaterial so long 
 as he works according to his agreement. We are here charged to perform 
 a task which I believe is a sacred one. While the task is unfulfilled there 
 is no place here for the trifler, laggard, indolent, peevish, undisciplined 
 man, hostile to his work.
 
 Jan. 8. 
 Yivi. 
 
 EXD OF OUR FIRST STAGE. 153 
 
 " With the feeling of immeuse relief I regard the departure of 1880. 
 
 whose conduct has revealed to me an amount of selfishness that has l^een 
 a novelty to me from its intensity and peculiarity. 
 
 " I hear the merry sound of the hammer struck on the anvil by the 
 capital blacksmith just arrived. I must also note the arrivals of the mules 
 and donkeys with an abundance of fodder." 
 
 Nearly a month later a letter to the President records 
 my impressions after the station was completed, and the 
 end of the first stage was attained. 
 
 *' Congo Eivek, Feb. m, 1880. 
 " My dear Coloxel, 
 
 " I write by this mail to say, first, that our lower station is com- 
 plete in all details, and that we finished its constniction on Saturday the 
 2ith of January. The houses were all erected, j^aiuted within and 
 without, and ornamented sufficiently to suit a modern taste befitting our 
 work, and this coimtry, the roads on both sides of the hill (i.e., from 
 the landing-place to head-quarters, and from head-quarters down to the 
 Xkusu rivulet, where we get drinking water) were also in perfect order, 
 tlie garden in the centre and surrounded by the station, completely 
 arranged, flower mounds, vegetable beds, and grass plots, &c. About 
 GOO tons of miscellanea conveyed from the landing-place stores to the 
 station magazines, provisions emptied from their cases and stowed away 
 in the capacious cellar under head-quarters, the dry goods, cloths, beads, 
 were arranged at the head-quarter stores, which are separate from the 
 .station magazines, a large and commodious stable had been built for the 
 mules, and upon everything that you might have cast your eye upon you 
 could see nothing but what was in order and proper to its necessity. 
 
 " This work was begim October 1st, 1879, ended January 24th, 1880. 
 Time, 3 months 21: days. It was also commenced in the hot season when 
 Europeans, like S , collapsed, and through the rainy season. 
 
 " My gratification was such that I thought all hands assisting in the 
 work deserved a holiday and suitable gifts. Accordingly each of oui' 
 working jjeople and Kabindas, 206 total, received four yai'ds of cloth, and 
 the 2oth and 2Gth days of January were allotted to them that they might 
 rejoice and rest after their arduous labours before commencing the second 
 stage. 
 
 " The Europeans, twelve in number (one being sick and four absent 
 with the Belgiquc), were banqueted by me out of my i)rivate stores 
 and at my personal expense, and fortunately just before our holiday, 
 IMr. Blundy, my friend at ^Madeira, had sent me three cases of fine wines 
 for ' auld lang syne's ' sake, and with other jjrivate stocks, I was able to 
 make a very decent show of hospitality. Besides which I had purchased
 
 Feb. 6 
 Vivi. 
 
 154 THE CONGO. 
 
 1880. three bullocks at Boina, which yon ■will have to pay for, aud out of these 
 we had something like 800 lbs. of good beef for the first time on the 
 Congo. This quantity divided permitted three pounds of beef to each 
 person white and black, and sufficient to give the native Chief of Vivi a 
 plentiful share in cloth and liquor, who came in great state, with 
 numerous followers, to receive these goods. 
 
 " On Sunday the 25th our banquet took place, and everything passed off 
 agreeably. The first toast was ' His Majesty the King of the Belgians,' 
 the prime mover and the best supporter of the ' Expedition du Haut 
 Congo.' 
 
 " Second Toast, ' Her Majesty Queen Victoria ' and the ' President of 
 the United States.' 
 
 " Third Toast, ' The Contributors to the support of the Expedition du 
 Haut Congo,' &c. 
 
 " On the 27th we began oiir work on the bridge over the Xkusu and 
 inspecting the launches, overhauling them, clearing and landing the En 
 Avant on shore, for dismounting engines and boilers, putting transport 
 caiTiages together, and placing the Boyal on the great wagon ready for 
 removal, for I have resolved that she shall be the courier of the flotilla. 
 
 " Monday the 2nd we l>egan our road-making for the interior, and to- 
 day we have reached the plateau two and a half miles distant. Once on 
 the plateau we have a tolerably level country for about ten miles, but as 
 the people cannot work very fast after walking five miles, this road- 
 making must be postponed for the present until I shall have reconnoitred 
 the ground and selected the most feasible route ; then we shall move on in 
 a compact body with our provisions, step by step as we make the road, 
 and shall not return until the way is clear of obstacles, brushwood and 
 rock. Meantime, while we are absent, 3Ii'. Sparhawk, Chief of Vivi, will 
 prepare bags for can-iage of rice, beans, peas, flour, which articles we will 
 economise, of course, as the countiy will enable us. He will also have 
 them iDacked up ready into suitable man-loads, so that when a party is 
 sent back for provisions there will be no delay. 
 
 " It is going to be a tedious task I perceive very plainly, and a pro- 
 tra<jted one to make a road fifty-two miles long, then to come back and 
 transport a boat which may be moved only a mile a day perhaps, then to 
 come back hauling the heavy wagon with us to transport another heavy 
 launch and move on a mile a day again, then back for another heavy 
 launch and repeat the same operation for three boilers three times, by 
 Avhich we see we have to drag the heavy wagon nine times over a fifty-two 
 mile rough road, total 936 miles, before we can embark for our second 
 station without counting the delays caused by constant parties conveying 
 provisions. 
 
 " Through the radical change in the food, peoj^le do not seem to have 
 the same energy as they have in temperate countries, and animals seem to 
 share in the degeneration. I have tested the mules on a small water-cart,
 
 Feb. &. 
 Vivi. 
 
 AT riVl STATIOX. 155 
 
 carrying ninety gallons of water, freight, exclusive of cart, 990 lbs. Three 1880. 
 mules were required to di-aw this cart up a slope one foot rise in six feet. 
 Now if it requires three mules to draw 1000 lbs., how many are required 
 to draw three-and-half tons (weight of Boyal with boiler, engine, &c.) ? 
 Answer, twenty-two and a half mules power. 
 
 " I have with me 130 efficient working men, who may be calculated to 
 assist in di-agging these enormous loads, but as each can only draw at a 
 dead jduU, without assistant power fifty lbs., this total man-power amounts 
 to 6500 lbs. 
 
 " Total man and mule power available . . 8000 lbs. 
 Weight of i?o^a? 7840 „ 
 
 Difference for powers . . IGO lbs. 
 
 " But some men will pull well and long, others will shirk their work. 
 Do not 160 lbs. make up a very small reserve in power ? 
 
 " If the country were level, or we had a turnpike road, such power would 
 ensure a small steady progress; but as I said before, this is a hot, troijical, 
 and very rough country mainly, through which there are no roads, and the 
 rise between our station and the plateau is nearly 1000 feet in two and 
 a half miles, and there are three very steep hills between. The first has a 
 rise of 343 feet in a length of road 1965 feet. 
 
 " I postpone further remarks i;pon the future until I shall have returned 
 from my reconnaissance to Isangila. Things brighten somehow always 
 when you examine them closely, and venture upon them boldly. Yet it 
 was due to you to give you a few of my ideas upon a subject that is never 
 out of my mind. 
 
 " Of white men I have enough for the present. 
 
 " Agreeably to your request I took advantage of the presence of the 
 Chiefs of Vivi during our holiday to impress upon them the necessity of 
 naming a day on which we could discuss an important question. They 
 named Sunday, February 1. On this day Mr. Sparhawk and I rode out 
 to Vivi Mavungu's place (the principal village), and after partaking of a 
 slight breakfast, this question and many others of less importance were 
 seriously discussed. 
 
 " They were reluctant at first to concede what I wished ; but arguing 
 that, since I was the first ' mundele ' (merchant) who came to Vivi and 
 chose to build on it, despite the ' bad river and the big hills and big rocks,' 
 and had, without any help from any other white mundele or native, broke 
 down the big rocks and cut a broad road through the hills which, by next 
 Sunday would be brought right to their doors on top of the plateau (my 
 ]iromise has fortunately proved true), it was but right that, after doing all 
 this, and paying all that lliey had asked, and every promise made thera 
 strictly and justly performed at the end of every moon, and not a single
 
 Feb. 6. 
 Viri. 
 
 150 THE CONGO. 
 
 1880^ thing of tlie value of a grain of Indian corn injured by us; and also as it 
 was a condition on first coming, that I should be considered as the only 
 mundele of Yivi and Nsanda, that all the chiefs of Vivi should make an 
 agreement with me that without my permission or consent no other white 
 man should )>e i^ermitted to reside on any portion of Vivi soil. 
 
 '■' The reasons I gave for this demand were : the difficulty of keeping a 
 country quiet where there was no law or force for that purpose, when 
 a number of mixed characters, with varied ideas, suddenly entered into a 
 new country. Though Senor Fernandez was only a guest of mine at my 
 camp, and had no right to deal with the natives of Yivi except as my 
 friend, yet they themselves had come in a body with about thirty warriors 
 to demand that he should be sent away. They also saw how Boma was 
 sometimes disturbed. The merchants gathered together to punish some 
 villages behind it, and perhaps only one of those merchants had a griev- 
 ance, and one man and one grievance were easier dealt with than a 
 number of men with a number of grievances. Supposing now those 
 sixteen whites at Vivi were all independent, and had their own shops or 
 stores or factories, let them imagine how difficult it would be to keep the 
 peace between them and the natives ; why, each man probably would talk 
 about burning villages and killing people: but now that they are all 
 under one man, there has not been the slightest misunderstanding between 
 us. If they required more whites I could furnish them with more. I said 
 if they wanted to see more houses we could build them. 
 
 " They demanded for this concession that I should trade in ground nuts, 
 which was their principal wealth. I could not accede to their demand, 
 but I i^romised I would introduce a white man to them, with whom they 
 could trade. 
 
 " There evidently must be money in this trade, or else the merchants 
 along the Congo and the great Afrikaansche Company could not con- 
 tinue their business. Vivi is happily situated as regards trade ; it is the 
 very highest navigable point, and our road into the interior, if continued 
 far enough, might bring such a stock of this article (ground nuts) of trade, 
 that would overwhelm us. In return for this article, the natives require 
 various odds and ends of articles as follows : — 
 
 " Common muskets, locks ringing smartly. 
 
 " Gun^wwder. Gun-stones. 
 
 " Machettes (common). 
 
 " Butcher-knives. 
 
 " Small paper backed gilt framed looking-glasses. 
 
 " Table knives, white bone and ivory handles. 
 
 " Table spoons. White iron. 
 
 " Crockery consisting of cheap fancy wash-basins. 
 
 '■' Pitchers, figured. Jugs, white, brown and figiired. 
 
 " Tumblers and other fancy glass ware. 
 
 " White glass bottles, quarts and half-gallons.
 
 ARTICLES FOR BARTER. 157 
 
 "Mugs, large and small, some holding as much as a quart and a half, 1880. 
 and two quarts, fancy figured. ". ' 
 
 "Fish-hooks. Needles. 
 " Hoes (Dutch). 
 " Hatchets. 
 
 " Tin plates. Tin pans. 
 
 " Cast-iron pots from one gallon to five gallons. Sheet-iron pans. 
 " Fancy cheap boxes, painted and figured neatly but cheaply, size from 
 12" long by 9" broad by 8" deep ; some papered inside. 
 " Fancy paper boxes, with little looking glasses inside of lid, &c. 
 " Brass ware. A few brass pans. Trays, figured. Brass rods. 
 " Brass anklets, figured. 
 
 " Brass wristlets, two ends ending in dogs or dragons or crocodile heads, 
 thickness half-an-inch diameter. 
 
 " Anklets from 5" to Ij" diameter, thickness of metal. 
 " Brass collars. 
 
 " Cloths, just such as come out to West Africa ; calicoes, printed and 
 figured or striped of all colours, red, blue, green, brown, pi-irjile. 
 " Handkerchiefs, red-figured. 
 " Eed, blue, and green savelist or thick flannel. 
 
 " Cotton singlets or under-shirts, white and striped, and fancy flannel 
 shirts. 
 
 "Velvet smoking caps; yellow, red, blue braid and tassels. 
 " Straw hats, ribboned black, blue, or red. 
 " Caps, military or fancy. Felt hats. Eed fezes. 
 " Eed knitted caps, flannel and cotton. Blue ditto. Striped ditto. 
 " Blankets, common figured. 
 
 " Coats — British, Belgian, French cast-off uniform coats. 
 " Lackey coats. 
 
 " Blue cotton velvet cloths 7 feet by G feet. 
 " Counterpanes, cheap cotton and figured. 
 " „ red, blue, or green. 
 
 " Table-cloths, cheap. Some figured flannel-cloth carpeting. 
 " A few toys, like Jack-in-tlie-box, monkey trick, etc. 
 " Malacca canes, 5 feet 9 inches long, head 2i inches in diameter, 
 l)andc(l with figitred brass, strong brass biitt at end with iron, and 
 strongly riveted to the brass. Each cane must differ from the others. 
 They are admirable as presents to chiefs. 
 " Su])erior machettes. 
 
 "Cutlas.ses. Cavalry swords in scabbards. 
 " Umbrellas (gingham), a few cheap, silk or alpaca. 
 " Small l)rass bells. 
 
 " Tyrolese hats, with a few gorgeous peacock or common ostrich 
 feathers dyed red or lilue and white. 
 "Such is tlio varied miscellanea required for African trade, llio
 
 158 
 
 THE CONGO. 
 
 
 uuuiber of articles or quantity is not great, l)ut it is the great variety 
 where judgment and some amount of taste is required. Tlie Upper Cougo 
 would be the country that would require the greatest variety. These 
 fancy articles bring more than ordinary goods, though their price is less ; 
 but it is judicious to have a proj^er mixture of goods. I advise you to 
 keep this letter at hand, for you might need it, and though hurriedly 
 written it is copious and intelligible enough for future reference. 
 
 " In your letter of November 30th, you talk of * agricultural advan- 
 tages ; ' indeed we have ample concessions of this kind so far as verbal 
 ])romises go, and the soil in the valleys and on the plateau is very rich. 
 
 VIEW OF VIVI SSTATIUN FROM THE KORTH. 
 
 "We have not many Euphorbia at Yivi or in its neigbourhood ; it 
 requires rather a sterile and rocky soil or nooks to nourish Euphorbia. 
 Here and there are a few specimens, but they might be easily planted on 
 the river side of the hill of Yivi Station and in the glen below, 
 
 " I beg to assui-e you that if it depended on me I would have no more 
 to do with rum than with poison, but the traders have so supplied the 
 people with rum that without it friendship or trade is impossible on the 
 Lower Congo. Our Kabindas, the people who will be left in charge of 
 the station, will not work without rum. They have daily rations of it;
 
 Feb. 6. 
 Vivi. 
 
 STRENGTH OF OUR FORCES. 159 
 
 they will have it, aud it is a coustant topic of discord between lis and _1380 
 them, and though out of one gallon of ruin we make two gallons (with 
 water) while others make three, according to custom, they are constantly 
 exclaiming and quarreling about its weakness. 
 
 " Relative to your information about the French Expedition going over 
 from the Ogowai Eiver to Stanley Pool, or the missionaries going there, I 
 beg leave to say that I am not a party in a race for the Stanley Pool, as I 
 have already been in that locality just two and a half years ago, and I do 
 not intend to visit it again until I can arrive with my 50 tons of goods, 
 boats, and other proi^erty, and after finishing the second station. If my 
 mission simply consisted on marching for Stanley Pool, I might reach it 
 in fifteen days, but what would be the benefit of it for the expedition or 
 the mission that I have undertaken ? " 
 
 Yivi station being thus completed, and in excellent 
 order, was a veritable ornament to the hitherto lonely 
 region. Beautiful in situation, and with its snow-white 
 cottages and chalet visible from afar, the joj of all 
 Yivi district, I turned it over formally to the guardian- 
 ship of Mr. Sparhawk, its future chief, who acted as 
 my principal agent in the Lower River, with an 
 expressed hope that lie would do the utmost in his 
 power for the perfection of the roads leading to the 
 landing-place and towards the interior. 
 
 The officers at Yivi consisted of — 
 
 Augustus Si)arhawk . . Chief of Vivi. 
 
 John Kirkbright . . . Second Chief of Vivi. 
 
 A. H. Moore .... Storekeeper and Caterer. 
 
 A. B. Swinburne . . . Secretary. 
 
 Frank Mahoney . . . Waiting orders. 
 
 Captain, Engineer, and ^latu . SS. Be/qique. 
 
 Mate and Engineer . . Esprrance. 
 
 Mate and Engineer . . En Avant. 
 
 And the muster-roll of the personnel at this day at 
 Yivi consisted of — 
 
 12 Europeans ; 81 Zanzibaris ; IIG coast natives : Kabindas and Sierra 
 Leoncs; G interior natives. Total 215.
 
 160 TEE CONGO. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 TIYI TO ISAXGILA : A EECOXXAISSAXCE. 
 
 Looking out for a wagon route— The gardens of Banza Sombo — The 
 valley of the Loa — Banza Uvana — Fine view from Kaishandi — "We 
 visit our friend De-de-de — Eeception of thirty chiefs and their 
 retainers — A conference — ^lysterious councils and final decisions — 
 Distribution of gifts — A dear bargain— A deserted plateau — The 
 Bundi valley — A fine retreat for a recluse — Adventures witli buffaloes 
 and elephants — Harassing search for a herd-track — '•' 3Iabruki, are 
 you hurt or dead ? " — A lucky fall — The course of the future road 
 revealed — Best at IXdambi [Mbongo — DiflBculty of our task — A 
 tropical nest— " Tuckey's Furthest " — Faithful "Mirambo" — The 
 Ijenitent chiefs of Isangila — Future operations— ^Proposed railway 
 — Infusing confidence — Extracts from letters to Colonel StraiTch. 
 
 1880. ^ViTH a sufficient escort I set out from Yivi for 
 
 ^'eb. 21. 
 
 vivi. IsaDgila on the 21st of February to explore the country 
 for a feasible wagon route past the lower series of the 
 Livingstone Cataracts, which consist of the Yellala, 
 Inga, ond Isangila, and various intervening rapids. 
 
 From Yivi Station we suddenly dip down 100 feet 
 lower into the Nkusu Ravine, across which there is 
 an immediate rise of as many feet to the larger 
 plateau of Yivi, on which is found a habitable level of 
 1,200,000 square yards, at this time devoted to a small 
 bean-field and to waste grass. In a gentle hollow flush
 
 NATIVE BAXZAS, 07? VILLAGES. 101 
 
 with palms, and shady embowering trees, is the village isso. 
 of Chinsalla, in which our native lingster, Massala, Chinsaiia. 
 lives with his family and friends. Beyond this begins 
 the first steep rise which has to be climbed to reach 
 the summit of Yivi mountain. On our right, in a 
 continuation of the hollow of Chinsalla, is the village 
 in which lives Benzani Congo, the most good-looking 
 among the chiefs of Yivi district. 
 
 After a journey of two miles and a half nearly con- 
 tinuous ascent, we find ourselves in the gardens of 
 Banza Sombo, on the top of Yivi mountain, at an alti- 
 tude of a thousand feet above Yivi Station, or nearly 
 1350 feet above the Congo river. We have only time 
 to give a glance at the bean and ground-nut gardens 
 of Banza Sombo, when the path, which is but a foot 
 wide, plunges into dense grass exhaling a strong odour 
 of wild pig, and which in time of war affords fine 
 ambushments against an enemy. Following it in its 
 erratic course along the spine of the mountain, the path 
 to tlie north diverges from that going to the village of 
 the senior chief of Yivi, and descends steeply 1000 feet 
 along the northern slope of Yivi mountain, in which 
 descent we are agreeably entertained with far-reaching 
 views of the groves of several native Banzas, or vil- 
 lages, such as Banza Uvana and Banza Kulu to the 
 front and right, Ichimpi and Chionzo to the left, and 
 north-westward the dark tall groves of Nsanda villages. 
 
 At the foot of the Yivi mountain we are in the 
 valley of the Loa, a stream that winds clear and cool 
 from between the plateau of Banza Lungu and Banza 
 
 VOL. I, M
 
 162 THE CONGO. 
 
 y^l^l\ Kulu, at nearly the same altitude as that of Vivi 
 Banza Station Hill, which we might have reached by skirting 
 Vivi mountain, without the fatiguing ascent and steep 
 descent, had the natives been pleased to have made a 
 road. By following their path, however, we have been 
 forced to travel tbus far about seven Eno-lish miles. 
 
 From the Loa stream we soon begin to rise again 
 by a gentle gradient, which continues until we have 
 Grained the village of Banza Uvana, at an altitude of 
 500 feet above the Loa valley, in three miles. From 
 this village we have a fine view of Nokki, Palaballa, 
 Congo la Lemba hills, all on the south side of the 
 Congo, and from end to end the northern face of Yivi 
 mountain is revealed, its western face falling smoothly 
 down to the Lufu river, its eastern side dangerously 
 precipitous to the Congo. 
 
 From Banza Uvana the path leads northerly to 
 Banza Lungu, along tbe summit of a fine plateau of 
 deep rich soil, but now nourishing only the rankest 
 grass ; the cultivated portions forming only an eightieth 
 part of rich productive land, and those devoted to wine 
 and oil-producing palms, ground-nuts, a few square feet 
 for tobacco and vegetables, such as cabbage, brinjalls, 
 tomatoes and sweet potatoes. 
 
 Beyond Banza Lungu we came, at the fourteenth 
 mile of our journey from Yivi Station, to Banza 
 Kimpunzu, situated in the bottom of a grassy gorge 
 called Muzonzila, about 500 feet below the plateau 
 surface, which in rainy seasons contributes a stream of 
 the same name to join the Lufu.
 
 VIEW FROM KAISRANBL 163 
 
 After a nio'ht's rest at Kimpiinzu we crossed the isao. 
 
 ^ ^ Feb. 22. 
 
 gorge, and a steep ascent of 500 feet enabled us to Kaishandi. 
 breathe the cooler air of another grassy plateau, and to 
 find ourselves in the village of Kaishandi, whence we 
 obtained a more extensive view than we had previously 
 enjoyed. From south to west were visible the groves 
 of Yivi Mavungu, Banza Sombo, Banza Chionzo, and 
 Ichimpi. Kaika Sanda, about a mile distant, Muvanga 
 about three miles and a half off, Mpangi five miles 
 away, and from south to east were those groves which 
 indicated the villages of Banza Uvana, Banza Lungu, 
 and Banza Kulu. 
 
 It is' from such points as this of Kaishandi that we 
 can first obtain an estimate of the value of the country. 
 While imprisoned in the tall grasses and scrub, from 
 the depths of which nothing is seen but a strip of grey 
 or pale blue sky, one is only sensible that he is walking 
 over tolerably level ground by looking at the narrow 
 strip of black road beneath his feet; but when we 
 arrive at a clearing, the eye hastens to obtain a 
 general idea of the surrounding country, and such 
 advantageous points as Kaishandi enable him to obtain 
 a valuable lesson in topography. We also first became 
 conscious that a good road is possible of construction, 
 despite the sudden and startling descents and ascents 
 we make, by following the native path, which has been 
 made for the convenience of communication between 
 neighbouring villages. 
 
 At Banza Kaishandi we are well in Nsanda district. 
 Leaving the village and passing over a beautiful breezy 
 
 M 2
 
 164 THE CONGO. 
 
 1880- plateau thickly studded ^Yitll villages, we arrive in an 
 Banza hour at the populous town of Bauza Nsanda. Here 
 is the residence of the senior chief, Samuna, who is so 
 corpulent that he cannot travel afoot, but must needs 
 be carried about in a litter. Beyond Samuna's, after 
 a delightful walk over the level plateau, we come to 
 the Muzonzila gorge once again, and at the bottom is 
 the new-built town of our friend De-de'-de, who made 
 our acquaintance in 1877, and who still wears the 
 grey coat I gave him two and a half years ago. 
 
 We must halt here, because De-de-de is a constant 
 friend, though given overmuch to the drinking of gin, 
 and fond, unsatisfied, expectancy of gifts. The* guides 
 of Yivi must be changed here also for the more expe- 
 rienced travellers of Nsanda. The fact of my arrival 
 at Nsanda has become generally known ; and various 
 chiefs have sent their boys to me to say that 1 must 
 expect friends and visitors. It is politic to submit to 
 any trifling delay of this kind, for 1 shall presently 
 have to obtain workmen from them to make the great 
 wagon-road into the interior. 
 
 Knowing beforehand that the gifts expected by so 
 many this day will amount to a large sum by night, my 
 trusted servants have been busily sorting and arrang- 
 ing the various piles ever since daybreak. First comes 
 Sadika Banzi, lord of an untenanted district extending 
 from the Mpagassa gorge south to the Congo — fully six 
 miles ; the Mpagassa stream bounds his territory south- 
 ward, while an uninhabited wilderness lies between him 
 and the Bimdi five miles northward. He has a retinue of
 
 THE CHIEFS OF N SAND A. 165 
 
 cotton-clotlied youths armed with leno-thy flintlocks, and i^so. 
 his gift to me consists of a goat, six chickens, a bunch De-de-de's 
 of bananas, and a large gourdful of palm wine, which 
 last we are expected to finish during the social call. 
 
 Xext comes Nkamampu, of Banza Kinlele; Kinkela- 
 Nku, of Mpwelele' ; Masiku of Masanda, or the Night of 
 Nsanda, each with their goats, their fowls, their banana 
 bunches, and gourds of palm wine, which is of different 
 degrees of sourness, therefore undrinkable by me, but* 
 for them it is fit, because it is inebriating. Banza Kulu, 
 whose chiefs command the Yellala districts, is repre- 
 sented by the chiefs, light- coloured Nte'te', and Ngombe, 
 and the chief and elders of Banza Lungu are not long- 
 behind those of Kulu, and they are introduced to me 
 under the names of Matanga, Nkingi, and Mariatta. But 
 Banza-Mgangila is resolved to make an imposing show 
 of forces, and chiefs, and arm-bearing youths, for here are 
 Ntolulu, Xezau, or the elephant ; Ngombe, or the ox ; 
 Male'Ie, Nevangi, Mavangu, Nempambu, and Makweta. 
 Banza Uvana is represented by Luzalla Kindunga, and 
 Nsakala Mpwassa, the first remarkable for the finest 
 beard — though not the longest — of any man between 
 Yivi and Stanley Pool. Kinkela Ndunga represents 
 Banza Chibweta ; Ngandu, or the crocodile, is from the 
 outermost village of Xsanda ; and from far Ndambi 
 Mbongo, near Isangila, have come Ndambi Mbongo 
 himself, with his confederates Lusalla, Kisungwa, Mag- 
 wale ^Iwaka, of ^Mkimbwete, in all fully thirty chiefs, 
 mun of might, influence, and renown in the Lower 
 Cataract region, with altorrether about 350 souls follow-
 
 lOG THE CONGO. 
 
 1880. iijjv them as retainers, slaves, bearers of the ffifts to the 
 
 reb. 23. '--' '-^ 
 
 De-de-de's. strange white man who passed through their country 
 from some unknown quarter eastward some six rains 
 ago, and who has now built a town at Yivi witli a view 
 of settling amongst them as a friend. These thirt}^ 
 chiefs represent a population of about 12.000 souls, who 
 are thinly scattered over an area of about 1000 square 
 miles. Many villages have not come in yet. Nsanda 
 •is thinly represented, Chionzo and Nsekele'lo have no 
 one here, and many a low-lying village in the gorge of 
 the Lufu and Muzonzila have no one to speak for them. 
 
 There are some fine-looking men amongst the chiefs, 
 and some very regular-featured men amongst the re- 
 tainers. Mostly all are dressed in European cloth^ 
 cotton, and woollen, white and red being the pre- 
 dominating colours. The chiefs are nearly all coated 
 from the cast-off clothing of London and Paris clubs — 
 of English and French armies. The head-dresses are 
 varied in make and style, including the low-crowned 
 felt, the round-rim straw, the military cap of three 
 generations ago, the crimson fez, and the striped 
 knitted cotton cap. 
 
 They have nearly all brought goats, fowls, and 
 bananas. Before midday we have quite a flock of 
 domestic animals, which I shall at once despatch to 
 Yivi under a careful escort, for the benefit of the 
 garrison left behind. 
 
 Chief De-de-de' is an important man this day. He 
 has done his work well, his messengers have been 
 despatched all over the country, summoning to an
 
 enlighteninct the chiefs. 167 
 
 important conference * the powers of Nsanda. The issu. 
 
 Feb. 2j. 
 
 ceremonious greetings baing over, the gifts brought De-de-de^ 
 by the chiefs duly accepted, I open the j^^l^^^^sr by 
 announcing the purpose of my presence at Yivi, and 
 explaining the reasons for this convention ; reasons 
 which are very well known to them for some time, yet 
 3tiquette in this assembly, as in others, requires that 
 all shall be publicly explained. 
 
 ^' I am going to make a road through your countries 
 from Yivi to Isangila, but I have first travelled by your 
 own path here in order that I might find out whether 
 it were possible to make a road over which great 
 wagons, loaded heavily with boats, and so forth, might 
 pass ; in order, also, to find out by a personal interview 
 with you, whether you had any objections to give me 
 the riglit to make such a road, for it might be that 
 your gardens or fields would be in some places directly 
 in the track of a good road, and that no way could be 
 made except right through them. Before spending 
 money on a road that might be blocked by the first 
 garden we meet, it is necessary that these subjects 
 sliould be touched upon and explained. Also I must 
 find out, if I make such a road which will be oj^en to 
 you as to me, whether you w^ill expect me to pay you 
 every time I travel by my own road. Also I must 
 know whether you will allow your young men to work 
 for me on this road at a fair price, as the people of 
 Vi\i helped me to build my town ; and I should like 
 
 * The sovereign cliicfs of "Western Africa are as partial to Conferences 
 as the peace-loving Powers of Europe.
 
 168 THE CONGO. 
 
 1880. to have an agreement witli you by which the country 
 D^-de'-dd's. through which the road passes shall be secure from 
 wars and troubles ; and in order to do this it is neces- 
 sary that you all promise not to make any war without 
 first consulting me, lest my people will be drawn into 
 it without their knowledge." 
 
 Towards four o'clock, after several mysterious coun- 
 cils were held, during which they had all risen together 
 and assembled at a little distance from the village of 
 De-de-de', where they sometimes seemed to discuss mat- 
 ters very warmly, judging from the high tones and 
 animated gestures of some of the speakers, the follow- 
 ing was verbally agreed upon at the first general 
 council of the chiefs of the various districts between 
 Yivi and Isangila. 
 
 They expressed themselves very well pleased with 
 our coming into the country. It would be a good thing 
 to the country that a road should be made. No chief 
 had any objection whatsoever to the idea. In their 
 eyes the coming of the white man would be productive 
 of good — good to chiefs and people. It meant trade, 
 and they were all traders. The road to Bom a was 
 long, and there were many people afraid of the long 
 road and troubles on it. If trade came to them to their 
 very doors they would all be pleased. Therefore the 
 proposed road may be made without fear, and there 
 would nothing further be charged for it ; after the 
 white man has signed a paper for each chief, giving 
 him a little present every month for the right, the 
 road would become the property of the white man.
 
 " BULA MATARI AS A FBIEND." 169 
 
 If it led tlirou2:li e'ardens, or fields or villao'es, and isso. 
 
 '^ ^ ' ^ ' Feb. 23. 
 
 there were no better way to be found, then the Du-de-de'i 
 owner of that garden^ or field, or village shall say 
 fairly what amount of goods he wants in return for 
 the destruction of his property ; and after payment 
 the road shall be untouched in future, and no man 
 passing by it shall be liable to pay anything. Those 
 of the young men of the different districts who wished 
 to make any money by work, had full permission to 
 engage themselves for as long as they themselves 
 should prefer. There would be no trouble arising 
 from that, and when the wagons came into a district, 
 then every district shall send help to haul them 
 through until it shall have passed by, and if the 
 district has not people enough, then the neighbouring 
 districts shall assist ; and for the matter of agreement 
 about keeping the peace, that might remain for the 
 present until the road was made, and all the people 
 would have time to know Bula Matari as a friend. 
 
 I ascertained during this lengthy council sufficient 
 to confirm me in my belief that no serious obstacle of 
 any kind would be thrown in our path by captiousness 
 or ill-natured suspicion, and that they believed that our 
 intents were not wicked, but worthy, deserving of their 
 favourable consideration. Although our projects were 
 novel and unirpie, they could divine no reason for 
 withholding their assistance and welcome. 
 
 At the same time, being an impressionable people, 
 it was very evident that it was easier to implant sus- 
 picion and distrust of our objects, even to violence,
 
 170 THE CONGO. 
 
 1880. than to create e:ood-will and confidence in us. The- 
 
 Feb. 23. * 
 
 De-de-de's. Jattcr could onW be of slow growth in the breasts of 
 barbarians — whose everyday intercourse is one of fraud 
 and crafty cunning, greed of plunder, and general un- 
 conscionable uncharitableness — and would be fostered by 
 liberality, never- slumbering watchfulness that nothing 
 untoward should happen in the conduct of the European 
 employes, a care that one's own foreign black employes 
 should not disturb harmony by some wicked freaks or 
 cruel malice or overbearing behaviour, and by a pains- 
 taking guidance of the camp-followers in an upright 
 course in their petty dealings with the natives. On 
 the other hand, the slightest whisper of a malicious 
 European might upset such protracted course of libe- 
 rality and fair-dealing, and instantly make enemies of 
 friends. 
 
 The day was closed by the distribution of gifts to each 
 of the thirty chiefs. And though the gifts, consisting 
 of military coats, gay shawls of woollen fabric, cotton- 
 velvet cloths, crimson savelist, cotton handkerchiefs, 
 and pieces of unbleached domestic, with a few cutlasses, 
 swords, knives, beads for the female sex, and a few 
 bottles of gin to each, might be considered trivial in. 
 the eyes of Europeans, in casting up the gross account 
 of the expenditure, I discovered that £150 in English 
 gold had been paid for them. Considering that for 
 this sum we had only obtained right of way through 
 a territory generally unoccupied, and of no present use 
 to any person, with a few goats and bananas thrown 
 in, it was a prodigal expenditure of money. TVe had
 
 SETTING OUT FOR ISANGILA. 171 
 
 no reason to re^'ret it, however, by the very o;ood effect isso. 
 
 ° ' ' -^ '' ^ Feb. 23. 
 
 it created, as it smoothed the way for future and more De-de-de'5 
 important negotiations, including requests for labourers 
 and carriers. It created a hope, too, in every man that 
 he possessed something that was saleable, in a region 
 hitherto inaccessible, and where products were only 
 sold by dint of a long and laborious journey to Boma ; 
 and, finally, that the force of those masses of muscle 
 on their arms had become marketable and valuable. 
 
 Guides offered themselves very freely to show the 
 road to Isangila, but, because of their number, I be- 
 came fastidious, and only a dozen of the most respect- 
 able men were eng-asred. 
 
 On the 24th we were escorted by a large number of 
 chiefs for several miles, and the women and children of 
 Ngandu's frontier lu-lu-lued lustily as we appeared, and 
 increased our numbers greatly, until tlie wilderness 
 was reached, when, with abundance of good wishes for 
 a happy journey, they finally withdrew, and left us to 
 pursue our road in peace. 
 
 We were now on that same road on which we looked 
 with such gloomy eyes in 1877, wdien all the world 
 seemed to us cold-hearted and unkind, and savage 
 nature itself refused us food, water, and even the least 
 kindly liope that some day an end to the dismal time 
 would come. Now that we looked upon tlie land 
 under kindlier auspices, it did not seem so dull and 
 dreary — it was a little rugged, perhaps, but pictu- 
 resque. The first glance of what is offered to the eye 
 bears an unpromising aspect for road-making, but, l)y
 
 172 THE CONGO. 
 
 Yh^^oA observing the details more closely, as a surveyor would, 
 Xgandu. we find that a little study creates a sensible increase of 
 hope that after all it might not be so very difiBcult. 
 
 For instance — Ngandu's frontier village is in a very 
 peculiar position. By looking at my map, which 
 with each step I make grows clearer, I find that this 
 village stands on a narrow neck of plateau land, 200 
 feet above the terminus of the Muzonzila gorge ; that 
 the Muzonzila gorge is firm enough at the bottom, 
 with a little improvement for a road ; that the slopes of 
 the gorge are of a workable clay ; that from almost 
 directly under the foundations of Ngandu's, it winds 
 along through the very heart of the severed plateau 
 to De'-de'-de"s, and from De-de-de with a more valley- 
 like breadth down to Kimpunzu : a few miles below it 
 issues out into the Lufii and Loa valley, and down along 
 the united stream to the Congo, one and a-half miles 
 below Yivi. The distance from the river is sixteen 
 miles ; the difierence of altitude between the terminus 
 of the Muzonzila gorge and the plateau of Yivi Station 
 is 700 feet, making about one foot rise in 120 feet. 
 
 By the time I reach the Bundi, my map tells me 
 that by cutting through that narrow neck of land on 
 which Ngandu stands, I should have 200 feet less 
 descent to make to reach the Bundi valley ; and that 
 by working across those various spurs projected out 
 of the worn and farrowed eastern slopes of the plateau 
 of Ngandu, and the southern face of the Nsekelelo 
 range, one would be able to cut out an easy decline to 
 the Bundi valley.
 
 AN ABANDONED DISTRICT. 173 
 
 The native patb, soon after leaving Ngandu's slopes, isso. 
 
 Feb. 24 
 
 for nearly three miles to the clear waters of the Mvnzi inga. 
 streamlet, again rises abruptly, crosses a level-faced 
 mount, dips once more into a chief water-course, and 
 then enters upon a lengthy spur descending to the 
 Bundi river. 
 
 About halfway down this long spur, the Congo 
 suddenly comes into view on our right, winding round 
 the great Inga bend in a succession of tumbling cata- 
 racts. The Inga plateau looms large and massive, 
 graced with forest trees on the summit and in its deep 
 folds and gully lines. In the time of Tuckey there was 
 an important Banza and its dependencies on the sum- 
 mit, but internecine wars have long ago swept away 
 the last vestiges of human life, and the whole of the 
 Inga district, sixty square miles in extent, is absolutely 
 abandoned to l)ecome a park for wild game, elephants, 
 buffaloes, water-buck, and various kinds of antelope, 
 the locality 1)eing seldom visited even by the boldest 
 natives. 
 
 A valley, from half a mile to two miles in breadth, 
 which extends from the left bank of the Bundi to the 
 Congo river, ten miles away, entirely separates the Inga 
 plateau and group of hills from the lofty Nsekclelo 
 range. After traversing the valley you cannot help 
 having the conviction that before the Congo channelled 
 a course through the obstructions, over the relics of 
 which there are at present many cataracts and rapids, 
 the river must have run through here, and made a 
 short cut to its lower course, leaving the valley almost
 
 1880. 
 Feb. 24. 
 
 Insra. 
 
 174 
 
 TEE CONGO. 
 
 uniformly level, to form a splendid natural track for 
 the use of some future railway. 
 
 The Bundi is a beautiful stream of very clear water, 
 brawling in the dry season over rocks and smoothly 
 polished stones and pjebbles at the bottom of a deep 
 
 BASUXDI NATIVE. 
 
 rocky gully, some twenty-five yards across. The 
 native path, rising up the left bank, is very steep 
 and diflScult. After an abrupt climb of about 100 
 feet, we find ourselves in an ancient and well-used 
 native camp, where the pig-drovers and market trades-
 
 MPAMBA NGULU. 175 
 
 Taen from Suiidi, Ndambi Mbono;o, aud Isanp-ila, is^'^ 
 bound for the Xsanda markets, have for generations inga 
 halted for the night. From this spot the path winds 
 in the Bundi valley, crossing once or twice clear-water 
 tributaries of the Bundi, and through cool depths of 
 forest groves, until the base of the lofty truncated cone 
 of Ulungu is reached, when it enters a valley, a little 
 less regular in form, to terminate in another valley 
 admirably adapted for the growth of rice. After an 
 hour's march we camp on the plain of Mpamba Ngulu 
 (Pig Camp ?), about 40 feet above the Congo, and 
 within a few yards of it. 
 
 I leave my people for a few daj's here, and follow 
 the Congo downward with a much smaller escort of 
 men better fitted for lono- and continuous ramblino- 
 search for that local knowledge which we now possess. 
 I find that by following the Congo down to the 
 confluence of the Bundi, the distance is seventeen or 
 eighteen miles. Soon after leaving Mpamba Xgulu, I 
 came to a valley running westward, parallel with the 
 Congo, which turned out, after a little while, by proofs 
 visible, to be another disused course of the great river, 
 and may, indeed, in very high flood seasons, still 
 serve as an outlet for surplus waters ; for a winding- 
 creek of still water, here and there spreading out into 
 pools, extends along the bottom of the valley for 
 about ten miles, until it is lost in two sandy outlets at 
 the elbow of Inga district. From the spine of any 
 of the island-like hills which rose in this many- 
 branched valley, we could see the fretted Congo in a
 
 176 THE CONGO. 
 
 1880. white rage, for mile after mile, one furious rapid 
 
 February. . . . 
 
 ijjca. chasing another m succession as lar as the Inga elbow. 
 Herds of buffaloes grazed in the conscious security 
 which speaks of rare disturbance ; the antelope's grace- 
 ful form was often seen pacing carelessly in the open, 
 and finally a herd of half-a-dozen elephants on the verge 
 of a pool luxuriously spraying their own sun-baked 
 backs. Yet, with all this animal life, and the wild river 
 dashing headlong down its rock-obstructed bed, there 
 was an almost palpable stillness about the strange 
 scene. It is a capital place for some recluse. In any 
 of the obscure nooks and folds under the shade of a 
 grove — with which man in general can have nought 
 to do — removed as this corner of wild land is from 
 the haunts of those who seek a living by barter — the 
 recluse might build his hut — and be the sole human 
 inhabitant of a sixty square mile tract, over which he 
 might roam at pleasure for months without being 
 disturbed. 
 
 Of the adventures with buffaloes, it is not worth 
 while to write. We were continually startling a herd, 
 and startling ourselves also by the sudden unlooked-^ 
 for encounter ; both animals and men foolishly gazing 
 at one another, until the quicker-witted animals soon 
 discovered it was a dangerous presence they stood in, 
 and vanished, with their tails erect in the air, while 
 the men passed on in quest of more useful knowledge 
 than that relating to their habitat. Nor will I dilate 
 much upon the shock I suffered, when, after breasting 
 a long steep slope, almost breathless, I found myself in
 
 EABASSING SEARCH FOR A TRACE. 177 
 
 the jDresence of a red-hided buffalo some forty feet 'isso. 
 
 Februarv. 
 
 from me, and imsuccessfuUy fired at him. How such a ^luga. 
 demon of fury as he appeared did not retaliate upon 
 me, and toss me twenty yards high for my temerity, 
 is incomprehensible, and must be relegated to the limbo 
 of things inexplicable. Nor shall I say much of the 
 agonising descent through a hitherto unexplored forest 
 which clothed a deep fold in the Inga plateau, from 
 summit to base, and while descending an almost in- 
 terminable slope, we were startled by the ci-ashing of 
 an elephant herd somew^here away : at one time as 
 though a charge was meditated upon us, while at 
 another the forest echoes exaggerated their hasty 
 movements into a grand march of trampling squadrons, 
 overwhelmingly near. Long before we had completely 
 traversed this unknown woodland, the sun had set ; 
 the exasperating forest had yielded us liberty only to 
 plunge us into a more annoying cane-brake, whose firm 
 array of tall stalks daunted us all. Another half-hour 
 was lost during the fast deepening gloaming, in search- 
 ing for the shadow of a herd-track which, when found, 
 only seemed to lead us deeper and deeper into the un- 
 explored solitudes. We sought for water beside which 
 we might rest for the night, and in the hope that 
 another hour might reveal some pool at the bottom of 
 the valley, or some tiny thread of a stream, the drain 
 of the towering heights half enfolding us, we bravely 
 hold on. The herd-track disappeared ; it had led 
 nowhere, or we had lost it in the black darkness of 
 the gulfy hollow. Man after man tried to force his 
 VOL. I. ; N
 
 178 THE COSGO. 
 
 1880. wav throns'li the roadless o-rass, but each after a spell 
 
 Jebniarv. 
 
 inga. retired exhausted. Finally a clever lad thought he 
 could find the way, and led us half an hour, guided 
 solelv bv his own wit. Another clever lad started 
 impatiently to dispute the knowledge the first had 
 boasted of possessing, and this was little Mabruki of 
 the " Dark Continent " heroes. 
 
 " Do you come here and try to do better ? " says the 
 first clever lad to Mabruki. 
 
 Mabruki, being the only brave who had not as yet 
 exhausted himself in crushing the grass down, cries 
 " Willingly — I will find a way in a short time," and 
 while he hurls himself against the stubborn grass, he 
 keeps up a running fire of bitter comments upon the 
 other's unmanliness, and woful ignorance of continental 
 travelling, which, being briskly retorted by the other, 
 gradually threatens to end in a set-to in the wilderness. 
 Suddenly, Mabruki throws himself, under the impulse 
 of anger, more vigorously than ever, in a fresh assault 
 upon the grass, when, to our horror, he disappears 
 with a gurgling cry, in a lengthy gravelike fracture 
 of the earth ! 
 
 " "Where — oh where, Mabruki, are you gone to ? 
 Are you hurt, or dead ? " 
 
 " Here," cries the lad's voice from the depths. " I 
 have found water ; but I have broken my gourd ! " 
 
 Poor Mabruki had tumbled into a narrow water- 
 course, twelve feet deep ; but its exceeding narrowness 
 had caused him to drop on his feet — in a pool of 
 water. The lausrh that followed the announcement
 
 VIEW FROM ULUNQU. 179 
 
 of the accident to his gourd chased away all feelings isso. 
 
 r ' ' ^ • --ii c ^ ' • February. 
 
 of rising combativeness m the bosom of his antagonist ; ii,ga, " 
 it contributed to make our beds on the thick grass 
 seem easier, and to cause us to forget the previous 
 aching pains of thirst and fatigue. 
 
 The next day, in the early morning, we crossed the 
 valley of the Bundi, and ascended tall Ulungu's steep 
 sides to the very summit, not in search of the pic- 
 turesque, but to map out a bird's-eye view of the land 
 around it. Though it is only 1550 feet above the sea, 
 its dominating crown is conspicuous from afar, and the 
 view from its top will be well worth the toil of the 
 ascent. 
 
 Looking towards Yivi, the view is arrested by the 
 noble expanse of the plateaus of Nsanda, Sadika Banzi, 
 and Mgangila. The deep trough of the Congo is seen 
 from above Mpamba Ngulu, trending towards the elbow 
 of Inga. The whole of the Inga district is visible from 
 end to end, and a long winding stretch of the Congo 
 is seen from near the Bundi, flowing westward by 
 and between the districts of Congo la Lemba, Sadika 
 Banzi, and Mgangila. West of lofty Yellala, Mount 
 Palaballa rises into view, and also the crown of the 
 higher hills behind Nokki. To the north-east is a 
 number of mountain tops, the dark forest-clad summit 
 of Nyongena, with large massive Ngoma just beyond. 
 On the south bank, I can see almost the whole of the 
 country, distributed in a series of ridges running S.W. 
 and N.E. ; and away beyond, some isolated hill-tops 
 undistinguished by names, because of our scant local 
 
 X 2
 
 180 THE CONGO. 
 
 1880. knowledge. The general impression we have is of an 
 
 February. 
 
 Ndambi irregular hilly country ; masses of level-topped hills 
 "^^' alternating with trough-like valleys ; narrower depres- 
 sions seem well wooded, wider valleys are grassy, like 
 the hill-tops ; thin dark threads of lines of trees mark 
 the banks of streams, or of deep recesses, wherein the 
 flames from the annual conflagrations die out for want 
 of the fanning breezes that drive these furious fires 
 on their destructive course. Below the aspiring mass 
 of Ulungu, the Bundi valley, with its many pene- 
 trating branches and grassy arms, lies distinctly out- 
 lined, and the course of the future road for many miles 
 is revealed to us. 
 
 In the afternoon we rejoined our company, and on 
 the next morning set out for Ndambi Mbongo, a 
 village on the western side of Xgoma mountain. 
 Soon after leaving camp, we cross the Luenda stream, 
 and begin mounting a quartz-covered path leading 
 up a high hill; after a few ])aces over level ground, 
 the path dips down into another deep ravine, and up 
 an opposing hill of equal height ; then down to the 
 beautiful Lulu river, from which the path winds up 
 and down to across the Bula river, and, finally, after 
 seven hours' march, we find ourselves at rest in the 
 village of Xdambi Mbongo, halfway up the humpy 
 mass of Xgoma mountain, whose grand outlines we 
 had noted from the top of Ulungu. The chiefs of 
 Ndambi Mbongo were present at the great palaver 
 held at De'-de'-de's, and are jorepared with their usual 
 offerings of palm-wine and fowls.
 
 NGOMA MOUXTAiy. 181 
 
 Here we receive an accession to our force of guides, isso. 
 
 . . • 1 ri Februarv. 
 
 and on the next day wind up m single file to surmount xgoma. 
 the commanding* mountain of Ngoma, which has an 
 altitude of 1600 feet above the sea. From its lofty 
 summit a grand view is obtained of the upper portion 
 of the river between Isangila and Yivi. Isangila 
 Cataract is clearly presented, also the spacious bay in- 
 denting the left bank below it, and the long winding 
 reach down to the base of Ngoma and down to the 
 narrows of Mpamba Xgulu. On the south bank of the 
 Congo some 1500 square miles of hilly territory lie 
 extended, the surface lifting and falling in great irre- 
 gular waves, or disjointed masses gullied on the sides. 
 
 From the preceding description of the country lying 
 between Yivi and this mountain, it will appear clear to 
 the reader that the thought that weighed upon me most 
 was that of the task which, as we advanced towards 
 Isangila, became more imminent each day, viz., that of 
 finding available — in Nature, if possible ; by laborious 
 industry, if necessary — either continuous stretches, or 
 detached pieces, of level land,*which might be deftly 
 connected together by a passable and safe road. The 
 native path, which boldly ran up and down inclines 
 and declines of formidable steepness, and sometimes 
 along a six-inch wide ledge of rock round the ends of 
 watercourses, was simply out of the question. Stand- 
 ing here, at Ngoma, and looking over the well- 
 remembered ups and downs, deep rocky ravines, 
 innumerable nullahs alternating with almost impass- 
 able ascents of hills from Isangila to the extreme foot
 
 182 THE CONGO. 
 
 1880. of Ngoma mountain, and looking down that 1000 feet 
 Neoma. ^^ ^^^ almost precipitous descent into the torrent of 
 Nkenge, just below me, I may well consider how the 
 awful toil that lies before my small band of labourers^ 
 of dragging those heavy steamers and launches over- 
 land before they are set afloat above the cataract of 
 Isangila, is ever to be accomplished. It is with that 
 object that I minutely examine with my glass the 
 river between Ngoma and Isangila, and search the 
 shores on either side. Then I come to the resolution 
 of descending along the spine of JSTgoma, down to the 
 water's edge, to follow the river shore to Isangila, 
 while the people shall continue along my old road over 
 the Nkenge' and the Luazaza rivers, and the myriad 
 of intervening hills and fatiguiug spurs that form the 
 water-partiug of those streams. 
 
 Two guides, for an extra consideration, are willing 
 to undertake the toilsome work of exploration with me. 
 A small gang of my own men will be sufficient for an 
 escort. We descend along the crescented curve of the 
 spine, and, in half an Eibur, find that we have a cliff on 
 the eastern side, and that the western side represents 
 the smooth top of a plateau, tilted over on its side. 
 On the summit it shows to the sky a knife-like edge of 
 quartz, which contiuues down to the middle of the 
 river bed, offering, of course, an obstruction to the 
 run of the current, and creating an impassable rapid. 
 Just at the point where the rocky extremity of Ngoma 
 falls headlong into the river, is a heap of huge detached 
 oblong masses of quartz covering a space of 200 yards.
 
 ARDUOUS TRAVELLING. 183 
 
 A track used by buffaloes and hippopotami leads i^so. 
 
 "^ J. J. i. February. 
 
 through this confused heap of large rocky fragments xgoma. 
 to a terrace consisting of debris and soil washed from 
 above, which has, from its sheltered position, nourished 
 a dense forest of tall trees, bound together by entangling 
 lines of indiarubber creepers, whose loops and pendent 
 stalks have frequently to be cut with machettes to 
 allow an advance to be made into this warm tropical 
 nest. Sometimes, as we slowly struggle through the 
 exuberance of vegetation, we catch a sight of the white 
 quartz cliffs of Ngoma, lifting their heads high above 
 the tallest trees^ and reminding one, in a strange 
 fashion, of the stanza in Milton descriptive of the point 
 whence Satan first viewed enwalled Paradise. On 
 our right we catch gleams of the river, now gliding 
 smoothly towards Ngoma Rapids. After an hour's 
 work^ we emerge out of the low-lying tropical nest to 
 a grassy terrace, and see behind us, like an impassable 
 barrier, towering grandly, the grim outlines and un- 
 scaleable eastern face of Ngoma mountains. 
 
 The river gradually widens; terraces, cut up by 
 channels excavated by the torrents from the multitude 
 of hills to the north bank, which end in reefs, or are 
 margined by sand, are crossed as we proceed upon our 
 laborious march. The south bank is in full view, 
 rising to the height of 600 feet, either ^in very steep 
 slopes or precipitously, or deeply indented at the con- 
 flux of the tributary with the parent stream. The 
 Nkengc is forded amid deep solemn woods. There is a 
 succession of spurs to be crossed by us, whose ends,
 
 184 THE CONGO. 
 
 1880. abutting on the river, are not yet fit for prospecting, 
 isangiia. OH account of tlie tall grass and scrubby jungle 
 thriving on their debris, and, after a gallant effort 
 over many hills, we emerge on the plain through 
 which the Luazaza issues into the river, just at the 
 point where the Congo begins to regain its tranquil 
 flow, after the violence and turmoil of its descent 
 down the Isangila Cataract. Thence beyond the 
 Luazaza we wind in and out of various far-reaching 
 hill folds, and in a short time find ourselves in full 
 view of my camp, made memorable to me as the 
 scene where, having arrived at " Tuckey's Furthest," 
 I reluctantly abandoned my boat, canoes, and faithful 
 ass " Mirambo," in 1877. 
 
 When the chiefs of Isangila, whose churlishness 
 was a theme with me once in past times, came down 
 from their eyries on the hill-tops overlooking the em- 
 bosomed valley near the cataract, to visit me, en- 
 camped in exactly the same spot they first made my 
 acquaintance thirty -two months ago, they were better 
 prepared for the novelty of an intercourse with a white 
 man. My numerous guides, while passing through, 
 had poured forth an astonishing tale of how this same 
 white man had built a town " bigger than Boma," had 
 called all the chiefs of the country together, and these 
 had all consented to give the country up to the white 
 man, to carve out and cut into little bits if he wished ; 
 and every one was to be as happy as possible, revelling 
 in luxuries ; and he thought of building another town 
 at Isangila, if the chiefs of Isangila were wise enough
 
 THE PENITENT CHIEFS OF ISANGILA. 185 
 
 not to refuse biiii ground. The gifts given to eacli isso. 
 
 JIarch. 
 
 chief had been magnified tenfold, until the poor isangiia. 
 chiefs, whose fears had been first excited on account 
 of the manner they had maltreated the forsaken ass 
 " Mirambo," and broken up the boat for the sake of 
 her copper tacks, and sold the canoe flotilla, gradually 
 began to indulge in anticipations much brighter than 
 the real facts warranted. These exaggerations served 
 at least to quicken a kindlier interest in me, and here 
 they had come laden with food and wine, such as they 
 could afford, prepared to make the amende honorable by 
 attributing past churlishness to their dense ignorance 
 of what the white men really were, and to their utter 
 astonishment at the discovery of white men coming 
 down the river, whose waters they seemed to navigate 
 with the utmost assurance, though they had never 
 heard of white men having been previously seen in the 
 interior. 
 
 Rewarded abundantly by an ample supply of fine 
 clothes, flunkey coats, and tinsel-braided uniforms, with 
 a rich assortment of divers marketable wares, such as 
 knives, beads, brass ornaments, not omitting a couple 
 of bottles of gin, they soon, with the ready oratory of 
 the Nsanda natives, ceded a promise to the effect that 
 a choice of land by the uninhabited river-side should be 
 reserved for my " town," with as large an acreage as 
 was desirable for grazing-ground and fields. 
 
 Regarding it now from a purely utilitarian point 
 of view, the grassy basin at the foot of the Isangila 
 Hills seemed to me rich with promise. The land was
 
 18G THE CONGO. 
 
 1880. exceedingly fertile ; over its fat red loam the grass was 
 
 3Iarch 
 
 isangiia. deiise and prolific, and with cultivation would nurture 
 plenteous growths of edible vegetables. The cultivable 
 portion might be estimated at 800 acres, ample enough 
 for a second-rate station. A square-browed hill above 
 the cataract overlooked a four-acre baylet of deep, 
 quiet water, which, with a little improvement of the 
 shores, might afford an admirable shelter for the boats. 
 And, if in future a town should grow in this neigh- 
 bourhood, two miles higher up was a spacious plain, 
 well watered, six or seven miles long by a mile wide. 
 
 Mentally reviewing what information had been ob- 
 tained by this reconnaissance to Isangiia, I became 
 convinced that, with sufficient labour force and engi- 
 neering appliances, there were no serious obstacles to 
 a railway from Tivi to Isangiia. The river-shore of 
 Yivi would need improvement, and a winding-engine 
 would be required on the plateau to haul up goods 
 direct from the piers; thence a bridge of 120 feet over 
 the Xkusu rivulet and ravine might run to the station 
 plateau of Tivi, and skirting Yivi mountain a road 
 cut from the slope, with here and there small culverts 
 for draining the water in the gullies, a railway might 
 run almost level to the Lufu and Loa valley. A 
 slight incline of 1 foot in 100 up the Muzonzila gorge 
 would lead it either through a tunnel, or a cutting 
 across a narrow neck of clay land, to the slope of 
 a ridge, along which the roadway might gradually 
 decline to some point of the Bundi valley. A bridge 
 across the Bundi, 200 feet long, and another 100 feet
 
 PROPOSED RAILWAY. 187 
 
 lonf>-, would "be all that would be needed of extra- issu. 
 
 °' _ March. 
 
 ordinary expense and skilled work as far as the mouth is^ugiia. 
 of the Luenda, thirty-five miles from Yivi. Across the 
 mouth of this stream a bridge 200 feet would have to 
 be constructed, thence along an embankment above 
 hio'h flood two miles lono: to the mouth of the Lulu 
 river, which would require a somewhat longer bridge. 
 From the Lulu the Congo would have to be followed 
 along a road carved out of the slope of Xyongena Hill, 
 whence the railway might either run straight to 
 Ngoma Point on a light iron tressle bridge 600 yards 
 long, or wind around the east extremity of Nyongena 
 Hill to the Bula river, over which a bridge 100 feet 
 lono' would suffice to lead it round after a detour of 
 half a mile inland to Ngoma Point. The blasting of 
 25 yards of rock across this point, and 10 yards wide 
 into the mountain, would furnish a very spacious and 
 safe roadway to the forested terrace east of Ngoma. 
 The terrace, almost level, found here would be available 
 for four miles to the heads of the rocky bluffs, between 
 the Nkenge and Khonzo plain, across which a roadway 
 would require to be blasted, and a few culverts or 
 small bridges constructed across the mouths of the 
 gullies. From Khonzo plain to Isangila there would 
 be no difficult work to perform. 
 
 For us, however, with our force of 130 men, such 
 a work would be a gigantic one indeed. I must^ 
 therefore, prepare to make my turnpike in a very 
 different direction. The necessity for me is to have a 
 road over which wagons conveying five-ton loads may
 
 188 
 
 THE CONGO. 
 
 be hauled without a 
 capsize, and consequent 
 fracture of material, of 
 engines, boilers, or 
 heavy iron or wooden 
 steamers. Perhaps a 
 little more minute ex- 
 ploration of certain 
 t points will enable me to 
 ^; do so without a ruinous 
 ^ delay. Some results of 
 I a happy nature have 
 I followed this rapid sur- 
 < vey of the country. I 
 i Lave infused confidence 
 -' in my own followers — 
 r^ that we can conquer by 
 '^ industry what appeared 
 ^ to them insurmountable 
 g difficulties. My safe 
 u return to Yivi will also 
 encourage the inexpe- 
 rienced Europeans, and 
 the large escort of 
 natives, representatives 
 of many districts, will 
 assure them also tliat 
 our progress will be 
 peaceful, despite the 
 prognostications of the traders of the lower river,
 
 INTEBCOUBSE WITH NATIVES. 189 
 
 whose hostility to ns. thouo-h passive, is unmistakable ; isso. 
 and I am a little elated at the prospect of obtaining ywu 
 recruits from among* the natives for my working force. 
 
 The reconnaissance was terminated b}^ our arrival 
 at Yivi on the 10th of March with nearly a hundred 
 natives, who came to see wiih their own eyes the new 
 European town in their country of which they had 
 heard so much lately. Instructions were issued to 
 the Europeans to be prudent in their conduct, and 
 to deport themselves as amicably as possible with the 
 natives, lest any incident might rupture the peaceful 
 intercourse so auspiciously commenced. ^ 
 
 The following extracts from the report to Colonel 
 Strauch will furnish other information which no doubt 
 to many will be of real interest. 
 
 "Yivi Station, March lith, 1S80. 
 " My dear Colonel, 
 
 " On February 21st I started on my reconnaissance as far as Isaugila 
 Cataract, and returned March lOtli, having travelled during my eighteen 
 days' absence 190 miles. The distance to Isangila from Vivi, where we 
 embark on our boats for up-river, is fifty-two English miles. Had we 
 merely gone to Isangila and returned direct to Yivi by tlie same route 
 we should only have marched 101 miles, but the country after leaving 
 Nsanda is a cruel one altogether. Deep ravines cut it up, and steep hills 
 and mountains, here shaggy with grim forests, there rough and bristling 
 witli huge rocks, confront us every mile or two. The native roads lead 
 us through these difiiculties, which are in some places simply imjiassablc 
 for waggons. If you will read the account of my march 1870, vol. ii. 
 ' Dark Continent from Isangila Cataract to N?anda Nsanga,' you will have 
 a fair idea of the impression a second visit along the same route has given 
 me. This country was absolutely impassable for waggons. I accordingly 
 was comiKiUcd to abandon all idea of following the native track, and I 
 rambled about the mountains and along the river, traced the courses of 
 streams, i)lunged into the depths of perfect wildernesses — all this with 
 the view of obtaining a more feasible route to Isangila, which I liave at 
 last discovered. Still there is vast work before wo can move on for
 
 y 
 
 190 THE CONGO. 
 
 jgj^Q Isangila. Tlie first quarter of the journey is beautiful. I can proceed 
 :M:ireh 10. twelve miles at a tolerably fair rate of travel with the launch and waggon 
 after cutting the grass. Then begins the uivand-down-hill work, the 
 removing of great rocks, the filling up of hollows, until we come to a 
 forest which has to be cut through; we then come to a river, its bed 
 filled with boulders, out of which we emerge to drag the waggon up a 
 slope which has a rise of one foot in four. Then another bit of fair road, 
 through stubborn bush and tall grass, takes us six or seven miles, when 
 we come in presence of the worst of our difficulties — ravine after ravine, 
 hill after hill, stream after stream, while the great river itself at this 
 particular place is one narrow wild rapid, hemmed in by tall lilack cliffs 
 impassable to anything. 
 
 " Yet, as our object is to establish stations and means of communication 
 between them, the difficult task must be performed. First we have to 
 make a road, then to return to Yivi to haul the Boyal overland 52 miles 
 with its boiler and machinery. Third, to return with the waggons 
 to Vivi, and haul the En Avant, boiler, and machinery. Fourth, to 
 return to Yivi with the three waggons to haul the boats and heavy 
 impedimenta. Fifth, to return to Yivi for the stores up river. The total 
 mileage of all these journeys will be 520 English miles, exclusive of the 
 journey of cutting a road. All tliis distance and long mileage only covers 
 our progress to Isangila. 
 
 " It is hard to think of all this labour, but we must do it, as we have 
 only a small force compared with what we ought to have ; and, so far as 
 I can see, the assistance to be given by natives in the region between 
 Isangila and Yivi will be comparatively small. 
 
 " Of course when we have arrived at Isangila our labours will be 
 lightened ; the river will enable us to reach Manyanga, where we leave the 
 Boijal and one boat, and one-third of our force and impedimenta, so that 
 a couple of months will suffice for our removal from Isangila, with boats 
 and stores and establishment at Manyanga. On leaving Manyanga we 
 shall not have so difficult a country to travel through ; we shall be able 
 to obtain assistance, and we shall have only the En Avant and one boat 
 to take besides our stores, so that three trips will be sufficient. These 
 three trips will cover a mileage of 570 miles, which I am sure we can 
 l^erform without that difficulty we shall experience between Yivi Station 
 and Isangila. 
 
 " It is in this way I was enabled in 1877 to drag my canoes overland. 
 I had sixteen canoes (heavy — one or two of them over three tons in 
 weight). Sometimes we moved only 500 yards, some days we moved them 
 all one mile ; but I had all my party within sound of musket shot. All 
 were encouraged a little by the steady progress we made ; but in tliis 
 journey to Isangila'we shall seem to make scarcely any i^rogress. Instead
 
 REPORTING PROGRESS. 191 
 
 of, as we thonglit, going only fifty-two miles, we have to make ten trips ^ggQ 
 
 of fifty-two miles, thus : — March 10. 
 
 Distance. Time. Vivi. 
 
 Roijal — From Yivi to Isangila 52 miles = 1 month. 
 
 Eetuming with waggons to Yivi ... 52 „ „ 20 clays. 
 
 En Avant — From Vivi to Isangila 52 „ „ 1 month. 
 
 Returning with three empty waggons . . 52 „ „ 20 days. 
 
 Two steel boats — From Yivi to Isangila ... 52 „ „ 1 month. 
 
 Beturning with empty waggons. ... 52 „ „ 20 days. 
 Heavy material, rope, iron, hardware — From Yivi 
 
 to Isangila 52 „ „ 1 month. 
 
 Eeturning with empty waggons .... 52 „ „ 20 days. 
 Provisions, iron houses, tanks, grindstones — From 
 
 Yivi to Isangila 52 „ „ 1 month. 
 
 Making road and returning previous to hauling 
 
 waggons 104 „ „ 50 days. 
 
 Total distance, 572 miles. Total time, 10 months 10 days. 
 
 " But supposing we had three large waggons and five small waggons, 
 lime and distance would stand thus : — 
 
 jMiles. Days. 
 .Making road to Isangila and returning to Yivi . . . 104 50 
 
 Proceeding with all boats and all material at an average 
 
 rate of one mile a day 52 48 
 
 156 98 
 
 A clear saving of seven months and seven days, and a valuable saAung of 
 strength. 
 
 " The only accident that might occur to destroy this calculation is a 
 "breakage of an axle or a wheel, but this would only delay us a few days. 
 
 " On the journey to the Stanley Pool from Manyanga, conveying all we 
 have by one steady progress without returning to Manyanga, would 
 enable me to make the most of my little force. All boats, tools, tents, 
 xaachinery, provisions, sick persons, would be steadily making progress 
 towards the Stanley Pool, and you may safely calculate that from leaving 
 Manyanga to the Stanley Pool (the distance being ninety-five miles) we 
 should not be more than fifty days. So that before ten montlis from this 
 date we sliould be established at Stanley Pool with everything necessary 
 for the station. 
 
 " Such is the view I take of our position after my visit to Isangila. I 
 present it you nakedly and without obscurity. 
 
 »•♦♦** 
 
 "Our working force being so intolerably weak compared to the large- 
 ness of our task, wc shall appear to dawdle along in a most agonising way
 
 192 THE CONGO. 
 
 1880. of going and coming, coming and going, instead of marcliing straight along 
 March 10. ^Q Q^^ destination at tl:e Pool. 
 
 Viv 
 
 " My dearest wish is to get on as quickly as possible, and the hard 
 marching I have had lately has lessoned me npou various expedients- 
 You sec that we cannot rush on with about eighty tons of material, but if 
 we have these waggons we can at least be moving on every day a little, 
 and all our company will be together within call of one another. We 
 shall first pitch our camp a mile or a mile and a half off, then haul the 
 waggons to the camp one after another. If we find we can do more than 
 this, we will push on again, and so march on to our destination steadily. 
 If we come to a bad place, we shall all be together, and no one leaves 
 until we have conquered the difficulty. 
 
 "From Yivi ridge to Ndambi Mbongo the country is a remarkable 
 one, more especially that which lies between Yivi and the Bundi Eiver. 
 North of Yivi ridge the land rises gradually after a descent into the Loa 
 Plain to the same altitude as Yivi ridge, and as far as the eye can reach it 
 seems to be a grand and noble grassy plain. But frequently you appear 
 to see thin lines of dark foliage winding here and there. These lines, on 
 approaching them, turn out to be the tops of wooded gorges, where the 
 trees are nourished into the most stately proportions. The track (native) 
 dips down into these gorges, and runs along their deep shadowy bottoms for 
 about 100 or 200 yards, then rises abruptly into the same level of the grassy 
 plateau from which it had jiist descended. These wooded gorges are 
 very numerous, and run for miles, maintaining the same character until, 
 approaching the river bank, they open out from the character of gorges 
 into valleys, broken and rocky, which descend rapidly, by terraces or 
 precipitously, into the low level of the river Congo. But in any of the 
 wooded gorges may be found within an area of half a mile over 200 tall 
 trees, rising straight as flag-poles to the height of 100 feet, with diameters 
 varying from twelve inches to thirty inches. One gorge that I travelled 
 along to ascertain its course would without doubt furnish over 3000 such 
 trees. Further from the river, i.e. N.N.\Y., these gorges with their fine 
 noble woods give place to an extensive forest, which is probably about 
 150 square miles in extent, according to native report. These fine trees 
 are mostly African teak ; the landolj^hia or india-rubber flourishes in their 
 shade, and many fine woods are also found suitable for cabinet making, 
 &c. The forest of Bundi could supply Yivi Station with magnificent 
 timber, as its trees might be felled, and after a month's drying dragged to 
 the Congo and floated down to Yivi without further trouble than picking 
 them up at Yivi. The forest of Bundi begins in fact at the confluence of 
 the Bundi with the Congo. 
 
 "In short, this country described above is a remarkably rich country, 
 and its natural landing-place is at Yivi. My conviction is that had I 
 spent a year in trying to discover a route more accessible into the interior.
 
 PAYMENT OF NATIVES. 193 
 
 or for a richer district for a neighbourhood, I could not have bettered isso 
 myself. The only drawback to what would have been a most enviable March 10. 
 possession to any nation, corporation, or company, is the unconquerable Vivi. 
 indolence of the people, and scantiness of their numbers. Compared to 
 the extent of their possessions, the people are really too rich to work 
 because all are comparatively rich. Palm wine, palm oil, sugar cane, 
 ground nuts, sweet potatoes, bananas, plantains, cabbages, pine-apples, 
 guavas, limes, tobacco, Indian corn, pigs, goats, chickens, &c., form a 
 variety of product sufficient and more than sufficient for native wants, 
 inasmuch as it requires very strong inducements to tempt them to 
 abandon their easy home and village life for work at stations or on roads. 
 
 " What this country requires is emigration of poor people (native), or a 
 number of freed slaves, who might be settled in homesteads, and could 
 siipply labour to the stations for the currency of the country, by which 
 they might support themselves and families and acquire comfortable 
 homes. 
 
 " We have lately received reinforcements of labourers from the coast, 
 who have been engaged at the rate of from four to eight longs of cloth per 
 month, besides rations. The chief men receive from ten to fifteen longs 
 monthly. 
 
 " A long, though consisting of only six yards of common domestic, is 
 considered on the coast to be equal to a dollar, but we reckon it at 3s. 
 A inece of the cloth out of which such longs are cut measures twenty- 
 four yards, or four longs. 
 
 " Many of the coast people, however, take their pay largely in gin to 
 retail when home at a profit. Bottles of gin or rum are marketable, and 
 serve as currency. Another form of currency is the cheap cloth, tin 
 plates, white-handled table knives, spoons, mugs, drinking glasses, and 
 small mirrors. 
 
 " Though we may regret that gin is considered as currency, we cannot 
 help it. We require native produce for food daily ; without an assort- 
 ment of currency we should be put to great shifts frequently. 
 
 - " The gin and rum are also largely consumed as grog by our native 
 workmen. We dilute both largely, and so reduce its spirit, but we are 
 compelled to serve it out morning and evening. A stoppage of this would 
 be followed by a cessation of work. It is ' custom,' custom is despotic, 
 and we are too weak and too new in the country to rebel against custom. 
 If we resist custom we shall be abandoned. 
 
 " It would be madness to try and stop a team of frightened horses by 
 standing directly in the way. One must run alongside, if possible, and 
 restrain them gradually, even though we appear to be running with 
 thorn. 
 
 " Every visitor to our camp on this part of the Congo, if he has a 
 palaver with us, must first receive a small glass of rum or gin. A chief 
 receives a bottleful, which ho distributes tcaspoonful by tcaspoonful 
 
 VOL. I. O
 
 194 THE CONGO. 
 
 1880. among his followers. This is the Lower Congo idea of an ' all-round 
 March 10. drink.' 
 
 Viv). " J jjaye jjQt sggji any ill-effects from this as yet ; on the contrary, it has 
 
 increased their sociality, and made people otherwise silent open their 
 minds frankly. However I should not like to have it introduced into the 
 Upper Congo. 
 
 " I see by the returns of the station chief that we consume 125 gallons 
 of rum monthly by distributing grog rations, and native demands for it 
 in lieu of a portion of their wages."
 
 TEE NATURE OF OUR TASK. 195 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 YIVI TO ISAXGILA : ROAD-MAKIXG A CURIOUS CHAPTER. 
 
 My working force — The whites — Camp in the Loa valley — Tracing a 
 way through the tall grass — Our first day's road-making — " "When 
 in Rome you must do as the Romans do," a mistake — What food to 
 take in the tropics — Village idols — A bigoted medicine-man — Value 
 of buffalo and hippopotami tracks — Gin-drinking chiefs — A deter- 
 mined old toper — DiflSculty about the names of the Congo — YeUala 
 Falls — Market-days — Snakes — Abundance of game — The sun at 
 noon — Birds — Completion of the first section of our road — Overland 
 conveyance of the steam-launch Royal — ^Troubles with the Europeans 
 — Arrival of Belgian " commercials " — The coldest part of the 
 country — Death of a promising member of the Expedition — My first 
 sickness — A day's thermometer readings — Swinburne ill — Settlement 
 of a trade dispute — Result of 160 days' hard work— Reports to the 
 President. 
 
 The account of the work from Marcli ISth, 1880, to isso. 
 
 -J-, 1 __ 1 -I oni T • 1 March 18. 
 
 reb. ilst, 1881, 1 propose to put mto two chapters, yj^j 
 with the pardonable desire to exhibit in their pages 
 as full a story as may be necessary to explain pro- 
 perly the nature of the task we had undertaken for 
 the Comite' d'Etudes du Ilaut Congo. It should 
 deserve attention for the honest candour of its narra- 
 tion, if not for the every-day unromantic details of its 
 matter. 
 
 On mustering the force of foreign pioneers with 
 
 2
 
 196 THE CONGO. 
 
 1880. whlcli I was about to carve a wagon-way through the 
 
 March 18. . . ^ ^ - 
 
 vivi. tropic land I had just surveyed, I discovered I had 
 exactly 106 men at my di.sposal, after leaving at the 
 station of Yivi 2 interpreters, 3 headmen, 43 labourers, 
 14 house-boj's, 3 '^ washjacks," 3 cooks, and 4 native 
 boys of Yivi as apprentice waiters. 
 
 There were, at this period, fourteen whites besides 
 myself. Messrs. Sparhawk, Swinburne, Kirkbright, 
 and Moore, were engaged as civilian superintendents 
 and ao-ents of stations. The remainino- ten were 
 officers and sailors in charge of the steamers Belgique, 
 Esperance, En Avant, Royal, and Jeune Africaine, 
 all of whom, of cour.se, would be utterly useless to me 
 in the road-making. At this period, also, no white, 
 with the exception of Mr. Sparhawk, understood any 
 African dialect, and a company of lOG men was alto- 
 gether too small a force to bear subdivision. While with 
 a woeful face I regarded my small company of pioneers, 
 I was encouraged by the promises made by the native 
 chiefs that they would furnish help ; but I did not 
 anticipate at this early stage of our acquaintance that 
 they would venture far from their homes. They would 
 no doubt wait until the road-making party had entered 
 their territory. 
 
 On the 18th March, 1880, we marched to the Loa 
 river and valley, and formed a camp, all the Yivi 
 labourers being employed in conveying 70 sacks of 
 beans, peas, lentils, rice, and salt, as a first instal- 
 ment of provisions for the pioneer force. During the 
 rest of the morning we traced the line of road, by
 
 CLEARING A ROAD. 197 
 
 means of flag-staffs bearing* white cloth streamers, isso. 
 
 March 18. 
 
 and a tall step-ladder to guide through the tall grass vivi. 
 the bearers of the half-mile cord and reel. It must be 
 remembered that the grass in many places was 10 feet 
 high, and in loamy hollows about 15 feet. In the 
 months of July, August, and September fires consume 
 the old grass, but so quick is the growth from the 
 moment that the rains begin in September, that by 
 the middle of March it is as tall as a young forest. 
 
 At midday the pioneers were formed in line, hoes 
 in hand, along the cord, and, at a signal, the work of 
 uprooting the grass began. By night there was a 
 clean roadway, 15 feet wide, and 2500 feet long, made ; 
 and by the evening of the 21st, 11,010 feet of roadway 
 was cleared. 
 
 On the 22nd of March the road was joined to that 
 already made between Yivi station and the summit of 
 Yivi mountain. During the progress of the work the 
 hollows, gullies, depressions, and many irregularities of 
 surface along the roadway had been revealed ; much 
 scrub and many trees, besides large rocks, stood ex- 
 posed and isolated ; but our axes, hoes, crowbars and 
 sledge-hammers had been distributed, and by the 
 evening of the 22nd the wagons could roll in safety 
 from the Yivi to the Loa river. 
 
 On the 23rd we moved camp to half-way between 
 Banza Uvana and the Loa. Then began the transfer 
 of tools, provisions, and the miscellaneous goods we 
 carried with us to pay for the hire of native labourers 
 when they should come to apply for work.
 
 198 
 
 THE coy GO. 
 
 1880. On tlie 25th we aorain moved camp witli its miscel- 
 
 March25. 
 
 Banza lanBOus property to Banza u vana, where we engaged 
 ^' five natives, who were immediately initiated into the 
 art of pioneering, and on the next day, after measure- 
 ment from Tivi landing-place to Banza Uvana, our 
 completed road measured 50,354 feet, or 9^ miles. 
 I write that evening in my journal a sound bit of 
 
 DIAGBAM OF TRUCK FOB MACHISEEY. 
 
 information, to which, when describing the climate, I 
 shall have occasion to refer. 
 
 "I am reminded to-night of the error of another old 
 adao^e, 'When in Eome you must do as the Romans 
 do.' Rome being a civilised city of great renown, &c., 
 it no doubt was correct and proper. But the world is 
 given so much to generalise that what is applicable to 
 Rome is supposed by irreflective men to be apphcable 
 to all other parts. It is manifestly absurd, for ex-
 
 FOOD IX TEE TROPICS. 199 
 
 ample, to apply this rule to a hot, equatorial region, so isso. 
 destitute of those necessaries of life to which people Banza 
 in civilised and temperate climates are accustomed. 
 Habit may be changed, but Nature must be obeyed. 
 If I could carry with me my usual provisions of roast 
 or boiled mutton or beef, potatoes, bread, and frozen 
 butter, and wine, I would do so most certainly, and 
 find a sure reward in good health for so doing. On 
 two expeditions I have been a sad victim to African 
 fever, and its consequent weakness, and months would 
 sometimes elapse before I could regain my old 
 strength and energies. Had I been able to obtain 
 nourishing food I had saved much valuable time, 
 and recuperated declining energies quicker ; but I 
 lived on the same food as the native. On this third 
 expedition I have conformed hitherto to the dietary 
 rules of civilised life, though fresh beef and mutton 
 are absent, and I have only once been slightly indis- 
 posed during these eight months I have been on the 
 Congo, and when I look around on my Zanzibar! and 
 other employes, and on the mules and asses, I am 
 confirmed in my opinion that good food is as necessary 
 to preserve health in this climate as in all others." 
 
 In this village there is a double-headed wooden bust, 
 with its crown adorned (?) with old iron scraps and bits 
 of mirror glass, and two wooden idols, about 4 feet high, 
 ferocious in appearance, placed under a small shed, as a 
 chapel, I suppose. These are the great gods of Banza 
 Uvana. The well-bearded chief, Lusalla, has a medicine- 
 man, who uses a small gourd in which are a few pebbles.
 
 200 
 
 THE CONGO. 
 
 1S80. 
 JIai-ch 25. 
 
 Banza 
 Uvaua. 
 
 The medicine-man, or fetish, is in requisition frequently 
 by the surrounding villagers, and has boasted to me of 
 the many cures he has performed with that gourd and 
 its pebbles. He is so confirmed a believer in its virtues 
 that in very despair I had to abandon my arguments. 
 
 FETISH IDOLS. 
 
 Besides, my vocabulary is limited, and he has a decided 
 advantage over me through his superior volubility. 
 
 March 28th. — Moved camp to Ntombo-a-Lungu, a 
 village in the Loa gorge, steamy, and most depressing. 
 The wealth of verdure under rain and moisture is 
 perfectly wonderful. Temperature averaged 80° Fahr. 
 in shade.
 
 BENEFITS FBOM ANIMAL TRACKS. 201 
 
 "We are carvino* out roads on both sides of tlie 2:or2:e, isso. 
 
 April 2. 
 
 digging into the stifif, red clay with strong Dutch hoes. Ntombo-a- 
 The bottom of the gorge is 400 feet below the level of 
 the plateau. 
 
 April 2nd. — Moved camp to top of eastern plateau 
 from Ntombo-a-Lungu ; left bank of Loa gorge. 
 Evening is threatening ; clouds black ; bursts of low 
 thunder and vivid lightning usher in the night. But 
 w^e are already comfortably housed in our new huts. 
 Our first day's acquaintance with the neighbourhood of 
 Mgangila has not been very auspicious. We are about 
 a mile and a half from Mgangila village. Ntombo-a- 
 Lungu is below us 400 feet ; old Banza Kulu is about 
 5 miles west of us on this same plateau. 
 
 April 3rd. — Making our fourth bridge, this time over 
 the Loa stream, and a corduroy road across the gorge 
 leading to it. The slopes of both sides have now been 
 graded ; they are steep, but passable. 
 
 April 4th. — Moved camp to No. 6 halting-place, a 
 mile north of Mgangila village. Ui) to this time I 
 have succeeded in enlisting twenty-three natives. 
 
 April 6th. — Arrived at camp No. 7, west bank of 
 Mpagassa or Buffalo stream. Length of road com- 
 pleted thus far, 84,918 feet, over 15 English miles. 
 
 I have been much indebted, while searching through 
 the jungles and grassy brakes, to the buffalo and 
 hippopotami tracks: that of the latter were sure to be 
 of the most gentle ascent and descent, and hippo- 
 potami evidently wander far at night in search of 
 suffar-cane.
 
 202 THE COXGO. 
 
 1880. I had a visit yesterday from several chiefs of 
 
 April 6. . " " . 
 
 Mgangiia. Mgangila plateau, who were tricked out in the cast-off 
 finerj of Europe. Most of the lackey coats had their 
 large buttons stamped with unicorns. 
 
 Too much gin-drinking was indulged in by the 
 natives. I attempted to frighten them with hideous 
 pictures of the effects of indulgence in gin ; but one 
 blear-eyed man, whose eyes were even then red with 
 alcoholic fire, declared that he was never so happy as 
 when glass after glass was poured down his open 
 mouth. He acted the intemperate man remarkably 
 well, proving that he understands by experience what 
 a figure he exhibits when inebriated. 
 
 Xot one of the natives can give a distinctive title for 
 the Congo. While the smallest, as well as the largest, 
 tributary receives a name, the great river itself has no 
 name to distinguish it from another. It is by some 
 called the Njali, Njarri, Nzali, Xzaddi, Zali, which the 
 old Portuguese called Zari and spelled Zaire, and all 
 of these mean "the river." 
 
 I paid a visit during the day to Yellala Falls. The 
 opposite sketch, taken from a photograph by our Dr. 
 Allard, represents the Congo trough, and that stirring 
 scene of racing waves known as Yellala Falls, better 
 than any amount of written description. In the five 
 or six mile stretch shown there is an incline of about 
 45 feet. But the general fury of the water is caused 
 by the obstructions which the giant volume meets 
 in the bed of the narrow defile. Though there are 
 absolute falls, the impression one receives is that the
 
 NATIVE MARKETS. 203 
 
 word is a misnomer. It is a series of vehement, isso. 
 rushing, tumultuous, and vexed waters precipitated Yeiiaia. 
 with remarkable force and energy, and seemingly 
 eager to escape out of their constricted and deep 
 mountain prison. 
 
 While working, even eight miles away, a whiff of 
 wind from the southward would bring the sound of 
 Yellala Falls startlingly clear. 
 
 These last few days the thermometer, at the lowest 
 registered 70° Fahr., highest, 91° Fahr. Mean of five 
 readings each day, during nine days, 78° Fahr. in 
 shade. 
 
 " There are fixed days for markets in this country, 
 which are held in central situations between the dif- 
 ferent villages whose inhabitants resort thither without 
 fear for the safety of their persons and property, or 
 for their houses and chattels during their absence. In 
 a hilly country such as this is, the market is held on 
 some hill commanding a wide view ; in the level districts 
 a spacious clearing in the grass, or the woods, serves for 
 a market-place." 
 
 I have now thirty-four natives with me working for 
 weekly pay, on the road. They are apt to learn ; they 
 fall into tlie ranks at muster- time, answer to their names 
 and imitate closely our more disciplined workmen from 
 Zanzibar, but it requires strict personal supervision to 
 keep them to their task. They are inclined to shirk 
 duty, and prefer to gossip, and argue loudly with one 
 another when my head is turned away. A mere look of 
 surprise, however, is sufficient to recall them to a sense
 
 204 THE CONGO. 
 
 1880. of duty, and a threat to remember tlieir indolence on 
 
 April 10. "^ 
 
 Mgangiia. p^v-day prompts tlie most stubborn to resume work. 
 
 April lOtb. — Moved to Camp No. 8. Ascended the 
 northern sloj^e of the plateau from Mpagassa stream, 
 and turned river-ward or south-easterly until the pla- 
 teau narrowed into a gently declining spur, prolonged 
 for three miles just above the ravine of the Lufwen- 
 kenya streamlet. As we near the Congo the country 
 becomes stony and arid. The soil has long ago been 
 washed away down to the naked sheet-rock, or leaving 
 the stone debris of quartz, which nourishes only scant 
 crops of wild grass. The summits of the level 
 plateaus, which our turnpike road now traverses, 
 broad and straight and clean, are capable of produc- 
 ing the heaviest crops of wheat and other grain, the 
 rich loam being still deep enough. That near Mgan- 
 giia village is 30 inches deep ; towards the verge of 
 the slopes it thins away to the red impervious clay. 
 
 Snakes are frequently met with in this road-making. 
 In the neighbourhood of the Congo the slate -coloured 
 spitting snakes are most numerous. Yivi platform was 
 at first infested with a large number of these. They 
 robbed us of our laying hens, and devoured the chicks, 
 and then coiled themselves under the lower shelves of 
 the magazine, and menaced our store-men with their 
 venom, which they ejected in a stream from a distance 
 of six feet. The poison must be exceedingly powerful 
 and especially painful to the eyes, judging from its 
 ill-effects, which lasted eight or ten days. Whip- 
 snakes infest the grass ; short, bulky pythons are near
 
 ABUNDANT GAME. 205 
 
 the water-courses ; green snakes are coiled on the isso. 
 trees m the stony region ; two typlops were killed Mgangiia. 
 on the Lufwenkenya. But although we have turned 
 a large number into view, no accident has yet 
 occurred.* 
 
 This day I shot an animal of the size of a small 
 pig, a rodent, with a snout projecting an inch over the 
 mouth. I take it to be an orycterope, or ground-hog. 
 
 Game begin to be abundant, especially of the 
 harte-beest kind. I shot two to-day. Their meat was 
 delicious, and a great treat to us in the wilderness. 
 
 Since we turned our road towards the Congo we 
 have left the inhabited district, as nothing could thrive 
 in the stony region. 
 
 For the last four days I have endeavoured to obtain 
 a noon observation of the sun, but have not been 
 able to succeed. The sun generally comes out at 
 10 A.M., and beams brightly for about an hour, then 
 becomes intermittent. At noon he is faintly discerned 
 through a silver cloud. At 1 p.m. he shines gloriously ; 
 at 2 ho is mighty ; at 3 he is violent ; at 4 he is serene ; 
 at 5 lie is still steadfast ; at 6 he disappears with a 
 bright, victorious flush ; at 6.30 it is dark night. 
 
 April 14th. — Camp No. 0, whence we obtain a fine 
 view of Ulungu Cone, Sadika Banzi's Grove, site of 
 camp 8, Yellala Mountain, and Palaballa's grove-clad 
 Mount. 
 
 After laying the line of road and appointing the 
 
 * Tlic year 1885 is marked, however, by a fatal accident of this kind. 
 A Swedish officer was lately bitten by a snake, and died within two hours.
 
 206 THE CONGO. 
 
 1880. daily task, explored the country down to Congo River, 
 
 April 14-. ^ 
 
 Wgangiia. and discovercd a spur leading down to the landing- 
 place, which must he, by my map, about five miles from 
 the Bundi River. The guide calls it Makeya Manguba. 
 
 Our next camp will be in a very pleasant spot by 
 the Tendelay, about ten acres in extent, consisting of 
 beautiful short spring grass, with abundant game. 
 Returned to camp with two fine hartebeest, ^ which 
 will give about three pounds of meat to each man. 
 
 Four native recruits to the pioneer force arrived 
 to-day, with a promise of more from Nsanda. 
 
 April 20th. — Camp No. 10. One more hartebeest 
 and one kudu obtained close to the camp. Heavy 
 grading and filling up of holes, with much prising of 
 large quartz boulders required. The grass is thin. 
 The work is all done now with picks and shovels, as 
 hoes are useless. The land seems to be mainly of 
 compact quartzose ballast. 
 
 I made a curious discovery yesterday at the Lufwen- 
 kenya. We had excavated a roadway eight feet deep 
 through the alluvial banks, when there rose suddenly 
 a shout, and the men crowded about, drawing me also 
 to the spot out of keen curiosity. I saw from a 
 distance in the hands of a man the object of interest, 
 and it seemed to me like a 12-pounder cannon ball, 
 and several of these lay at his feet. On closer exami- 
 nation they, however, proved to be ancient elephant 
 dung. As these were so far below the surface, and 
 a sturdy grove grew above the spot, it would have 
 been interesting to have been able to tell how many
 
 BIRDS. 207 
 
 score of years had passed since the elephants' droppings isso. 
 had been thus covered. jigangiia. 
 
 Of birds I have seen but few. Kites are numerous, 
 especially since our camps have been furnished with 
 fresh meat. Half a dozen parrots have been lately 
 heard whistling overhead ; wing-clappers have pre- 
 dominated on the grassy plateau, and the drumbird's 
 alarming notes have been heard in distant woody 
 hollows. A few jays have darted across our vision, 
 and the wild pigeon's mournful calls have attracted 
 momentary attention. 
 
 April 22nd. — Camp No. 11. Arrived at last at the 
 Congo, and completed the first section of the road, 
 118,077 feet, or twenty-two and a third miles long. 
 From the landing-place at this camp the steamers will 
 be enabled to convey in a few days the entire para- 
 phernalia of the station-building expedition up the 
 Bundi Eiver, to a point such as shall seem best for an 
 easy ascent to the Bundi Yalley. 
 
 Widely different was the effect on us as we viewed 
 the country from the middle of a road 15 feet wide, to 
 the impressions derived from viewing it through em- 
 bracing grasses and obstructing shrubbery; and the 
 pace of the march home to Yivi was very different 
 from that crawling gait we were compelled to adopt 
 when following native paths. Starting at daybreak 
 on the 23rd, some of us were enabled to reach Yivi 
 by 11 A.M., while the last stragglers had entered it 
 by 2 P.M. 
 
 By the 3rd of May we had rested sufficiently; the
 
 208 THE CONGO. 
 
 1880. steam-launch Royal had been mounted on the great 
 Vivi. steel wagon; 200 men, pioneers and workmen of 
 Yivi, had pulled the five-ton weight up from the 
 landing-place ; two carts had been loaded with the 
 boiler, engine, grindstones, iron plates, &c. ; over a 
 hundred more loads of cloth, beads, wire, tents, bag- 
 gage and provisions for five Europeans — two Danish 
 sailors, Albert and Martin, Mr. Swinburne, and two 
 engineers ; and on the 4th, the Royal, with the aid of 
 fifty natives of Yivi, was hauled over Yivi Mountain to 
 the camp on the Loa. On the 5th the two small carts 
 were hauled direct to Banza Uvana. In the same 
 manner the goods were taken with the Europeans to 
 our camp one after another, followed by the wagons, 
 until, amid great rejoicing, wagons and goods arrived 
 at Makeya Manguba camp without accident on the 
 11th of May, when we stored the goods in tents, 
 launched the Royal into the river, and the same day 
 started on our return with the empty wagons. Mean- 
 while the engineers were instructed to put the steamer 
 in order, and have wood cut ready for several days' fuel. 
 On the 13th of May we were back in Yivi, whereat 
 troubles with the Europeans were so numerous that 
 some mention must be here made of them. One 
 engineer, Hubert Pettit, had died at a very early stage 
 of our coming ; another had been discharged as having 
 misunderstood his vocation ; the captain of the Belgique 
 had resigned; a French sailor had also lost heart,* the 
 engine-driver of the Esperance, after veering around 
 several times, had also departed ; the carpenter, whose
 
 \ 
 
 Di:VOUBED BY A CBOCODILE. 209 
 
 ideas of ConQ-o life had been somewhat mixed even isso. 
 ^ . . Mav 1:5 
 
 before he had left Europe, finally followed his friends, vivi. 
 
 and left ns to bewail his loss. 
 
 Xow on my return from the interior other changes 
 were imminent. Mr. Moore was obliged to be sent 
 home through weakness and prostration. Mr. Kirk- 
 bright waited until I was one day inland, and then 
 sent .a courier with his resignation, to which I replied 
 with an answer that it was accepted. The third day 
 another courier arrives with a letter withdrawing the 
 resignation, to which I answer, " Yery good; stay." 
 
 On the 27th of May I arrive at Makeya Manguba 
 for the second time, with the wagons conveying the 
 FjII Avant steel paddle steamer, after having been 
 assisted gallantly by 170 natives of Xsanda over the 
 steep slopes of the Loa and Mpagassa gorge. After an 
 hour's rest I am told by one of the engineers in the 
 camp that he wishes to go home, that he has had 
 enough of Congo. 
 
 If my work is to imitate the tourist conductor— to l)e, 
 as it were, a Cook on the Congo, escorting engineers 
 to make short excursions into the interior, \ fear that 
 ray interest in the projects of the "Comite" will be but 
 short-lived. T proceed to argue the point with him. 
 to temporise ; the engineer's face finally relaxes, and 
 he expresses his wish to remain. 
 
 At this camp of Makeya Manguba, during my ab- 
 sence one coast native has been devoured by a crocodile ; 
 and two other coloured men, one from Zanzibar, have 
 died of dysentery. 
 
 vol.. I. P
 
 210 THE CONGO. 
 
 1880 
 May 29 
 
 On the 20th of May I start ou my return to Tivi 
 Vivi. for the tliird time to load up with the boiler and 
 engine of the paddle-boat, paddle-boxes, and other 
 heavy material, and the next day I arrive at the 
 station to hear that another European, Mr. Deanes, has 
 succumbed ; on the same day, in the afternoon, two 
 fresh EurojDeans arrive, who have obtained permission 
 from the Comite to settle at Yivi, to exploit the 
 district commercially for a Belgian firm. 
 
 On the 2nd of June we start a fourth time to 
 our camp inland, with the heavy boiler, machinery, 
 paddle-boxes, paddle-wheels and shafting, furniture, 
 extra iron plates for re23airing steamers, forges, &c. 
 A small train of mules and asses start at the same 
 time with provisions of rice and beans, which assist 
 us considerably. 
 
 The next day sixty more natives of the districts of 
 Nsanda and Yivi and Kulu, assist in hauling, and 
 with this additional strength we march swiftly. 
 ~ By this time the road has become hard and well- 
 trodden ; the dryness of the earth and season assists to 
 give it the appearance of an ancient turnpike. 
 
 On the 6th of June we arrive at the old camp on the 
 verge of Mgangila plateau overlooking the Buffalo 
 (Mpagassa) gorge. It is the coldest spot in the 
 country. To all points, except the southward, there 
 is an abrupt downward dip into the gorge and its 
 neighbouring gullies, leaving the situation very much 
 exposed to all the winds. When they blow from the 
 north-west, every one, black and white, shrinks, and
 
 THE COLDEST SPOT IN THE COUNTBY. 21] 
 
 seems to contract "under their pernicious influence, isso. 
 
 .,■,-, June 6. 
 
 Even our dumb companions, tue mules and asses, ii^rano-iia. 
 exhibit, by their staring coats, ears thrown back, 
 and heads drooping low, that an unwelcome change 
 has taken place in the temperature ; the dogs, too, 
 avoid the chilling blast b}^ retreating into the huts 
 underneath our cots, to curl themselves up into warmth 
 and sleep. 
 
 During this month the aspect of earth and sky 
 appears to sympathise with our misery. The grasses 
 are turned into the sere, the rust is deeper on the 
 heaps of hematite ; the bald ridges are now solemn 
 and lonely ; the sky, which, during the late rainy 
 
 ELEVATION OK STEEL LIGHTER. 
 
 season, was so fickle and cliangeable, varying from 
 dense blackness to a steel blue, is now of a depressing 
 gray, unrelieved by any warm tints, but presenting, 
 near the horizon, sombre patches of clouds, darkening 
 •laylight, obscuring the vision, and contracting drearily 
 the limit of the view. 
 
 On the 7th of June the boilers and machinery of the 
 Kii Avant were unloaded, and on the 0th the wairons 
 were back in A^ivi Station for a fifth load. 
 
 On the 14tli of June we start again for our inland 
 camp with the steel lighter, and the two carts loaded 
 with sheets of corrugated iron for the construction 
 
 V 2
 
 212 THE CONGO. 
 
 1880. of a fire-proof store at INIanyanga. While we are 
 
 June 7. ^ 
 
 vivi drawing these towards our camp, couriers arrive daily 
 with news of Martin's illness, and are sent back with 
 instructions how to treat the patient; but on the 10th, 
 after my arrival at the camp with the lighter, I dis- 
 cover, on examining the sick man, that it is a severe 
 case of typhoid fever. On the 20th IMartin Martinson 
 succumbs, and by his death we lose one of the most 
 promising members of our Expedition. 
 
 On the same afternoon, for the first time since enter- 
 ing on my present mission, I am stricken down with 
 what threatens to be a protracted case of bilious fever. 
 The next day I rise to help to bury my young 
 Danish friend, but have to hasten to bed, wherein I 
 am confined in a sem.i-delirious state until the 27th. 
 Meantime the wagons have been to Yivi, and have 
 returned with another large steel lighter in charge of 
 my disciplined and trained Zanzibari chiefs. 
 
 On the 28th I am again in Yivi, where I find affairs 
 going on quietly. 
 
 July 3rd. — The wagons return to inland camp loaded 
 with 8000 lbs. in large cloth bales. 
 
 On the 7th of July we are at the Cold Camp above 
 the Buffalo River. Lamed by an ulcer in my foot I 
 am debarred from taking as much exercise as I should 
 wish. I wear an under flannel and a heavy shirt over 
 it, a sacque coat, and an ulster, but am still cold. The 
 minimum temperature has been 63° Fahrenheit, yet the 
 draughts of wind down the gorge sweeping over and 
 around our camp, though not decreasing the tempera-
 
 TIIERMOMETltlCAL BEADINGS. 
 
 213 
 
 tiire tliermometrically, add to our feeling of miserable 
 chilliness. 
 
 The following readings of the thermometer were 
 taken to-day : — 
 
 (J a.m. Standard Thermometer F. 63°. 
 
 1S8U. 
 Juue 27 
 
 Vivi. 
 
 10.30 „ 
 
 1 p.m. 
 
 3 „ 
 
 4.30 „ 
 
 '-3 „ 
 
 »5 ., 
 
 10 „ 
 
 65°. 
 
 69°. 
 
 71-30°. 
 
 70°. 
 
 69°. 
 
 69°. 
 
 65°. 
 
 64°. 
 
 63°. 
 
 Messengers returned from camp state Swinburne 
 has been taken ill with gastric fever. I am not well 
 myself. I feel feverish and cold, but send a letter to 
 beg Swinburne not to be discouraged. 
 
 On the lOtli I am at Makeya Manguba with the 
 huge load of cloth and miscellanea. 
 
 While the people return with wagons to Yivi, and 
 the mule train with them for the transport of pro- 
 visions of rice, fish, beans, lentils, and peas, I proceed 
 up the river with the steel whaleboat to explore for a 
 new camp on l^iindi River. 
 
 A live elephant is seen coming down tlie Congo 
 swimming. It finally lands on the south bank of the 
 (Jongo, not a whit discouraged by his long swim, for 
 he strides up the steep banks brisk and lively. 
 
 'i'li(3 Bundi River is iiavigablc for a mile and a hall, 
 and a camping place is found behind the iliiii l)clt oi 
 line wood liiiiiiir its banks. Game is abundant, but un-
 
 214 THE CONGO. 
 
 1880. fortunately so are the sand-flies, o-ad-flies, and eliifj-oes, 
 
 July 10. . , " . o ' 
 
 Makeya wliile ill the yellow creek the crocodiles are numerous. 
 
 Jlans;uba. -,^-p , , _ ._,^ ., 
 
 However, were the ten plagues or -Cigypt here we 
 should have to endure them, for no place but this is 
 eligible for the passage of the wagons. I return to 
 Makeya Manguba next day, saddle a mule, and ride 
 on to Yivi, where I arrive that night alone. 
 
 A trade-talk, on account of conflict of opinions 
 between the representatives of the Belgian firm, who 
 have undertaken to exploit the district commercially, 
 and the natives of Yivi, detains me for several days, to 
 act as umpire and general conciliator between the dis- 
 jDutants. Finally all things end happily. The chiefs 
 who have been a little too aggressively disposed, and 
 the whites who have been a little too unyielding, 
 embrace and vow friendship. Cups of effervescing 
 palm wine, seasoned with gin, are said by the con- 
 noisseurs to equal tlie brandy -pa ni of India, or the 
 " whisky and seltzer " of Scotland. However that 
 may be, both parties remain mutually delighted, and 
 the old iron carronades of Yivi Mountain will sound 
 the loud siofiial for trade to all the surroundinc: 
 districts. 
 
 Meantime the wagons have taken their last heavy 
 
 CD ^ 
 
 loads and have been left behind at Makeya Manguba. 
 The pioneer force, aided by fifty coast natives and 
 sixty-three Inland natives, and a small mule train, are 
 now busily going to and fro between Yivi and the 
 upper camp with the individual loads, provisions of 
 canned meats, flour, fish, fruit, rice, and beans, peas,
 
 CONVEYIXG STOBES. 215 
 
 and lentils, canvas, cowries, brass-wire, beads, tools, isso. 
 
 July 3U. 
 
 nails, &c., &c. vivi. 
 
 By the oOtli of Jidy our labours between Yivi and 
 Makeya Manguba are concluded, and in looking at my 
 list of stores, I find I have conveyed the following 
 quantity of goods there : — 
 
 Provisions consumed 276 sacks of rice and beans. 
 
 Provisions in cami) 233 „ „ 
 
 European provisions, tents, baggage, cloth, 
 
 beads, cowries, wire, tools, masts, oars, 
 
 sails, cordage, oils, paints, zinc sheets, 
 
 flour in kegs, nails, forges, drills, 
 
 powder, boards, furnitiu'e .... S71 loads of 60 lbs. 
 .Steamer En .l^•«?^^, steamer jRot/oJ, two steel 
 
 lighters, extra iron, complete . . •. 450 loads of 60 lbs. 
 
 1827 loads, nearly 54 tons. 
 
 I also discover that we have travelled since February 
 21st, when I set out for Isangila to explore the country 
 for a road, down to the present date, inclusive of the 
 construction of the road and the transport of the above 
 goods to this camp, 966 miles, which, divided by the 
 160 days employed in the various works described, 
 gives us a rate of miles per day. 
 
 All of which labour and marching, this toilsome 
 effort, this sacrifice of life, only enables us to be 22 
 miles on our road to Stanley Pool ! Xevertheless, 
 and despite the fearful odds, we Avill reach the Pool 
 some day, with patience, determination, and faithful 
 striving: ! 
 
 This chapter and the succeeding one will appear to 
 me as I grow older more and more like fal»le, though
 
 210 THE COSGO. 
 
 188U. it is a veracious relation of" a series of soiTowful facts. 
 
 July 30. 
 
 vivi. A tithe of its bitterness Las not been written, but 
 enough to maflv: it as the epoch of struggle. 
 
 I will close it with a quotation from one of my 
 letters to the President of the Committee. 
 
 " I have already described at large and in various letters what my diffi- 
 culties are, and how valuable any reinforcements will be, so that it is 
 needless to repeat them. You quite understand them by this time. Be 
 they Chinese, Zanzibaris, Liberians, &c., I care not, they will be welcome ; 
 we have work enough for a thousand men, yet I have only 108 effective 
 men. 
 
 " In your report of the dreadful massacre of Messrs. Carter and Caden- 
 head, you observe they commanded a force of loO men. loO men I 
 Probably 150 Zanzibaris I "What could I not have done with such a force 
 by this time on the Congo. If I had only the services of such for one 
 round year, I doubt whether Nyangwe would ever receive one yard of 
 cloth by the way of Ujiji again. I doubt much whether the International 
 Association would send such valuable men by such a long and dangerous 
 route again. 
 
 "However, we are all well in camp, and have enjoyed good health 
 despite the hard work. We are strong personally, though not numeri- 
 cally, and though we are engaged against such long odds, my people tell 
 me, ' Please God, we sliall finish it,' to which I fervidly say, ' Amen I ' " 
 
 In another letter of about this time I remark : 
 
 " You have instructed me to convey a steamer and a lx)at to Manyanga 
 station, and another steamer and boat to Stanley Pool, and build three 
 stations — one at Yivi, one at Manyanga, and one at some convenient point 
 on the shores of Stanley Pool ; for which task I obtained sixty-eight Zanzi- 
 baris, and as many west coast natives as I could induce to enter into our 
 service ; the number of the latter, despite my best efforts, is to-day exactly 
 sixty-six. On this morning's sick Ust, which is only an average number, 
 I have sixteen invalids, who, with boys and cooks, make a non-working 
 numljer of twenty-four, leaving me witli an effective working force of 110 
 men, who are to convey fifty-four tons into tlie interior, and have yet to 
 make a road 125 mUes long before Stanley Pool is reached. 
 
 "I beg to inform you that if the whole talent and. genius of Belgium 
 were here to assist my progress with their advice, they could not increase 
 my working force, but they might add to my burdens and sick List. I am 
 quite .satisfied with my people ; they perform aU that can be reasonably
 
 TEE SICK LIST. 217 
 
 expected of tliem. To expect they sliould do more would be criminal ^g^Q 
 ingratitude in me. hiW So 
 
 " These and similar facts have been repeated to you ever since February Vivi. 
 of this year. The truths they describe should by this time be clearly 
 obvious, so that I am somewhat ashamed to iterate and repeat them. 
 
 " Our part in the Committee's project is easily demonstrable. We will 
 continue to perform it eflFectively and zealously, but by the enclosed 
 balance sheet of work done you may be able to calculate how fast our ad- 
 vance must be forward, so long as we have only these few men. Whatever 
 number you add to our force of ivorhimj men you may easily calculate onr 
 increased rate of progi-ess. "Whatever orders or suggestions you give or 
 make will be instantly obeyed. Double our power, and we will double 
 our speed; treble the working power, and our progress will be three 
 times quicker. With sufficient men we could be at Stanley Pool within 
 one month. If you send us no more men, then wc will go on as fast as 
 we can, steadily and faithfully."
 
 218 THE CONGO. 
 
 Vivi. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 VIYI TO ISAXGTLA — contmupfL 
 
 Lutetu, a truculent cliief — "Seize him, boys ! " — Fiote law — Trial and fine 
 of Lutete — The axe and the forest — In search of game — Nostalgia — 
 No more Europeans "wanted — Our first rain-storm — Hauling the En 
 Avant overland — A Day of Eest — Arrival of Le Comte Savorgnan de 
 Brazza — His travels and adventures — Ngoma Point — A diflSciilt 
 engineering feat — Successful formation of a road roxmd the Point — 
 Isangila — Captain Anderson's services — A year's i^rogress^Our toil, 
 trials, and losses, 
 
 1880. The first personal difficulty I experienced "witli a native 
 'in this region, occurred immediately after our arrival 
 at Makeva ^Nlano-uba with the last loads from Tivi. 
 
 The vouno' Eno'lish o'entleman, Mr. Swinburne, who 
 was gentleness itself, appeared before me as usual with 
 his report of what incidents had happened during my 
 absence : and anion 2: these incidents was a storv about 
 the conduct of a brutal native named Lutetc, a chief of 
 Banza Lungu plateau, who had appeared in the camp, 
 and had been pleased to forbid the sale of a single article 
 of food to the white man, and who had, after vile abuse 
 of the three harmless Europeans in the camp, expecto- 
 rated in their faces. This story was corroborated by 
 the coloured men. Xo person could assign any reason 
 for this conduct, and the chief had not deigned to give
 
 "SEIZE HIM, BOYS!" 219 
 
 any himself, except that as the landing-place belonged isso. 
 to liira — wliicli was an untruth — lie would show the yivi, 
 white men of the sea country who he was. This story 
 appeared so improbable that I was loth to believe it. 
 
 Presently, however, Mr. Swinburne reappeared at 
 the door of my tent, and informed me that the same 
 chief had arrived from across the river, and was 
 behaving rudely as usual, beating the natives whom he 
 found sellino^ fowls and bananas to the huns-rv men 
 who had just arrived from Yivi with me. Hastening 
 out I encountered him as he was laying about with his 
 staff, and seizing him by the arm I demanded : 
 
 "Who are you, that you strike people in my camp?" 
 recognising him almost at a glance as a chief to whom 
 I had made a liberal gift for the promise of two 
 labourers on the road. 
 
 He raised his hand menacingly, but not quick 
 enough to avoid a severe slapping on the face which 
 followed the movement. 
 
 Enracred at this maulinii\ he rushed to seize his o-un 
 from the hands of his slave gun-bearer. But before 
 he could shoot me, I cried, " Seize him, boys ! "' and 
 tlie crowd of pioneers who had gathered about being 
 extremely quick to obey, the fellow was at once 
 made a prisoner and strongly secured. 
 
 His men were told to depart and to convey to the 
 senior chief of Ennza Lungu notice of the cajDture, and 
 to intimate to him that a ransom would have to bo 
 paid as a fine for liis maltreatment of my white men, 
 and also for haviriir threatened to shoot me.
 
 220 THE CONGO. 
 
 1880. Our natives of Nsanda who were with us and 
 
 August 1. 
 
 Yivi. witnessed the aifair, proved invaluable in tlie negotia- 
 tions which Ibllowed. Xative custom, so despotic in 
 its decrees, ordains that the one who commences a 
 quarrel, if a loser, must pay. This is Fiote law — 
 Fiote being the name of the language the Bakongo 
 sjDeak — and Fiote law is as unchangeable as that of 
 the Modes and Persians. 
 
 The senior chief arrived the next day, and the 
 witnesses were numerous. The decree of the umpire 
 was hostile to the prisoner, and the fine was four pigs 
 and four goats, which I remitted to one j)ig and three 
 goats, the services of two labourers whose time liad 
 been paid for months ago as far as Isangila, and the 
 employment of the chief himself to convey three letters 
 one after another to Yivi. The fine was religiously 
 paid, the men worked well, and three round journeys 
 were made to Yivi by the now sobered chief, to his 
 subsequent great personal benefit, which included a total 
 remission of the fine before I left Yivi for the last time. 
 
 (3n the 3rd of August we commenced loading the 
 En Avaiit and the steel lighters with goods and 
 machinery for the new camp on the Bundi River, 
 and by night we had conveyed forty men and 265 
 loads, or 15,900 lbs. 
 
 On the 4th of August 19,G80 lbs. weight of goods 
 were despatched. 
 
 By the evening of the 5th 17,400 lbs. weight had 
 been transferred thither. 
 
 By 3 P.M. of the 9th of August, the old camp of
 
 THE AXE AND THE FOBEST. 221 
 
 ^[akeya Manguba was completely abandoned, and the isso. 
 
 August 9. 
 
 new camp contained all tliepcr-sc>???z<?/ and material of vi^.; 
 the pioneering expedition. 
 
 On the 10th we were at work with axes cutting 
 through a dense jungle and forest which belted the 
 Bundi River. For ten succeeding days the axe-men 
 Viewed at the beautiful shafted columns of teak, ma- 
 hogany, guaiacum, and bombax. Every alternate 
 hour the deep forest gorge echoed to the loud crashes 
 of half-a-dozen tall forest monarchs, while the pickaxe, 
 spade, and hoe hands delved and toiled in the numerous 
 gullies and rock-strewn slopes of the Inga Plateau, 
 which lay on our right. 
 
 A few natives followed us for profitable marketing 
 even into this silent and lonely corner, bringing 
 sweet jDotatoes, bananas, fowls, and eggs. To lessen 
 the requirements from Yivi, Mr. Swinburne, the 
 camp caterer and acting commissary, purchased every 
 article of food that was offered. Our consumption 
 of rice was nearly 400 lljs. per diem ; so that any 
 ficcident to the provision trains would seriously incom- 
 mode us, and most certainly delay our progress. For 
 we were now 25 miles from our base of operations, 
 and in tlie midst of an inhospitable wilderness. A 
 round journey, with safety for the animals, in a country 
 so ill-adapted for them as this at present was, could not 
 l)e i^erformed under six days, and in the interval of 
 their absence twelve mule-loads of provisions would be 
 consumed. The further we advanced into the country, 
 the more serious became this question of food supply.
 
 222 THE CONGO. 
 
 1880. By the 4tli of September I had advanced with the 
 
 Sept. 4. 
 
 i.ueiuia II. l^ioneer force as far as the left or northern banlv of the 
 Luenda River, a distance of 53,395 feet. All the Euro- 
 peans and the sick — which daily augmented in number, 
 and amounted to between a sixth and a seventh of the 
 entire expedition — had been left at the Bundi River, 
 to guard the camp and its tons of goods, to dismount 
 the steamers, and to cord up all belongings so as to be 
 ready for transport. 
 
 Daily, after marking out the route, setting the flag- 
 staffs, arranging the line, and tracing out according to 
 the nature of the country what my experience sug- 
 gested could be performed during the day, I travelled 
 ahead through tall grass or dank jungle to explore the 
 next day's route, ending the journey with a wdde circuit 
 on my return to camp, in pursuit of game, so that 
 by this method of free foraging in the wilds I suc- 
 ceeded in assisting the commissariat with twenty-one 
 hartebeest and three buffalo. These provided our 
 force with an almost daily supply of fresh meat, and 
 sometimes furnished a surplus to barter for vegetables 
 from the natives of Nsekelelo. Liberal gifts to these 
 natives also brought a few hands for the road, until I 
 could muster sixty-three aborigines. 
 
 Between the Luenda and the Lulu Rivers crowbars, 
 sledge-hammers, handspikes, and picks, were the tools 
 with which we made a stony road, cutting off by its 
 directness many miles of inost impracticable country. 
 At the Lulu River w^e w^ere among immense blue 
 granite boulders imbedded in sand at low water ; but,
 
 NYONGENA HILL. 223 
 
 now with a fast-rising Congo, tlie river was gradually isso. 
 creeping in between and around tliem. A great many Nvono-eiw 
 .shifts and expedients of one sort or another would have 
 to be resorted to to avoid being stalled or jammed in. 
 
 On the other side of the mouth of the Lulu rises the 
 precipitous extremity of Nyongena Hill, of appalling 
 steepness, covered at the base with huge boulders, 
 while half-sunk masses of granite, which garnished the 
 slope much too thickly, required to be dug out, up- 
 turned, and rolled aside from the wagon track. The 
 Lulu's cool crystal waters rush noisily below in the 
 cavernous gulf on our left ; and if during our vehement 
 endeavour to scale the steep forehead of Nyongena, 
 the Avestering sun will scorch our backs, pails of water 
 will be readily at hand to allay thirst. 
 
 AVhen on the summit we are 350 feet above the 
 Congo. The hill of Nyongena rises with an abrupt 
 slope from the river, and extends all the w^ay from the 
 Lulu's mouth to within 000 yards of Ngorna Point 
 in one solid compact hill mass. Summit and river- 
 flank are wooded thickly with valuable and beautiful 
 hard woods of various kinds, while the river chafes 
 angrily against tlie Ijlack gritstone masses wliicli lie 
 in an irregular heap along the base of tlie hill. 
 
 Into this 600 yards wide flat of scrub-covered sand 
 empties the Bula river, which is the drainage of the 
 western slopes of the grand and formidable mountain 
 of Ngoma. 
 
 Wlicn about to pierce the deep tall woods of Nyon- 
 gena our native help affect alarm. '' Bad spirits," they
 
 224 THE CONGO. 
 
 18SU. say, worse tlian those of Inga, guard the M'oods, and 
 
 Sept. 17. _ ... 
 
 Nyongena. maiiy a hjckloss wight from the interior, while tra- 
 versing its darlc depths, has Leen abducted from the 
 ken of human kind. But when they see our foreign 
 workmen make h'ght of this, and form themselves in 
 line against the blazed trees ; when axes are strongly 
 wielded, and the tough hard woods fall prostrate, and 
 light falls on the unknown, they recover courage : 
 with their sharp hoes they then begin to grub up the 
 small undergrowth, and with their machettes to trim 
 the opening and enlarge the view. 
 
 On the IStli of September Ave reach the Bula River, 
 and our road from the Bimdi River hither measures 
 83,945 feet, nearly 16 English miles. 
 
 We return next day, and find all well at the Bundi. 
 Albert, the Danish sailor, has acquired confidence ; he 
 has been in the hunting field, and the convalescent^ 
 weaklings, and the sick have received a fair share of 
 fresh buffalo and antelope meat. 
 
 The river has risen two feet during our absence, though 
 as yet we have had only three hours and fifty minutes 
 of light rains during seven rainfalls this season. 
 
 On the 20th of September I take the opportunity of 
 a day's rest to report to the Committee on events 
 which news from the officials at Yivi and my own 
 experience have furnished. 
 
 I attempt to explain why Europeans succumb so 
 readily, as the frequent changes in the staff at that 
 station would imply. I attribute the reason mainly to 
 nostalf/ia, which, requires wearisome repetition of paternal
 
 HOMESICKNESS. 225 
 
 advice and fraternal encouragement. However salutary isso. 
 
 T ... Sept. 20. 
 
 these may be for a short time, a little biliousness, a Bundi. 
 slight cold, or a trifle of over-indulgence, are sure to 
 superinduce periodic attacks of ill-humour and bile of 
 greater virulence, compelling me to again have recourse 
 to the most tender letter-writing. When these attacks 
 become chronic, people who, like myself, have rather 
 serious and absorbing duties to perform are very apt to 
 despise such ^veak-minded petulance. Chronic home- 
 sickness is held by travellers in much the same esti- 
 mation as incipient sea-sickness is by sailors. The 
 sailor laughs at the beginning, but pities the long 
 continuance : the traveller is apt to scorn the con- 
 tinuance, but often sympathises with the first attacks. 
 
 Portuguese officers have visited Tivi ; an English 
 consul has made a flying trip to the station and cast a 
 casual glance at the surroundings, &c. ; and news of 
 danger, causing a precipitate retreat of two Baptist 
 missionaries who have tried to reach Stanley Pool vici 
 Makuta, is received. 
 
 Our A-^ivi agent also reports the arrival of about 
 twenty donkeys from Teneriffe, " all of which," he says, 
 " are mean, contemptible little things, not larger than 
 mastiffs." 
 
 I inform the Comite' of the comino* of three Bel- 
 gian military officers, and deprecate sending many 
 Europeans, as in its present state the expedition is not 
 ready for the reception of people who may become a 
 burden by their never-ceasing demands for luxuries 
 and medicine. Europeans mean more baggage ; they 
 
 VOL. I. Q
 
 226 THE COXGO. 
 
 1880. have stomachs requiring good food, they are tender 
 
 5ept. 20. 
 
 Bundi. and will require nursing. "While I am still in the 
 wilderness this extra work, on the backs of 110 men, 
 is like the harsh behest of Pharaoh : " Let there be 
 more work laid upon the men, that they may labour 
 therein, and let them not regard vain words. Go 
 therefore now and work, for there shall be no straw 
 given you, yet shall ye deliver the tale of the bricks." 
 
 The Comite must by no means be compared with 
 unjust Pharaoh, but it is true that new arrivals of 
 Europeans at the present moment increase the expense 
 and burden without a commensurate utility. Our 
 crying need is for coloured men to enable us to move 
 on quicker. 
 
 A M. Xeve has also arrived to drive the steam- 
 launch En Avant on the upper river. Another person 
 is reported to have arrived at the mouth of the Congo, 
 taken a fond look at Banana Point, and gone home 
 without even having had the courage to see Yivi. 
 
 Finally I conclude a letter to the Comite relating 
 these facts, with a brief summary thus : " T\''e have 
 made three bridges, filled up a score of ravines and 
 gullies at the crossings, graded six hills, cut through 
 two thick forests of hard wood, and made a clear road 
 thirty-eight miles long." 
 
 By the 23rd of October we have removed the 
 steamers, boats and goods to the camp on the left 
 bank of the Luenda, having travelled in the meantime 
 322 English miles in thirty-two days without an 
 accident.
 
 A STORM. 227 
 
 On the 19th I find the followino; note in my lournal • isso. 
 
 ° . Oct. 19. 
 
 " At 4 p. jr. yesterday, after an excessively hot day, luenda. 
 the sky became much clouded eastward. A high wind 
 with frequent severe squalls of a few minutes' duration 
 soon began, as the murky clouds swept northerly and 
 westerly. Then the southern horizon became blackened 
 in its turn, a dead calm followed, until finally, the 
 clouds havino; settled of a dense blackness from south- 
 east to north-east, the rain (the first of the season), 
 heralded by a few rumblings of thunder and flashes of 
 lightning, came down in torrents until midnight, while 
 the wind blew fiercely all night. The roads and bridges 
 must needs suffer after such a storm, and some delay in 
 our movements may be anticipated." 
 
 A camp at the Bundi is still maintained for the sake 
 of the mule trains. When provisions are required by 
 the pioneering force, enough men can be despatched to 
 Jjundi River to convey to us within two days sufficient 
 for twenty-five days' rations. 
 
 On the verge of Nyongena — commanding a view 
 down the at present wildly roaring Lulu, and a long- 
 stretch of the Congo, every mile of which is marked by 
 rapids, careering swiftly towards the cataracts of Inga 
 — we built our next camp, 8500 feet distant from the 
 Luenda River camp. By the 2nd of November we have 
 the En Avant mounted on the large steel wagon at 
 the foot of the hill, ready for the steepest ascent tliat 
 we have yet ventured upon, the rise being 1 in 4. 
 For this work we have been most careful in our arrano'c- 
 ments ; four sets of large tackles are laid down ready, 
 
 Q 2
 
 228 TEE CONGO. 
 
 1880 \f'ii\i the ends fastened to larofe trees on the side of 
 
 Not. 2. ^ 
 
 Nyongena. the road. To the steel l)ody of the wa,iron are tied a 
 couple of the stoutest straps, the largest (5-inch) hawser, 
 60 fathoms long, is also laid up the hill, two new 
 3-inch manillas lie trailing their length. Every soul in 
 the camp is mustered for the occasion, and the hauling 
 song is chanted, similar in refrain to the nautical " Ho, 
 heave yo ! " It is a slow work, but it is sure and safe. 
 Any confusion, misunderstanding of command, slowness 
 of blocking the hind wheels when the haulers cease 
 work or shirking must be guarded against. Up and 
 down the overseers move incessantly, with waving arms 
 and hoarse voices ; thev look out keenlv for the slack 
 arms ; and after one hour we have surmounted the steep 
 slope, are high on the crown of the hill, and past the 
 camp in safety. And then " all hands " sing out '•' Hip, 
 hip, hurrah ! " An hour is expended in undoing the 
 lashings and dismounting the steamer to the ground. 
 In- another hour the great steel wagon is down below 
 at the Lulu, to receive the Royal steam-launch, the 
 mounting of which on the wagon with screw-jacks, 
 &c., and lashing her firmly to the body, occupies 
 the rest of the morning. AVe then halt for an hour, 
 for the despatch of breakfast, which the cooks have 
 been duly preparing, and at 1 p.m. descend to the Lulu 
 to haul the Royal up. This task is also accomplished 
 safely. By the evening of the second day of our arrival 
 at the Lulu the other boats, boilers, machinery, furniture, 
 and more lumbering materials, have been conveyed to 
 the camp.
 
 [To/ace page 22S, Vol. J. 
 
 ASCENDING TUE NYONCiENA IIIIX.
 
 nctOma mountain. 
 
 229 
 
 By the 6th of November we have moved our camp to isso. 
 
 Nov. 6. 
 
 a spot commanding a view of Xgoma Mountain and Buia r. 
 Point, at the commencement of a sloping spur, descend- 
 ing smoothly to the Bula River, which, as I have men- 
 tioned, empties through the middle of the sandy flat 
 between Xgoma Point and the eastern extremity of 
 
 
 UPLAND ROAD THROUGH FOREST ENX'AMPMEXT. 
 
 Nyongena Hill. From this camp the view reaches up 
 the Congo to the Isangila Falls, embracing the loch-like 
 bay below the crooked, isle-dotted stretch descending to 
 the rapids of Ngoma Point. Xgoma ^lountain looms 
 large and grand, and seems to offer an insurmountable 
 barrier to further progress. Between our camp and the
 
 230 THE CONGO. 
 
 1880. base of the mountain lies the broad trono-h of the Bula 
 
 Nov. 6. ^ ^ ° 
 
 Bula K. valley, the bottom of which is GOO feet below our camp ; 
 and below the crown of Ngoma 1500 feet. From its 
 north-western extremity round leftward to our camp, 
 there is a wide sweep of mountain land tufted with 
 grove clumps, or palmy clusters, denoting the villages ; 
 and we know that, although out of view, there are 
 deep chasms, profound ravines, gulfy rifts, through 
 which the Lulu and its feeders flow. 
 
 The En Avant, Royal, and a steel boat, a boiler or 
 two, and some machinery, have been carried to the 
 camp ; wiiile a few hundred loads of goods have been 
 stored in the tents. 
 
 The 7th of November, being Sunday, is a day of 
 rest. The people wash off the red dust of a week's 
 work from their bodies, others proceed to hunt game, 
 bearing a promise in their memories that success 
 will be rewarded with cloth, as meat now is dearly 
 prized ; others wander to the neighbouring villages 
 in search of vegetable food, and to sjoend a pleasant 
 time in friendly gossip with some friends of long 
 standing. 
 
 To me also, and to the Europeans who are gradu- 
 ally becoming useful, the Sunday promises to be a day 
 of luxurious rest. So eager am I, however, to resolve 
 the problem of how to circumvent old Ngoma, that 
 since daybreak I have been down to Ngoma Point, 
 with an idea that somehow or another there lies the 
 only hope of delivery from this hilly environment. But 
 by ten o'clock I am back in camp, bathed, shaved, and
 
 ARBIVAL OF M. DE BUAZZA. 231 
 
 dressed, as becomes the Sabbath : and after a hearty isso. 
 
 '^ Nov. 7. 
 
 breakfast I have sat down to read. But presently BuiaR. 
 young Lutete' Kuna, of Xsanda, is seen rushing up 
 towards the camp, with the air of one who has some- 
 thing important to communicate, and coming to me 
 hastily, he hands a paper to me, on which I find traced 
 with a lead pencil the words, " Le Comte Savorgnan 
 de Brazza, Enseigne cle VaisseaiL^ 
 
 At that time I may well be pardoned if I did not 
 appreciate rightly the position of this gentleman. 
 When I departed for Africa in 1874 I had never 
 heard of lihn, and in 1878, during all my travels in 
 Europe, it had only been intimated to me in a casual 
 manner that he had accompanied the Messrs. de 
 Compeigne, March, and Ballay to the Ogowai. 
 
 I turn to Lutete' Kuna, and demand further in- 
 formation ; and Lutete, nothing loth, describes how 
 he was startled, on reaching the village of Ndambi 
 Mbongo, by seeing a tall wdiite man — " Francess, he 
 tells me he is — who kept on firing at the trees with a 
 gun that shoots many times. Now, Bula Matari, tell 
 me why do white men shoot at trees ? Is it to kill the 
 bad spirit ? " 
 
 " Perhaps," I say ; " but what more ? " 
 
 " Oh, after he found out I belonged to your com- 
 pany, he gave me tliat piece of paper and told me to 
 carry it to 3'ou." 
 
 An hour later the French gentleman appears, dressed 
 in helmet, naval blue coat, and feet encased in a brown 
 leather bandage, and a following of fifteen men, princi-
 
 232 
 
 THE CONGO. 
 
 1880. pally Gabonese sailors, all armed with AVincbester re- 
 
 Nov. 7. , 
 
 BniaR. pcatiDg nfles. 
 
 The gentleman is tall in appearance, of very dark 
 complexion, and looks thoroughly fatigued. He is 
 
 MOy>. DE ERAZZA. 
 
 -welcome, and I invite him into the tent, and a dejeuner 
 is prepared for him, to which he is invited. 
 
 I speak French abominably, and his English is not 
 of the best, but between us we contrive to understand 
 one another. He has a great deal to say of his travels, 
 of his visit to Brussels, of his interviews with the
 
 ADVENTURES OF M. BE BLAZZA. 233 
 
 President of the Council of the Association Inter- isso. 
 
 Nov. 7. 
 
 nationale Africaine ; of the Congo River, and of its buU r. 
 vahie to France and to civilisation. 
 
 I gathered from him that on his first expedition up 
 the Ogowai he was three and a half years, and only 
 succeeded in penetrating 300 miles, and that his 
 experience on that journey made him resolve not to 
 have any companions on another exploring expedition, 
 in order that he might not be thwarted by timidity or 
 irresolution on the j)art of others, to whose wishes 
 deference must sometimes be made. On that journey 
 he had expended money freely, and had lost much 
 time, which was still more valuable. The region he 
 had traversed was new, the natives were shy, hostile 
 to encroachments of whites, sometimes capricious in 
 their wants, unstable in their engagements, and divided 
 in opinion between their love of the white man's goods 
 and their superstitious and unreasoning fear of every 
 innovation. 
 
 It was a sore time of trial to him when he first saw 
 the Alima, and found he could not prosecute the ex- 
 ploration of its course, through the irresolution of 
 some of his companions and the hostility of the 
 natives ; he resolved in his own mind to return some 
 day alone and finish the discovery. On his arrival 
 in Europe in 1878, however, he learned that I had 
 descended the Lualaba and Congo, and then he knew 
 he had seen one of the tributaries of the Congo. He 
 liad returned to Europe sick and exhausted ; but, 
 recovering his strength, he had come out again in the
 
 234 • THE CONGO. 
 
 1880. Jatter part of 1870, and in February 1880 he set out 
 BuiaR. all duly prepared, and again ascended the Ogowai. 
 This time his previous tuition of the natives produced 
 satisfactory results to himself and pupils ; tribe after 
 tribe sent its quota of auxiliaries, chief after chief aided 
 him, and finally he emerged at Stanley Pool, whence, 
 after leaving a corporal's guard, he struck north about 
 thirty miles from the north bank ; and, after eighteen 
 days' march in a direction parallel to the river, he had 
 entered Ndambi INIbongo, and heard of my being in 
 the neio'hboarhood. 
 
 After resting two days in my camp, he set forward 
 on his journey to Yivi, with a few^ native carriers from 
 our employ to convey his small stock of baggage. 
 He enjoyed a few days rest at Vivi, and then took 
 passage in one of our steamers to Banana, and thence 
 by mail to Gaboon. 
 
 On the 13 th of November wagons, goods, and camp 
 were established in the sandy flat which extends inland 
 in a bay-like form, between the upper head of Nyon- 
 gena Forest mount and the rocky point of Ngoma 
 mountain. 
 
 When at my camp, Mons. de Brazza, looking up at 
 the huge mass of Ngoma, had said — " It will take you 
 six months to pass that mountain with those wagons. 
 Your force is too ^veak altogether for such a work as 
 you are engaged in; you should have at least 500 
 men." 
 
 It was quite true ; but seeing that no greater force 
 could be obtained, and that men could not be " made to
 
 DIFFICULTY AT NGOMA POINT. 235 
 
 order," it would have been weakness to stand wrin2:inf>: isso. 
 
 ' ^ ^ O & Xov. 13. 
 
 our hands and bewaihng our helplessness. We were Buia r. 
 in the wilderness, and the large and valuable stock of 
 material must be taken on with us, so long as the 
 order to build stations was in force, and was con- 
 sidered of primary importance. Before I could ad- 
 vance with any greater rapidity, some man of force 
 and practical knowledge was needed to replace me in 
 the charge of all this " lumber," and an additional 
 supply of men, however small, was also required to 
 enable me to do so, unless I wished to fix the chief 
 of the transport immovably at the base of one of these 
 formidable heights. As may be seen, our present 
 numbers only just permitted us to move at a snail's 
 pace, but to deprive it of about fifteen picked men 
 would be to halt the wagon expedition at the spot 
 where I left it. 
 
 Again I wander to Ngoma Point, while the people 
 have been removing the goods and camp to the base 
 of Ngoma, and examine in the most minute manner 
 every portion of this rugged corner. By the river I 
 am effectually closed. The stream for about 400 yards 
 above is too violent, while on land the sharp spine of 
 the mountain slopes steeply to a rapid. But at about 
 twenty feet above the fall of the river there are animal 
 tracks winding between immense rocky fragments to 
 the Woody terrace, which begins just beyond the Point. 
 Could I remove a few of these rocks and build a wall 
 along the river ? What time would tlie work occupy? 
 Finally, after comparing the stiff ascent to the stiffer
 
 23G THE CONGO. 
 
 1880. descent of No:oma, and the niimLer of ravines and 
 
 Nov. 20. * ^ ' 
 
 Ngoma. water-courses wliich must needs be crossed before 
 reaching Isangila, I choose the Point as the scene of 
 operations. 
 
 We cut some tall straight trees, about forty feet 
 long, also about fifty handspikes, of strong, hard, tough 
 wood, and convey them to the Point. Only forty 
 picked men are selected for the more skilled work, the 
 others are scattered over the neighbourhood collecting 
 building stones. We begin by planting one of the 
 longer trees nearly upright, to the upper end of which 
 short ropes for hauling are attached, and when all is 
 ready we essay the task of toppling over a large 
 fragment. So well is it done that the great rock 
 turns over grandly, and glides to the bottom, forming 
 a solid substructure, on which with care and judg- 
 ment we may pile others. Again we try, and again 
 a great fragment is rolled, and with the aid of jack- 
 screws is pushed to its place. In six days we have 
 obtained quite a solid line of large rocks for a founda- 
 tion. Two hundred yards of a length is needed 
 before we can begin piling up a wall of loose rock, 
 which the higher we can build straight up gives us of 
 course a greater width, as the mountain slopes away 
 from the river. All hands after this are scattered over 
 the vicinity to convey rock to the builders ; and as day 
 after day advances, the more certain are we that Ngoma 
 will be passed ! 
 
 On the 24th of November, when we are nearing com- 
 pletion, one of the young Belgian officers, Lieutenant-
 
 " BULA MATABI/' 237 
 
 Yalcke, being an engineer officer, arrives, and is re- igso. 
 quested to blast a dozen rocks, which are irremovable 'r* 
 
 ■»■ ■' Ngoma. 
 
 and annoying to sightliness. Though our young 
 friend is frequently suffering from dysentery, by the 
 time he is through with his task, we have finished off 
 our causeway, have levelled it with 24 inches of earth, 
 and a fine compact broad wagon road is the result, 
 along the base of which the baffled river lashes itself 
 into fury. 
 
 The natives of Ndambi Mbongo and Isangila, who 
 have been day after day coming down to view the 
 busy scene, warmly applaud what we have done, and 
 confirm enthusiastically a name that I have already 
 won at Yivi. From the same motive that the name 
 Africanus was given by the Romans to Scipio, they 
 called me Bula Matari, " Breaker of Rocks," which, 
 strange to say, travels much faster up-river than I can. 
 
 When the forest has been pierced, and a roadway 
 carved along the sides of two or three bluffy hills, 
 we have gained a fine landing-place, at a distance of 
 3700 feet from the end of the causeway. On the 
 8th of December the 0-feet wide wagons, with the 
 boats and boilers, are rolled over it without a halt, 
 and immediately dismounted of their loads in the cool 
 forest camp. In calculating our rate of progress 
 through these thirty days, w^c found that we had 
 averaged 42 yards per day, but twenty-five of these 
 days had been spent on the rocky causeway, the 
 length of which was only about 400 yards from end 
 to end.
 
 238 THE CONGO. 
 
 1880. Qui- j-^e^ camp was called Khonzo. About thirty 
 Khonzo, natives, engaged from the villages near Ngoma's 
 western skirts, enabled us to transport all the boxes, 
 bales, and small miscellanea, while the engineer, 
 Flamini, prepared the Royal for river exploration. 
 Fortunately, at this time also appeared Mr. Paul Neve, 
 a smart young mechanician, rather delicate looking, 
 but an extremely good fellow, who assisted us in 
 getting ready the En Avant steamer. 
 
 On the 14th of December a note in my diary records 
 the almost daily troubles constantly rising with new 
 recruits, which are principally caused by want of 
 fresh meat, and the total absence of customary trifling 
 necessaries. 
 
 " Albert Christopherson better. Ill since last Monday, 
 eight days ago. Looks poorly, but have strong hopes 
 that he will recover." 
 
 "Lieutenant Yalcke was down again, for the fourth 
 time in twenty days, of a dysenteric attack, but when 
 out he evinces an industrious disposition." 
 
 I steamed up the Congo in the Royal, and flattered 
 myself that the trip had a most fortunate issue, since I 
 was enabled to discover that I could use the river to 
 within one and a half miles of Isangila, provided 
 caution was used. The time employed in the ascent 
 was eighty minutes, and the return was accomplished 
 in thirty minutes. 
 
 Wadi Rehani led a hundred men overland for road- 
 making, to complete the land-communication, while the 
 steamers conveyed the materials by water.
 
 ISANGILA. 239 
 
 By the oOtli of December our camp was within 
 three-quarters of a mile of Isang-ila. And by a little 
 pardonable daring we were able to pilot our boats into 
 a cove, from which a road could be made leading to the 
 place where I proposed Lieutenant Yalcke should be 
 left in charge, while I returned to Yivi to haul the new 
 wagons which had been sent out, and to bring a new 
 steel lighter that had been left at the Bundi. 
 
 On the 2nd of January, 1881, the boats were on 
 shore in the camp, where they were to be repaired, 
 scraped, and painted, ready for the long journey to 
 Manyanga. 
 
 Now summing up the road measurements, all of 
 which were taken by tape-line, we found tliat when 
 Isangila camp, 3,900 feet distance, was gained, we 
 should have completed a road 274,472 feet, or 52 
 English miles less 88 feet. 
 
 Lieutenant Yalcke, Mr. A. B. Swinburne, Francois 
 Flamini, Albert Christopherson, and Mr. Paul Neve, 
 Ijcing left in the camp, on the 3rd of January I set out 
 for Yivi, where I arrived on the Gth. Here I found 
 Major Yan Bogaart and two other Belgian officers, 
 besides Captain Anderson, just arrived from. Brussels 
 with a fresh supply of mules. 
 
 One short interview with Captain Anderson proves 
 to me that in him I have a practical assistant who will 
 1 »e of great service to me, as he has been a ship captain 
 in the Swedish mercantile service, and has seen life 
 in many lands to some purpose. With his assistance 
 I contrive to transform the new wagons into a shape 
 
 1880. 
 Dec. 30.
 
 240 TEE COKGO. 
 
 1881. and form more serviceable and suitable for our special 
 
 Jan. 6. ^ 
 
 vivi. Tvork. 
 
 We have 500 more man-loads to carry, and two 
 wagons to haul to Isangila, with only ninety - five 
 effective men as our working force. 
 
 On the loth of February we have reached our camp 
 near Isangila, with half a thousand loads, two wagons, 
 and a large new steel lighter. We find Mr. Swinburne 
 is ill of a gastric fever, and must retire to recuperate at 
 Madeira. Lieutenant Talcke also is but feeble, and 
 must be sent to Yivi, to remain there until we are 
 further advanced and shall require his services. Mean- 
 while he will act as second in command of Yivi. Two 
 other Belgians are to be taken with us up river in his 
 place. 
 
 By the 18th we are in Isangila camp, above the 
 cataract, and three days later the boats are launched, 
 and, vrith the Royal steam-launch, we begin the first 
 day's conveyance of effects to a camp situated at the 
 end of Long Beach, two hours and twelve minutes 
 steaming. 
 
 It will be remembered that it was on the 21st of 
 February, 1880, that we set out on our first reconnais- 
 sance, directly after the completion of the building of 
 Yivi Station, to explore the route to this very landing- 
 place, which on the 21st of February, 1881, 366 days 
 later, found us all prepared to commence another sec- 
 tion of our work, of a somewhat different character to 
 that which was now happily terminated. 
 
 Computing by statute miles the various marchings,
 
 A YEAR OF TRIAL AND TOIL. 241 
 
 and as frequent counter-marchings, accomplished during i>^si. 
 the year, we find they amount to the grand total of isangUa. 
 2,352 English miles, according to tape-line measure- 
 ment of foot by foot, making an average of six and a 
 half miles performed throughout each day in the year, 
 to gain an advance into the interior of only fifty-two 
 English miles. Take away the necessary days of rest 
 enjoyed during the year, the period of ninety-one days 
 employed in making a passable road for our wagons, 
 which, unless tolerably level, would have been impass- 
 able for our top-heavy wagon-loads, and the average 
 rate of travel will prove that we must have had an 
 unusual and sacred regard for duty, besides large hope 
 that some day we should be rewarded with positive 
 success after all this strenuous endeavour. 
 
 That it was not a holiday affair, with its diet of 
 beans and goat-meat and sodden bananas, in the 
 muggy atmosphere of the Congo canon, with the fierce 
 heat from the rocks, and the chill bleak winds bio win o- 
 up the gorge and down from sered grassy plateaus, let 
 the deaths of six Europeans and twenty-two natives, 
 and the retirement of thirteen invalided whites, only 
 one of whom saw the interior, speak for us. It has 
 been a year dark with trial and unusual toil. Our little 
 band of labourers are proud of the grand work their 
 muscles have accomplished, but are more hopeful of 
 the future, inasmuch as their labours, by means of the 
 steamers, will be greatly lightened. 
 
 VOL. I.
 
 242 THE COXGO. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 BETWEEX THE CATARACT REGIONS : TO MANYANGA. 
 
 NumlDer of men and quantity of stores bound for Manyanga — Isangila 
 scenery — Ntombi's dark ravine — Crocodiles chasing us — The Long 
 Reach — Curious rock-formations — Romping on the sands — Advan- 
 tages of geniality and liveliness in dealing with aborigines — Kilolo 
 Point — Getting up steam pressure for a stiff current — ^Kuvoko — We 
 encounter two missionaries — Their repulse by the natives at Ean- 
 shassa and ^Ifwa — Soudi of Turu is killed by a buffalo — Natives still 
 friendly — " A'kumbi, kumbi ! " — Nzambi Eapids — The Kwilu — Pro- 
 curing food — A whirlpool — Kimbanza Island — A memory of 1877 — 
 Hamadi's slavery and wonderful escape — Repairing our steamers — 
 Minnow fishing — Ndunga Rapids — A place for suicides— Ndunga 
 dancing — An exciting and extraordinary performance — Manyanga — 
 " To-morrow we shall not work ; we shall see the strangers " — Doubt- 
 ful reception from the natives. 
 
 1881. It appears, after carefully counting over the man- 
 isangiia ^^''^^^ — sixty to scventy pounds each — which had heen 
 collected up to this date at Isangila, through tlie assis- 
 tance of native carriers and mule-trains, that we had 
 1815 separate charges, weighing in the aggregate a little 
 over fifty tons, besides the steel and wooden wagons, 
 awaiting transportation to Manyanga, the proposed site 
 of our next station. In addition to this freight we 
 have 118 coloured men, inclusive of natives of Isangila, 
 and their luggage, mats, pots, and kettles ; two military
 
 ISANQILA SCENERY. 243 
 
 passengers, Messrs. Harou and Braconnier, who are i«8i. 
 
 Feb. 23. 
 
 useful in superintending the camps, the one in advance, isangiia. 
 and the other in the rear. As we know the distance to 
 Manyanga, and the number of loads that the steamers 
 and boats can be safely burdened with, we expect that 
 we shall be about seventy or eighty days in reaching 
 Manyanga with all this personnel and material. 
 
 A person who has once described Isangiia scenery, 
 including its cataract — and the eternal cone-shaped hill 
 of iron-rust rock that stands silent and lonely on the 
 southern bank — will scarcely find it worth while to 
 write much about it aQ:ain. I have seen it so often 
 that I know every wrinkle and fold of the scenery 
 round about it. To me nowadays it looks very tame ; 
 it has nothing of the same weirdness and mystery that 
 I found when I gazed upon it in 1877. Wild as the 
 cataract looks, I now know I could take a boat within 
 ten yards of the direct fall. Yet I remember the time 
 when in my utter weakness and misery it seemed awful 
 to me. I have long ago forgiven the unkindly people 
 in its neighbourhood, for we are now good friends; 
 but neither they nor I gaze at one another as we did 
 once, with an intensity of look as though we were 
 mutual marvels. The mock heroics of the hills also, 
 which crop up to a pretentious altitude, and assume a 
 mimic majesty of silence and mystery, I know them all. 
 Up and down I have wandered, everywhere, into the 
 depths of the treacherous stony hollows, cloaked by the 
 tall grass, and up to the topmost heights of the highest 
 hills ; and I see nowadays nothing to admire, save 
 
 R 2
 
 244 TEE CONGO. 
 
 1881. when I look down the river and catch a sig-ht of 
 
 Feb. 23. ^ ° 
 
 isangiia. Ngoma and Xyongena, and allow my mind to dwell 
 upon scenes that are gone, and dark days that are past. 
 
 So when I lead the way up the short stretch of river 
 to the bend of the long reach that will shut the view 
 from me, I feel that man will have to make a bitter 
 fight before any loveliness will come over the bleak 
 scenery of Isangiia. 
 
 The little Royal, that has carried a King in her cabin 
 along the shore at Ostend, could she speak might have 
 remonstrated at the seemingly interminable work she 
 was inaugurating, as she began her useful career on 
 the stretch of navigable water between Isangiia and 
 Manyanga, and might have expressed vain regrets that 
 between her and the blue sea on which she had floated, 
 a thing of grace and pride, barrier after barrier of wild 
 water made it impossible that she should ever ride on 
 the ocean again. 
 
 But with her friend Flamini, who was ever lament- 
 ing an absent wife, she performed her work with a 
 grace worthy her name, littered as she was with the 
 nameless miscellanea of our expedition. And fast 
 behind her stormed the En Avant, with her paddles 
 revolving vixenishly, and ploughing up a broad furrow 
 of dark brown water. 
 
 The bay let wherein we had loaded our craft was a 
 dent in the grit-stone shore, about 100 yards in depth, 
 topped by scrub, amid lines of reddish soils. Out 
 of this we had steamed with the cataract behind us, 
 which would be dangerous only if, when we got into
 
 CROCODILES CEASING US. 245 
 
 the stream, anything gave way in the mechanism of issi. 
 the little steamer. The shore is rugged with rock and NtombL 
 protruding tops of sunken boulders until we have 
 passed Ntombi's dark ravine, through which a stream 
 of that name issues into another baylet. Then skirting 
 well an islet rock of shale, we have a green gorge 
 in view ; snugly hidden behind it, and right before us 
 we have the straight stretch of Long Reach in view, 
 a widened stream three-quarters of a mile broad. If 
 all the Congo was like this piece of water, our enter- 
 prise on the river had certainly been forestalled some 
 centuries ago. The land that slopes towards it is not 
 an improvement on that we left behind. The southern 
 shore, if closely examined, shows only quartz - rock 
 covered by grass ; the northern bank contains a spacious 
 area that might be utilised. 
 
 The crocodiles, waked into anger out of drowsy 
 silence by the strange churning of screw and plash of 
 paddle-wheels, come out, one after another, from the 
 lazy creeks to resent our approach. They dart towards 
 us with gleaming eyes, or, vainly imagining that our 
 boats are some strange animals, are prepared to make 
 an attack, but when within a few feet of us they sud- 
 denly sink. Whether they explore the gliding keels 
 for a vulnerable bite I know not; we are soon over the 
 spot of submergence, and presently we see them 
 chasing us furiously behind. 
 
 The Long Reach is lengthy, as its name implies. 
 Wc hug the north bank closely. It is deep water 
 all along. A''arious trifles amuse the eye. The shore
 
 IJeach. 
 
 246 THE CONGO. 
 
 1881. can show a thin Hne frins-e of trees, a few of which 
 
 Feb. 23. _ ° 
 
 Long mark a great eircuhir shadow on the sunht earth. 
 There are a few tall trees, of clean-shafted silkwood, 
 and of a more dwarfed but sturdy redwood. Others 
 are weather- torn ; there is bush and scrub between, and 
 perhaps a young palm or two, alongside of which 
 may be seen at odd times a clump of tall cane-grass 
 aspiring to overtop the tallest spike of a palmate 
 frond. The rocky bank for two or three trips is worth 
 looking at. On our first pioneer voyage we thought 
 it interesting; nay, the higher we went the more 
 closely it attracted the earnest gaze. For the trees dis- 
 appeared, or, if afterwards seen, only served to screen 
 the gaping mouth of a watercourse that without them 
 would have been ugly. The rock stepped out into 
 view in naked cliffs, sometimes from the deep water, 
 like the walls of a massive quay, on the face of which 
 we can read the lines of many a rise and fall, or where 
 the river stood, even for days. Deep into such places, 
 especially if an angle is above, the play of eddies and 
 the revolution of water have worked cavernous holes, 
 where at low river a small group of men might sit at 
 ease drying their fish. Or the cliffy rock begins to 
 rise a few paces inland with a more ambitious height, 
 massive debris being at its base, and a scant edging of 
 bush deepening the airy outline of its summit. Gene- 
 rally horizontal, the sandstone, by its squared blocks, 
 which the washing out of their lines of clays have 
 separated, apparently hints vaguely that man aeons ago 
 had not a little to do with its present appearance, and
 
 CURIOUS liOCK FORMATIONS. 247 
 
 seems to promise that further ahead lies somethino* issi. 
 
 '- ° Feb. 23. 
 
 better. Where the blue rock has a more shaly forma- Long 
 tion we have an idle curiosity in following the lines of 
 the horizontal strata ; and when we see them suddenly 
 curve in parts like a deeply-bended bow, we are set 
 to wonder what might have caused this phenomenon 
 just at this exact place. Perhaps some of our coloured 
 sailors may have imagined that it was caused by some 
 mighty hippopotamus, which had been fast asleep, and 
 feeling aweary at the superincumbent weight that had 
 formed over him, had awaked, and in his struggle thus 
 bent the newly formed rock. 
 
 Towards the upper end of the Long Reach the shore 
 softens naturally. We are out of the influence of the 
 current. On the alluvium deposited a long time ago 
 in this inner corner of the angle made by the river's 
 course, has grown a belt of trees, densified into a jungly 
 wood by climbing plants and undergrowth. The allu- 
 vium is not rich nor thick, but sandy just where a 
 strong tree would require soil. The leafage is very 
 green and gives contrast of colour ; where the sun 
 shines there is a glistening and a sheeny glimmering : 
 in the shadows there is a sombre colouring of unde- 
 fined dark green, and below, along the river, a line 
 of dead white fine sand, like a long clean sheet of 
 linen, on which, for the life of them, the youngest of 
 our party cannot walk a few paces without feeling a 
 strong desire to romp and have a lark. 
 
 I love to see young men of my own colour take 
 delight and enjoyment in life in Africa. Nothing so
 
 248 THE COXGO. 
 
 1881. soon excites a 2:eDeral smile on everybody's face than 
 
 Feb. 26 
 
 Long to see young Albert racing like a young elepbant over 
 the beautiful and pure sand, and showing to the aston- 
 ished blackies that the white man has also a sense of 
 fun, and can run, and leap, and race like themselves. 
 The dark faces light up with friendly gleams, and a 
 budding of goodwill may perhaps date from this trivial 
 scene. For far different is the reception of the white 
 man whose dignity is so measureless that it chills the 
 native on-looker on coming within its presence. To 
 such an impressionable being as an African native, 
 the self-involved European, with his frigid, imperious 
 manners, and pallid white face, and dead, lustreless 
 eyes, is like a sealed book. The nati%'e views the form 
 resembling his in figure ; he hears him speak in veri- 
 table human tones ; but the language is unintelligible, 
 neither can he utter any sound that is famihar to him. 
 But let the strange white man relax those stiff, pallid 
 features ; let there enter into those chill, icy eyes, the 
 light of life and joy, of humour, friendship, pleasure, 
 and the communication between man and man is 
 electric in its suddenness. 
 
 By the 2Cth of February we had cleared Isangila 
 camp of every portable article, a corporal's guard only 
 being left for the present, to keep communications open 
 in case of necessity. In the afternoon of the same day 
 we proceed from the point of Long Reach known to 
 the aborigines as Mbembe-Kissa, up along the deeply 
 indented but comparatively low shore, as far as Kilolo 
 Point, or the southern termination of the second reach
 
 GETTING UP STEAM. 249 
 
 above Isan^'ila, The northern side of this reach i?si, 
 bristles with tooth-Kke projections of shale rock, just khoIo. 
 as the southern side of the first reach is dangerous to 
 navigation. 
 
 Rounding Kilolo Point, we look wp a third reach 
 of about five miles in length, and along the southern 
 ■quarter of the river's breadth, a long djke-like ridge 
 of shale rock is visible here also, while the remaining 
 breadth of the river is clear of all danger. But on 
 rounding Kilolo Point there is a serious difiiculty 
 before us. The river is narrowed at the bend, by islets 
 on the northern side, and by the extremities of the 
 rocky dyke. Between the northern islets there is quite 
 a tiny fall at low water, which in the high river becomes 
 a fierce current. The deep swift mid-channel is the only 
 clear way left for us, but the river is so narrowed that 
 to make an ascent possible requires a high pressure of 
 steam. We try it first with 65 lbs. steam before we per- 
 ceive the hopelessness of the efibrt. Running behind 
 the dyke at the southern corner, we wait until the steam 
 rises to 75 lbs., and again go at the channel with a rush. 
 Again we are baffled, but while testing the channel 
 from side to side, we become acquainted with the cur- 
 rent's various moods, and conclude that with a trifle 
 more power the ascent may be made. AVe fire up 
 again until we have 85 lbs. steam, and keeping about 
 ten yards off parallel with the southern dyke, glow witli 
 triumph in seeing we are gradually mounting, until, 
 after 100 yards of this sluggish headway, the great 
 power collected in the boiler shoots the vessel ahead
 
 250 THE CONGO. 
 
 1881. like an arrow. Clear of anxiety, we then moderate her 
 
 Feb, 26. -^ ' 
 
 KuToko. speed, and skirt the northern bank, ploughing through 
 peaceful and deep water to Kuvoko — the Kuvoko Point 
 on the north bank at the end of the third reach. 
 
 The trough of the Congo since leaving Isangila has 
 nothing of the appearance of a carion. It is more open. 
 The mountains and highlands only approach the river 
 at the bends, the opposing points are generally low pro- 
 jected lengths of five or six miles ; the immediate river 
 lines show a thin edge of trees, more to grace what would 
 without them be grassy nakedness. If we take a look 
 over the land from any high pjoint, we observe that the 
 irregular surface is all clothed with grass, except where 
 tree 2:roves indicate the villao-es. The lono:er reaches, 
 such as that from Xtombi Cove to Yoonda, appear to be 
 merely continuations of valleys that extend far inland 
 in a similar direction south of east, bounded by chains 
 of hills that fall drooping at the points of the shorter 
 north and south reaches. 
 
 The next day being Sunday, we halted at our new 
 camp opposite Kilolo Point, at the foot of the little 
 rapid just mentioned. About 9 A3r. we were startled 
 at hearing peremptory shouts at the little nipid just 
 above us. After a short pause of expectation we found 
 two missionaries, Messrs. Crudgington and Bentley, 
 on their way down river in a canoe which they had 
 purchased near Itunzima rapids. They had visited 
 Ngalyema of Ntamo, and had stayed with him a few 
 days most pleasantly. They then were requested to 
 visit Kinshassa. On landing, liowever, at Kinshassa,
 
 ADVENTURES OF MISSIONABIES. 251 
 
 they were met by a furious multitude, who ordered issi. 
 
 •^ '' Teb. 27. 
 
 them back. Surprised at the excitement, they slowly Kuvoko. 
 retired, but the natives pressed on them, some trying 
 to surround them, others advancing with levelled mus- 
 kets, and otliers flourishing long, broad knives, spears, 
 bludgeons, what not, as though they would annihilate 
 them on the spot. For a time it appeared to be in the 
 balance whether they should be massacred instantly, or 
 whether their death would receive the sanction of the 
 old chief Nchuvila and his principal men. Finally, 
 however, the chief decided to let them depart safely, 
 and, relieved of the fright, they hastened off, leaving 
 one of their number behind in the bushes of Kinshassa. 
 Arriving at the north bank they nearly met the same 
 adventures at Mfwa, but with the help of Malameen, a 
 Senegal sergeant, they managed to pacify the rising 
 mob. They then lost no time in making their way 
 back to more peaceful districts down river. 
 
 After assisting the missionaries to Isangila, we con- 
 tinued with energy our work of transportation of effects 
 to Little Rapid Camp until the 4th of March, when 
 we were all gathered together prepared for another 
 forward move. 
 
 Two days later I despatched Uledi, Soudi of Turn, 
 Khalfan and Sa'adala, to Yivi, with a letter of instruc- 
 tions to the chief of the station, and to bring the 
 European mail up. After being taken to Isangila by 
 whale-boat, and charged to be speedy, they started on 
 their mission witliout delay. But on arriving at the 
 Luazaza stream tlicy met a small buffalo herd, and
 
 252 
 
 THE COXGO. 
 
 1881. 
 March 6. 
 
 Kuvoko. 
 
 Soudi, who had been half-slaughtered in Ituru in 1875, 
 was swept over Kalulu Falls in 1877, and had been 
 captured and enslaved for a short time by the natives, 
 rashly thought that with his Snider he was a match for 
 
 ELEVATION OF SAILING BOAT. 
 
 any animal, and forthwith with extreme caution com- 
 menced to stalk one of the herd. When within what 
 he supposed to be a safe distance for a shot he fired. 
 
 PLAN OF SAILING BOAT. 
 
 and wounded the bufialo. Encouraged by seeing him 
 fall, Soudi rushed up to sever the jugular, since without 
 this ceremony the meat would have been unfit for a 
 Moslem to eat ; but the buffalo, not yet dead, on seeing 
 its enemy^ charged, and tossed him into the air, made

 
 FLAMINI ISLAND. 253 
 
 a mere plaything of liim, until he was so mangled issi. 
 
 March 6. 
 
 that he died soon after his companions had come up Kuvoko. 
 to him. 
 
 When the boat's crew returned to our camp, it was 
 evident that the sad tale they had brought of the sud- 
 den death of one of the bravest young fellows in our 
 expedition, had caused a profound grief, for throughout 
 both camps reigned a sorrowful silence. 
 
 On the 11th of March, our miscellaneous effects having 
 been all conveyed to Kuvoko Camp, with the last loads 
 I continue the journey, taking M. Braconnier with me, 
 up the fourth turn, and found a camp at the foot of the 
 Mbundi Afanda Rapids, over which he was placed in 
 charge. As the distance was only a few miles, three 
 days later I was able to take Lieut. Harou to an island 
 a mile below, near a point which came to be known 
 afterwards as Bayneston. In honour of the steady 
 Italian mechanician, the isle was named Flaraini. 
 
 Between Kuvoko Point and Bayneston extends a 
 crooked stretch of very rough water, easily passable, 
 however, during six months of the year by striking the 
 northern shore. At low water the route is by the 
 southern bank. Reef after reef of tilted shale rock 
 show dangerous teeth above the water, between most of 
 Avhich the Congo rushes with creaming waves. Though 
 to the stranger wicked enough in appearance, we 
 passed up and down during sixteen round trips without 
 an accident. The scenery about the rapids is not quite 
 devoid of the picturesque. Perhaps we are inclined to 
 ascribe this to the wooded island of Flamini, or to the
 
 254 THE CONGO. 
 
 1881. tree-topped mountain to the north of it. Here, how- 
 March n -^ ^ 
 
 Kuvoko. ever, the mind must be directed to the course of the 
 vessel, otherwise a lamentable accident might happen. 
 
 The natives all along both banks have been easily 
 won to friendly intercourse, and every camp is a scene 
 of marketing. Nothing has transpired to mar the 
 mutual good feeling that prevails. Our advance being 
 necessarily slow, the country becomes, as we may 
 say, civilised. The steamers passing up and down 
 continually speak for us in a clearer manner than we 
 could ever hope to employ. They seem to be taken 
 as harbingers of trade ; of barter, not of trouble. 
 '^A'kumbi, kumbi ! " — boat, boat, — is no sooner seen 
 ascending than it is immediately welcomed with shouts 
 from people who have come from the hill summits, 
 and have gathered on the banks to view the novel 
 phenomenon of a boat self-impelled against a current 
 which has oftentimes tired their muscles. But by the 
 time that the tenth voyage is made it has become a 
 common-place sight, meaning barter and profit. No 
 wonder that every step we take is made amid wel- 
 coming cries and friendly greetings. 
 
 To move upward from Flamini Island required 
 various trials ; but experience taught us that the north 
 bank course was the most feasible until the high point 
 near Bayneston Hill is reached, when the river must be 
 crossed to reach the south bank. By this method, in 
 sixteen voyages we were enabled to transport all our 
 effects to Mukanzi Point. 
 
 This was more than an ordinarily long course.
 
 XZAMBI BAPIDS. 255 
 
 Rounding Bayneston Hill, a deep baylet is seen on the issi. 
 
 March 11. 
 
 south side, from whicli at high river a creek flows to Bayneston. 
 the river below Bayneston Hill, transforming it into an 
 island. Skirting the shore of this bay we have a fine 
 clear run of about six miles. The left bank is formed 
 of a sloping plain; the right bank is hilly and rough, 
 and the course along it is unpromising owing to 
 various ugly outcroppings of rock. At the end of it 
 we cross to the north bank, skirt along that until at 
 the point we re-cross again to the south bank, and in 
 two minutes we are at Mukanzi Point. Looking up 
 the river we see before us a very wilderness of rock 
 islets and rapids, which is called by the natives, 
 Nzambi Rapids, after the Deity. 
 
 By the 23rd of jMarch the 2Jerso?i7iel and materiel are 
 concentrated at the camp at the foot of the Nzambi 
 Rapids, * 
 
 The hills that confine the Congo have gradually 
 drawn nearer. There is neither grandeur nor beauty 
 about them. The entire scene is one approaching to 
 unloveliness, and nakedness, joined with ruggedness. 
 Naked rocks, and broad patches of reddish soil are 
 intermingled with dark green clumps of scrub. Even 
 the dusky aborigine knows that it is of little value. 
 His home is j^l^nted away on the summits, where 
 there is level ground and rich soil, where trees can 
 grow and his cassava thrive. The Congo, therefore, is 
 left to flow amid its chilling loneliness ; not a voice is 
 jicard in its praise, not a note rings out to sing the 
 glory of the great brown flood. Perhaps a daring
 
 256 THE CONGO. 
 
 1881. fisherman haunts its solitudes once every few days, 
 
 March 23. ^ ^ J J 7 
 
 Nzambi. craving after fish ; Lut whether from indolence, from 
 fear of crocodiles, or from some other danger, fisher- 
 men between Isangila and NzamLi Rapids are very 
 rarely seen. 
 
 A careful search among the reefy islets informs us 
 that the extreme left channel may be ascended this 
 month, though at high water we should have to take 
 one of the middle passages. The north side is a scene 
 of wild confusion ; great rolling waves, capped with 
 spray, chase one another incessantly, driving by their 
 furious rush a violent stream to its right against the 
 northern shore, to its left against a large round rock- 
 bound island. Long before we can come near it, we 
 are made aware, by whirlpools and revolving eddies, 
 that there is danger in its vicinity. 
 
 With the faithful Royal, we steam up the extreme 
 left channel, which washes the southern bank, and by 
 careful steering we are able to thread our way up 
 through the left wing of the Rapids, and so clear 
 through a narrow gateway leading to quiet water 
 above, and finally to a baylet near the Kwilu River, 
 from which there is another clean and noble stretch of 
 river leading up to Itunzima Rapids. The southern 
 side is a sloping plain, margined by a thin belt of 
 trees ; the northern side is more irregular and uneven, 
 but still a great improvement on the usual view below. 
 Up the river, about six or seven miles, the hills seem 
 to gather themselves together in a close and rugged 
 group.
 
 ITUNZIMA RAPIDS. 257 
 
 The Ivwilu — whicli is known as tlie Lucage, in the issi. 
 neighbourhood of San Salvador— appearing to be a xzambi. 
 navigable river, I ventured to ascend it. Its average 
 course was S. by E. magnetic ; its breadth was about 
 forty yards, banked by low liills rising from forty to 
 one hundred feet, and fringed by trees on either bank. 
 A punting-pole showed that all this season it had a 
 greater depth than eight feet. We kept midway for 
 about five miles against a four-knot current ; a clear, 
 brown, drinkable water, six degrees cooler than the 
 Congo. We then returned, rushing down stream at 
 great speed to the '' Receiver of all Rivers," which, 
 short as had been our absence from it, appeared to be 
 an ocean compared to the Kwilu. 
 
 By the 26th of March, we had passed the Nzambi 
 Rapids, and the next day, being Sunday, we rested. 
 
 On the 28th, we started to remove our camp to the 
 foot of Itunzima Rapids, the distance being effected in 
 forty-five minutes. Though troubled somewhat by 
 squally weather and a few rainstorms, we were above 
 Itunzima Rapids by the 2nd of April. 
 
 Food was abundant, though dear, and our upward 
 advance did not seem to cheapen it. Both banks were 
 well foraged each ration day. On such days, gangs 
 of six men were despatched over the country to 
 purchase cassava bread, bananas, Indian corn, and 
 sweet potatoes; special agents having the duty of 
 purveying for the Europeans such articles as fowls, 
 eggs, goats, &c. Though we were far from starving, 
 it was but a poor diet. But then the mind's anxieties 
 
 VOL. I. s
 
 258 THE CONGO. 
 
 1881. jrave one scarcely any time to think of food. Albert 
 April 2. ^ " . 
 
 itunzima. Christopherson and Captain Anderson, were valuable 
 
 assistants, both being sailors. On the latter I could 
 
 place great reliance, so steady and careful, and strong 
 
 was he. Each day he rose to the stirring work most 
 
 punctually. Lieutenants Harou and Braconnier were 
 
 military officers, who, of course, could not be expected 
 
 to know much of river navigation ; but their services 
 
 could be utihsed in superintending the constantly 
 
 shifting camps, each of which resembled a tented 
 
 village, when the great store and officers' tents lined 
 
 the shore, and the cloth sheds improvised by guards 
 
 and chiefs were grouped around the tented magazines. 
 
 On Sunday. April 3rd, I went ahead in the whale- 
 boat on an exploring excursion up the now narrowed 
 Congo. Tall mountains and ridges opposed one another 
 with steep slopes, declining sharply into the stream, at 
 a distance of a thousand j-ards. Some obstructing 
 boulders that stood at the various points caused ripples 
 on the river, and a greater swiftness in the current 
 near them, but the water was generally clear of rocks, 
 and in the middle flowed steadily at from six to seven 
 knots an hour. The ridge facing the north is called 
 Mubiri, and its highest altitude above the river is about 
 a thousand feet — just where it dominates the ferry of 
 Xsona Mamba. The southern ridge rises scarcely 
 higher than GOO feet in the neighbourhood of the 
 river. 
 
 Except at the latter part of tlie rainy season, say in 
 May or December, the Congo sweeps round from an
 
 A WHIRLPOOL. 259 
 
 eastern bend and washes the base of Mubiri mountains ; is>ii. 
 
 April 3. 
 
 but in those two months a wild channel is formed over Kunzu. 
 a glazed black reef above the ferry, forming a large 
 island called Kunzu. Round this sharp bend we had to 
 pull hard to get through the rather dangerous stretch. 
 Once we got into a whirlpool, and the waves almost met 
 over the bows of the boat, making us for a moment 
 think of the great sin we committed by employing our 
 Sunday in this manner. By perseverance, however, we 
 rounded the evil point, and, striking across the river, 
 came down the channel to a quiet haven, on the upper 
 side of the glazed black reef, which in a couple of 
 months would no doubt be flooded by the high river. 
 An hour's pull enabled us to descend what it had taken 
 five hours to ascend, and we were back in camp to pass 
 the rest of the day in peace. 
 
 By the 7th of April we had transferred the Expedi- 
 tion and its fifty tons of material to the ferry landing- 
 place of Nsona Mamba. The next day tbey were 
 removed to the haven on the other side of the neck of 
 rock which connected Kunzu Island with the main 
 southern shore, while I led the steamers round Kunzu. 
 After a sickening and anxious work we finally mounted 
 the rapid,* and steamed into the quiet haven near the 
 now camp. 
 
 Owing to the abundance of provisions in the neigh- 
 l)()urhood and our nearness to the ferry of Xsona 
 ^lamba, our people here fared well on bananas, sweet 
 
 * CoiiM our steamers have steamocl two knots an liour faster we 
 should have Ijecn relieved of all anxiety. 
 
 S 2
 
 260 THE CONGO. 
 
 is«i. potatoes, melons, cassava bread, or plum-less "duff," 
 
 April 7. ^ 
 
 Kimbanza. palm wiue, goats, fowls, pigs, eggs, &c., while in our 
 tents we still had in reserve from twenty to twenty- 
 four days' provisions of rice, beans, peas, and lentils. 
 
 Removing from the haven of Kunzu we settled our- 
 selves on the island of Kimbanza, opposite the mouth 
 of the Lukunga river which enters the Congo from 
 the southern shore ; the villas-e of Nkeniie beino- 
 near. Kibonda, on the northern shore, awakens me- 
 mories of 1877. In the hands of its natives I was 
 compelled, for lack of means to ransom him, to 
 leave one of my men a prisoner. After two months of 
 imprisonment, or rather slavery, Hamadi escaped in a 
 canoe to this island of Kimbanza, and thence managed 
 to reach the southern shore. By night travel, and after 
 manifold adventures, he succeeded in reaching the sea, 
 where, making his case known to the American consul, 
 he was well treated, shipped to Madeira, and thence 
 via the Cape to Zanzibar. He only arrived at his 
 home two weeks before I appeared. He immediately 
 re-enlisted with me, and from Kimbanza Island he can 
 now look on Kibonda and think of his first misfortunes 
 even with a smile of humour. His other companions 
 in the misery of that year also escaped their forced 
 bondao;e, but of the mad Safeni we have not been able 
 to hear a word, though man}' inquiries have been made 
 after him. 
 
 It is one of the most picturesque bits of scenery on 
 the river that we see beyond Kunzu Haven and Kim- 
 banza islet. The south bank is very irregular in its shore
 
 KIMBANZA ISLET. 
 
 261 
 
 lines. After cutting across a bay-like indentation we is.si. 
 have to skirt a shore that bristles with shaly projections, xi,„,^an \ 
 until w^e are abreast of Kalubu village, on the north 
 bank. Making towards it, we follow its sandy flat, which 
 lies deep buried in a half-cup-like formation of high, 
 steep hills. When out of the bend we find ourselves at 
 the base of cliffy, rusty-red hills, which match the pre- 
 cipitous height of the well-known rock-mount of Gib- 
 raltar. When Kimbanza islet appears in view we have 
 2)assed the reddish cliffs, getting a glimpse of the grassy 
 uplands behind, and see them gently sloping to the 
 river, forming the southern shore of the longest reach 
 
 PI.AX OF LIGHTER. 
 
 we have yet seen. The southern shore is low, being 
 an extensive plain spreading out from the river 
 towards the distant mountains of Ndunga. 
 
 The steamers Royal and Ea Avant had by this time 
 gone out of repair. Tlie side-valves of the cylinders 
 were discovered to be much worn by fine sand, which 
 liad been drifted over the engines during the frequent 
 loading and unloading of goods — so that we availed 
 ourselves of this quiet camp on the island to replace 
 tliem and make other repairs. 
 
 ^leantime with the lighters we transferred a group 
 of men and their baggage to the low sandy point 
 of Ngoyo, whence the view, though comparatively
 
 262 THE CONGO. 
 
 1881. limited, took in quite a large slice of the rolling country 
 
 April 8. 
 
 Kimbanza. OH tlic uortli sido of tlic Cougo, extending from the 
 mouth of the river just opposite to us to the distant 
 horizon of low hills, cleaved by its upper course. On 
 the eastern side of the Lualla the land suddenly up- 
 lifted into a tabular mountain block, which exposes 
 naked, stiff, and steep slopes, over which many foot- 
 paths lead from fishing haunts on the river's rocks 
 to the hamlet-clusters under the palm-trees and cotton- 
 wood groves on the summit. All the way from Kim- 
 banza Islet to Ngoyo Point the Congo is a noble river, 
 a mile wide, and more in some places, with a low plain 
 on one side, and an interesting open country of low 
 hills on the other. But just above the sandy point it 
 becomes confined in a deep carion again, of only some 
 800 or 900 yards wide, where it is swift, wrathful when 
 obstructed ; strong everywhere. 
 
 Crocodiles are numerous at this place ; every baylet 
 has its inhabitant ; the mouths of the many small, 
 lazy streams entering the bays and deep curves of 
 either shore furnish the sly amphibia with harvests of 
 fish. 
 
 Through some particular cause all this portion of 
 the Congo up to Ndunga Rapids is a great resort for 
 minnow fishing. Every few hundred yards one may " 
 see the canoes going round with the eddies within the 
 deep curves of the irregular shores, with the ample 
 hoop and net submerged, and on the flat rocks close by 
 the minnows are spread out drying, or rather baking, 
 under the heat of the fierce sun.
 
 XGOYO. 
 
 2()3 
 
 The population of this region is much more dense issi. 
 
 1 1 1 • 1 r> 1 April 19. 
 
 than at any place we liave seen since we left the sea, Kimbanza. 
 but the people are unchanged in mood and temper, all 
 of them being uniformly amiable. They collect in 
 greater numbers on the shore to welcome our coming, 
 
 DIAGRAM OF NEW STEAMER, " LE STANLEY." 
 
 {Since added to the Flotilla of the Association. Capacity 30 Tons.') 
 
 but two or three days must always elapse before pro- 
 visions are brought, and bartering is in full swing. 
 
 On the 19 th of i^pril I left Kimbanza islet with the 
 last load on board the En Avant, at 3.45 p.m. Tn order 
 to clear the island in one trip I had greatly overpacked 
 
 I n^i 
 
 PLAN OF STEAMER. 
 
 the little paddle-steamer, which, carrying thirty-three 
 men and two tons of goods, arrived at Ngoyo at 0.53, 
 in a rain-storm, and thick black clouds which threatened 
 worse weather. Tired as I was, a sick engineer demanded 
 my attention, and tlic querulousness of others of ques- 
 tional )]c humour considerably increased my anxieties.
 
 264 THE CONGO. 
 
 1S81. On the 27tli of April we were all gathered together 
 
 April 27. . . , 
 
 xdunga, ^^ the NduDga Rapids in the gusty, windy trough 
 where the Congo is pent in between steep sterile 
 slopes, which show not the slightest trace of humanity. 
 Were it not for the all-absorbing duties which require 
 undivided attention from the grey dawn to darkness, 
 we should long ago have surrendered to the depression 
 which such bleak and dreary scenes are well calculated 
 to produce. Those less interested, or those whose minds 
 were not so fully occupied as my own, have long been 
 victims to shivering and chill attacks and fever. Xeve 
 the engineer has been seriously ill ; the two military 
 officers have suffered lapses, one after another ; 3'oung 
 Albert has been seen with his eyes less bright ; Flamini 
 more melancholy than ever. Only Captain Anderson 
 and myself have as yet been proof against the malignant 
 influences prevailing in the depths of the gloomy trough 
 of the Congo. It is past eight o'clock in the morning 
 before the sunshine lights up the river's sombre face ; 
 at four o'clock in the afternoon the sunshine has gone. 
 Then the winds blow chilly, the shadows become 
 deeper, a grey spectral-like solemnity steals over the 
 gorge ; and from a light bronze, reflecting numberless 
 gleams and sparkles, the river has assumed a dull, black 
 hue. All of these aspects combined might well serve to 
 intensify suicidal thoughts in diseased imaginations. 
 
 I marvel not at tlie utter abandonment of the Congo 
 gorge. Nature has begrudged life — animal as well 
 as vegetable — to the scene. Bare rocks and naked, 
 dull-red clays, coarse grasses and worthless scrub,
 
 XDUNGA DAXCING. 2G5 
 
 hanging on to small patches of humus, cannot offer any issi. 
 
 . . April "27. 
 
 attraction to human beings. The aborigines have ^dunga. 
 therefore abandoned the churlish gorge, and contentedly 
 settled themselves on the open uplands tliree hundred 
 yards above the lonely stream, where they can view the 
 sun coming fast on the heels of night, and hear the birds 
 sing, and feel the warmth of vivid life inspired anew 
 with the fulness of the day. 
 
 Ndunga's people came down from their hill-tops and 
 u|)lands to give us a great demonstration — the women 
 with their treasures of eatables, the children with 
 basketfuls of sweet potatoes and eggs ; the men with 
 j^alm-wine and dried minnows ; the fishermen, whose 
 baskets were swinging in the current of the ruffled 
 water near their shore, with fresh fish. A market was 
 extemporised, which was well attended ; and after a few 
 hours of lively barter none of the youths and maidens, 
 all fleshy and lithesome creatures, were loth to show 
 us specimens of Ndunga dancing. Their performances 
 were very clever considered from a native standpoint. 
 It was barbarous, of course, when compared with Euro- 
 pean art ; but the leaping and prancing and Pyrrhic 
 movements were thoroughly- —even with earnestness — 
 done. The finale, however, was curious. While tliey 
 danced they joined hands and formed a circle, as though 
 they were about to sing ' Auld lang syne.' Two de- 
 tached themselves from the crowd without, and entered 
 the circle ; the youngest climbed up on the shoulders 
 of his companion, unsheatlied a sliarp knife, and tlieii 
 led out a loud chorus. AVlien the chorus sang out
 
 266 THE CONGO. 
 
 1881. loudest, eacli time he drew tlie knife's ede'e down the 
 
 April 27. . . * _ 
 
 xdunga. length of his tongue until tlie blood began to drip, and 
 his jaws were covered with blood. Hiirher and hi2:lier 
 sang the choru?, quicker and quicker revolved the 
 circle, and more frantic and daring became tlie bloody- 
 tongued youngster, until, fearing that they might lose 
 all control over themselves, the signal to stop was 
 given, and the dancers were made happy with gifts. 
 When the self-mutilated youngster had washed himself 
 he seemed none the worse for his extraordinary excite- 
 ment, and softly laughed as I patted him on the back 
 and dismissed him with his reward. 
 
 On the 28th of April, while the goods were being- 
 conveyed across a low terrace from one baylet below 
 to another above the Xdunga Rapids, to assist the 
 steamers, which had to cross the river at this place 
 in order to take advantage of the smoother water on 
 the north shore — I ascended in the whale-boat as far 
 as Manyanga, even up to the foot of the cataract. I 
 knew that the cataract was impassable, but we were 
 now Hearing the conclusion of our river journey, and it 
 was necessary to decide upon the site of the station to 
 be established. 
 
 A more lifeless, cheerless, unlovely scene than that 
 around Manyanga it is scarcely possible to conceive. 
 The slopes of the upland, which rises on either side 
 500 feet above the river, are extremely steep, in some 
 places even precipitous. All the soil on which vegeta- 
 tion might thrive seems to be washed clean off the red 
 clay down to a narrow terrace, or into the depths of the
 
 " TO-MOBROW WE SHALL NOT WOBK." 267 
 
 narrow ravines, where we see dark lines of trees. Where issi. 
 
 April 2S. 
 
 tliese slopes run slieer down to the Congo we have only >,Munga. 
 masses of grit-stone piled one above another in admir- 
 able disorder. A few projecting points of these rocks 
 have permitted a broad deposit of white sand to fill 
 np indentations in the shore, which, enriched by soil 
 from above, have become fertile terraces. It was at one 
 of these, nearest the cataracts, that I proposed to settle 
 my camp initil we could decide where we should build 
 the station — whether on the terrace or upon some avail- 
 able hill near. Since Vivi and Isangila were on the 
 north bank of course I "wished to continue the chain of 
 stations on that bank, so that, in case of accidents to 
 boats, communication might be continued by land. On 
 the terrace nearest to the cataract a group of fisher- 
 men were seated, and with these people I commenced 
 a conversation to test their good-will. Old memories 
 were revived in a brief time. They remembered the 
 white man and his many canoes, whom they had 
 assisted over the cataract of Xtombo Mataka, as it is 
 called. They brought us a present of fish, and promised 
 til at provisions should be got ready by next day. 
 When asked where we might camp, they indicated that 
 it was immaterial — anywhere in the neighbourhood we 
 should find suitable. 
 
 My interpreter said to me, after we had begun our 
 return to Ndunga, that he heard one woman say to 
 another, " Oh, to-morrow we shall not work — we shall 
 see the strangers." 
 
 At A.M. of the 2nth we commenced the final stau'e of
 
 268 TEE COXCW. 
 
 1881. the river work, aud to remove omv personml and materiel 
 
 April 29. , 
 
 isianvanga. ^^ ^^^ higliest terracs nearest the cataract oi Manyanga. 
 The landing-place was all we could wi.sh it to be at this 
 season — a calm haven, shielded from the currents by 
 a sedge-covered bank. The terrace sloped smoothly 
 to the river, which would be admirable for us when we 
 should have to haul the En Avant for her overland 
 journey to Stanley Pool, or when the station chief 
 should wish to haul up his boats for repairs or for 
 painting. The fertile ledge where we proposed to 
 lodge ourselves temporarily — the more I looked at it 
 the more promising it appeared, though it had the 
 disadvantage of being cultivated. In length it might 
 be over a mile, while its breadth varied from 80 to 300 
 yards. A small perennial brooklet close by appeared 
 to promise drinkable water. For temporary tenting 
 ground there was an uncultivated space which, when 
 cleared, proved sufficiently large. 
 
 Captain Anderson and Albert were appointed to the 
 Royal and En Avant to continue the transport of the 
 camj), while I waited for two of the headmen who had 
 been requested to visit me. About mid-day two head- 
 men appeared, called Xakussa and Luamba. They 
 were liberal witli their offers of prdrn-wine, which, as 
 u.sual on such occasions, they drank. In return they 
 received coats, whole pieces of cloth, knives, &c. 
 
 I then hinted that I might like to settle permanently 
 at Manyanga, and to build a tow^h where I might leave 
 my men and goods w^hile I visited up river. They did 
 not appear to be very elated at the prospect, and the
 
 A DOUBTFUL BECEPTIOX. 209 
 
 utmost encouragement that I conld o-et from them was issi. 
 
 , . ^ . April 29. 
 
 the assurance that there was no objection to our stay- :i[aavan<ra. 
 ing where we were for the present. They were not 
 nearly so genial in manner as the natives of Ndunga. 
 
 When asked if they were the only chiefs of ]Man- 
 yanga, they said that the chiefs were all dead ; sickness 
 had killed them all — at which we expressed fitting 
 sympathy. Everything that our experience suggested 
 proved unavailing, however_, in the effort to evoke 
 those signs of hearty friendship which we had met 
 with at Xdunga and elsewhere. Still, though not so 
 successful as to enable me forthwith to send carriers 
 down the river with despatches to announce that we 
 were about to l3uild our central depot, we had sufficient 
 grounds for believing that, beyond a vague distrust 
 of us, there were no reasons to anticipate a serious 
 opposition to the building of our station in the district. 
 
 On the morning of the 1st day of May, 1881, we 
 had completed the transfer of the camp from Ndunga 
 to Manyanga. 
 
 Thus we had completed within seventy days a total 
 journey of 24G4 English statute miles, by ascending 
 and descending the various reaches from camp to camp 
 in fourteen round voyages, the entire distance of 
 eighty-eight miles of navigable water that extends 
 lietween the cataract of Isangila and the cataract of 
 Xtombo Mataka, abreast of the district of Manyanga. 
 We were now 140 miles above Yivi, to accomplish 
 wliich distance we had Ijeen employed 43 G days in 
 road-making and in conveying fifty tons of goods
 
 270 THE CONGO. 
 
 1881. with a force of sixty-eight Zanzibaris and an equal 
 Manyanga. i^umber of West Coast and inland natives. During 
 this period we had travelled 4816 English miles which 
 divided by the number of days occupied in this heavy 
 transport work gives a quotient of over eleven miles 
 per day ! 
 
 Between us and our destination at Stanley Pool we 
 estimated that there were ninety-five English miles still 
 to be accomplished in the face of similar difficulties. 
 For, thouQ-h I intended to leave about three-fourths of 
 the goods at the Manyanga station, which would be a 
 kind of a base for us, yet, as I should have to leave 
 a garrison behind me out of a number already too 
 limited, our difiSculties would not be much lessened 
 unless we could engage natives along the route to 
 assist us. My experience of the kindly natives 
 between the Pool and Manyanga in 1877 buoyed me 
 up in the hope I now indulged, otherwise my position 
 would have been dismal indeed.
 
 THE APPROACH OF FEVEB. 271 
 
 CHAPTER XIY. 
 
 FEVER AT MANYANGA. 
 
 I am jDrostrated by fever — Preparing for death — Awakening to life — 
 A voracious appetite — Joyful news — Eeinforcements from Zanzibar 
 — Lindner's arrival — Agreement with the chiefs of Manyanga — 
 Erecting the station. 
 
 To whatever it was owing — whether to the chilly issi. 
 
 ^lay 1. 
 
 currents of wind that came rushing up the Congo ^^lauvang 
 
 gorge day after day, or to the long-continued exposure 
 
 to the heat of the fierce sun reflected from the rocks, or 
 
 to the long strain on my system that this continually 
 
 harassing work had caused, or to the cold season 
 
 which annually recurs about this time just at the close 
 
 of the rainy season, I was in doubt, — but four days after 
 
 my arrival at Manyanga, I felt feverish. My illness 
 
 on tlie fii'st day was so slight, however, that it did 
 
 not prevent me from attending an important palaver, 
 
 at which I obtained a promise from all the principal 
 
 chiefs of Manyanga district, assembled in the camp, 
 
 tliat at anotlier meeting perhaps a definite agreement 
 
 about settlement in Manyanga would be arrived at. 
 
 On the 0th of May my fever returned with a greater 
 severity, which compelled rae to keep to my bed, and
 
 272 THE CONGO. 
 
 1881. tLe chiefs, not Leing able to see me, returned to their 
 ManvaD<'a. ^^^^ villages Avithout the satisfaction of an inter- 
 view. 
 
 The next day the fever returned with still greater 
 virulence, and to prevent its recurring attacks medicine 
 seemed to he useless. I had enjoyed about twelve full 
 months of almost uninterrupted good health, and this 
 fever appeared to me to be too slow in its advance to 
 call for more than a renewed application of the usual 
 remedies adopted in such cases. To say the truth, I 
 was more exasperated at its recurrence at such an un- 
 lucky period than alarmed at the persistence and the 
 unyielding nature of the attack ; but on the next day, 
 despite potions and heavy doses of medicine, the system 
 was not relieved, and the fever advanced each twenty- 
 four hours with increased virulence. 
 
 On the 9th of May I was attacked with nausea, 
 and througliout the day the fever burned within my 
 veins without any intermission, although I watched 
 my state intently, to take advantage, if any offered, of 
 the slightest pause, Believing that the terrace was per- 
 haps too close for a sick man, I caused my tent to be 
 pitched on the summit of a hill 280 feet above the river, 
 and commanding the terrace on which the camp was 
 situated. But the seventh day of the fever advanced, 
 and still there were no signs of remission, until the 
 morning of the eighth day, when I seized the opportunity 
 of taking twenty grains of quinine dissolved in some 
 hydrobromic acid, which was happily retained in the 
 stomach without a qualm. The effect of this powerful
 
 ^.V INCBEASING FEVEIL 273 
 
 dose was to disturb my thoughts and clearness of issi. 
 
 May 11. 
 1^1^*^^' Manyanga. 
 
 On the eighth day of the fever, wlieii I recovered con- 
 sciousness, I became convinced that I was exceedingly 
 weak ; but, as the attack might recommence shortly, I 
 caused thirty grains of quinine to be weighed out, and 
 when mixed up with the acid for immediate solution I 
 greedily drank the medicine — and not a whit too soon, 
 for again I became unconscious of my surroundings, save 
 a certain vague indefiniteness on which no reliance 
 could be placed. 
 
 For six days longer the fever still kept on unrelent- 
 ingly. There were, each twenty-four hours, short 
 pauses of intermission, during which I was clearly 
 awake and alive to everything uttered in my hearing. 
 But these pauses were too curtailed to admit of more 
 than the grim impression of the fact that I was very 
 ill ; that I was exceedingly weak, almost alone on the 
 hill-top, having only little Mabruki and Dualla to attend 
 to me ; that ]\I. Braconnier once a day called to see 
 me to suggest some new remedy, the value of a little 
 broth, or a beaten ^%'g^ and the pressing necessity tliat 
 existed to take larger and larger doses of quinine, in 
 the tenacious faith tliat it alone would arrest the 
 terrible malady. 
 
 But on the fourteenth day I was so weak that 1 could 
 scarcely lift my arms, and to sit up in bed was impos- 
 sible without support. Limp and nerveless, I lay to be 
 lifted, turned, or moved by the young negroes, to whom, 
 though I felt grateful for their services, I was con- 
 
 YOL. r. T
 
 274 THE CONGO. 
 
 1881. vinced I was gradually becomino* exceedino-ly tedious. 
 
 May 18. . . " . . 
 
 Manyanga. Aiid after the mediciiie, wLiicU Ijad now risen to fifty 
 grains of quinine, had been taken my head would be 
 laid on the pillow to hear the hard throbbing- in 
 my head reyerberated through the pillow like a loud 
 beating of a drum, until, losing consciousness, I was 
 obliyious to my pains and protracted infirmity. 
 
 On the 20th of May, about 7 a.m., my sickness and 
 weakness seemed to have approached a climax. As 
 soon as I woke to clearness of mind and realised the 
 dreadful prostration of my body, a presentiment pos- 
 sessed me that I should die. Weaker tljan this, and 
 yet possessing powers of speech and thought, I doubted 
 whether man could possibly be, with which idea came 
 the thought that the crisis had arrived, and that death 
 was not far off. Then came an urgent desire to pay 
 the last offices of friendship and regard which I am 
 eager to perform, if little Mabruki will hasten to call up 
 the people — European and Zanzibaris — to me. Dualla 
 meantime has weighed out sixty grains of quinine, 
 over whicli he has dropped a few minims of hydro- 
 bromic acid, and poured an ounce of Madeira wine, 
 which he must deliver between my lips, for if all 
 the world were given to me I could not lift the glass 
 unaided. 
 
 Like lightning the potent medicine courses through 
 mv veins. I feel its overpowering influence stealing 
 rapidly over my fast bewildering senses, and I beg 
 Dualla to hasten up the people before it will be too 
 late.
 
 *^
 
 PnEPABING FOB DEATH. 275 
 
 In a short time there is a rush of many feet round the issi. 
 
 May 20. 
 
 tent. Tlie walls of the tent are lifted up. I can see a Manyanga. 
 bright yet cold sunshine on the semi-circular rows of 
 seated forms around. My European comrades advance 
 to the foot of the bed, and I struggle hard to recall 
 my fleeting senses to address and to advise them what 
 they should do when all would be over. My thoughts 
 seemed to be distracted between my strong desire to 
 say something intelligible, and a strange penitent 
 brooding over a hollowed grave somewhere which 
 drew nearer and nearer to me, wdiile in the far distance 
 there burned a great white light, wdiose bright glowing- 
 globe attracted me despite my utmost effort to concen- 
 trate my attention on the silent and expectant throng. 
 Again and yet again I strove strenuously to utter the 
 words that my lips would not frame. 
 
 " Look well on me, Albert," I cried. " Do not move. 
 Fasten your eyes on me that I may tell you." 
 
 And the young sailor, whose hand clasped mine, fixed 
 his eyes steadily on mine to enable me to conquer the 
 oppressive drowsiness, and the sentence was at last, 
 after many efforts, delivered clearly and intelligently, at 
 which I felt so relieved from my distress that I cried 
 out, " I am saved ! " Then suddenly a dark cloud came 
 over me, the perception of the scene faded away, 
 and oblivion which lasted many hours shut out the 
 sense of things. 
 
 When I woke next day I found that I had lain for 
 twenty-four hours in one position, for my weakness was 
 so great that unaided I could not have moved. ^Fy 
 
 T 2
 
 276 TEE CONGO. 
 
 1881. back seemed to be palsied, and bed-sores tormented 
 
 May 21. ^ ' 
 
 Manyanga. mc^ but Oil waking I little recked of these tilings. I 
 felt a desire to eat, and a repugnance to medicine. I 
 abandoned all idea of contesting the influences of the 
 fever further. I was ready without further care to 
 submit to the inevitable ; but I would eat, and Ma- 
 bruki's astonishment was very great when I asked him 
 for soup. M. Braconnier, being called by my little ser- 
 vant, recommended jjotacjey and was good enough to 
 assist Mabruki in its preparation. In an hour or so 
 the boys were called upon for some more, and an in- 
 cipient voracity was noticeable. Hours glided by, 
 and the fever did not return, therefore more soup 
 was demanded. M. Braconnier warned me to be 
 careful, but Dualla and Mabruki did not heed his 
 warning. Unprincipled youths ! they smuggled into 
 my tent various little luxuries picked up some- 
 where, and the stomach was untiring in its powers 
 of digestion. 
 
 On the 30th of May I am so far removed from danger 
 that Dualla and Mabruki were my sole visitors and 
 attendants. Their energies as well as my own were 
 devoted to the renewal of strength in the worn-out and 
 feeble frame. But, alas ! although the Ijody is soon 
 weakened by illness, it requires a long time to re- 
 cuperate ; and, although the period is relieved by the 
 frequent pleasures of eating and digestion, it is still 
 tedious. 
 
 On this day, however, I was so far recovered that 
 I caused mvself to be carried round on a visit to
 
 / 
 
 REINFOBCEMENTS AERIVE. 277 
 
 mv people in the camp below, which I believed to be issi. 
 
 June 4. 
 
 productive of great benefit to me. Maayanga. 
 
 By the 2nd of June I was strong enough to be able 
 to sit in a chair under the awning of my tent, clad 
 warmly in a heavy ulster. 
 
 On the morning of the 4th I was gladdened at the 
 sight of the whale-boat coming up the river from Isan- 
 gila, whither I was told it had departed twenty days 
 previously. At the landing-place little Mabruki met 
 it, and presently came hurrying back with the glorious 
 news that a large body of recruits had come from 
 Zanzibar ; and that a small body of picked men, headed 
 by a young German named Lindner, was already close 
 at hand, and would probably arrive at Manyanga in a 
 day or two. 
 
 A thrill of joy at the good news filled every breast, 
 especially mine. Oh, what labour, what anxiety had 
 been saved had this relief arrived earlier ! Now indeed 
 did it seem possible to joerform something. Only 
 now did a final success appear in a clear light. For. 
 although not even to myself would I permit a doubt 
 of an ultimate happy issue to the immense labour 
 I had undertaken, the event seemed to be so far dis- 
 tant that at times it was almost beyond the hojoe of 
 realisation. 
 
 I was at this time an atom — scarcely weighing 
 100 lbs. ! My lower limbs were mere sticks supporting 
 a feeble, weak body, to which the few paces from the 
 bed to the chair appeared an immense labour. Yet the 
 mails on my lap, six months old, contained new tasks
 
 278 THE COS (JO. 
 
 1881. that would require an aniiy to accomplish ! "With a sick 
 Manvan^a. mau's querulousuess I pushed them aside, and dared not 
 look at them lest I should become mad. 
 
 The next day Mr. Lindner appeared with twenty-four 
 men, some of whom were ancient comrades of mine, and 
 at A'ivi there were forty-six more, stout, well-chosen 
 fellows. They were heartily welcome ; and the camp 
 was quickly enlivened by the recruits, who had abun- 
 dance of news to impart to the people who had been 
 so long absent from Zanzibar. 
 
 On the 11th of June Mr. Lindner departed for Isan- 
 gila with the En Avanf, Royal, and two steel boats, to 
 convey the remainder of the relief expedition at once 
 to the front. 
 
 Meantime, strength returning to me, on the 12th I 
 began to prepare for my journey to Stanley Pool. But 
 there was a host of duties to perform preliminary to any 
 forward movement. First a contract was to be made 
 with the chiefs of Manyanga, a site was to be decided 
 upon for the new station, new tents were to be made, as 
 our old ones had already endured through four rainy 
 seasons, a road had to be constructed round the Man- 
 yanga Cataract to convey the boats to be floated above. 
 While the steamers Avere absent bringing up the relief 
 partv, we might employ ourselves in assisting to build 
 the new station, for nothing had been performed while 
 I was prostrated by illness. 
 
 Ample time had been given to the chiefs of ^lan- 
 yanga to ponder upon the proposals I had made on 
 my arrival, so that it needed but a signal to inform
 
 ROAB MAKIXG. 279 
 
 them of rav readiness to close the arrangements. These issi. 
 
 June 11. 
 
 did not, therefore, occupy verv long. A satisfactory Manyanga 
 contract was entered into by which I obtained the choice 
 of a site, and a large acreage of hill-slope and terrace 
 to build upon and cultivate to my heart's content. 
 Throughout the entire district of Manyanga, however, 
 but little ground is available for cultivation in the 
 nei2:hbourhood of the river. 
 
 M. Braconnier was detailed for road-making. M. 
 Harou was commissioned to commence buildino- on 
 the hill, whereon I had spent so many days in the 
 lone tent^ which commanded the terrace and landing- 
 place below. 
 
 After twenty-two days' work the wagon road, fifteen 
 feet wide and six miles in length, was completed to a 
 landing-place above the cataract, and the pioneer force 
 was directed to assist in the construction of the station. 
 The labour of levelling the ground was very great, but 
 it was finally rendered habitable and presentable. The 
 timber was procured from a wooded gorge at the bottom 
 of which a streamlet flowed ; the distance to it was not 
 more than two miles, but the toil of conveying the logs 
 to the ground was exceedingly arduous. 
 
 The boiler-wagon needed many repairs, and black- 
 sraithing was one of the handicrafts that I was called 
 upon to perform. 
 
 Then the new tents had to be cut by myself, and Albert 
 was converted into a sailmaker. During the interval 
 we waited for the long-delayed boats, a strong magazine 
 was erected, with corrugated iron walls, pierced here
 
 280 THE CONGO. 
 
 1881. and there with port-holes for musketry, in case of any 
 .Aianyanga. defence being required. For although there was not 
 much fear of hostility from tlie natives, less anxiety 
 would naturally be experienced through a greater 
 sense of security that, unless affairs were very much 
 mismanaged, hostility would be powerless to effect 
 much harm.
 
 TURBULENT MARKETING. 281 
 
 CHAPTER XY. 
 
 A RECONXAISSANCE TO STANLEY POOL. 
 
 An outrage upon custom, and its result — Turl)ulent marketing — Death of 
 M. Neve— Letter respecting the support of 3Ianyanga — On the march 
 to Stanley Pool — Eeception by natives — A boy drowned — Bwabwa 
 Njali, a dissembling chief — Native pomp — Malameen appears, bear- 
 ing the French tricolour — A treaty regarding territory — The Gordon 
 Bennett — Mfwa — Malima — Gamankono, an old acquaintance — In- 
 stance of retentive memory — " We are all kings " — Arrival of Mala- 
 meen, whose fables alarm the villagers — Friendship supplanted 
 by hate — Forced retirement from Malima — Evil news precedes us 
 — Stopped by an armed crowd — " Tanley, Tanley ! " — A timely 
 arrival. 
 
 On tlie 25tli of June a curious incident occurred at i88L 
 
 June 1'k 
 
 the market of Manyanga which was held every week, ^yianyanga 
 A man bought a goat, and, contrary to custom, at- 
 tempted to resell it the ^ame day in the same market, 
 which was considered such an outrage upon custom that 
 the public indignation was aroused, to be vented upon 
 the goat and a couple of pigs. These animals were cut 
 to pieces and distributed round the market-place, and 
 not until a general smash-ui^ of gourds of palm-wine 
 Ijfid taken place was tlie public anger sufliciently 
 allayed. 
 
 Every other day a market is held in the neighbour-
 
 282. THE CONGO. 
 
 issi. hood of the station, on various hill-sumraits, but the 
 
 June 25. • • i i f« -i 
 
 Manyanga. great ManyangR market is held inland about five miles 
 from the station. It was once very well attended, but 
 it is not so now, several outbreaks having occurred of 
 late years to render the attendance at it less numerous. 
 Slaves, ivory, rubber, oil, pigs, sheep, and goats and 
 fowls were plentifully brought for sale by the vast con- 
 course of buyers and sellers that had gathered from the 
 country for many miles around. Native copper was 
 also largely for sale. Caravans from the coast bound 
 for Stanley Pool found here a ready exchange for their 
 cloths and beads, and purchased copper and wire in 
 enormous quantities to suit the tastes of the up-river 
 people, while tons of cassava bread and vegetables were 
 quickly disposed of. But prosperity rendered the dis- 
 trict tribe and chiefs insolent. Ruptures became fre- 
 quent, the slightest pretext serving often to cause 
 dispersion, and immediate flight of the market people 
 to save themselves from violence. Even durins: the 
 two months that I remained there our own people were 
 witnesses of many an outrageous scene ; and, to escape 
 being involved in fracases, had to fly away, not always 
 with impunity. It may be that some of them were 
 not guiltless of offence, but, as no accusers ever appeared 
 against them, I could only deliver a stern warning and 
 bid them beware of the consequences if any charges 
 were brought against them for violence and mis- 
 conduct. 
 
 At last, after an extraordinary delay, dinging whicli 
 we had been victims to fear and anxiety as to what bad
 
 DEATH OF J/. PAUL NEVE. 283 
 
 befallen the boats, the steel whale-boat appeared in issi. 
 
 Julv. 
 
 sight, and shortly after landed a letter from Mr. Lind- Manyanga 
 ner, which contained the distressing intelligence that 
 M. Paul Neve, engineer of the En Avant, had succumbed 
 to a severe attack of bilious fever at Isangila on the 
 26th of June. This was the second fatal termination to 
 illness amongst the pioneer expedition during a term of 
 sixteen months of unexampled labour and privations. 
 Like the case of the sailor Martinson in 1880, this death 
 had also occurred during the cold season of May, June, 
 and July. ^ly own serious illness in 1880 had also 
 occurred in June, and at the commencement of this 
 year's cold season I had again been prostrated by a 
 much more severe attack. The only fatal case amongst 
 the Zanzibaris occurred during last year's cold season. 
 
 On the 14th of July the steamers and the other steel 
 lighter appeared, conveying the long expected relief 
 party, including Mr. Louis Yalcke and two Germans, 
 a clerk and an engineer. The news from Yivi was 
 very satisfactory, and, in accordance with my instruc- 
 tions, a station was being successfully founded at 
 Isangila under Lieutenant Eugene Janssen, a young- 
 Belgian officer just arrived. 
 
 The following quotations from a letter to the Comite 
 about this time will serve to furnish specific informa- 
 tion regarding the support of j\Ianyanga during my 
 absence up river : — 
 
 " Yon will oltserve by the enclosed list of gootls and articles witli wliicli 
 the station of Manyanga has been ])rovide(l,tliat there is an abnndauce of 
 every article such a station should require.
 
 284 THE COXGO. 
 
 1881. " Par exeinple, I have left the following quantity of cloth for the i-ui- 
 
 ^^ ■ chase of proTisions for the garrison of the station : — 
 Manjanga. 
 
 " Ordinary striped domestics 
 
 . io, GOO yards 
 
 Fine cloths . 
 
 . 19,360 „ 
 
 Eed handkerchiefs 
 
 2400 „ 
 
 "White domestic . 
 
 1200 „ 
 
 I:ed blanket cloth 
 
 700 ,, 
 
 " After calculating -with the utmost liljeraUty, I find that the chief of 
 the station has over three years' supplies, supix)sing that the above cloth is 
 not diverted to other uses than the purchase of provisions and wages of 
 his jjeople. Exclusive of this, the commandant is supplied with blue glass 
 Ijeads, guni>owder, muskets, biuss wire, gun-stones, &c., all of which articles 
 are readily saleable. 
 
 "A mere perusal of the tinned provisions left for Messrs. Harou, 
 Anderson, and Flaromi, will show their variety. ; In weight they amount 
 to 4950 lbs. of eatables, enough to give each European 1 j lbs. of extras for 
 three years. To this suj^ply you must add all native provisions and fresh 
 meat procurable in the large market near the station, among which you 
 may include pigs, goats, sheep, fowls, yams, sweet potatoes, cassava bread, 
 eggs, bananas, various kinds of vegetables, pine-apijles, melons, cucumbers, 
 pumpkins, &c. Since we have been here we have existed on native pro- 
 visions alone, tea, coffee, milk, butter, and sugar teing the only European 
 articles we consider indispensable. 
 
 " As Manyanga was intended by me for a central deix)t, for which in 
 fact it is particularly adapted, seeing that the real difficulty of transport 
 commences here, you will observe that a large supply of ammunition is 
 also stored here. I scarcely tliink it will ever be needed for defence, but I 
 never trust to good fortune. 
 
 "Eorced by illness first, and secondly by the delay attending the arrival 
 of the relief expedition, I have employed all the hands that were left at 
 Manyanga during the interval to bmld a spacious and strong magazine 
 for the third station. The goods are this day completely an-anged 
 within. At present it serves not only as magazine but as the dwelling- 
 house for the three Euror>eans who will 1>e appointed to the station — 
 Harou (commandant), Anderson (captain of boats), and Flamini (engi- 
 neer of the JioijaT) — until they have had time to constmct their own 
 dwellings. 
 
 " There is nothing further that may delay or detain me here longer. 
 The Ixjats have now an-ived. The road is ready as fai- as the landing- 
 place above the cataract. The chiefs of Manyanga have jiromised 
 me the assistance of 200 of their j^eople to assist in the transport 
 of goods from the station landing-place to the upper. While they are-
 
 CONDITION OF THE ENPEDITION. 
 
 285 
 
 " Cloths. 
 Beads. 
 Wire. 
 
 Tinned provisions. 
 Salt. 
 Sugar. 
 Tea. 
 Coffee. 
 Eice. 
 Beans. 
 Flour. 
 Muskets. 
 Engine-oil. 
 
 Linseed-oil. 
 
 Pickaxes. 
 
 Shovels. 
 
 Axes. 
 
 Hammers. 
 
 Crowbars. 
 
 Adzes. 
 
 Jack-screws. 
 
 Tackles and blocks. 
 
 Machettes. 
 
 Hoes. 
 
 engaged in the transport of the goods, our foreign coloured employes will 
 haul— 
 
 "Waggon Xo. 1, conveying En Acant. 
 
 „ No. 2, „ boiler. 
 
 ,, No. 3, „ engine and plates. 
 
 „ No. 4, „ whale-boat. 
 
 " Our goods for Stanley Pool Station will consist of 560 man-loads, con- 
 sisting of — 
 
 Forge. 
 
 Blacksmiths' tools. 
 
 Anvil, 
 
 Grindstone. 
 
 Nails. 
 
 Screws. 
 
 Ammunition. 
 
 Gunpowder. 
 
 Medicine-chests. 
 
 Sail-cloth. 
 
 Cordage. 
 
 Paints. 
 
 Tallow. 
 
 The personal baggage of Messrs. Yalcke, Braconnier, Lindner, Hertwig, 
 Christopherson, Mahoney, which amount to thirty-five man-loads, or 
 nearly a ton. 
 
 " By these detailed items you will perhaps better appreciate and under- 
 stand the difficulties attending an exi^edition which numbers so many 
 Europeans compared to the very small number of coloured men. In- 
 cluding myself, there are eight Europeans to only 103 foreign coloured 
 men, and tliirty West Coast natives ; whereas, to perform creditable work, 
 there should be at least fifty coloured men to each European. 
 
 " There are at present on the expedition 138 coloured foreign employes, 
 who will be disposed as follows : — 97 to accomiwny advance expedition ; 
 IB as garrison of third station — Manyanga; 8 garrison of Isangila; 15 as 
 as lioats' crews. 
 
 " The Jtoyul and stcul lighter, witli their crews, will maintain the com- 
 munication between Isangila and ]\Ianyanga. The natives of the Yivi 
 district will be cmi)loyed,as often as they can be induced, for the transport 
 service between Vivi and Isangila. 
 
 " After arrival at the Pool, communication will be maintained by the 
 
 relieved force of pioneers between Manyanga and Stanley Pool. The 
 
 En Anint and lighter will serve to keep iip correspondence between 
 
 Stanley Pool aui.l a fifth station, established at some eligible s])ot on the 
 
 > L'ltper Congo." 
 
 1881. 
 July, 
 
 Manyanga.
 
 286 THE CONGO. 
 
 1881. The next morning after the arrival of the Loats, the 
 
 July 15. 
 
 iMauyanga. forward movemeiit commenced at daylight, 210 natives 
 assisting; and by the evening of the 19th, goods and 
 wagons had been moved forward six miles, and the 
 boats launched in the cove above the Cataract. 
 
 Herr Lindner proved himself after a short acquaint- 
 ance, to possess sufficient practical knowledge to render 
 me valuable service. I felt confidence in entrusting 
 the command of a portion of the force to him, to trans- 
 port the effects and wagons by water to Mpakambendi, 
 distant twenty-two miles from Manyanga, and on 
 arrival at the landing-place of the village to make a 
 wagon-road leading from the river to the plateau ; 
 while I should lead a party of men to Stanley Pool, and 
 secure a site for a station contiguous to the point where 
 the navigability of the Upper Congo commenced. Had 
 I been fortunate enough to have secured the services 
 of two such men as Herr Lindner at the commence- 
 ment of the expedition, Stanley Pool would have been 
 reached in September, 1879 ; but now there was no 
 further necessity for delaying my visit to my friends 
 in that region, as the German had proved himself fully 
 capable to carry out the task I now committed to him. 
 
 Accordingly I set out with Messrs. Valcke and Bra- 
 connier, also another person who was to be employed as 
 clerk of the station, should we be enabled to secure a 
 site, and sufficient goods to temporarily provision the 
 place. After a march of nine miles, over a high land 
 crossed by gullies and deep stony waterways, we camjoed 
 at Mungala in a lovely basin nestling cosil}^ in the
 
 FRIENDLY BECEPTION. 287 
 
 inidst of tall trees. Durino: the march we had passed issi. 
 
 Julv20. 
 
 four streams, of which Mbika, a copious clear-water jumgaia, 
 stream, was the most important. 
 
 The next day we traversed a still rougher country, 
 across a series of lofty ridges, separated by as many 
 streams which flowed through cool forested gorges, and 
 arrived at Mpakambendi, where I expected to find 
 Mr. Lindner on my return from Stanley Pool. 
 
 Continuing our march on the third day, the country 
 was discovered to be much more regular in its forma- 
 tion, as we examined its adaptability for a wagon road. 
 The land rose and fell in gentle broadly-spreading 
 waves separated by wide valleys, at the bottom of which 
 small streams of clear water smoothly flowed. The 
 mean altitude, 2100 feet, proved that we were at least 
 1500 feet above the Congo. Our reception along the 
 route was most kindly — my name, which the natives 
 had tenaciously remembered, was shouted out with such 
 clearness sometimes, that I half suspected some of my 
 own people were calling me. At Zinga, the scene of 
 so many toils in 1877, the excitement was xery great. 
 Until deep darkness my tent was besieged by the 
 prying youngsters who had heard from their parents, 
 <loubtless, of the white man with the many canoes who 
 had passed down their wild river. 
 
 From Zinga we marched across the stream of the 
 Edwin Arnold, past palmy Mowa, and over a healthy 
 country, whose pure breezes brought back the feeling 
 of health to my frame. Near the village of Nzabi, 
 whose chief resembles a prominent English statesman,
 
 288 THE cox GO. 
 
 1881. there were crowds avIio entreated us to stay and trade, 
 
 July 23 
 
 Xzab'i *^ ^-'^y palm-wine, and barter cloth lor fowls ; but we 
 could not stay lor either, for the spirit of movement 
 was on us now. Xear the wooded banks of the Inkissi 
 River we encamped amid a whole tribe of curious 
 visitors. 
 
 On the 24th, we travelled over a very rough country 
 to Msampala, which promised to give us great trouble 
 when we should appear with our heavy wagons. The 
 people of Ngoma were very amiable. AVe exchanged 
 presents with nearly all those in authority along the route 
 — perhaps because it was policy to do so^ and perhaps 
 because I met so many old acquaintances who renewed 
 their former knowledge of me with unrestrained friend- 
 liness. It was a marvellously rich country, but we saw 
 very little cultivation. Food was abundant, and the 
 natives were eager to trade. 
 
 Between Msampala and the Mukoss River, where we 
 camped on the 25th, the journey was over a country" 
 presenting but few difficulties to a wagon road, except 
 at the Lubamba River, which is half-way. The 
 Lubamba is called tlie Xkenke' at its confluence with 
 the Congo, It is a rapid stream about forty yards wide, 
 and there is canoe ferriage across it for the convenience 
 of the numerous caravan traffic. At the ferry there is 
 sometimes quite a gathering of bands of ivory car- 
 riers from Stanley Pool, and commodity porters from 
 the coast. There were quite a number of people on 
 either bank, who awaited their turn of ferriage when 
 we arrived. In the confusion and disorder — squabbling
 
 A BOY BEOWXED. 
 
 289 
 
 for first places — a boy of fourteen or fifteen years old, issi. 
 
 July 25 
 
 fell overboard into the stream, and was drowned. His jjuko'ss. 
 friends desired to obtain the body for burial, but none 
 appeared to know how to set about recovering it. 
 Finally one of our men dived into the stream with a 
 cord round his body, and brought the dead boy to the 
 
 CARAVAN CROUP. 
 
 surface. The body was received with a solemn silence ; 
 Init there were no thanks returned. 
 
 On the 2Gth we left the village of ^lukoss on the 
 Mukoss River, and after a march of eleven miles reached 
 Kinduta. A rainfall occurred in the morning, which 
 
 VOL. I. U
 
 290 TEE COXGO. 
 
 1881. unexpected at this season in other parts of the country, 
 
 July 26. ^ 
 
 Mukoss. may be attributed to the extensive woods found in this 
 district. It is a wonderfully fertile country that we saw; 
 every mile we marched growing in picturesquenessand 
 worth. Grand sweeps of land, bountifully watered by 
 clear streams, well wooded, and giving valuable promise 
 to future comers, met the eager view from every ridge 
 and uplift of surface. About three hours beyond the 
 Mukoss River we came to a square-browed hill, from 
 whose high open summit we saw Stanley Pool far away 
 in the hazy distance, like a blurred mirror obscured by 
 gauze set in a gauze-covered frame of dark wood — 
 thus the hazy density caused by heat and distance 
 represented it to us. 
 
 A long march of fourteen miles, over a plain, and 
 soft flat spongy boggy country, brought us, on the 
 27th, to Bwabwa Njali, a chief who derives import- 
 ance and revenue through his ferry over the Grordon 
 Bennett, which flows close by, east of his village. Most 
 of the chiefs we have met have been kindly common- 
 place men, but Bwabwa Njali is a character worth a 
 book. He is an actor — that is, he is a man who affects 
 to be what he is not. Polite to his guests — let them 
 come as often as they may — from the moment he makes 
 anybody's acquaintance, a systematic approach to their 
 affections is commenced with the view to their spolia- 
 tion. He presents himself to you as one who is as 
 vain as a woman, and as frivolous as a child ; but con- 
 trives before you have finally parted from him to 
 impress you with the fact that he is an unprincipled
 
 Njali 
 
 BWABWA NJALL 291 
 
 roffue. It is " My brother, what is this ? My brother, 1881. 
 what IS that? Ah, truly, my brother! rut it away, Bwabwa 
 good brother. Really now, has my brother come to see 
 the country ? Dear, good brother ! Yerily, a brother 
 of brothers ! My own true brother ! " And thus he 
 purrs continually around one, his eyes wandering about 
 to every part of your person and belongings. 
 
 And such state as he surrounds himself with on a 
 stransrer's arrival ! A lion-skin — a real lion-skin — is 
 spread out, a fat crimson bolster is in place of a chair 
 of state, and a circle of respectful principals are seated 
 around. While you are seated expectant of his ap- 
 pearance, Bwabwa Njali is touching himself up before 
 a score of looking-glasses hanging around the walls of 
 his house, straightening a hair here, giving another 
 dab of ochre on his cheeks and forehead, a streak of 
 yellow under an eye, a line of white under the other, 
 the ridge of his nose coloured still darker with 
 powdered charcoal, a loving tap on his chignon, a 
 smooth of a crease in his red blanket, and lo ! Bwabwa 
 Njali emerges into view. 
 
 I have often wondered, on viewing these efforts of 
 African chiefs to ape the majestic strutting of kingli- 
 ness, from what grand prototype they have drawn their 
 demeanour. Mtesa, of Uganda, is too far off, and there 
 is no one nearer that I have ever discovered or heard 
 of, able by the rumour of his pomp to impress the sense 
 of these fantastic mimics of kinghood. I presume it 
 must be natural to man — to the x\frican Nfumu as it is 
 to the British beadle ! 
 
 u 2
 
 292 TKE CONGO. 
 
 1881. There were some orood points about him which 
 Bwabwa naturallj belong to persons of his enormous vanity. 
 ^^ '' He was cleanly in person, and so much cannot be said 
 of all African chiefs ; he was not at all uncomely, or ill- 
 favoured, being a bronze-coloured, well-built man of 
 thirty-five. If he expected largely in return, he first 
 gave nobly ; at least his gifts dwarfed all others that I 
 had received between Yivi and his village. Probably 
 there are other good points about him,* as yet buried 
 in his half-revealed personality. 
 
 We had scarcely been three hours at Bwabwa Njali's 
 village before we saw, borne high up, a French tri- 
 coloured flag approaching, preceded by a dashing 
 looking Europeanised negro (as I supposed him to be, 
 though he had a superior type of face), in sailor 
 costume, with the stripes of a non-commissioned officer 
 on his arm. This was Malameen, the Senegalese 
 sergeant left by M. de Brazza. Two Gaboon negro 
 sailors, in blue navy shirt and pants, followed him, one 
 of whom carried the flag. 
 
 Malameen spoke French well, and his greeting was 
 frank and manly. After a few words had been said on 
 either side, he showed to me a paper, which, duly trans- 
 lated, turned out to be a treaty, whereby a certain chief 
 called Makoko ceded to France a territory extending 
 from the Gordon Bennet River to Imjjila on the north 
 bank of Stanley Pool, and which M. de Brazza noti- 
 fied, to all whom it might concern, that he took 
 possession of the said territory in the name of France. 
 * In the latter part of 1B81 Bwabwa Njali died.
 
 MALAMEEN. 293 
 
 Malameen kuew a great deal about the transaction, issi. 
 Makoko had been generous, and for very triQing gifts Bwabwa 
 
 had parted with a territory which, as far as I could 
 learn, extended along the river about nine miles ; the 
 extent of it inland, was not indicated. He said he had 
 no other instructions than to show the treaty to all 
 Europeans who might approach Stanley Pool. 
 
 As it was late, he slept in the village, and through 
 some of my servants I became well informed in the 
 politics of the district on the other side of the Gordon 
 Bennett. 
 
 A very short acquaintance w^ith the sergeant proved 
 to me that he was a superior man, even though he was 
 a bronzed Senegalese. He was in his proper element 
 among these Africans, who were of a lower grade than 
 liimself, and very tactfully and subtly he acted on his 
 master's instructions. 
 
 The next day he returned to his own territory on 
 the east side of the Gordon Bennett, and at 1 p.m. we 
 prepared to follow him, according to an invitation he 
 had given us in his master's name. 
 
 The Gordon Bennett is a deep rapid stream of about 
 forty yards in breadth at the ferry of Bwabwa Njali. 
 About four miles lower down it descends a furious 
 cataract by two mouths into the Congo, about fifty 
 yards below the first dangerous rapid of the Congo. 
 Had the mouth of tlie Gordon Bennett joined the 
 great river a couple of hundred yards higher up it 
 wnidd liave been worth my while to have secured from 
 Bwabwa Njali the right to a landing-place by which 
 
 Njali.
 
 294 
 
 THE CONGO. 
 
 1881. I might have gained access to nearly 1100 miles of 
 
 July 28. . . 
 
 iifwa. navigation of the Upper Congo. 
 
 A journey of six miles through an uninhabited 
 countrj^, alternately scrubby jungle and grassy plain, 
 brought us to the villao:e of Mfwa, a small hamlet of 
 
 ITOKY CABBIEUS. 
 
 grass huts peopled by Bateke' ivory traders. A number 
 of them were, even at the moment of our arrival, 
 engaged in counting brass rods — five of which weighed 
 a pound at that time — and sorting cloths, while many a 
 fine ivory tusk gleamed white on the ground near by.
 
 MALIMA. 295 
 
 Grroups of buvers and sellers were seated around dis- issi. 
 
 r " ^ ^ July 28. 
 
 cussing the merits of their respective properties. The iifwa. 
 buyers were Bateke, who inhabit a large extent of 
 country on the north bank and far inland ; the sellers 
 of the ivory were By-yanzi and Ba-bangi, from the 
 Upper Congo. 
 
 The chief, Ingya, received us good-naturedly, showed 
 us a place to camp near the river, and promised to 
 bring us meat and palm-wine (raalafu). The evening- 
 passed off quietly, I might say agreeably, since decided 
 civility and sociableness marked the intercourse. 
 
 In the morning, however, the natives hinted to us 
 that there was no food to be procured ; and indeed it 
 was evident that they themselves were dependent on 
 other districts for their daily supply of provisions, 
 because they did not cultivate. The entire male 
 population, old and young, of Mfwa could not have 
 exceeded 150. 
 
 Makabi, an important ivory factor resident at Mfwa, 
 who had shown us courtesy on the previous day, was 
 more candid. He distinctly stated that it was better 
 for us to try Malima — whose chief was Gamankono — a 
 larger village higher up the river, where the chief, 
 much superior to Ingya, might be better able to talk 
 with us. 
 
 Within two hours we arrived at Malima, a wide 
 detour having been forced upon us by the black mud 
 and swamps which are a feature of the grass flats on the 
 north bank. ^lalima consisted of about fifty widely 
 scattered huts. Here, however, was a large concourse
 
 296 THE CONGO. 
 
 1881. of By-yanzi visitors for the sale of their ivory ; there 
 
 July 29. -^ -^ 1 11 • 
 
 Maiima. ^veio probaLlj about 400 of them, mostly tall, strapping, 
 broad-chested, rather yellowish fellows, to whom the 
 Bateke appeared black as ink in colour. They made an 
 unusual display of short swords of curious design and 
 beautiful workmanship. 
 
 We were first escorted to the shade of a large tree, 
 where, on a few boxes ranged around, we seated 
 ourselves, wondering at the large circle of people who 
 had gathered in such an insignificant village. 
 
 Presently Gramankono appeared, who, after a close 
 view of his features, I recognised to be the Mankoneh 
 mentioned in the book ' Through the Dark Continent.' 
 But he was so splendid in his dress and state orna- 
 ments that his aspect was very different from that of 
 the stalwart chief of fishermen he appeared to be four 
 years previously. I immediately rose to shake hands 
 with him. The recognition was mutual, aud after he 
 had responded with a hearty clasp, he began an eccen- 
 tric dance, some 400 natives accompanying it with a 
 barbarous chant, which so excited our following that 
 our men also added their voices to the unmelodious 
 singing. 
 
 Meantime a rug which had the picture of a horse on 
 it had been spread out at a respectful distance opposite 
 to us, and a large crimson bolster had been placed on it 
 at one end, then a leopard-skin was spread over the 
 rug. AiiQV the burst of excitement, Gamonkono seated 
 himself on the bolster, his feet resting on the leopard's 
 spoil.
 
 A EETENTIVE MEMOBT. , 297 
 
 While seated in this pride of native state and in this issi. 
 
 ^ . July 29. 
 
 pose his photograph may be taken. In figure he is a Maiima. 
 little larger than the medium size, his features are those 
 of a burly negro ; he has a plain, solid and substan- 
 tial face, befitting a substantial and broad-shouldered 
 person. On his head he wears a thick round cap of 
 knit wool, into which a native artist has worked colours 
 of red, yellow, blue and white woollen twist. His neck 
 is encircled by a collar of many-coiled fine brass wire, 
 out of which project four long spikes of wood, as I 
 suppose, until at a later time I find they are elephant- 
 tail hairs bound in bundles of, perhaps, two dozen. 
 His robe is a tartan check of large red and green 
 squares, while his under-cloth is a bright-patterned 
 print. 
 
 Now ensues the period to speak. The ceremonies of 
 introduction are over, and there is an expectant hush. 
 Through my interpreter I intimate that I had come to 
 see Gamankono and hear from his own lips whether, as 
 Malameen had told me, he had sold his country. If 
 the country were still his own, then what I had to say 
 could be said another day just as well. 
 
 Following the custom which prevails among the 
 people on the Congo, Gamankono began a minute 
 recital of events from the date of my arrival at Stanley 
 P(^ol in 1877. Nothing was omitted, which shows how 
 very retentive the memories of these aborigines are. 
 He could repeat almost every word I had uttered with 
 him, and remembered what presents were exchanged 
 between us.
 
 298 TEE CONGO. 
 
 1881. '• Then," said he, " a long time elapsed, and another 
 
 July 29. 
 
 Maiima, white man came with three canoes. He stayed with 
 Nchuvila of Kinshassa for many days. He had a few 
 men from Makoko with him : he sent word to all of us 
 living at Mfwa and Maiima to come and see him. We 
 went and talked with him, but I heard nothing of 
 selling or giving away a country." 
 
 "But is not Makoko the great king of all this 
 country ?" I asked. 
 
 " There is no jrreat kinor anywhere. "We are all 
 
 c 
 
 kings — each a king over his own village and land. 
 Makoko is chief of Mbe ; I am chief of Maiima ; Inorva 
 is chief of Mfwa ; Ganchu is chief over his land. 
 
 " On the other side, Gambiele is chief of Kimpoko ; 
 Xchuvila is the great chief of Kinshassa. But no one 
 has authority over another chief. Each of us owns 
 his own lands. Makoko is an old chief; he is richer 
 than any of us ; he has more men and guns, but his 
 country is Mbe." 
 
 The meeting shortly afterwards dispersed ; we were 
 then shown to a camping-place, the Europeans and the 
 goods suitably accommodated and stored, and gossip 
 and marketing commenced freely and unrestrainedly. 
 
 Towards night G-amankono and his sons came to my 
 tent, and here we began to reveal to one another our 
 mutual sentiments, from which we soon learned that 
 there really existed no objection in any one's mind to 
 give us a place for a settlement. G-amankono and his 
 two sons were perfectly willing, after the excitement 
 consequent upon our andval had subsided, to enter into
 
 HATE SUPPLANTS FBIENDSEIP. 299 
 
 an agreement cedino; to us permission to reside, build, issi. 
 , . . . Jiiiy 29. 
 
 plant, and sow in the territory of Malima. On this Maiima. 
 
 understanding we parted for the night. 
 
 At dusk, however, Malameen entered the village. 
 He had crossed from Kinshassa on the south bank to 
 ^Ifwa, and, learning that we were at Malima, he had 
 waited until near the evening before he put in an 
 appearance. What fables Malameen uttered about our 
 fondness for meat of tender children will never be 
 jDublished perhaps ; but the effect of what he told them 
 was known when the crier beat his tom-tom in the 
 night, and shouted out along the river bank and amid 
 the huts of the scattered village that Gramankono and 
 Xtaba of Malima had resolved that none of the people 
 should speak with us, or sell us anything any more. 
 
 By morning this notice was magnified into a medi- 
 tated rupture. A woman was caught selling fish to one 
 of my people, and beaten by some of the villagers, while 
 some bold fellows crowded around the tent with broad 
 knives like butchers' cleavers in their hands. The 
 good feelings of yesterday had become replaced by 
 suspicion, if not hatred. Three times I succeeded in 
 inducing Gamankono to come round to apologise for 
 this unlucky state of things. Each time he went away 
 to persuade Ntaba to be friendly, and as often he 
 came back to his village with feelings more and more 
 embittered against us. The By-yanzi were also power- 
 ful advocates in our favour, but Ntaba was inexorable. 
 Finally, perceiving that our presence would likely 
 enough create trouble, I abandoned the effort to
 
 300 THE CONGO. 
 
 1881. influence a man who liad no will of his own, but 
 
 July 30. 
 
 iiaiima. yielded to another, and I gave orders to prepare for 
 departure. 
 
 Gamankono came out of his hut to wish us a farewell, 
 and the column proceeded on its return, with the inten- 
 tion of camping below Mfwa, to open communication 
 with Ngaljema, chief of Ntamo on the south bank. 
 Two runners had, however, preceded us, and, exagge- 
 rating the events wdiich had occurred at Malima, had 
 detailed at Mfwa accounts which led them to believe 
 that a rupture would ensue. Arriving at the path 
 leading to Mfwa, the column w^as halted by a band of 
 the villagers armed with guns. Coming up to this 
 crowd, I had to lecture them upon the absurdity they 
 were committing, and pointed out their weakness as 
 compared with our own, which seemed to satisfy them 
 that to risk a fight with us would be unwise. Then 
 our men were urged on. One or two young natives, 
 with a rather hardened insolence, seemed a trifle too 
 eager, and required to be warned as they flourished 
 their cleavers. Others, again, snatched at various little 
 effects which some of the men carried, and it is impos- 
 sible to say what might have been the result of this 
 rapidly-growing fever for mischief, had not the atten- 
 tion of all been directed at that moment to a number 
 of natives running up to us, shouting out " Tanley, 
 Tanley ! " 
 
 They were almost breathless when they came up. The 
 column was again halted, and then we were informed 
 that Ngalyema of Ntamo, hearing that " Tanley," his
 
 A TIMELY AEEIVAL. 301 
 
 blood-brother, bad arrived, wished to see him, and had issi. 
 
 July 30. 
 
 sent these his well-arraed sons and nephews to conduct xtamo. 
 ns to a camj^ by the river-side nearer Xtamo, where he 
 could come and have an interview with ns, 
 
 Xothing could have been happier than this incident. 
 A^'e willingly acceded to be guided to the camp they 
 suggested. AVe arrived in about an hour and a half at 
 the river-side at a place nearly halfway between Mfwa 
 and the Grordon Bennett.
 
 302 TEE CONGO. 
 
 CHAPTER XYI. 
 
 NGALYEMA OF NTAMO. 
 
 Approaching starvation — Eelief delayed — Threat of Bwabwa NjaU — 
 Arrival of Kgalyema of Ntamo — A blood brother — Prosperity of a 
 native chief — A grasping fraternity — Xgalyema demands my servant 
 Dualla — We meet a Eoman Catholic Mission — Its repxilse by the 
 natives — More demands upon our stores — The cost of our negotiations 
 — Eicher goods required — Arrival in the Zinga district. 
 
 1881. "Whex we encamped on the strip of beach-sand, within 
 
 July 31. 
 
 Ntamo. a few steps of the river's margin, we were not far removed 
 from feeling the pangs of starvation. Unprepared for 
 this complete estrangement on the part of the natives 
 on the upper side of the Gordon Bennett, we had left 
 Bwabwa Njali's village with no more than two days' 
 rations. More than that would have been most weighty 
 and cumbersome. Consisting of bananas and heavy, 
 duff-like bread, the rations that might be procurable 
 were by no means easy to transport. Had the country 
 supplied grain, six, or even eight and ten days' food 
 might have been easily carried. In the interim that 
 elapsed between our departure from Bwabwa Njali's 
 and our arrival at this river camp we had consumed 
 our rations, and it now entirely depended upon the
 
 APPROACHING STARVATION. 303 
 
 good-will of Ngalyema how long we should have to issi. 
 
 July 31. 
 
 endure short commons. Ntamo. 
 
 When, however, the 31st of July passed away, I 
 had to kill our three goats and distribute some small 
 loaves among our own men, for neither canoes nor 
 messengers appeared from Ntamo. 
 
 This great village, or rather town, on account of its 
 magnitude, was distant four miles below us on the 
 southern bank above a broad and spacious baylet, at 
 the lower extremity of the bank which ran sharply 
 towards the north bank, and formed the narrows where 
 the first cataract of the Livingstone series was formed. 
 With a poweiful binocular telescope the landing-place 
 was in full view of us. AVe could note considerable 
 activity of canoe traffic tbere, canoes departing and 
 arriving throughout the day ; but those ascending were 
 for up-river ports, Mfwa, Malima, Kinshassa, and the 
 Kwa river tribes ; none came near to us with even a 
 word of consolation. 
 
 On Monday, the 1st of August, we therefore sent 
 about thirty ration foragers to Bwabwa Njali with the 
 usual cloth and beads to purchase food. They returned 
 in the afternoon with sufficient to last for one day. 
 The chief Bwabwa Njali also came with them. He had 
 lieard of our rejection by his neighbours. He thought 
 it a fine opportunity to act as a go-between. One of 
 our young officers credited him with about ten fathoms 
 of red savelist, worth about £2 in this locality, on the 
 strength of a promise that on the next day he would 
 furnish food if we sent our men to convey it to camp.
 
 304 TEE COXGO. 
 
 1S81. Late in the afternoon a canoe came from Xgalyema 
 
 August 1. m /-« 1 /> 1 
 
 Mamo. under the charge of tall young G-anchu, one ol the 
 chiefs nephews, who brought a message conveying an 
 assurance that we were not forgotten, and with a 
 request for the sable Newfoundland dog "Flora," 
 belono-ing to one of our party. Flora was surrendered 
 at once, poor thing ! 
 
 On the next day we despatched our foragers again, 
 but we were much surprised when they returned several 
 hours later without a particle of food, and with the 
 strange story that Bwabwa Xjali and his men, instead 
 of ferrying them across, had menaced them with mus- 
 kets, and intimated that a general massacre of us would 
 happen in a day or two unless we left the country. 
 The latter, of course, was a fiction invented to intimi- 
 date us from asking for the woollen cloth that he had 
 obtained on credit on the previous day, very few natives 
 being incapable of dishonest practices if they have 
 opportunities of pilfering. 
 
 During the absence of the food-hunters, we heard 
 the drums of Ntamo, and followed with interested eyes 
 the departure of two large canoes from the landing- 
 place, their ascent to the place opposite, and their 
 final crossing over towards us. Then we knew that 
 Ngalyema of Ntamo had condescended to come and 
 visit us. As soon as he arrived 1 recognised him as 
 the Itsi with whom, in 1877, 1 had made blood-brother- 
 hood. During the four years that had elapsed he had 
 become a great man. Xgako, the old chief, a Mbari 
 native, had become old and superannuated. Itsi, grown
 
 NGALYEMA. 305 
 
 licLer by ivory trade with the Bazombo and Bakongo, issi. 
 and become powerful by investing his large profits in xtamo. 
 slaves, guns, and gunpowder, had gradually superseded 
 Ngako. Success in life had considerably developed 
 other ambitions. Itsi aspired to become known as the 
 greatest chief of the country. The Wambundu — an 
 inland people, and the original owners of the land — 
 were slowly falling under his influence by a timid 
 recognition of his greater powers ; and, wheresoever he 
 and others like Bwabwa Njali had obtained their fan- 
 tastic i^rototype, ceremonies of the most finical kind 
 and of tedious leno-th were beino; introduced to shed 
 lustre on this assumption of kingly power. He was 
 now about thirty-four years old, of well-built form, 
 proud in his bearing, covetous and grasping in disposi- 
 tion, and, like all other lawless barbarians, prone to be 
 cruel and sanguinary whenever he might safely vent 
 his evil humour. Superstition had found in him an apt 
 and docile pupil, and fetishism held him as one of its 
 most abject slaves. 
 
 This was the man in whose hands the destinies of 
 the Association Internationale du Congo were held, and 
 upon whose graciousness depended our only hope of 
 being able to efi'ect a peaceful lodgment on the Upper 
 Congo. Had he but known that fact, we should have 
 been obliged to pay a heavier penalty than is con- 
 ceivable to any reader of these pages. This chapter 
 and the succeeding one will, however, portray this 
 African chief in his true colours ])y a simple narration 
 of the events connected with him. 
 
 VOL. I. X
 
 306 
 
 THE COXGO. 
 
 1881. Ngalyema was accompanied by several chiefs of 
 "^Numo^ Ntamo; such as Makabi, :Mubi, old Ngako, and four 
 others. Ngalyema was my brother, of course, but 
 Makabi must have a brother ; Mubi is eager to possess 
 one ; old Xgako presses hard on me to secure him one ; 
 Enjeli, son of Xgalyema, chooses my servant Dualla, and 
 
 XiiAIAEilA, CHIEF OF KIXTAMO. 
 
 Ganchu pounces upon little Mabruki. Indeed, we soon 
 find that the desire for fraternity has become universal. 
 We are in such straits for food, and for some definite 
 landed settlement on the south bank, that we are as 
 yielding and as pliable as they could wish. The native 
 chiefs have brought gifts of goats, pigs, a few loaves of
 
 MY SEBVANT IS DEMANDED. 307 
 
 bread, and gourds of that sociable beverage, palm- wine, 1881. 
 
 August 2. 
 
 without which the sacred ties of brotherhood would xtamo. 
 have been impossible, nor could the gods that favour 
 such beautiful fraternal love be propitiated. The 
 general stock of the expedition was heavily drawn 
 upon to reciprocate these many gifts. It became so 
 expensive, that I more than once regretted that I had 
 so many Europeans, though such sordid thoughts were 
 but temporary. 
 
 My brother being the supreme lord of Ntamo,* as 
 well as the deepest-voiced and most arrogant rogue 
 among the whole tribe, first demanded the two asses, 
 then a large mirror, which was succeeded by a S2:)lendid 
 gold-embroidered coat, jewellery, glass clasps, long brass 
 chains, a figured table-cloth, fifteen other pieces of fine 
 cloth, and a japanned tin box with a " Chubb " lock. 
 
 Finally, gratified by such liberality, Ngalyema sur- 
 rendered to me his sceptre, which consisted of a long 
 staff, banded profusely with brass, and decorated with 
 coils of brass wire, wdiich was to be carried by me, and 
 shown to all men as a sign that I was the brother of 
 Ngalyema of Ntamio ! 
 
 But before departing he had one request to make 
 which for once startled me. He demanded that my 
 servant Dualla should accompany him to Ntamo. After 
 a little pause for reflection, Dualla was despatched with 
 him alone. As he was about going aivay, Ingya of 
 ]\Ifwa appeared with two canoes, and after hearing 
 
 • NtariKj as called \>y the upper river natives is kuowii as Kiutamo to 
 the lower river tribes. 
 
 X 2
 
 308 THE COXGO. 
 
 1881. \vliat 'd happy family of brothers we had all become, 
 
 August 4. ... 1 r !•! 
 
 xtamo. begged to be admitted into the fraternal circle. 
 
 On the 3rd and the 4th of August, we were able to 
 procure food from Gampa, a rival chief of Bwabwa 
 Njali, who lived on tlie western side of the Gordon 
 Bennett. 
 
 On the 5th I went out hunting near the river Gordon 
 Bennett, and at Gampa's ferry met a Catholic priest, 
 and thirty-two of his neophytes from Landana, who 
 had come to take advantage of French annexations by 
 establishing a Roman Catholic Mission on the French 
 territory. I suggested that the Pere should camp 
 where he then was, until he might learn how the 
 natives would regard his coming. 
 
 The Pere, however, relied upon the French flag, and 
 his bugle, which, as he had been a Papal Zouave, he 
 knew well how to sound. He proposed to charm the 
 native ears with bugle-bla-sts, and, as a wilful man must 
 have his way, I desisted from offering advice. 
 
 But the next day the Pere visited our camp, which 
 proved at least that he had not been massacred. He 
 tarried two days longer, in the hope that the natives 
 might be persuaded to permit him to establish his 
 mission, but finally was obliged to return to the coast 
 to wait for a more propitious period. 
 
 On the 6th, Ngalyema returned to us with his accus- 
 tomed stateliness, triumphantly indicating by Dualla's 
 presence that he was not treacherous. But he now 
 required a larger japanned tin box. Then he begged 
 for some more nice cloth ; not cut pieces or fragments,
 
 XEGOTIATIOXS WITH XGALYEMA. 309 
 
 but entire pieces of twenty-four yards eacli ; silk-cotton issi. 
 velvets, red flannel, red cottons of superior quality. \\ e >^-t,jj^^^, 
 possessed none of tliese, but we substituted ten fathoms 
 of red savelist, and a dozen uncut pieces of handkerchiefs, 
 of the total value of £10. Promisino- to consult all his 
 Ijrother chiefs on the proposal to found a settlement 
 at his place, and to return with the final word, he 
 departed. 
 
 AVe waited until the morning of the 11th. Mala- 
 meen came across again from Kinshassa with an 
 invitation from Xchuvila, and a promise that the old 
 chief would permit us to found a station with him. 
 But as we were negotiating with Ngalyema this was 
 impossible, and the invitation was declined for the 
 present. 
 
 At 11 A.M. Xgalyema appeared, bringing five chiefs 
 and three canoes. After a lengthy palaver it was 
 declared that the natives were as yet undecided on the 
 question of receiving any white men among them, as 
 the Bazombo and Bakongo traders were jealous, and 
 had threatened that, as in the event of white men 
 settling in the vicinity of Stanley Pool, they would 
 soon be able to undersell them, they would never return 
 to purchase ivory. However, the chiefs said, " Give us 
 ten of your black people, who will behave themselves, 
 and do you return to your people and cross the river 
 to the south bank, and come up to us in that way. By 
 the time you arrive near Kintamo our people will have 
 had time to consider whether it would not be l>etter 
 after all to have you live with us."
 
 310 . TEE CONGO. 
 
 1881. As this decision was irrevocable on tlieir part, I 
 
 August 11-^, 
 
 Ntamo. finally agreed, and detailed ten Zanzibaris under Susi 
 (Livingstone's head man), with fifteen loads of goods 
 and tools to halt at Ntarao, until we should be able to 
 arrive there by the south bank. 
 
 In summing up the exact cost of the articles with 
 which we had purchased this favour from the chiefs of 
 Ntamo, the total value was found to amount to £210, 
 exclusive of the two asses and the Newfoundland dog. 
 Besides the promise of a concession from the chiefs, we 
 had received : 1 ivory tusk, weight 15 lbs. ; 50 loaves 
 of bread. 2 pigs, 1 goat, G gourds of palm-wine, 6 cola 
 nuts, and the chief's staff, as pledge that the agreement 
 would be kept inviolate. 
 
 As we were returning to the advancing expedition, 
 we reflected upon the various experiences of native 
 manners and customs gathered during our patient inter- 
 course with Ngalyema and his people, and among other 
 things it became evident to us, that though we had 
 sufficient goods of the proper quality to purchase food 
 at the markets, and to exchange gifts with the small 
 chiefs inland, or along the river in the cataract region, 
 yet we were but poorly provided to negotiate with such 
 superb creatures as these ivory-trading chiefs around 
 Stanley Pool. My native servant, who had accom- 
 panied Ngalyema to his village, had been commissioned 
 to employ his eyes and wits while staying at the 
 village ; and availing himself of his opportunities, he 
 had inspected Ngalyema's treasures. In one hut be- 
 longing to this chief he had seen about 150 tusks
 
 RICHER GOODS REQUIRED. 311 
 
 of ivoiy, mostly large tusks of from 50 to 90 lbs. each; issi. 
 
 f» -n 1 11 August 11, 
 
 in another he had viewed piles of silk, velvet, rugs, bales xtamo. 
 of blanket clotli, glass ware, crockery, gunpowder, and 
 stacks of brass rods, &c. As I have no reason to sup- 
 pose that there was any exaggeration in this report, 
 it was clear that his stores of cloth were far greater 
 than the united properties of stuffs of all the chiefs 
 from Boma to the Gordon Bennett. His wealth in 
 ivory alone must have amounted to £1800. Estima- 
 ting his entire wealth at £8000 worth of marketable 
 goods, exclusive of his armed slaves, and considering 
 the nature of his demands for even the promise of a 
 concession — which was eventually as likely to be broken 
 as to be kept — it was clear to us that to purchase his 
 best influence in our favour at Ntamo we should have 
 to be supplied with goods much superior in quality 
 to any that I had as yet seen on the Congo. The 
 traders on the Lower Congo required only such cheap 
 goods as cotton stripes, twills, domestics, and prints, 
 with blanket stuffs ; but the Bazombo and Bakongo had 
 access to seaports where superior goods were always 
 in stock for the purchase of ivory. 
 
 Agreeably with these considerations I despatched 
 Lieut. Yalcke on tlie 13th of August to St. Paul de 
 Loanda, with cash and bills amounting to £500, to 
 purchase silks, velvets, fine flannel and crimson clotli, 
 earnestly impressing on him the necessity of being- 
 expeditious and active. 
 
 On the 21st of August we met Mr. Lindner, at 
 Mpakambendi, who had just succeeded ni storing liis
 
 bendi. 
 
 312 TEE coy GO. 
 
 " 1881. goods on the plateau. The steamers were below :n 
 
 AugTist 21. ^ 
 
 Mpakam- the river at the landing-place. This gentleman waf^ 
 relieved two days later, and despatched to the south 
 bank at ^lanyanga, to purchase and lease ground in 
 that locality at some eligible place, which, since the 
 sonth bank at Stanley Pool was to be our destination, 
 was most necessary for us. 
 
 B}- the 24th we had reached the plateau with all the 
 wagons, and an advance camp had been formed near 
 the Lukuluzi Eiver. Thirty men were detailed under 
 Albert to make a bridge over tliis stream, and to 
 continue road-making while the rest of the expedition 
 conveyed goods and liauled the wagons. 
 
 So rapid was our progress with the fresh strength 
 lent to us by the late recruits, that by the 31st of 
 August we were in Zinga district, eleven miles from 
 Mpakambendi.
 
 London Sampson Low, Marsttin , Searle &■ Rivin|to]i .
 
 ZINGA. 313 
 
 CHAPTER XYIl. 
 
 SETTLEMENT AT STANLEY POOL. 
 
 The ouhi study of mankind is man — " Killing the road " — A broken axle- 
 tree— Braconnier's accident — -We encounter Susi — " The news from 
 Xgalyema is good and bad"— Ivory-traders' intrigues — Ngalyema in 
 reality a powerless chief — Our " appetite for black babies " — lyumbi 
 mountain — -Makoko — A six-foot beard — Overtures to Makoko — 
 His reply — " But, my friend, remember we own the coi;ntry " — Mild 
 but valorous — " Influential " men — Makoko gives me his sword — 
 Ngalyema comes to fight — ^Our preparations for war — A ruse — Ngal- 
 yema comes to the camp — A dissembling welcome — Masked hostility 
 — " What nice thing has my brother brought ? " — " Make up your 
 mind that I go to or near Kintamo " — A war fetish — The signal of the 
 gong — " Strike — strike it, I tell you ! " — My force spring xip like 
 armed madmen — A general stampede — Success of the ruse — " Ah, I 
 was not afraid, was I ? " — Peace, brotherhood, and conviviality. 
 
 I NOW publish the notes I wrote the 1st of September issi. 
 
 Sejit. 1. 
 
 at Zinga — a place which will ever be memorable to me zinga. 
 as that from which I viewed the sad end of Francis 
 Pocock in 1877. 
 
 " The only thing left to the traveller to study in this 
 region is the human aborigine. His gun, which he 
 always faithfully carries with him, loaded with scraps 
 of iron and copper, has driven away every other 
 creature except such as are domesticated and subject 
 to liis interests.
 
 314 THE CONGO. 
 
 1881. '• He is not a bad fellow, provided the traveller lias 
 
 Sept. 1. ... 
 
 zinga. the happy fortune to impress him with confidence that 
 he risks no personal interest or inconvenience in accept- 
 ing him as a friend. He is somewhat of a traveller 
 himself, and this in a manner creates a fellow-feeling ; 
 but he is easily provoked to cry out ' Mandaka mabi,' 
 or ' Evil designs/ and if he is really serious, and cannot 
 be persuaded to think otherwise, previous acts of friend- 
 ship or kindness are soon forgotten, coolness follows, 
 and a drinking-bout at a market gathering will serve 
 to increase the trouble, and, to use his own words, ' The 
 road is dead.' He is aware that to ' kill the road ' is to 
 incur punishment or retribution elsewhere, unless he 
 means to retire from the caravan business. As he has 
 meted out to others, he is in danger of its being meted 
 to him, if he travels away from home. The bruit of 
 the rupture soon spreads over a wide area, and the 
 name of the offending district and village is exten- 
 sively published. At the same time he is such a 
 thoughtless being, especially on a drinking-spree, that, 
 forgetful of this, he often gives vent to a raging 
 humour. 
 
 " To an expedition of some strength whose only 
 object was exploration, this rupture and closing of the 
 road would matter little beyond the bad repute of 
 having successfully forced its way through ; but to one 
 like ours, which hopes to make every man useful, for 
 all time to come, to himself and country and tribe, it 
 would be lamentable, if not fatal. Howsoever we might 
 emerge from a conflict, a delay of many months would
 
 niLARIOUS NATIVES. 315 
 
 ensue, besides vexatious parleying and explanation, and issi, 
 
 S^pt. 1. 
 
 extravagant presents to every person of consequence. zinga. 
 
 " To-day the natives returned from tlie market are 
 very hilarious, even in a worse state in many cases, 
 proving that many gourds of palm-wine have been 
 emptied. They are very numerous round the camp ; but 
 fortunately we have surrounded it with brushwood, not 
 against attack, but to prevent a temptation to it during 
 their arrogant moods, and to prevent them from laying 
 their hands on property not belonging to them. If 
 they were much tempted and unreasonable in their 
 inebriety, it might lead them to commit acts which they 
 would ever regret afterwards. 
 
 "There are six chiefs in Zinga district, Mvula, 
 Monanga, Nzabu, Makanga, Kiubi, and Nsaka. In 
 the aggregate these govern eighteen villages, aver- 
 aging fifteen houses, or grass huts, each, say altogether 
 about 270 houses, spread over an area of about fifteen 
 square miles. If we allow five souls to each house, Zinga 
 district will have a population of 2,350 souls, or ninety 
 souls to the square mile. 
 
 " Close to Zinga are many populous districts. East 
 lie Mowa and Massassa ; west are ]\Ibelo, Bukala, Suki, 
 Kilanga, and Kinzore. 
 
 " I perceive, by looking around from my camp, that 
 these several communities have settled near or under 
 the groves which crown the summit of almost every 
 hill; that they are ancient for a country left to the hap- 
 hazard care of patriarchal chiefs ignorant of written 
 laws.
 
 316 THE CONGO. 
 
 1881. "Monanf>-o and Lis brother Mviila are very old meu, 
 
 Sept. 1. ^ • / . . . 
 
 zinga. probably near eigbty. Yangassa of Nzabi district is 
 white-beaded ; in the village of Mpakambendi there were 
 three men between sixty and eighty years old. None 
 of these aged men know of any other grove as the land- 
 mark of his village, but that which rises high above his 
 grass-covered hamlet, and affords him friendly protec- 
 tion from the sun during his open-air meetings. 
 
 "The oldest, tallest, and most conspicuous tree for 
 height, girth, and umbrageousness may be 200 years 
 old. It was not by an accident it grew there ; of that 
 one feels assured by comparing the hill on which it 
 grows with other hills. It was planted by the founder 
 of the community which now flourishes under its shade. 
 No disastrous event can have marred the growth of the 
 groves, though the community must have often suffered 
 from small-pox, dysentery, fetishism, and internecine 
 squabbles. Had the community utterly perished, the 
 grove had died ; the fires during the month of August, 
 September and October recurring at each year penetrate 
 further and further in such cases until at last the wild 
 grass covers all. 
 
 "Reflecting on these things_, a certain amount of 
 respect is inspired in one as he gazes reflectively upon 
 the scene. I am not ashamed to confess to feeling even 
 something like reverence, — not for the hutted village, 
 for the huts are mere mushrooms, scarcely one of 
 them being older than three years — not for the in- 
 dividuals who own the houses, for few of them can 
 boast of having seen three generations, — but for the
 
 BBIDGE OVER THE IXKISSL 317 
 
 community collectively wliicli, despite many vicissitudes, issi. 
 
 •Ill- • Sept. 1. 
 
 sad domestic events, evils belonging to crassest igno- ^ino-a. 
 ranee, low morals, &c., has maintained its own, clung 
 together, and flourished, become possessed of traditions, 
 and still promises, if it can bear the influence of these 
 novel events, of iron steamers, engines and strange 
 objects rolling overland close to its villages without 
 convulsion, to last for many generations yet." 
 
 On September 2nd, the axle-tree of the boiler wagon 
 snapped in two. We took out the piece of English elm, 
 which had arrived from the honest English wagon- 
 maker only about a year ago. It was perfectly rotten. 
 Externally it looked a piece of fine wood well painted. 
 It was four feet one inch long, seven inches by five 
 inches thick, and only weighed twenty-three pounds ! 
 An exact duplicate of this made in African guaiacum 
 weighed eighty-one pounds. 
 
 Across the Inkissi River Albert built a strong bridge, 
 over which the five-ton wagons rolled safely. 
 
 On tlie 14th of September, being incapacitated with 
 a slight fever, I turned the command over to Lieut. 
 Braconnier, and, for the first time, he had cliarge of 
 the wagons. I requested him to take them down the 
 slope of a hill to a camp at the river-side. Five minutes 
 after he had taken the command, he was brought 
 back, supported between two men ; he was limping, 
 and deathly pale, his body considerably bruised, and 
 his shirt in tatters. Some confused command had been 
 given, while the wagon was on the slope. This caused 
 a misunderstanding, in the midst of which the boiler
 
 1881. 
 Sept. 14. 
 
 Zincra. 
 
 318 
 
 THE CONGO. 
 
 wagon sliot down the hill, and one of the trailing ropes 
 gliding swiftly down caught the officer, and dragged 
 him over the rough road at a frightful speed until the 
 wagon ran into a tree, smashing the shafts, and damaging 
 the boiler. Fortunately, beyond a severe bruising and 
 a shock to the nerves, the officer suffered no harm. 
 
 
 THE NARBOWS NEAR MSAMPALA. 
 
 He was, however, placed on the sick list, and left at 
 a small ferry which we established at Kinsende' a few 
 days later, where he remained for several weeks. 
 
 On the 18th of September our boats were in the 
 Congo again, to avoid the terribly broken country east 
 of the Inkissi, and which continues to beyond Kinduta. 
 By the river we ascended past Msampala's narrows,
 
 IVOBY-TEADEES INTRIGUES. 319 
 
 Avliere tlie Congo is only 400 yards wide, sometimes issi. 
 by ropes helping the steamer through the rapids imtil Ki^Lende 
 we arrived at the confluence of the Lnbamba with the 
 Congo at the foot of the Lady Alice Eapids. Here the 
 expedition on the 11th of October crossed to the south 
 bank, to a small cove in Kinsende district, the chief 
 of which is Luemba. 
 
 Four days later a road, that cost much labour, had 
 been made to the Ufuvu River, the steamer, the boiler 
 and engines had been mounted on their respective 
 wagons, and were preparing to depart, when two shots 
 were fired on the opposite side, and through the bino- 
 cular I recognised Susi and his squad from Kintamo 
 with the asses that we had given Ngalyema. The 
 whale-boat in a short time transported the people across, 
 and as Susi's tale was interesting, I will give it in his 
 own words : — 
 
 " The news from Ngalyema is good and bad. That 
 moon ill which you left us at Kintamo passed peacefully 
 away without troul)le, but the next moon, some native 
 traders from Zombo came, and asked us what we wanted 
 in the country. ' Leave tliem alone,' said Ngalyema. 
 ' What is that to you ? They are staying in my 
 village ; they therefore must be my friends.' From 
 the people, however, they learn that Ngalyema had 
 invited a white man to settle with him, and that we 
 wore the white man's people. ' Very well,' said they ; 
 'if that is the case the country is dead; we come 
 no more. It will ]je no place for trade' for us if the 
 wliite man comes. They left Kintamo, and went to
 
 320 THE CONGO. 
 
 1881. the Wambundii, the real owners of the country — for 
 
 October 15. 
 
 Kinsendc. Ngaljema himself has no country. AVhat he has been 
 saying to you about his being a big king, and all that, 
 is all boasting. The Wambundu, not having seen any 
 white man, were frightened, and came storming to 
 Ngalyema, asking, ' Is this the way you behave, after 
 we gave you ground to live on and trade ; that you take 
 upon yourself to say who shall come into the country ? 
 Yery well ; we shall kill your trade, your markets shall 
 be closed, and you will die of hunger.' For several 
 days there w^as no market, and the ^^eople began to 
 suffer for want of food. Then Ngalyema's chiefs and 
 great men came to him, and insisted that we should be 
 sent away, otherwise they would go, and live at Kin- 
 shassa. 
 
 " Ngalyema stood alone against them, for a few days 
 more, but it was clear to us that he would have to yield 
 before long. We had not long to wait. He said to us 
 one day, ' You must go back to your father. Take the 
 goods and the asses with you. I send the asses because 
 they have a great name, and much of this trouble has 
 arisen because of them.' Then I said, ' Our father gave 
 us fifteen loads here, and we are but eleven men ; how 
 can we carry all of them ? ' He replied, 'That is nothing 
 to me. Do you not see that the country will die if you 
 stay here longer ? Go and tell your father not to come 
 on this side, but to return and build with Bwabwa 
 Njali.' He put us into a canoe, and w^e travelled from 
 Kintamo here, having paid seven pieces of cloth to that 
 wicked Bwabwa Njali. I have ended."
 
 OUR ''APPETITE FOR BLACK BABIES^ 321 
 
 In the narrative of Susi, despite the apparent issi. 
 
 . Oct. 15. 
 
 gloominess of our prospects, I found one piece of con- Ki„seiuie. 
 soling information. Ngalyema, in our absence, over- 
 awed by the unanimous hostile feeling of the ivory- 
 traders at Kintamo, had at last yielded to their wish to 
 sever all connection with the white men^ and we might 
 no doubt be assured that he would become as active 
 an opponent as he had been a friend. But it tran- 
 spired that Susi, during a residence of a few weeks 
 there, had discovered that Ngalyeraa's fine assumption 
 of principal chieftainship was simply vanity and arro- 
 gance. Ho was a Mteke ivory-trader, who owned 
 a large number of armed slaves, one of many similar 
 chiefs in the territory of the Wambundu. Kintamo, or 
 Ntamo, then, w\as merely a village of a foreign com- 
 munity. True, the Wambundu did not appear to be 
 very friendly to us ; but they had never seen the white 
 men, and it was but natural that the Bazombo and 
 Bakongo traders from the coast — as these coast middle- 
 men have been the bane of all advance of Europeans 
 from the West Coast of Africa — would excel in artful 
 word-painting of our fiendish qualities, our insatiable 
 appetite for l)lack babies, &c. Therefore the expedition 
 wjis ordered forward, and the wagons were hauled 
 that day to the Ufuvu River. 
 
 On the 4th of November our camp was on the 
 summit of lyumbi mountain, 245') feet above the sea, 
 ami 1 450 feet above the Congo at its base. 
 
 Since leaving the Ufuvu River, we had made sections 
 of road in advance of the wagons. Then, all united, 
 
 VOL. r. Y
 
 322 
 
 THE COXGO. 
 
 1881 
 Xov. 4. 
 
 Iviimbi. 
 
 we advanced with tliem, first across the plateau, then 
 into the Mpalanga Gorge, and across the pretty clear- 
 water stream of that name, over another stretch of 
 grassy plateau and into another gorge, then across 
 another pretty stream, and so on in succession of gorges 
 and plateaus until we came to the beautiful Lulu liiver, 
 
 
 THE CASCADES OF THE MPALAXGA. 
 
 rejoicing in pretty little falls and cascades. After the 
 Lulu we crossed the Kiki stream, and after the Kiki, 
 we crossed the Loa River, whence we emerged in full 
 view of lyumbi Mountain. 
 
 Provisions were abundant, and the temper of the 
 natives excellent. Our slow jorcgress through their 
 district was in fact an excellent education for them.
 
 lYUMBI MOUNTAIN. 323 
 
 They understood very well why the Bazombo traders issi. 
 had spread those absurd rumours about us. Fond of lyumbL 
 trading a little themselves, it did not take long to 
 prove to them that it was mere jealousy that inspired 
 the traders' hostility to the entry of the white man into 
 a region which for generations they had exploited for 
 the large profits obtainable in the ivory trade. 
 
 Lono: before we had surmounted the summit of 
 lyumbi Mountain we were thoroughly informed in the 
 politics of the country. Since leaving the ferry of 
 Kinsende we had heard of a Makoko who, by reason 
 of his seniority and the rank and powers of his 
 father, was regarded as the umpire and referee in all 
 disputes among minor chiefs between Kinsende Ferry 
 and Kintamo. His immediate district lay on the 
 Kintamo side of lyumbi Mountain. Next to him in 
 rank were Ngamberengi and Kimpalampala, and after 
 these came a host of minor chiefs owning small vil- 
 lages, every other mile or so, all along the road to 
 Kintamo. The people of these villages w^erc called 
 Wambundu, sometimes Banfumu, or Freemen, a very 
 ancient people, for in the very earliest accounts of this 
 region will be found mention of them. Their territory 
 begins at the Inkissi River, and extends to Kintamo, a 
 length of 45 miles. 
 
 At first Makoko had sent word prohibiting the sale 
 of food to the white people, lest the country might die. 
 We bore it ungrudgingly, though it imposed on us the 
 necessity of halting every three days to permit our 
 people to go great distances to purchase provisions. 
 
 Y 2
 
 324 
 
 THE COXGO. 
 
 1881. But as favourable reports were daily carried forward 
 lyumbi. t)y the country people, this prohibition was withdrawn, 
 
 provisions flowed abundantly, and everybody became 
 
 sanguine of success. 
 
 From the broad summit of lyumbi Mountain we 
 
 may have a wide-sweeping view over a panorama 
 
 
 LOOKING TOWARDS THE ST AN LI 
 
 of billows and hollows covering an area of 2000 
 square miles. Its commanding altitude will enable 
 generations of tourists in time to come to thoroughly 
 understand, by one round glance, the character and 
 features of the region of the Lower Congo. Towards the 
 north-east they will obtain the first glimpse of Stanley 
 Pool, sixteen miles distant. Dover Cliffs at sunset
 
 VIEW FHOJI lYUMBI MOUNTAIN. 325 
 
 will show tlieir white glistening walls, and every peak 1881. 
 at the entrance to the Upper Congo will be easily clis- i^-unibi. 
 tinguished ; in an air line, they are about thirty-five 
 miles away. To the southward we now can. see our 
 red road conspicuously winding past palm clusters and 
 hamlets, dipping into the green wooded hollows, and 
 rising up the lengthy slopes. Even Mowa is distinctly 
 visible, while the twin peaks near Nsangu Ferry offer 
 unmistakable landmarks. If we look on the rio:ht bank 
 of the Congo, all the land from Mowa to Dover Cliffs, 
 a distance of seventy miles, is clearly mapped out, with 
 its numberless wrinkles and irregularities softened by 
 distance to mere trifles. The south bank is likewise 
 seen of similar length and irregularities ; while between, 
 the Congo's gorge may be easily followed until it is 
 lost in the blue. The land is fair to look upon, and 
 were it possible to be in possession of a tithe of the 
 ordinary necessaries of a civilised life, and to be able to 
 communicate Ireely and safely with civilisation, a 
 residence on the best parts of this breezy ridge, with 
 such a daily prospect, would by no means be considered 
 a privation. 
 
 The adv.'ince pioneer guard prepared a road down to 
 the village of Ngoma's, which lay at the end of a spur 
 projecting westward, and planted the white store tents. 
 .Vs they were seen by us from lyumbi, they looked like 
 mere snowballs, amid a general greenness of trees, 
 shrubs, palm groves, and bananas. Four caravan jour- 
 nays completed the transport of tlie gO(xls, and a hard 
 day's work cndcMl wIlli [lie arrival of tlie entire Ibrce in
 
 326 
 
 THE CONGO. 
 
 1881. 
 Nov. 7. 
 
 Usansi. 
 
 Usansi, at a camp not a tliousaiid yards distant from 
 the village of the senior chief of the region, Makoko. 
 
 On the 7th of November the man, who was reported 
 by all the natives on the south bank to be the arbiter 
 of all questions relating to territory between Kintompe 
 and Stanley Pool, appeared in our camp with an im- 
 posing following of neiglibouring chiefs, Bazombo and 
 
 A VIEW FKOM A CAMP. 
 
 Bakongo ivory-traders. Not that he had sufficient 
 authority to command such an attendance, but man 
 is a gregarious animal, and naturally of a curious, in- 
 quisitive mind. A caravan having arrived from the 
 coast, and its members suddenly viewing this tented 
 camp in the Usansi hollow, in the immediate neighbour- 
 hood of Makoko's village, and hearing that Makoko
 
 MAKOKO. 327 
 
 was going* to visit the white man who bore the name issi. 
 of " Breaker of Rocks," of whom they had heard fre- L'>aiisi^ 
 qiientlj, had, out of sheer curiosity, joined their number 
 to others inspired with the same idea. 
 
 Xow, it would have been difficult to say which of us 
 was most curious to see the other. As Makoko had 
 been daily informed, during some months, of my doings, 
 I, on the other hand, for some weeks, had become 
 impressed with the fact that Makoko was to decide the 
 future of the Congo State. 
 
 One look at Makoko satisfied me that he was not 
 going to be a stern opponent. Such a little man, five 
 foot nothino- hio-h, with such a o-uileless, innocent look 
 on his thin meagre face, could surely allow his goodwill 
 to be purchased if there was any merit in cloth and 
 amiability ! He came forward bravely, annoimced 
 himself as Makoko, lord of that region between Kin- 
 tompe and Stanley Pool_, and held out his hand with a 
 kindly smile. An old man, probably sixty, with a tall 
 narrow forehead, temples deeply sunk, a pair of small 
 eyes gleaming brightly out of deep cavities, cheek- 
 bones very prominent, face thin, a curled beard on his 
 cliin, which proved, when at a later period he unrolled 
 it, to be six feet in length ! 
 
 His mat, covered with a leopard skin, had been pre- 
 pared to receive him. He pointed his finger at the 
 leopard-skin before seating himself, and said, " There is 
 the proof of my titles." 
 
 There were about 100 people present at this meeting, 
 and all were now seated expecting words from me.
 
 328 THE COXGO. 
 
 1881. I began, " People call me Bula Matari (Rock-breaker). 
 
 Nov. 7. ^ 
 
 Usansi. I^ old timcs I \vas known to Kintamo as Stanle3\ I 
 am the fir.st Mundele seen by the natives of this 
 country. I am the man who went down the great 
 river with many canoes and many men years ago. I 
 lost many men in that river, but I promised my friends 
 at Kintamo that I would come back some day. I reached 
 the white man's land, but, remembering my promise, I 
 liave come back. I have been to Mfwa already. The 
 people of Mfwa have forgotten me, but the people of 
 Kintamo have remained true. I saw them again, and 
 Ngalyema asked me to return to my people, and lead 
 them along the south Ijauk to his village. Here is his 
 staff as a sign that I speak the truth. I am going to 
 him, to live with him, and to build a town alongside 
 of his village ; and when that is done, I will put the 
 boats you see on the wagons here into the water, and 
 I will go up the great river, and see if I can build more. 
 That is my story. Let Makoko speak to his friend and 
 say if it is good." 
 
 After a short pause, during which there was a good 
 deal of whispering, Makoko in a very quiet manner 
 and low voice, which gradually became stronger as he 
 proceeded with his speech, said : 
 
 " We have heard, day after day for many moons, of 
 Bula Matari. When we heard that he was breaking- 
 rocks, and cutting wide roads through the forests, we 
 became a little anxious. What manner of man is this ? 
 we asked, who treats the country in this way. Does he 
 mean to destroy it ? Then we suddenly heard of Bula
 
 0VERTUDE8 TO JIAKOKO. 329 
 
 Matari at Kintamo, and the word was whispered around issi. 
 
 Nov. 7. 
 
 that you had made a league with Ngalyema to take the usansi. 
 country from us. Then we all got angry, for who is 
 Ngalyema that he should do this thing ? Is he not a 
 runaway from the Bateke country who asked us for a 
 place to build a house that he might trade? Has he 
 not grown rich and great through our kindness to 
 him ? Little enough, people, have any of us received 
 from him. Yet he pretends to own all the land for 
 himself now. 
 
 " Well, your people had to leave Kintamo. We 
 did that. For how could you do what you proposed 
 without hearing from us ? Then we said, If the white 
 man despises us, the real owners of the land, then he is 
 a bad man, and there will be war. 
 
 " But now you are passing through our country to 
 Kintamo. We have heard of you daily. We are 
 pleased with what we have heard. We now know that 
 you break rocks and cut trees to pass your boats over 
 the country. That is right. It is all good. But, my 
 friend, remember that we own the country. Neither 
 Ngalyema nor any of the Bateke who buy ivory at 
 Kintamo, Kinshassa, and Kindolo, have any country 
 on this side of the river." 
 
 Then followed a murmuring approval of this speech 
 from the assembly. 
 
 When the applause had subsided, my response was 
 as follows: "You have spoken well, Makoko. Thougli 
 I passed through the country years ago, I knew nothing 
 of native laws, customs, or rights. You all seemed very
 
 330 
 
 THE CONGO. 
 
 1881. 
 Nov. 7. 
 
 Usansi. 
 
 much alike. Until lately I could not tell the difference- 
 at sight hetween one of the Bateke and an Mbundu.. 
 I thought you all black men, and it takes a long time 
 for a white man to tell the difference between one black 
 face and another, just as it will take you a long time tO' 
 tell the difference between Bula Matari and one of his 
 sons. Therefore, for speaking to Ngalyema about the 
 country before T knew Makoko, you will forgive me.. 
 I now speak to Makoko, and ask him 
 what has he to say to my request 
 for land near Kintamo, or somewhere 
 near the river, where my boats can 
 come and go safely ?" 
 
 " Only this," replied Makoko,. 
 kindly, " that I am glad to see Bula 
 Matari and his sons. Eest in peace. 
 Land shall be o'iven to vou where it 
 will suit you to build. I want to see- 
 plenty of white men here. I have 
 many things given me long ago from 
 the white men's land, and I have 
 often wished to see those who could 
 make such wonderful things. I am 
 told you people make all the cloth, the beads, the guns, 
 the powder, plates, and glasses. Ah ! you must be 
 great and good people. Be easy in your mind. You 
 shall build in Kintamo, and I should like to see the 
 man who says No, to Makoko's Yes." 
 
 The mild old man, so little and weak in frame, w^as 
 actually valorous ! Comfort he certainly imparted to- 
 
 OXE OF THE EATEKE.
 
 *^ influential'' men. 331 
 
 me ; but how mucli reliance in himself could not yet issi. 
 be defined. However we treasured his words. Usansi. 
 
 Under the cheerful influence of his softness of speech 
 w^e accepted his gifts of palm-wine, goats, fowls, and 
 l)ananas, and reciprocated them in the spirit of men who 
 had been just gratified with a life's desire. Perhaps we 
 were over liberal at this first meeting, but then we were 
 overjoyed. We gave largely also to his four wives, 
 beads to his children, and draped most of his principal 
 men in cloth. Finally, Makoko introduced a man 
 named Ngako, wlio was the brother of an Mbundu chief, 
 who owned the land near Kintamo. We gave him 
 twelve whole cloths, a cap, a blanket, a mirror, a few 
 white-handled table knives, and endowed him with 
 various other trifles. After the pile of gifts were made 
 I'eady, ^lakoko appeared with Ngako to receive them. 
 Makoko counted the gifts over, re-sorted them in a 
 curious manner, and took with him over one half of 
 them for his own share without demur from the other. 
 
 A little later Makoko appeared with another man, 
 and ascribed to him also considerable influence on the 
 shores of Stanley Pool, to which I only answered, 
 " Indeed. Well, I am really glad to see you." But no 
 present of clotli came, and I fancied that Makoko's 
 dark face — made darker by the soot of mourning — 
 efl'used a stronger odour and a few more beads of 
 perspiration. 
 
 Before the evening of a very pleasant happy day 
 came, Makoko said to me, " Ngalyema gave you his 
 staff to show tlie people he was your friend. Take
 
 oSZ THE CONGO. 
 
 1881. this sword from Makoko as a si^-ii that Biila Matari is 
 Usaiisi. Makoko's brother." 
 
 With a mind emancipated from all anxiety, and at 
 peace witli the whole world, so far as I knew, I was 
 about to retire for the night, when a messenger from 
 Makoko craved admittance to my tent with a message 
 which boded trouble on the morrow, perhaps war. 
 
 Said he, " Makoko has sent me to tell you that 
 Ngalyema, and all the chiefs of Ntamo, with about 200 
 guns, have arrived at his village. Ngalyema has already 
 been trying to engage Ngamberengi, Kimpalampala, 
 and others to assist him. He has also asked Makoko to 
 help him to fight you, and drive you back. He says he 
 does not want you, or any white man, near him, as no 
 Bakongo trader would ever come near him if you did. 
 But Makoko has sent me to tell you to sleep in peace, 
 and that if Ngalyema fights he will cut the road between 
 here and Kintamo, and his guns will help you to- 
 morrow." 
 
 This was not very agreeable news, nor calculated to 
 produce slumber and calm forgetfulness. To have 
 travelled twelve miles so swiftly and suddenly indicated 
 on the part of Ngalyema earnestness of purpose, and 
 a determination to nip my hopes of peaceful settlement 
 just as they had emerged in full bloom. 
 
 Tuesday, November the 8th, began with a drizzling 
 rain, but at ten o'clock the sun shone, and the day 
 promised to continue fair. 
 
 Ngoma's village, near which we were camped, was 
 situated on a narrow but level-faced spur, extending
 
 PBEPABIXG FOB WAB. 
 
 from the eastern flank of lyumLi Monnt. It was one issi. 
 
 Nov. 8. 
 
 of several such spurs, separated from one another by usausi. 
 wooded, scrubby gorges — the sources of several small 
 crystal streams. On the next spur to that which we 
 occupied stood Makoko's residential village, and it was 
 from this direction we expected Ngalyema's approach. 
 To approach our camp after declaration of hostilities 
 was therefore impossible, if we chose to take him at 
 his word, witliout risk of utter extermination. Ngal- 
 yema, though a barbarian, was too astute a person to 
 commence operations in this manner. More probably, 
 on the strength of previous brotherhood and mutual 
 exchange of civilities, he would enter the camp with 
 a bland face and an affectation of fraternal love, with 
 ostentatious and noisy greeting, and trust to surprise 
 in the midst of social drinking of ]3alm-wine, <S:c., &c. 
 
 I sent my tent-boy to tell the people to muster on 
 the furthest side of the hill, to bo out of view of any 
 spies wlio might be on the watch at Makoko's hill. In 
 a few minutes I proceeded there myself, and found the 
 men all assembled. 
 
 The instructions I gave them there were brief, and 
 such as they could easily remember. 
 
 " Go, each of you to his own hut ; put your cartridge 
 bolts on. See that your cartridges are in your pouches. 
 Place your guns under your sleeping mats or grass 
 l)cds. All of you then, excepting Susi's men (twenty), 
 scatter yourselves about in the bush on this side of the 
 liill. Some lie down in the En Avanf in tlie wagon; 
 some of you behind my tent ; a dozen in tlie store tent;
 
 334 THE CONGO. 
 
 issi. some of you pretend to be sick in your liiits. No matter 
 
 Xov. 8. . 
 
 Usansi. l^ow many people are m the camp, or what you may 
 hear, do not stir from your places until you hear the 
 gong ; but when you hear the gong struck, then all 
 run and seize your guns, and rush up all of you, 
 yelling like madmen ; flourish your guns about wildly, 
 and so on, like the Ruga-Huga of Unyamwezi. Do 
 you understand ? " 
 
 ^' Inshallah ! " they cried. 
 
 Susi's detachment were instructed to seat themselves 
 about in the open, and assume a listless and indifferent 
 attitude. 
 
 A quarter of an hour later a long line of men W' ere 
 seen descending Makoko's hill to the bottom of the 
 valley intervening between it and our own. I counted 
 197 persons, inclusive of all ranks, who were in 
 . Ngalyema's expedition. Drum, trumpet, and native 
 music announced that the chief had assumed state and 
 ceremony for this occasion. Before any of them had 
 shown themselves on our hill I was seated in a chair in 
 the front of my tent, reading a book. I cast furtive 
 glances about, and saw my own camp almost abandoned, 
 except by a few Zanzibaris, some of whom were alto- 
 gether over-acting their parts by pretending to be 
 half asleep. 
 
 Keeping my eyes hidden by the vizor of my cap, I 
 noted the quick glance thrown around the apparently 
 abandoned camp by the advancing natives. When 
 about a third of their number had entered the camp 
 I rose, at the same time the near sound of the not
 
 A DISSEMBLING WELCOME. 335 
 
 inharmonious music informed me that No-alyema was issi. 
 
 Nov. 8. 
 not far off. Usansi. 
 
 I advanced towards them, and when Ngalyema finally 
 came, gave him an effusive welcome. I turned sharply 
 round to Susi, and pretended to scold him well for not 
 preparing mats, sails, &c., to spread on the ground 
 for my dear brothers and friends of Kintamo. 
 
 Ngalyema was moody-browed, stiff, most unbrotherly 
 ill his responses to my w^elcome, while I looked like 
 one almost ready to leap into his arms w^ith an irre- 
 pressible affection. Makabi was cold and repelling ; 
 Mubi grim and defiant ; Ganchu seemed like a young- 
 leopard eager for bloody sport ; young Enjeli acted 
 surely like one who had suddenly come of age, so well 
 he aped the man. 
 
 " Come, my brethren, friends, sit down. Tell Ngal- 
 yema, Susi, through Enjeli there, who know^s Kikongo 
 so well, how glad I am at seeing them all. Though it 
 is very sudden, I take this visit and to have come so 
 lar to see Bula Matari as most kindly intended." 
 
 Susi, who was so very clever, and could w^eli enter 
 into the elaborate joke I was perpetrating, did not, 
 I am certain, interpret the welcome so well as I 
 acted it. 
 
 The chiefs, who kept their eyes wandering over the 
 boat, boilers, and machinery tents, and kejDt up in 
 imdertones a perpetual interchange of ideas, scarcely 
 deigned to regard me, until, after being seated, Ngal- 
 yema abruptly spoke to Enjeli, his son, in Kiteke, who 
 translated it into Kikongo to Susi and myself:
 
 336 THE CONGO. 
 
 1881. " I have come from Kintamo to see my brother. Let 
 
 Nor. 8. 
 
 Usansi. l^ii^^ ^^^^ "^^ wliat he has come here for." 
 
 I repUed, showing the brass-banded staff : " This is 
 what brought me. I liave done exactly what you 
 asked me." 
 
 At this moment another body of natives, also carrying 
 guns, came by another path up the gorge, who seated 
 themselves apart from Ngalyema's large force. These 
 were Makoko's men. 
 
 The appearance of this force caused Ngalyema to 
 launch forth into a history of his acquaintance with me, 
 beginning from 1877, which was intended for their 
 special benefit, as they had been accusing him of an 
 intention to overstep his proper status as a foreigner 
 who was only permitted residence on their soil to trade 
 in ivory. He ended it in a peremptory manner thus : — 
 
 " Now, my brother has been misinformed, and has 
 misunderstood me. We Batekc are strangers living on 
 this side of the river for trade only. The Bazombo and 
 the Bakongo are our customers. AVe have no objection 
 to trade with white men if they come for trade, but we 
 do not think you have come to trade ; therefore you 
 cannot come to Kintamo. My brother must go back 
 the way he came, unless he likes to stay here with 
 Alakoko. I have said it." 
 
 Through my interpreter I replied, 
 
 " I am not a little boy, Ngalyema, and I will not use 
 many words. You have brought me thus far yourself. 
 Makoko is going to give me land near Kintamo, and 
 on that land I will build my town. I know something
 
 MASKED HOSTILITY. 337 
 
 about the country now. The land is not yours to give issi, 
 away, therefore he easy. I have but one tongue, and usansi. 
 if Makoko will take me to Kintamo, I will go with him 
 and build a fine place there, where, if you like, you may 
 come and see me ; if not, why then, keep away, I have 
 spoken." 
 
 *' Bula Matari speaks well," he responded mockingly. 
 '' We know white men are clever, but Kintamo is still 
 far, and in the way is Ngalyema and Makabi and Mubi, 
 and plenty more chiefs, and the people you see here are 
 few, and yet these people know how to shoot. How 
 will Bula Matari reach Kintamo with those few men 
 that he has got ?" 
 
 Adopting the tone of my friend, I said, " Yes, white 
 men are clever, I believe, and ISTgalyema will say so 
 before long. Ngalyema has many men and guns as I 
 see, but Ngalyema and all his men cannot take that 
 wagon to Kintamo ; yet you see I have crossed many 
 mountains and valleys so far as here, and in the same 
 manner it will reach Kintamo. But, my friend, do not 
 let us quarrel. Wait and see. I could be in Kintamo 
 to-day if I wanted to ; but I will take my time about 
 it ; meantime, be easy in your mind." 
 
 Now followed a consultation among the Bateke in 
 an undertone, though once or twice some vehemence of 
 manner attracted attention, and while they communed 
 together I cast my eyes about the assembly. They 
 were mostly fine-looking men, but made hideous by 
 daubs and splash-like spots and lines and bars of white 
 and yellow and black over their faces and bodies. They 
 
 VOL. I. z
 
 THE CONGO. 
 
 1881, 
 Kov. 8. 
 
 Usansi. 
 
 were all armed with muskets, except those who carried 
 the ammunition, the gourds being full of powder and 
 slugs of iron and copper. 
 
 Suddenly Ngalyema asked, after the knot of chiefs 
 had ceased their whispers, "What nice thing has my 
 brother brought me from the white man's land since I 
 saw him ?" 
 
 Evidently Ngalyema supposed that I had been to the 
 coast since my departure from Mfwa ; 
 but I simply said, " Come to my tent, 
 and see for yourself." 
 
 Ngalyema and his son Enjeli, with 
 Ganchu and others, rose to their feet, 
 and followed me to the tent. Here 
 the party inspected a quantity of red 
 baize, bright handkerchiefs, a pile of 
 figured blankets, and lovingly passed 
 their hands over japanned tin boxes 
 and iron trunks ; and, after his curio- 
 sity was thoroughly satisfied, and 
 Ngalyema had chosen a quantity of 
 BATEKK NATIVE. goods valucd at £138 for his own 
 perquisites, he expressed himself as follows : 
 
 " I will take these goods, but on the condition only 
 that you stay where you arc. You must make up 
 your mind that you cannot come to Kintamo. The 
 chiefs will not have it. If you do not promise, this 
 must end in war, and I can no longer be your friend. 
 Now, what do you say ?" 
 
 " It is useless, Ngalyema, to talk more about this," I
 
 A WAn FETISH. 339 
 
 replied. " Make up your mind that I go to or near issi. 
 Kintamo. All the Wamhundu are willing. You admit tjgansi 
 that you have no right to the country ; that you and 
 the Bateke are strangers ; that the AYambundu own 
 the land. How can you stop the AYambundu from 
 doing what they hke with their own country ?" 
 
 " But the village of Kintamo is mine," he said ; " I 
 and my people built it." 
 
 " That is all well. I do not want your village ; I 
 only want to get near the river and Imild a village of 
 my own, whither many white men will come to trade. 
 White men will do you no harm ; you do not care to 
 whom you will sell your ivory." 
 
 " Enough, enough !" he cried. " I say for the last 
 time you shall not come to Kintamo ; we do not want 
 any white men among us. Let us go, Enjeli." And as 
 he said the last words he pushed aside the tent door and 
 strode outside, with the emotions of suppressed passion 
 visil)le on his face. While standing near the tent door, 
 for a moment irresolute, he caught sight of the large 
 Chinese gong suspended to a cross-bar supported by 
 two forked poles. 
 
 " What is this ?" he asked, pointing to the gong. 
 
 '* It is fetish," I answered sententiously. 
 
 His young son Enjcli, who was much more acute 
 than his father, whispered to him his 1)elief that it 
 was a kind of a bell, upon Avhich Ngalyema cried 
 out — 
 
 " Jjiila Matari, strike this ; let me hear it." 
 
 " Oh, Ngalyema, I dare not; it is the war fetish !" 
 
 z 2
 
 3-10 THE COXGO. 
 
 1881, " Xo^ no," said lie, imj)atieiitl3% '' Beat it, Bula 
 
 Nov. 8. 
 
 L'sansi. Mataii, that I may hear the sound." 
 
 " I dare not, Xgalyema. It is the signal for war ; 
 it is the fetish that calls up armed men ; it would he 
 too bad." 
 
 " Xo, no, no ! I tell you to strike. Strike it, Bula 
 Matari ;" and he stamped on the ground with childish 
 impatience. 
 
 " Well, then " — taking the beater in my hand — '' re- 
 member, I told YOU it was a bad fetish — a fetish for 
 war ;" and as I lifted the beater high with uplifted 
 hand, I asked again, " Shall I strike now ?" 
 
 " Strike— strike it, I tell you !" 
 
 With all my force I struck the gong, the loud bell- 
 like tone sounding in the silence caused by the hushed 
 concentrated attention of all upon the scene, was start- 
 ling in the extreme, but as the rapid strokes we're 
 applied vigorously the continued sound seemed to them 
 like thunder. They had not recovered from the first 
 shock of astonishment when the forms of men were 
 seen bounding over the gunwale of the J^?i Avant right 
 over their heads, and war-whooping in their ears. 
 From my tent, and from the gorge behind them, a 
 stream of frantic infuriates emer^'ed as though from 
 the earth. The store-tent was violently agitated, and 
 finally collapsed, and a yelling crowd of demoniac 
 madmen sprang out one after another, every one appa- 
 rently madder than his neighbour. The listless, sleepy- 
 eyed stragglers burst out into a perfect frenzy of action. 
 From under the mats in the huts there streamed into
 
 THE SIGNAL OF THE GONG. ?Al 
 
 view such a frantic mob of armed men, that to the issi. 
 
 Nov. 8. 
 
 panic-struck natives the sky and the earth seemed to usansi. 
 he contributing to the continually increasing number 
 of death-dealing warriors. Every native joresent, 
 wo aid-be friend and would-be foe, lost his senses com- 
 pletely ; the seated warriors forgot their guns and 
 fled before this strange deluge and awful scene. 
 The ammunition-bearers threw their gourds away 
 — some were broken, and the powder and slugs were 
 scattered over the ground ; and as Ngalyema was 
 standing paralysed with fear^ and with his faculties 
 benumbed, I seized him by the arm, and said softly 
 to liiin — 
 
 " Be not afraid, Ngalyema. Eemember Bula Matari 
 is your brother. Stand behind me; I will protect 
 you." 
 
 The Zanzibaris were now a yelling crowd in front of 
 me, calling out taunting and menacingly — 
 
 " Ha, ha, Ngalyema ! You came to fight Bula Ma- 
 tari, Ngalj^ema ! AYhere are your warriors, Ngalyema ?" 
 
 There could not be a better representation of relent- 
 less, bloodthirsty fury than that which was sliown by 
 t]iese amateur black actors in the suddenly improvised 
 scene. Their assumed frenzy was the next thing to 
 reality. Had I not been in the secret I also should 
 liave been duped ; while the valour with which I 
 defended my poor brother, who with his two hands 
 grasped me round the waist, danced from side to side 
 to avoid furious strokes from the wild-eyed men, while 
 young Enjeli clung behind his father and followed his
 
 342 THE CONGO. 
 
 1881. movements, reminded me of tlie long-forgotten play of 
 Usan>i. " lien-and-chickens." 
 
 " Save me, Bula Matari ; do not let them hurt me ! I 
 did not mean anything," cried Ngalyema. 
 
 " Hold hard, Ngalyema ! " I cried, " keep fast hold 
 of me ; I will defend you, never fear. Come one, 
 come all! Ah, ha!" &c. 
 
 But the camp was ahnost emptied of our visitors, 
 much of the ammunition was left behind, the guns 
 were strewn over the ground, and the play was well 
 acted. 
 
 " Enough, boys ; fall into line," and " Silence " was 
 cried out by Susi and his brother captains, and the 
 obedient, well-trained fellows fell into line at " Shoulder 
 arms " with all the precision of military veterans. Then, 
 as Ngalyema had allowed his hands to fall down by his 
 side in mute surprise at this other transformation scene, 
 I took hold of his two hands, and said with an assuring 
 smile — 
 
 " Well, Ngalyema, what do you now think of the 
 white man's fetish ?" 
 
 ■ "Ah, T was not afraid, was I? See, all my people 
 are run away ! Ay me, such braves ! Only Enjeli 
 and Ganchu left with me ! But tell me, Bula Matari, 
 where did all these people come from ? " 
 
 " Ah, that is the bad fetish I told you of! Do you 
 want to see any more ? Come, I will strike tlie gong 
 again, and the next scene may perhaps be more wonder- 
 ful still." 
 
 "" What ! " he shrieked, while he laid his hand upon
 
 SUCCESS OF THE BUSE. 343 
 
 my arm. " No, no ; don't touch it. Ay, verily, that 
 must he a bad fetish," he said gravely, shaking his head 
 at the round innocent fiice of the gong. 
 
 "Look yet again at these people, Ngalyema," 
 said I, pointing to the long line of smiling soldier- 
 labourers. 
 
 " Attention ! right face ! all of you march forward 
 quietly ; no noise ; put your guns away, and each 
 go about his business. Forward, march ! " The line 
 vanished, and it was onl}^ then Ngalyema began to re- 
 cover himself, while Enjeli and Ganchu halloed loudly 
 to the fugitives for their return. Half-an-hour later 
 they were all back again in the camp, retailing to one 
 another, amid boisterous merriment, their individual 
 experiences, while Ngalyema's loud laugh was heard 
 above all others. Messengers w^ere then sent to Ma- 
 koko's and Ngoma's for great gourds full of palm-wine ; 
 others were sent to procure goats and pigs and bananas, 
 and these were given to me. Over the palm-wine we 
 mutually swore faithful brotherhood and an everlast- 
 ing peace ; and the doughty warriors of Ngalyema 
 embraced in a fraternal manner the jolly good fellows 
 of Bula ^latari, and the Europeans — the sons of old 
 " Bula Mutari," who, for a man that was never married, 
 and one of the most unlikely of men to be ever married, 
 really M'ere a credit to him — were fondly besieged by 
 their ardent Ijrothers of Kintamo. Makoko, who was 
 generally believed to be the oldest inhabitant in the 
 country, on being asked his opinion of the scene, said 
 that he had "never witnessed such a day as this." 
 
 1881. 
 Nov. 8. 
 
 Usansi.
 
 344 THE COXGfj. 
 
 1881. Before evening, Ngalyema returned on bis way to 
 
 Xov. 8. _ . \ ^ 
 
 Usausi. Kintamo with his people, much wiser than when he 
 came, and I was left with the memories of my first 
 practical joking on this expedition, which had so highly 
 entertained evervhodv concerned in it.
 
 SUSI FvECOXXOIinES. 345 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 THE FOUNDING OF LEOPOLDVILLE. 
 
 Susi reconnoitres the country — ^Prospects of road-making — Payment of 
 native workers — Xgamberengi's account of Xgalyema's life — ^Fighting 
 strength of tribes — Our advance on Kintamo — Native villages — 
 Selecting camping gi'ound — Leopold Hill — An offer from Xgalyema 
 — New camp formed. 
 
 The next day a clioseu band of vonng men was de- i^^^^- 
 spatched under Susi, the Lead chief of the foreign Usan.ii. 
 native employe's, and Wadi Rehani, who acted as 
 quarter-master and commissary-general of the expedi- 
 tion, to reconnoitre the country as far as a camp near 
 and in view of Kintamo, and to inform me what 
 chances there were for speedy road-making and for 
 the movement of the camp. I in the meantime 
 devoted myself to enlist native carriers. 
 
 By night Susi and his party had returned and 
 reported that the nature of the country prevented 
 any very quick movement. There were a number of 
 streams, valleys, and ridges to be crossed ; but about an 
 hour's march from Kintamo we should find a broad 
 plain-like ridge covered with grass, which continued to 
 within a short distance of the river, where it sloped
 
 346 TEE COXGO. 
 
 1881. o-entlv to the water's edfre. At one ijlace. however, the 
 
 Csandi. plain maintained its level, and was projected to a point, 
 
 whence a commanding view over all the Pool and the 
 
 cataract was oLtained. At the foot of this hill the 
 
 rapids of Kintamo commenced. 
 
 But before we could reach the plain of Kintamo or 
 Kintambu, as the Wambundu called it, there was hard 
 work to be done, principally cutting through forests, 
 grading- along the slopes of several steep hills, where 
 there would be some difficult hauling. Still it was said 
 to be not so bad as many places we had passed already ; 
 and, what was more promising than all, they related 
 that the practical joke upon proud, boasting Xgalyema, 
 had won all the natives alono- the road to erive their 
 adhesion to Makoko's wish that we should settle near 
 Kintamo. 
 
 The bantering humour and rough " horse-play '' 
 practised upon Ngalyema and his confederate chiefs 
 l^roduced a very remarkable effect indeed on the Wam- 
 bundu, as was proved by our enlistment in one day of 
 78 native carriers. 
 
 Each of these was eno-ao-ed at the rate of four red 
 handkerchiefs for the carriage of a man-load — 60 to 
 65 lbs. — on a journey of sixteen miles, the payment 
 of which was to be made at sunset, according to his 
 receij^t given to him by the European in charge of the 
 advance station. It was agreed also that the hauling 
 of a wagon from one camp to another should be 
 equivalent to the carriage of four loads, inasmuch as 
 it generally occupied an equal time.
 
 3IBAMA HILL. 
 
 347 
 
 This enabled me to put a large force on the road 
 under Albert, who was the only one capable of 
 managing a company of men in the advance expedi- 
 tion at that time. By the aid of natives and the 
 remainder of our own people, we should be able to 
 
 1881. 
 Kuv, 10. 
 
 UsaiiJi. 
 
 TYPES OF OUn COLOURED EiirLOYES. 
 
 overtake the pioneers day after day with the wagons 
 and goods. 
 
 Our camp was pitched on the top of Mbama Hill, 
 on the 16th of November. Ngamberengi and Kimpa- 
 lampala appeared — as we were now in their immediate 
 district, and as these were the next in rank, authority, 
 and influence to old Makoko— to express in person
 
 Hill. 
 
 348 THE CONGO. 
 
 1881. their full consent to our occupation of the river bank 
 Nov. 16. ^ . . . , . 
 
 Jibama ^car Kintamo. They were so cordial in their manner 
 
 and reception that I experienced no difficulty in initiat- 
 ing- a plan of action which was to he carried out when 
 our vicinity to Stanley Pool would necessitate the 
 selection of the ground to he occupied by the future 
 station. 
 
 Ngamberengi, an intelligent man, far better qualified 
 by personal appearance and worth than any one I had 
 seen on the Congo to assume the rank of chief, related 
 to me the followins: history of ISTo-alyema, which, as 
 it was delivered publicly in the presence of Makoko 
 himself, besides Kimpalampala, Sabuka, Ngoma, and 
 Ngako, and others, corrected also by them when he 
 was at fault, I believe is accurate. 
 
 Xo-alvema and his two brothers were oriii-inally slaves 
 of Bamanku, an important man and a chief living at 
 Kinshassa, When Bamanku died his property was 
 equally divided amongst the three slave brothers. 
 They continued to increase their properties by ivory 
 trading, i.e., buying from the By-yanzi canoe men 
 who brought the ivory from up-river, and reselling at 
 considerable profit to the Bazombo and Bakongo men 
 nearer the coast, who periodically brought cotton goods 
 silk and woollen stuffs, crockery, arms, and gunpowder 
 to Kinshassa for barter. They were, in fact, ivory 
 brokers, like the Bateke' whom we see to-dav established 
 along the shores of Stanley Pool. 
 
 One day at a drinking bout, during w^hich a great 
 deal of palm-wine and native beer was consumed, there
 
 Hill. 
 
 ACCOUNT OF NGALYEMA S LIFE. 3-19 
 
 •was a quarrel, and one of Xg-alyema's brothers was i83i. 
 
 Xov. 16. 
 
 slain. This caused an estrangement, wherein the first jn.ama 
 signs of discontent were manifested by Ngalyema to- 
 wards Nchiivila, chief of Kinshassa. 
 
 Some months elapsed, however, without any rupture, 
 but at a subsequent drinking gathering an indignity to 
 his house was fatally resented by Ngalyema's brother, 
 who shot the offender dead. The murderer, though 
 once a slave, being a person of importance, could not 
 be captured, and a war was declared by Nchuvila against 
 him. Xgalyema and his brother defended themselves 
 for some time with varying success, but in one of the 
 many fights that took place the brother was killed. 
 The survivor, Ngalyema, took to flight that night, and 
 escaped to Mfwa. There he resided for some time 
 in peace, but trade was not so good at Mfwa as at 
 Kinshassa, and much jealousy was caused by his pre- 
 sence ; whereupon, to avoid further complications, he 
 fled to Ngako, a brother (by a different mother) of 
 Xchuvila, chief of Kinshassa. Ngako's village of 
 Kintamo was then an unimportant place, the ground 
 of which had been obtained from the Wambundu. 
 Ngalyema was then known as Itsi. Before however 
 he could avail himself of Ngako's village as a place of 
 residence, he had to acknowledge the territorial rights 
 of the Wambundu, the chiefs of whom, ^Makoko, Ngam- 
 Ijcrengi, and Kimpalampala proceeded to Kintamo to 
 demand his authority for residing there. Ngalyema 
 then related a most pitiful story of wars and troubles, 
 and begged them to grant a jDlace to build a village in
 
 Hill. 
 
 350 THE CONGO. 
 
 1881. the "Wambundu country, debasino- himself, as is the 
 
 Nov. 16. * • ' \ • c ' ^ ^ 
 
 jibama custoiii wheii pleading, by rubbino- his face in the dust. 
 He said that he only needed a small place to be safe 
 from Nchuvila, who souglit to kill him. He made 
 each of the chiefs a present of a small tusk of ivory, 
 and the permission was granted. 
 
 " Since which time," saidNgamberengi,"hehas grown 
 great by trade. He is now a rich man. He married a 
 daughter of Makoko of Lema, and another daughter of 
 the chief of Kimbangu (about five miles above Kins- 
 hassa), and by his alliances he has put a ring round 
 Kinshassa, so that old Nchuvila has been obliged to 
 make peace with him. Ngako, who ought to succeed 
 Nchuvila as kino- of Kinshassa when the latter dies, is 
 now old and foolish ; and Itsi, taking the poAver into 
 his own hand, is the great chief of Kintamo. Several 
 other Bateke chiefs have joined him, such as Makabi and 
 Mubi. There are altogether nine chiefs at Kintamo, 
 who have made it a much larger place than Kinshassa. 
 
 " Ngalyema has about 150 guns ; all the rest put to- 
 gether have perhaps 300 more. Makoko of Lema has 
 almost as many as Kintamo ; Kimbangu and Mikunga 
 have about 200 each ; while Kinshassa and Kindolo 
 cannot muster 300 guns. You see that Ngalyema, 
 when going to war, can bring over a thousand guns 
 easily. It is this that has made Ngalyema's head big. 
 All the Wambundu chiefs put together cannot show 
 half so many guns as Ngalyema. We know we cannot 
 fight him that way, but we have our own way of fight- 
 ings which is just as good. We stop the markets until
 
 ADVANCE ON KINTAMO. 351 
 
 tlie question is settled ; and, as there are more people at issi. 
 Kintamo than can be fed by their fields, the ^^eople put jib^ma' 
 a pressure on Ngalyema to listen to us, and then we ^'^'' 
 obtain what we want. 
 
 " Now you follow our advice. Go on the way you 
 are going right to the river ; our people shall carry 
 your goods and haul your wagons. If there is any 
 question against what we say we shall stop the markets, 
 and Ngalyema will foil fi'om his high place deep to 
 the ground if he makes any trouble in our country. 
 Do you see those little boys? — they are not very big- 
 yet, but they are big enough to chase Ngalyema and 
 his thieving Bateke' back to their own poor country of 
 Mbe where they came from." 
 
 After this stirring speech, delivered in an energetic 
 manner with frequent fierce gestures when emphasis 
 was required, he proceeded to indicate the exact sjDot 
 where he would advise me to build my town. 
 
 On the lOtl], the camp was removed from Mbama 
 mil to Lama-Lankori Hill, near the banks of the 
 Lutess stream. Ngamljerengi, Ngako, Makoko, and 
 Nkwama, all Wambuiidu chiefs, proceeded ahead of us 
 to silence all the murmurs of the j)etty chiefs — Ganchu, 
 Kimpe, Kinswangi, Kimyara, and Ngalyema — of the 
 AVainbundu; and that night Makoko and his little 
 daughter slept in our camp, after reporting that every- 
 l>ody was quite prepared to give us welcome, and that 
 all the country was at my feet. 
 
 Here, also, before I retired :irri\"c(l a friendly mes- 
 sage liuiii Kintamo, and the leiiiaiiiing five loads of
 
 352 THE COXGO. 
 
 1881. o-oods left in No'alyema's care by Susi. Said the mes- 
 
 Xov. 29. ^ . . 
 
 Kintamo. sengers from tlieir chief : " Bula Matari lias "^'on 
 everybody on his side. Let him, therefore, come in 
 peace, and all will be well," 
 
 Arriving finally at the plain which is near Kintamo 
 on the 29th, I left the camp, accompanied by some of 
 the natives, by a path which would take me to the 
 mount above the rapids of Kintamo described by Susi. 
 After tliree-quarters of an hour's journey over the 
 almost level plain, I suddenly obtained a view of the 
 navigable portion of tlie river leading up to Stanley 
 Pool. To my riglit, at the distance of a mile, was the 
 cluster of villages called Kintamo, on a terrace that was 
 about 175 feet lower than the plain on which I stood. 
 To my left there was a narrow projection from the 
 plain, like an index finger, the topmost altitude of 
 whicli was about 25 feet higher •than the mean level 
 of the plain. AVe continued our march for three-quar- 
 ters of a mile, when we obtained a view of the great 
 cataract of Kintamo. Below the hill 215 feet, and at 
 the extreme left corner of this ridge-like formation, the 
 Upper Congo first became rufided and_, a mile below, it 
 became a dangerous cataract, nearly opposite to whicli 
 could be seen the divided mouth of the Gordon Bennett. 
 Tracing the northern shore for five miles, our eyes 
 lighted on Mfwa. Al)Ove this village the shore was 
 low and marshy, but wooded, and extended to a point, 
 three miles beyond which was Malima. A few miles 
 higher up, the low grounds around Malima were bounded 
 l)y the forest mount of Kintari, while the great upright
 
 KINTAMO BAYLET. 353 
 
 walls of Dover Cliffs rounded in a crescent form south- issi. 
 
 Nov. 29. 
 
 ward, to the base of the Inga Peak, near which was Kiutamo" 
 the entrance to the Upper Congo. Opposite to Inga 
 Peak, on the south bank, was a tall mount, indicating 
 the neighbourhood of Kimpoko. The south bank con- 
 tinued to run west until it had arrived almost in a 
 direct southern line from us, and distant about fifteen 
 miles. Near here was a cluster of villages, forming 
 Kimbangu and Mikunga. From the banks of these 
 villages the southern shore curved a little east of 
 north for six miles. Between Kinshassa and Kintamo 
 there were two deep baylets separated by a cliffy 
 point, since designated Kallina Point. The bay let 
 of Kintamo curved grandly southward of west from 
 Kallina Point, as far as the landing-place of Kintamo, 
 whence it swept towards us past the foot of the ridge 
 on which we stood, and broke into small rapids. 
 
 As the shore of Kintamo baylet was the nearest 
 navigable portion of the Upper Congo, and between it 
 and the coast the country was open, and peopled only 
 by friendly tribes, whom we liad learned during our 
 slow progress hither to esteem for their kindly dispo- 
 sitions and mild manners, necessity as well as prudence 
 bade me select for the station such ground as was still 
 unoccupied, and which the Wambundu had power to 
 give me, without the prospect of our possession being 
 disputed. The natives who were with me were well 
 acquainted witli the distinctive boundaries, and, on an 
 examination of the water front of the unoccupied 
 territory still available for navigation, I estimated that 
 
 VOL. I. 2 a
 
 354 THE CONGO. 
 
 1881. its total length was about 500 yards, that is from the 
 
 Nov. 29. _ ^ 
 
 Kintamo. beginning of the rapids to the first stream below 
 Ngalyema's village. It was a very modest acquisition. 
 Inland it was of course wide enough for all purposes ; 
 on the level plain of wliich this hill was part even a 
 city might be built. Khonzo Ikulu Hill, now called 
 Leopold Hill, on which we stood, was 110 paces wide, 
 and supplied a most admirable situation for a sanata- 
 rium, with a very pleasing prospect of the lake-like ex- 
 pjansion of the Congo known as Stanley Pool. It would, 
 however, be about 700 yards direct distance from a 
 cove in the shore below, near which I marked out a fit 
 landing place. AVere we to adopt this hill as a site for 
 our station it would be too far in my opinion from 
 the boat cove, with only thirty men to guard it. I 
 judged that in the night time it would be easy enough 
 for a few bold fellows from Kintamo to make a swoop 
 upon the boats, cast off their chains, and shove them 
 out into the current, which in a short time would take 
 them down the great cataract to total destruction. 
 
 There only remains, to refer to, the hollow and slope 
 of Leopold Hill, which was now a wild waste of tall 
 grass, several feet in height. I could not return to the 
 camp Vv-ith an unsettled mind, and I traversed the whole 
 of it in various directions, to find the eligible spot, for 
 view, defence, and safe proximity to the boats. At 
 last I stood on the slope of Le'opold Hill at a height of 
 eighty feet above the river, whence, looking southward, 
 I had a good view of Kintamo village, 600 yards in 
 front of me, two small streams Ijeing between us and
 
 XGALTE^MA'S IXVITATIOX. 355 
 
 tlie village. Eastward I could see, up the river, Mfwa issi. 
 
 ^ . , Xov. 29. 
 
 on the north bank, Kallina Point on the south bank, Kintamo. 
 and a long stretch up the Pool extending to Dover 
 Cliffs. Between Kallina Point and Kintamo I could 
 see the patriarchal baobabs of Kinshassa, and the 
 Adansonia marking Kindolo, and, bounding the view 
 from south, the uplands and mounts inland from 
 Kimpoko and Mikunga. I should be 300 yards from 
 the landing place, but the ground sloped easily towards 
 it. I could have the village of the coloured men 
 between the store-room and residences of the Euro- 
 peans and Kintamo, with abundant spaces for gardens 
 of bananas and fruit-trees around, which would give 
 vivid greenness to the view from the front door of the 
 residence. From this slope I could carve out a terrace, 
 and a broad road could lead gently up the plain, on 
 which some day perhaps we should see rows of shade 
 trees. A bloom of civilisation should l)e the fore- 
 ground of the picture that would first meet the eyes of 
 the traveller from the coast, as he looked down from 
 the verge of the plain over the expanse of the Pool. 
 
 Having definitively settled the site of the new station 
 as agreeably with our circumstances as the nature of 
 the ground would permit, we returned to the camp. 
 Soon afterwards another peaceful message came from 
 Ngalyema inviting me to build in his village. But, 
 much as this message would have been welcome a few 
 weeks previously, it was now too late. My thanks for 
 proferred kindness was all that I could give. 
 
 On the 1st of December at daybreak a hundred men 
 
 2 A 2
 
 356 THE COXGO. 
 
 1881. vrere led out of the camp, and with machettes, hoes, 
 
 Nov. 29. . 
 
 Kintamo. ^^^ ^^^s marked out a straight path to the ground 
 intended for the station. Then a brush circle or fence 
 many feet deep and about 100 yards in diameter was 
 formed, also half-a-dozen log towers to command the 
 approaches. This work was followed by cutting the 
 grass and scrub level wdth the ground for a hundred 
 yards clear space around the encampment, which com- 
 pleted our first day's task. A small guard of men were 
 left in the encampment, and we then retired. 
 
 The next day we widened the road for the wagons, 
 and by noon it reached the camp and thence to the 
 landing-place. The afternoon was employed by the 
 united force of aborigines and our own expeditionary 
 people in transporting the tents and the goods, so that 
 by sunset on the 2nd of December there remained only 
 the wagons behind. We now slept in the camp near 
 the place whence the steamers should depart on their 
 mission to the Upper Congo. By noon of the 3rd of 
 December, 1881, the wagons had been drawn to the 
 landing-place, and the steamer Ea Avant was floating 
 in the quiet haven of the Kintamo baylet, with no 
 rapid or impediment intervening between her snug 
 cove and Stanley Falls, and with open navigation of 
 about 5000 miles before her.
 
 SGALTEMA AND " BULA MATATJr 357 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 THE FOUXDIXG OF LEOPOLDYILLE — Continued. 
 
 Ngalyema and " Bula Matari " — Wily tactics of Xgalyema — A one-sided 
 balance sheet — Strained relations — " Everybody's finger is on the 
 trigger " — Armed visits — Gorgeous apparel — ' ' Speak, Ngalyema ; is 
 it peace or war? " — " Ay, kill me, Bula Matari ! " — The brotherhood is 
 not broken — Kintamo a populous j^lace — Proposed palaver — Outbreak 
 imminent — Mysterious disappearance of two of my men — Arrival of 
 Konko — The palaver takes place — The trouble is ended — Noisy re- 
 joicing — Trading operations — Kinshassa — Xchuvila — Our block- 
 house — News from Yivi — New recnoits — Bwabwa Xjali's convenient 
 forgetfulness — Strength of the expedition — Malingering — Anxiety 
 about the exploring party^ — Selling to the natives — Witchcraft — 
 Profit on ivory — Thriving gardens — A lost jmrty — Enjeli's enmity — 
 Ivory transactions — The people anxious to trade — Brotherhood with 
 Ngalyema. 
 
 The founding of Leopoldville deserves a book for 
 
 itself. It is such a curious storv, full of petty but , 
 
 •■■ - Leopold- 
 
 interesting incidents woven round two central figures, ^■''^^• 
 
 namely, Xgalyema and " Bula Matari." Doubtless " Bula 
 ^[atari" is well known, at least many who have read 
 his works on Africa f\\ncy they have a dim idea of the 
 man. 15ut Ngalyema ? Who could describe him with- 
 out giving in detail the illustrative incidents which 
 presented the man finally, after patient study, to the 
 full comprehension of his own blood-brother ? 
 
 1881. 
 Dec. 1.
 
 358 TEE CONGO. 
 
 18S1 I must endeavour to sum l)im up in a few paragraphs, 
 
 Lebi-oui- lest this early photograph of him will fade away. He 
 *■■ is improving so fast that he soon will be unrecognisable. 
 His former roguish simplicity has been supplanted 
 by the faculty of knowing that his cunning acts are 
 being detected as fast as they are formed, so that his 
 rogueries are now only practised when opportunities 
 arise. 
 
 At Mfwa his cue was to test what the arri\'al of the 
 white man signified in connection with the possibilities 
 of his own enrichment. Believing, through some stupid 
 exaggerations of the native coast traders, that the white 
 man's wealth was boundless, he set about fathoming 
 the readiness of the white man to select his. Ngalyema's, 
 person as an object of liberality. Sobered somewhat 
 by Susi's descriptions of white men in general, he 
 suddenly came to the conclusion that he had over- 
 estimated their liberality ; he listened eagerly to sug- 
 gestions that the white man might choose to pay only 
 so long as he received something in return, and 
 forthwith, when confirmed in these impressions, he 
 drove Susi away. 
 
 When he heard that the white man was, after all he 
 had said, advancing upon Kintamo, he hit upon a plan 
 of enforcing the withdrawal of the white man for ever 
 from the scene, and presented himself at the camp fully 
 prepared to effect his object. He was not quite so 
 sanguine that he could compel Bula Matari to return 
 when the Wambundu turned a deaf ear to his offers 
 and Makoko and Ngamberengi refused their aid ; and
 
 A ONE-SIDED BALANCE-SHEET. 
 
 359 
 
 he utterly collapssd after that late astonishing exhibition 
 of humour on the part of the white man. 
 
 From that day he started on another tack. The 
 "U'hite man was rich ; he had seen his store-tents full of 
 goods — it might be that some portion of these might 
 fall to his share. He became interested in his dear 
 brother's health ; although at heart he would much 
 prefer to have seen all of his brother's colour poisoned 
 right off the face of the earth could he have known 
 some safe method of clearing them off. He despatched 
 kind messages day after day, accompanied with loaves 
 of bread, goats, sheep, palm-wine and beer. In re- 
 ciprocating these the white man was expected to give 
 presents amounting to many times their value. About 
 six times this reciprocal interchange of gifts had 
 been effected without question. The white man then 
 struck a balance-sheet one day in this form : — 
 
 1881. 
 Dec. 1. 
 
 Leopold- 
 ville. 
 
 Debit. 
 
 £ s. 
 
 d. 
 
 30 whole pieces ofj 
 clotli . . . 1 
 
 CO 
 
 
 
 GO yards red savelist 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 Handkerchiefs 
 
 3 15 
 
 
 
 Figared blankets . 
 
 1 10 
 
 
 
 2 japanned tin boxes 
 
 7 10 
 
 
 
 1 wooden trunk . 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 Gunpowder . 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 I'lnbrclla . . . 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 Large bath-tub . 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 <;in .... 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 <^r- £ s. 
 
 To value of 4 goats ..60 
 „ 1 gourd of i)aliu-wine 3 
 „ 56 breads . . . . 15 
 „ 1 tusk of ivory ..50 
 
 d. 
 
 
 
 
 
 £103 
 
 £11 18 
 
 Convinced of the enormous disproportion in value of 
 these mutual offices of goodwill and friendliness, Bula
 
 360 THE CONGO. 
 
 1881. Matarl ransacked his note-books, and castins; up tlie 
 
 Dec. 1. .... 
 
 Leopold- costs of the various articles with wliich Ngalyema had 
 already been enriched, he was amazed to find that 
 Ngalyema was debited to an amount exceeding £900, 
 while to ]]is credit scarcely £G6 could be placed ! 
 
 Little by little had his true political status in tlie 
 country become known to us. From being king l)y 
 divine right over an important tribe he had dwindled 
 down to a mere ivory-trader who was building up a 
 future power by investing his profits in the purchase of 
 slaves and arms. 
 
 He had developed a singular talent for brag — he had 
 an aptitude for assuming airs of consequence such as 
 well might become a born African king ; he surrounded 
 himself with the state of a great chief, was exact in 
 suppressing liberties unbecoming the presence of one in 
 great authority and power ; withal he was insatiable, 
 the more he received the more devouring became his 
 greed, and the large gift of one day seemed to be utterly 
 forgotten on the next. 
 
 This man was to be our neighbour. His residential 
 village was only 600 yards away from our camp, which 
 we proposed to replace shortly by a station. To build 
 anywhere above his village would have been impru- 
 dent, because our native caravans while following the 
 road, which would of necessity run by his district, 
 might be dispersed by a mere threat. Life would soon 
 become unendurable under such conditions. 
 
 Ngalyema would only be guided by his own lawless 
 instincts. If he were daily flattered and daily bribed
 
 1881. 
 Dec. 1. 
 
 Ldopold- 
 
 " EVEBYBODY'S FINGER OX THE TBIGGEUr 361 
 
 to keep the peace, we slioiilcl never be in a free con- 
 dition to prosecute our work on the Upper Congo. 
 Our mission would be only an endeavour to satisfy an ^■'^^^• 
 appetite growing- ever greater by gross feeding. He 
 was sharp enough to be able soon to perceive this, and 
 to take care that his appetite should not become cloyed. 
 
 We, on the other hand, lived in a constant dread of 
 rupture, and had to contend against numerous enemies 
 of various nationalities, castes, creeds, and colour. In 
 our joresent condition it was most likely to be a pro- 
 tracted war of wits. My supposition turned out to 
 be correct, and tliat is the reason wliy I say that the 
 founding of Le'opoldville would really require a whole 
 book to itself to give due justice to our manoeuvres to 
 keep the peace. 
 
 The aboriginal subjects of Makoko, when returning 
 with the wages they had earned in the transport 
 service, were asked by their chief about the state of 
 affairs at Kintamo ; they replied, " Everybody's finger 
 is on the trigger." 
 
 This was a pithy and concise description of the 
 attitude in which Ngalyema and his brother chiefs 
 of Kintamo and the Expedition stood towards one 
 another. I regret to say that it existed for many 
 months. Every now and then it appeared as if an 
 explosion was imminent; but the rupture was always 
 warded off by some triumph, until finally it has 
 become almost an impossibility, so thorouglily has 
 Ngalyema learned the lesson of exercising self-restraint 
 on his passions.
 
 362 THE COS GO. 
 
 L»t 
 
 issi. For the illustration of the above I quote a few 
 
 C. 6. 
 
 Leopold- extracts from my diary of that early period. 
 ""'"' "December 3rd, 1881.— Camp by Stanley Pool. 
 
 Xgalyema appeared after we had finished the launch 
 of the steamer, and had secured her by chains to stout 
 trees. He was accompanied by about two dozen armed 
 followers. After his usual gifts of palm-juice and 
 a goat, he asked to see some of our nice things. I 
 showed him silks, satins, velvets, gold and silver lace, 
 fine shawls, military and livery coats, robes, hand 
 and sleigh bells, swords, and cutlery, &c. 
 
 " He then begged for a fine coat, a hand-bell, a knife, a 
 pair of brass anklets for his child, and finally seized upon 
 a boat robe, worth £8 in London, my private property. 
 
 " I put mv hand on them, and said, ' Now, Xcal- 
 yema, you have seen all these nice things as a proof that 
 I have the means to be liberal. To get nice presents 
 from us you must be good. It will not do to get into 
 a passion and storm about. Besides goats and sheep, 
 and such things, you must prove your friendship by 
 keeping your people in order. There must be no 
 fighting between your people and mine ; and to jorevent 
 that we must make a law to stop your people from 
 carrying guns to my town, and I will make a law to 
 stop my peoj)le from taking guns to your place. People 
 when they have taken too much palm-wine and beer 
 are very apt to be quarrelsome, and fight ; somebody 
 is killed, then there is eitlier a heavy fine or a fight. 
 You lost a brother at Kinshassa in this manner. Let 
 us agree to stop it right here."
 
 STRAINED RELATIONS. 363 
 
 *' ' Ay, true,' said he ; ' that is a good thing. It will issi 
 
 Dec. 3. 
 
 not do for two great men like you and I to fight. Give leopoid- 
 me your hand. You have spoken wise words. Now 
 let me have the things. I agree to all.' 
 
 " The goods were delivered to him. 
 
 " December 4th. — To day is Sunday, and a day of rest ; 
 though I cannot keep my mind from dwelling upon our 
 future, which seems to me to be very unsatisfactory — 
 almost hopeless. 
 
 "December 5th, Monday. — Ngamberengi paid me a 
 visit, and desired to know how things were going on. 
 ^ Bad,' I replied. * I think Ngalyema will give me a 
 deal of trouble. He is asking for every nice thing he 
 sees. I cannot satisfy him. If refused he blusters, 
 talks about the country being his own, asks us what 
 we came for, if not to irive o'reat chiefs like him some- 
 thing.' 
 
 " ' Ah, he is a great liar ! Never mind him. If 
 he figlits we shall all be at your back. Do not 
 give him so much cloth. He has got too much 
 already. That is what has given him such a large 
 head. If he wants any nice cloth tell him to buy it 
 with something.' 
 
 " At 3 P.M. Ngalyema, attended by Makabi, Mubi, 
 Ngako, and other chiefs, and followed by about 100 
 armed men, appeared. I gave orders that none of the 
 arms should be admitted within the fenced camp. One 
 of my servants, trying to block the gateway, received 
 from the hands of Ngalyema an imintentional spear- 
 wound near the eye, from which the blood flowed
 
 364 THE CONGO. 
 
 1881. copiously. I iDointed it out to Ngalyema. He was 
 
 Dec. 5. 1 • 1 T 1 • i J 
 
 Leopold- sorry, and assisted to stanch it, and he aJso assisted 
 with his orders to keep all weapons out. 
 
 " Ngalyema and his chiefs were dressed splendidly 
 this day. It was probably a visit of state. Each chief 
 was dressed with a flowing silk robe, under-vest of silk, 
 cotton underclothes, with an outer dress of silk ; yellow, 
 blue and crimson seemed to be the favourite colours. 
 Ngalyema's arms were almost completely covered with 
 polished brass rings, over which were heavy brass 
 wristlets and armlets. His ankles were adorned with 
 red copper rings, which must have weighed 10 lbs. each. 
 Makabi was similarly dressed, for he seemed to be a 
 rival in dress and equipments. The other chiefs 
 exhibited their individual tastes. 
 
 " The hair of all the Bateke chiefs and people was 
 tucked neatly in a knot or chignon over the hinder part 
 of the crown of the head. The native barbers must 
 have liad a busy time of it this day preparing for the 
 visit, the fetish face-marks of ochre, white pipe and 
 yellow clays, relieved the bronze-coloured faces, though 
 not to advantage. Circlets of round zinc-framed look- 
 ing-glasses were worn round their heads as a makeshift 
 for kino'lv crowns. 
 
 " Xgalyema laughed greatly, as though pleased with 
 himself. Makabi strutted about more than usual — to 
 hear the soft rustling of his silk — I presume. Mubi was 
 not loth to attract attention, as he was more conversa- 
 tional than ordinarily. Old Ngako or Xkow, as they 
 variously called him, though quite in his dotage,
 
 ABMED VISITS. 365 
 
 asserted himself. Young Eujeli, in his silks, was in issi. 
 
 Dec. 5. 
 
 better form than usual. Luopoid- 
 
 " I again took an opportunit}", before they returned 
 to their village, of telling them that if they wished to 
 keep on friendly terms with me, they must omit the 
 habit of bringing guns and spears into my settlement, 
 otherwise it was impossible to say how long the peace 
 could be maintained. 
 
 " I marked out the terrace to-day, and work has begun 
 in earnest. A large clearing of 1 >ush and scrub has also 
 been made, by which we are enabled to feel a little 
 safer against any treacherous attack. 
 
 "December Gth. — Xgalyema visited me again to-day, 
 with another large following of armed men. He did 
 not seem to remember that we had mutually passed a law 
 against the carrying of arms in each other's territory. 
 His men were disagreeable in their manners, I thought 
 rather insolent. My friend, unstable as water, pouted, 
 looked cross, when reminded of this law. • Xgalyema 
 to-morrow will return the things Bula Matari gave 
 him, and will break the brotherhood between us.' 
 
 " ' Be it as you say, Xgalyema. The trouble is not 
 with me ; it is in Xgal^'ema's heart ; it is not in ]3ula 
 Matari's camp, it is at Kintamo. Keep the goods or 
 return them. Law is law, and nobody will be received 
 with guns in my camp again. If I see you approach 
 this camp with guns, mark me, I will take it to mean 
 war ! 
 
 " December 7th, at 2 i\M., Dualla rushed up to me, 
 .saying, ' Xgalyema is crossing our little river with
 
 )6() THE CONGO. 
 
 1881. forty guns. Makabi, Mubi, and Ganchu are with liim. 
 
 Dec. 7. . 
 
 Loojioid- Over a Imndred men with guns are beyond the httle 
 river in the grass.' Not to be taken at a disadvantage, 
 forty of my men were placed quickly under arms, and 
 Ave marched down to a large marquee tent we had con- 
 structed fifty yards away from the palisaded camp. 
 Ngalyeraa and his party had already arrived, but our 
 party were placed in skirmishing order about twenty 
 yards away from them in a crescent from between the 
 tent and the path which led to Kintamo ; I had also 
 my double-barrel smooth-bore with me, and advancing 
 a few paces forward with my gun in the hollow of my 
 left hand, muzzle downwards, I said, ' Speak, Ngalyeina ; 
 is it peace or war ? What do you mean by bringing 
 guns to my camp ? ' 
 
 " The poor pagan thought he was in my power, and 
 looking for a moment at the stern faces of my men, 
 who had also followed my movements, though not one 
 gun was loaded, instantly threw his gun away, and 
 threw himself on the ground, rubbiug his face, in the 
 dust, and crying out — 
 
 " ' Ay, kill me, Bula Matari ! Ay, kill me, my 
 brother. Yes, you are strong — strong ! Kill me ; see, 
 here is my breast.' 
 
 " Ngalyema had conquered me by this appeal. I 
 gave my gun to one of the escort, and went up to hiniy 
 taking hold of his hands, lifted him up, and said — 
 
 " ' Fear nothing from me ; it is you playing the child 
 who brings this trouble constantly. AYe made a law 
 together against the carrying of arms in one another's
 
 THE BBOTHEREOOB IS NOT BBOKEX. 3G7 
 
 village. We don't know what you mean by bringing issi. 
 
 Dec. 7. 
 
 SO many guns to see a friendly neighbour so close to Li-opoi.!- 
 you. I have given you numbers of fine tbings to prove 
 to you that with us there is no fear. As you brought 
 yours to-day for the fourth time to my camp, I was 
 determined to show you that we were not sleeping. If 
 we meant war on you, how long do you think it would 
 be before Kintamowas in our power? Tbe Warnbundu 
 come to see me every day ; they do not bring arms ; 
 they bring food to sell, and their men are working witli 
 us every day. Why cannot you do the same ? ' 
 
 " But poor Ngalyema was so excited by his fears 
 that he was nearly breathless with his emotion, and he 
 scarcely knew what he was saying ; yet his people in 
 the grass took the precaution to rouse all Kintamo, and 
 there must have been a large force at hand ; advance 
 they dare not, however, as Ngalyema and all his chiefs 
 were surrounded. 
 
 " I kept murmuring pleasant words to Ngalyema to 
 inspire confidence in him, wJiich by-and-bye he ob- 
 tained, and while fondly patting his hand I explained 
 further to him that, if he did not like the sight of my 
 men with guns in their hands, he must not bring armed 
 men with him on his visit. ' My place,' I said, ' is 
 simply a market-place for everybody to meet in safety, 
 and it was not the custom anywhere to carry guns to 
 the public market.' 
 
 " I then turned to the goods he had brought, and 
 said, ' Ah, I see you mean to return the things I gave 
 you ! Well, count them out ; our brotherhood will then
 
 368 THE COXGO. 
 
 i88h be ended. My people shall not cross the stream to 
 
 Dec 
 
 Leopold- go to Kintarao, and your people must not visit my 
 
 Tille. .,, 
 
 villa£:e. 
 
 '• ' Xo, no, no,' cried Xgalyema anxiously ; ' our 
 brotherhood cannot be broken ; our blood is now one. 
 I will take these back with me ; and, in future, if you 
 see any of my people in your village, with a weapon 
 in his hand, seize him, bind him tight, and he shall 
 pay dearly for it.' 
 
 " ' Ah-ah-h,' cried everybody present. ' If that law 
 is kept, there will never be any trouble.' 
 
 " This ended this troublous day. 
 
 "Xow I am bound to teach this intractable brother 
 of mine ; first, that, although my brother, he must not 
 expect several bales for nothing. He is king of no 
 country, he can give no privileges nor concessions ; he 
 is simply a broker in ivory, or what is called a middle- 
 man, from the Bateke' country. I will still be kind to 
 him, and lie shall have decent gifts, but I must draw the 
 line at bales. 
 
 " Second, that though we are very quiet and inoffen- 
 sive people, and will do no harm to any body, we are 
 well abl^o punish violence. 
 
 " Third, that carrying weapons during a visit to 
 friends is not permissible. 
 
 " Probably when he has well-acquired these lessons 
 I may have others to give my rude pupil. 
 
 " December 7th. — The En Avant made a trial trip 
 to-day, and the By-yauzi and Bateke who are living at 
 Kintamo lined the banks by many hundreds. I did not
 
 PROPOSED PALAVER. ■ 369 
 
 know until to-day what a populous place Kintamo is. issi. 
 There are probably 5000 people of various tribes in this Lt-opoid- 
 settlement. Therefore there is more reason for per- 
 severing in the effort to teach Xgalyema his lessons 
 before I leave for up-river. 
 
 " TTe are working hard on the terrace, which must 
 be of considerable length and breadth before we are 
 able to begin building. 
 
 " December 8th. — Ngalyema, mortified after the scene 
 of yesterday, no sooner returned to his village than he 
 recovered his usual loud bluster. He despatched his 
 son to Lema and Kimbangu, requesting their assis- 
 tance to drive us out of the country. He also asked 
 Kiuswangi, Kimpe, and Kimfila, \Yambundu chiefs 
 living between us and Makoko's town, to help him. 
 They have refused, and sent me warning that Xgalyema 
 means mischief. 
 
 " December 9th. — No visits from any one to-day ex- 
 cepting a young native, wlio informed us that Xgalyema 
 has threatened to kill any one caught carrying food to 
 sell to Bula Matari's people. 
 
 " Makoko has sent a messenger to tell ^-alyema 
 that he himself is the cause of the trouble, because of 
 his jealousy of the white man, and to advise him to 
 leave Bula Matari alone. 
 
 "December 10th. — Makoko's messenger arrived, after 
 conveying his chief's message to Xgalyema to say that 
 he intends to call all the Wambundu chiefs together, 
 and visit Kintamo to hold a palaver wherein the trouble 
 should be settled. 
 
 VOL. 1. L> IJ
 
 rille. 
 
 370 THE CONGO. 
 
 1881. " December 11 til.— Sunday ; rest from labour. Eela, 
 l>ec. 11. ..... , 
 
 Lt'opoid- '^"^'if^^ of Kibil)i, an important trader on the Kwa river, 
 
 paid me a visit to-day. I first made her acquaintance 
 at Mfwa in August, when she professed to commiserate 
 the poor white man, when driven away from Malima by 
 wicked Gamankono. Eela is artful ; she knows the 
 Mdiite man is rich, and she accordingly purrs in his 
 jiresence to extract more cloth. She is very much like 
 her white sisters in her nature ! 
 
 '^ December 12th to 22nd. — Each day sees us at our 
 regular work of excavating the terrace from the slope 
 of Le'opold Hill ; making roads to collect the trees for 
 building purposes ; sawing planks for doors, steps, 
 window-frames, tables, stools, shelves, &c. We have 
 also made a fine road from the terrace as far as Kins- 
 wangi's. Ngalyema observes a distant attitude. ' Every- 
 body's' finger is on the trigger. No outbreak has 
 occurred, but it is imminent ; the position is very 
 delicate ; rumours of wars and councils for wars reach 
 us, but I pay no heed to them. I am just now acting 
 the part of a schoolmaster. My pupil's sulky moods 
 must not deter me from pursuing what my conscience 
 approves. 
 
 " Two days ago a man of mine mysteriously disap- 
 peared. To-day another is reported absent — lost, killed, 
 or deserted. I strongly suspect Ngalyema. 
 
 '"' December 23rd. — Konko, an important chief and a 
 great ivory trader owning a district nearly midway be- 
 tween Kintamo and the Inkissi River, paid me a visit 
 to-day, acting as spokesman for our friends Makoko
 
 KONKO S ABRIVAL. 
 
 171 
 
 and Ngalyema. He said that lie wished to make peace issi. 
 lictween Ngalyema and Bula Matari, and that two of Leopoid- 
 ray men were prisoners in Ngalyema's hands ! 
 
 " Konko was told to cut his story short, as he had 
 told too much already. He was asked to go back to 
 Xgalyema, and bring the men by noon, otherwise I 
 should go myself to fetch them. 
 
 TYPES OF OUB EMPLOYKS. 
 
 " Konko returned, and at noon brought back Ngal- 
 yema liimself and tlie two prisoners, who were charged 
 by liim with having been detected steab'ng cassava in 
 liis gardens. I did not press the matter, as the storj^ was 
 as likely to be true as not. A velvet cloak of the value 
 of £15, a silk shirt wortli £3, a private rug of the 
 vahio of eight guineas in London, were given to 
 
 2 IJ 2
 
 372 TEE CONGO. 
 
 1881. Ngalyema, nor was Konko permitted to deiDart without 
 Leopold- substantial proofs of my wish to be considered his friend, 
 
 " December 24th. — The great palaver took place to- 
 day. Ngalyema, Makabi, Mubi, Ganchu, Ngako, and 
 Enjeli of Kintamo ; Kinswangi, Kimpe, Ganchu, Kim- 
 iila, and Ngalyema, sub-chiefs of the Wambundu ; 
 Konko, Makoko of Lema, accompanied by 134 of their 
 followers, all being unarmed, were present. This 
 meeting was to satisfy the Wambundu that Ngalyema 
 had not attempted to sell the country to me, as he 
 had been accused of doing by common report. 
 
 " Ngalyema, with that methodical accuracy for which 
 these natives are distinguished, first recoimted all the 
 incidents attending his first acquaintance with me, and 
 then commenced the relation, with tolerable fairness, of 
 the events of the last few days. 
 
 " I then was requested to give my version of how I 
 met Ngalyema years ago, and how I had again met 
 him at Mfwa ; how he had led me to believe that he 
 had a country called Kintamo ; how I had asked him 
 to be allowed to live with him ; how, finally, he had 
 declined as his friends and neighbours were unwilling ; 
 how I at last came to ^lakoko, and Makoko, with the 
 consent of the other Wambundu chiefs, had given 
 me the country between Kintamo and the cataract, 
 and far back inland ; how Ngalyema had made me 
 presents of food, and I had reciprocated with many 
 gifts, but that the gifts, though many and rich, were 
 not for the country but to secure his friendship. 
 
 " The Wambundu chiefs then spoke, and finally
 
 ville. 
 
 NOISY BEJOICING. 373 
 
 Makoko of Lema, father-in-Jaw of Ngalyema, chosen issi. 
 
 Dec. 24. 
 
 umpire in the palaver, said : ' I have heard the story L^opoi,^. 
 of Ngalyema and I have heard what Bula Matari 
 has said. Let Bula Matari make the sign, and clear 
 Ngalyema of the crime he has been charged with hj 
 the Wambundu, otherwise there can be neither friend- 
 ship nor peace.' 
 
 " Dualla, at a sign from me, drew a piece of pipe-clay, 
 and marked a broad white band, running from the 
 wrist to the shoulder along each arm of Ngalyema as a 
 sign to all men present that he was guiltless, at which 
 all the people shrieked with joy and surprise that Bula 
 Matari knew the custom of the Bateke." 
 
 (Cunning Konko had imparted the secret previous 
 to the meeting.) 
 
 " It is ended ; it is ended — the trouble is ended !" 
 cried Makoko of Lema. " Build, build, everywhere as 
 much as you like ; the country is free and open, and all 
 of us are now your friends." 
 
 " All shortly after retired to Kintamo, when such a 
 fusillade began in that village that we first thought 
 that a mutual massacre had commenced. But our 
 messengers were informed that it was to celebrate the 
 results of the palaver. Ngalyema expended, it is said, 
 seven ten-pound kegs of powder ; Makoko of Lema, 
 five kegs ; Ngamberengi, on behalf of the Wambundu, 
 three kegs. 
 
 " December 25th.^ — Sunday, and Christmas Bay. 
 Desirous of celebrating this day by gifts, but being 
 uiial)lc througli poverty of material to make much
 
 374 THE CONGO. 
 
 1881. parade, I gave 500 cheroots, one bottle of brandy, and 
 
 Dec. 25, 
 
 Ltopoid- one bottle of sherry to the Europeans, and to each 
 member of the coloured force four yards of cloth. 
 
 " December 26th. — Began bartering cloth for brass 
 wire, at the following prices : — 
 
 " 1 piece of unbleached domestic, 24 yards . 14 brass rods (5 to the lb.) 
 
 1 fathom of red savelist . . . . 14 „ 
 
 1 piece of common striped cloth, 22 yards 10 
 
 1 „ „ superior striped, 26 yards . 15 „ 
 
 1 knife, white-handled table, 3 rivets . 6 „ 
 
 1 „ „ „ „ 1 rivet . 3 „ 
 
 " The brass rods are the currency of the country, 
 beginning from lyumbi ridge, and ending at the upper 
 extremity of Uyanzi. They are to-day about twenty- 
 six inches long, but they may be shorter, as the clipping 
 in many instances is excessive. Three of these brass 
 rods purchase two five-pound loaves of cassava bread. 
 A five-pound loaf is a two-days' ration for the coloured 
 men. Any extra work is paid for, which serves to 
 keep most of the people in dried fish, bananas, ground- 
 nuts, and palm-oil. 
 
 " December 28th. — Heard several rifle-shots on the 
 north bank. Ngalyema's people inform me to-night 
 that another party of white men has been driven away 
 by the Mfwa natives. 
 
 " December 29th. — The terrace is so far advanced 
 that we began to plant the heavy timber-frames of the 
 block-house I intend to raise here for defence and shelter. 
 The heavy timbers are solid logs thirty feet long, one 
 foot in diameter. AVe have already collected about 
 eighty of these large logs, and duly prepared them.
 
 KINSHASSA. 375 
 
 '' The visits of the natives are frequent and amicable, issi. 
 
 , , . . . Dec. 29. 
 
 There is no question pending between us and any L,;opoki- 
 natives. The health of everybody is excellent, as usual 
 at this season with all those who have employment for 
 mind and body. 
 
 " December 30th. — Despatched a caravan of fifteen 
 men to Manyanga. 
 
 " January 1st, 1882. — I paid a visit to Kinshassa 
 this New Year's day. Large crowds collected at Kin- 
 tamo shore to see the first steamer on the Upper Congo. 
 At Kinshassa a similar crowd appeared ; but instead of 
 the angry demonstration that drove the missionaries in 
 1880 away, our reception was most flattering. Mala- 
 meen was there, of course, with his bright tri-coloui', 
 which he never seems to part from. Nchuvila, the 
 chief, is a tall, thin bronze-coloured old man about 
 seventy-five years old. His nephew, Bankwa, is a 
 burly stout man of about thirty, who, it is said, will 
 succeed Nchu\'ila, when he dies, as chief of Kinshassa. 
 Though he has two sons, twenty-five and tv/enty years 
 old respectively, Bankwa will inherit the chieftainship. 
 We spent the visit sociably and mannerly. Our long- 
 stay at Kintamo without rupture deprived ^lalameen 
 of the power of slandering us by his absurd reports of 
 our cannibalism. Kinshassa and Kintamo have still 
 a feud between them, though latterly they have not 
 ventured into exchanging musket-shots. 
 
 " Jan. 10th. — Tlie frame of the block house is ahnost 
 complete. "We have consumed 125 noble trees — teak, 
 red-wood, and plane ; 2582 small trees 4 inches diameter,
 
 376 THE CONGO, 
 
 villc 
 
 1882. 15 feet lono-; 21,15G rods 8 feet lono- ; 18,900 lbs. of 
 
 Jan. 10. O ' ' ^ , T 1 n 
 
 Leopold- long grass. The house is to be 2^ feet above the floor 
 of the terrace, which is now 100 yards in length by 50 
 in breadth. We shall now begin to clay it. As the 
 central section of the house will have walls 22 feet 
 high, wing-walls 15 feet high and 2 feet thick, it will 
 be a slow work, as the clay is 300 yards off, being at 
 the landing-place, and it is absolutely necessary that 
 the Europeans and small garrison should be above all 
 anxiety. In the event of a rupture with Ngalyema in 
 my absence, they would be able to retire within an 
 impregnable house. It would be very imprudent to 
 trust any man's professions of friendship, whether he 
 be white or black. Show any man that you depend 
 only on his goodwill, and your position is a very 
 insecure one. 
 
 " January 12th. — Our caravan returned from Man- 
 yanga to-day, by which we have news that the chief of 
 Yivi station has suddenly left for Europe ! This person 
 having been engaged by me, by formal contract, has 
 not thought it necessary to inform me of his inten- 
 tion. However, Lindner, his successor pro tern., is a 
 sufiScient person, and his first correspondence conveys 
 me the news of this sudden change of chiefs at my 
 princi^Dal base. 
 
 " A better piece of news, however, is that informing 
 me of the arrival of one hundred new recruits for the 
 Expedition, and the arrival of thirty other men to 
 accompany a Dr. Peschuel-Loeche on an exploring 
 tour in the Loango district.
 
 NEW RECRUITS. 377 
 
 "Janiiaiy 19th. — Thirty-two of" the new recruits 1882. 
 have arrived, accompanied by a woman, who, being the Leopold- 
 only female in the expedition, has created a great inte- 
 rest in the minds of the natives. She is very neat, and 
 can boast of youth and superior charms to any that I 
 have seen on the Congo. We are all rather proud of 
 her. 
 
 " January 21st. — I despatched an officer and a small 
 expedition along the south bank to Manyanga, prelimi- 
 nary to forming a regular transport service. 
 
 "January 22nd. — The block-house, terrace, garden, 
 and native village are well advanced this last week. 
 We have now 153 coloured people at station, out of 
 w^iom eighteen are detailed three times a w^eek to pro- 
 cure rations for such a large number. Nineteen of the 
 others are tent-boys, body-servants, sick people, (tc, so 
 that there are really only 117 men at active work. 
 
 " January 26th. — All last night up to 9 a.m. to-day the 
 natives of Kintamo have been celebrating a marriage. 
 Singing, dancing, shouting, and firing guns have been 
 going on incessantly. The Wambundu chiefs and Ma- 
 koko pay me regular visits. Ngalyema has also fre- 
 quently condescended to visit me, but the screw is being 
 gently pressed to reduce him to order and manageability. 
 Some of these days I hope to be proud of my pupil. 
 The weather has been extremely hot the last three or 
 four days. 
 
 "January 27tli. — Caravan brought goods from Man- 
 yanga. All well down river. 
 
 " February 3rd. — Bwabwa Njali paid me a visit to-
 
 378 THE CONGO. 
 
 1882 day, and I have enjoyed a triumpli over him. The last 
 Ltopoid- time I noticed him in my diary he was indebted to me 
 
 ville. 
 
 for ten fathom of red saveUst which he had received as a 
 loan. He was next heard of as levelling muskets at my 
 people wlio had gone to his village by his own invita- 
 tion. Imagining that we had forgotten this trifling 
 episode, he came to day with a goat and a black pig and 
 some fowls. I received him very graciously, and, after 
 handing them over to the goatherds^ I smilingly re- 
 minded him that he was in debt to me for the ten 
 fathom of blanket cloth received last August, and 1 
 w^ould therefore be greatly obliged to him for them. 
 A quick flash of guilt stole over his features, but he 
 promised that he would repay me to-morrow. 
 
 " February 4th. — Bwabwa Njali brought me 200 
 loaves of bread to-day, which included principal and 
 interest. As bread is a necessity at this station it was 
 received, and a noble present relieved my friend of all 
 fear of consequences. 
 
 " February .5 th. — I perceive from my last accounts 
 
 from down-river that we are progressing exceedingly 
 
 well, despite drawbacks caused by faithless Europeans. 
 
 The following table will explain : — 
 
 " Vivi . . . Europeans 5 Coloured people 74 
 
 Isangila . . „ 1 „ ,, 12 
 
 Manyanga . . „ 15 „ „ 36 
 
 Ferry of Kinsende . „ „ „ 12 
 
 Stanley Pool Station „ „ „ 153 
 
 14 287 
 
 Exploring expedition „ 1 „ „ 22 
 
 En route with caravan „ „ „ 78 
 
 Total 15 387
 
 2IALINGERING. 079 
 
 One of my Europeans has been malingering for i8S2. 
 
 Feb. 
 
 five weeks, while the value of him since he joined us Leopoid- 
 about eight months ago has been absolutely nil. I have 
 spoken to him in the most paternal manner several 
 hours altogether, endeavouring to encourage him, but I 
 perceive that it is useless. It will probably end in his 
 sudden dismissal some day. However, the jDrompting 
 of it will emanate from him. 
 
 " February 25th. — Our house is completed and we 
 broke up our camp, each European moving to his own 
 chamber. Compared to our tent life it is palatial. 
 There are five chambers, a dining-saloon, and a formi- 
 dably strong magazine. Shelves are made also to 
 exhibit our stock of goods. 
 
 " February 27th. — TTork begins on the Steamer's 
 Cove, so that at high water steamers and boats, besides 
 a flotilla of canoes, may enter into harbour, safe from 
 all danger of flood and marauders. 
 
 " March 2nd. — Caravan with steel whale-boat arrived 
 to-day, and also another from Manyanga with goods. 
 The native village is finished and roads swept clean. 
 
 "March 4th. — "We are also at work on large garden. 
 Wadi Rehani's company clear the ground for it. Susi's 
 company builds goat and fowl houses. Everything is 
 proceeding most satisfactorily, though I see a prodi- 
 gious amount of labour yet before me. I am anxious 
 about news of the exploring party. 
 
 " March 5th. — The goods are now on exhibition in tlie 
 magazine. The barred windows are crowded by curious 
 natives. Native imagination, fired by the brilliant
 
 380 THE CONGO. 
 
 1882. display of doths of all colours, silks, satins, ribbons, 
 
 ilarch '). 
 
 Leopold- fancy jewellery, cutlery, joottery, crockery, glass ware, 
 guns, swords, machettes, threads, bobbins, ribbons, gold 
 and silver laces, &c., &c., will report that my wealth 
 exceeds calculation ! Who would have expected such 
 a result as this three months ago ? Over £500 worth 
 of goods were sold by us before night. 
 
 "March 6th. — Sale continued to-day, brought £300. 
 Ngalyema went to visit Gamankono of Malima on 
 account of !Mwana Mundele, his nephew, who was 
 arrested there on a chai^ge of witchcraft. Being a 
 person of importance, seven slaves and a tusk of ivory 
 were given to hush the charge. Had he been a poor 
 man he would have been burnt. 
 
 " March 7th. — Xgako, our old chief of Kintamo, 
 during a visit to Kinshassa, has been assaulted there 
 by Bankwa's people. 
 
 " March 8th. — A grand council of war was held at 
 Kintamo to avenge the indignity to Ngako. The 
 By-yanzi stoj)ped the preparations for war, because I 
 had not received the news, and no one knew what 
 Bula Matari might do in case of a war near his country. 
 
 " This is the second time that our presence in this 
 vicinity has prevented a sanguinary native conflict. 
 
 " March 9th. — The first ivory v/as purchased to-day 
 as a test of the price. The weight was 2 lbs. I paid 
 six handkerchiefs, which cost in England 1,9. 3(i. We 
 have to pay something for learning. The number of 
 our coloured force at present is 171 men, the money 
 cost of rations for whom is £1 12s. %d. per day.
 
 THRIVING GARDENS. 381 
 
 " Marcli lOtli. — Ganchn, who first met us at Mfwa 1882. 
 
 . March 10. 
 
 last year, sang the praises of Jsgalyema. He attributes Leopoid- 
 to him infinite and powerful virtues. He possesses 
 charms which render him invisible. More than once 
 during some of the petty wars of their region he has 
 suddenly appeared in the midst of his foes with his 
 short sword destroying men like a demon before any 
 one knew by whom the fatal blows were dealt. Aged 
 Ngako, Ganchu's father, enjoys also this faculty, and 
 demonstrated it only a short time ago at Mfwa, for when 
 assaulted and seized by two of Bankwa's people he sud- 
 denly disappeared, leaving his torn robe in their hands I 
 
 " March 15th. — Indian corn planted in the hollows 
 below the European gardens. A few peas have begun 
 to sprout up in the latter; the parsley, radish, and 
 lettuce are thriving famoush^ Onions we look for in 
 vain. White beans do not thrive. Melons, pumpkins, 
 Spanisli pepper, cucumbers, are doing well. Sweet 
 230tatoes, being native, are spreading vigorously. We 
 are such tyros in gardening that these are mere expe- 
 riments. The season is too late. We should have 
 begun in October, I fear. However, we shall learn 
 something from our maiden efforts as to quality of soil, 
 season, bugs, and insects. A pine-apple plat has also 
 been planted, and a few dozen bananas. 
 
 " March 22nd. — Caravan from Manyanga arrived 
 with news. Hardworking Flamini, the engineer of 
 tlio Iioi/al, has suffered an accident, and gone home ; 
 and another European has relieved us of his presence. 
 The exploring party declares the road to Manyanga
 
 382 THE CONGO. 
 
 1882. bv south bank free and safe, thouo^h tbe chief expects 
 
 March 22. ' „ 
 
 Lc^opoid- trouble some day at a place called Lutete's. The 
 seventy-eight recruits left Isangila on the lOth of 
 February, yet up to the 14th of March there is no 
 news of them, the European in charge having resigned 
 and gone home, leaving the people in the bush. 
 
 " March 23rd. — Sent a detachment of first-class men 
 to search for the lost relief party. 
 
 "March 26th. — Caravan entered the station with 
 letters from Europe. Am told by Comite of Association 
 to expect Lieut. Yalcke out again ; also Capt. Hannsens, 
 ofiScers Xilis and Grang. Yisited Kinshassa. The chiefs 
 were uncommonly amiable. They have made overtures 
 to me to build there. I have promised to think of it. 
 
 " ]\rnrch 27th. — The Kintamo people have become 
 jealous ; they have heard that Kinshassa people have 
 made offers to me. Xgalyema and Enjeli are furious. 
 
 " March 30th. — A formal accusation was sent to 
 Xgalyema against his son Enjeli for five ofiences : 
 1st, Of having locked me up in my room and abscond- 
 ing with the key, which had caused me to command 
 through a window that he be arrested and the key 
 taken from his person. 2nd, Of having, after passing 
 over the first offence, shaken a spear at me defiantly 
 on the public terrace, loudly saying, ' See how easy 
 it would be for me to kill Bula Matari now.' 3rd, Of 
 having cried out the same day, ' Look through the 
 T\-indows and see what nice things Bula Matari has 
 got. Some day my father will carry all away.' 
 4th, Of having hidden himself behind the staircase
 
 IVORY TEANSACTIONS. 38.- 
 
 leading' to the upper storey to listen what I had to 1882. 
 
 March 3 
 Lcopold- 
 
 say at a palaver with By-yaiizi strangers from np- 
 
 river. 5th, Of having said to his brothers, after most ^'''^®- 
 of the people had gone out to the station to carry 
 the meat of a shot hippo., ' Oh, if Ngalyema only 
 knew how few people Bula Matari has got with him 
 now, my father could kill all who are here and seize 
 upon everything ! ' A warning that any other such 
 dangerous speeches uttered in the hearing of any man 
 in the station would be instantly followed by arrest, 
 sound flogging, and a heavy fine. 
 
 "March 31st. — The Kinshassa people now resort to 
 the station for barter. 
 
 " April 2nd. — The Kintamo chiefs paid me a visit, 
 and impressed on me the necessity of making blood 
 brotherhood with Ngalyema, as security against the 
 fears they entertained that my visits to Kinshassa 
 boded evil to them. The promise was given that some 
 day I should do so. 
 
 " April 7th. — The following transactions in ivory 
 took place to-day. It is not quite a fair test, as we 
 must visit the upper river before we are able to know 
 anything about what we ought to pay : — 
 
 £ s. (I. 
 "To 1 ivory tusk, -weight 97i lbs. at 9.s. per lb. in 
 
 England 4P. 17 
 
 Purchased for 2438 brass rods, value in England , 16 1 M 
 
 Diifercnco for profit and carriage £27 13 10 
 
 *' To 1 ivory 48i lbs. at 9.s'. per lb. in England . . 21 16 G 
 Purchased for 1864 brass rods, value in England . 7 10 4 
 
 Difference for freight, insurance and profit £14 1 2
 
 38-1 TEE coy GO. 
 
 1882. " These. brass rods, after being paid to the ivory-seilers, 
 Leopold- were then exchanged for silks, cotton-goods, guns, 
 glass-ware, crockery, powder, red handkerchiefs, &c., 
 in which, if for silks and good cloths, another profit 
 was possible. It would never have paid us to efifect 
 any large purchases, as our mission is for a totally 
 different purpose than trade ; but, in endeavouring to 
 find the real truth about the state of trade here, we 
 must put it to a practical test. I find then that ivory 
 is abundant at all these trading villages at Stanley 
 Pool; that, while the By-yanzi sell the ivory to the 
 Bateke' of Stanley Pool at the average of eleven brass 
 rods, or Is. 4c?., to the pound, the Bateke have been 
 induced, after eighteen experiments, to sell it to us at 
 3-5-. 4c?. and 3>-. 5c/. per pound. If we were willing 
 to purchase more, the Bateke possess suflBcient ivory 
 to exhaust the stock of goods that a hundred men per 
 day could carry ; besides which we are pestered with 
 people who wish to sell rubber, camwood powder, &c. 
 ''Durino; our Ions: residence here we have become 
 intimate with the people's wants. AVe note the eager, 
 hungry look of the strangers who come from hundreds 
 of miles to visit us in the hope that we would purchase 
 something from them. TThen we tell them that we 
 do not want ivory, or rubber, or camwood powder, or 
 cola nuts, or gums, they appear to despair, and ask 
 sorrowfully, ' Well, what is it you do want ? Tell us, 
 and we will get it for you. AVe came here to get some 
 cloth, and now we come here with thina's to sell vou 
 will not buy them. "What kind of a white man are you?'
 
 BROTHERHOOD WITH NGALYEMA. 385 
 
 *' April 8th. — Recruits arrived to-day. Caravans 1882. 
 leave here now every five days for Manyanga, and Leopold- 
 goods arrive as often regularly. I am only waiting 
 for the arrival of an officer to start up-river to establish 
 another station. 
 
 "April 9th. — Brotherhood with Ngalyema was per- 
 formed. TVe crossed arms ; an incision was made in 
 each arm ; some salt was placed on the wound, and 
 then a mutual rubbing took place, while the great 
 fetish man of Kintamo pronounced an inconceivable 
 number of curses on my head if ever I proved false. 
 Susi, not to be outdone by him, solicited the gods to 
 visit unheard-of atrocious vengeances on Ngalj^ema if 
 he dared make the slightest breach in the sacred 
 brotherhood which made him and Bula Matari one 
 and indivisible for ever." 
 
 vor>. r. 2 c
 
 ')S6 THE coy GO. 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 UP THE COXGO TO LAKE LEOPOLD IL 
 
 Xaming the new station " Leopoldville " — " The middleman," " lingster," 
 or " ivory trader," and his influence — Docility of Ngalyema — Descrip- 
 tion of Leopoldville — Fine view from Leopold Hill — Companionable 
 neighbours — The pomp of death — A rich but neglected land : what 
 might be made of it — Departure of the first Upper Congo expedition 
 — Bamu Island — Wild animals — ^Stanley Pool — Slow progress— The 
 fierceness of crocodiles — Impressions of scenery — Comparison with 
 Scotch scenery — ^Width and sonndings of the Congo— Yolume of the 
 river with its tributaries — Jottings for future pilots — Mswata — Xew 
 acquaintances — Gandelay's favourable decision — Giral, a French 
 quartermaster — EetumtoKintamo; a cordial greeting — SusuMpembe, 
 the " White Chicken "—The Kwa river. 
 
 1882. By general consent the new station was named Leo- 
 
 April 9. . . 
 
 Leopold- poldvillej in honour of the munificent and Eoja] 
 
 ville. 
 
 Founder of the "Association Internationale du Congo." 
 "We will now leave that system of stringing together 
 daily incidents in th.e manner observed in the preceding 
 chapter, and betake ourselves soberly to our narrative. 
 The diary form has the merit of presenting the ups 
 and downs of our long stay at Leopoldville in a far 
 more convincing and life-like manner than could be 
 done by the happiest style of narrative; for, despite 
 the implicit belief in our veracity, which our polite 
 readers would be willing to profess, I fear there would
 
 " TEE MIDDLEMAN." 387 
 
 still be a lurkino; suspicion in manv minds that there is82. 
 
 April 9. 
 
 must have been more play than work in the building of Leopoid- 
 Le'opoldville. 
 
 Ngaljema's peculiar temper also required more 
 than a few phrases before an exact representation of 
 the man could be given. The dullest reader mav now 
 see what an African '• middleman," " lingster," " ivory- 
 trader," is in disposition and nature. On the West 
 Coast of Africa he has been one of the strongest im- 
 pediments to civilisation. TTho that has been on the 
 Niger does not know him ? Where is that West Coast 
 trader in the oil rivers — or near any part of the surf- 
 beaten African shore — who has not regarded this class 
 as his greatest enemy, and the most inveterate opponent 
 to his progress into the interior ? To be sure, Stanley 
 Pool is a little too far in the interior to have been an 
 obstacle to the trader ; but that is because the impass- 
 able Congo canon forbade his approach to the Upper 
 Congo. We found in Ngalyema the rearguard of the 
 Congo middlemen — and trouble enough he gave us, 
 as has been seen. It cost more money to overcome 
 this man peacefully than the aggregate expenditure on 
 all the chiefs of the country, who possessed something 
 substantial to give us in exchange. Ngalyema was a 
 landless slave owner, and had nothing but his un- 
 founded pretensions, his unreal claims, his loud bully's 
 voice, and an insatiable appetite for the dues of black- 
 mail. Through long patience, liberality, and a timely 
 hint now and then, that he might be sorry for going 
 beyond certain bounds, he was at last fairly won to good 
 
 2 c 2
 
 ville 
 
 388 THE CONGO. 
 
 1882. beliaviour, and to stout and friendly alliance, by wliicli 
 
 April 9. 
 
 Leopold- I eventually succeeded in getting other obstreperous 
 chiefs, notably those of Kinshassa, Lema, Kimbangu, 
 and Mikunga, to confederate with me for the preserva- 
 tion of the peace on the south shore of Stanley Pool. 
 
 My content was extreme, as may well be believed, 
 when the annoyances — the perpetual fluctuations from 
 bilious ill-humour to fawning friendliness, from the 
 peevish intermittent temper, to a few hours of sun- 
 shiny moods of feeling — were finally substituted by 
 the steady glow of good-nature, and I had leisure to 
 prepare for my long-deferred journey up-river to seek 
 other fields of adventure. 
 
 Le'opoldville, with its one-storey block-house com- 
 manding from its windows all approaches, impregnable 
 to musket-armed natives, and proof against fire, des- 
 pite its grass roof — because underneath that grass roof 
 there was an earth roof two feet thick, on which the 
 fire might burn itself out harmlessly — ajDpeared a safe 
 refug-e should trouble arise. The terrace was lono- 
 and wide — the native village was formed of one broad 
 street — flanked by a row of clay huts on either side. 
 Starting from a point thirty feet below the block- 
 house, and sloping gentlj?- down to the landing-place, 
 gardens of young bananas and vegetables extended 
 beyond these huts. Water was handy ; fuel was 
 abundant. The agricultural TTambundu were our 
 landlords as well as our good friends. In a basin right 
 in front of his residence, which time and industry 
 might render pretty, the work of the station chief lay
 
 VIEW FROM LEOPOLD HILL. 
 
 :J89 
 
 before him. On Sundays, the Europeans might find ib82. 
 
 April 9. 
 
 pleasant exercise in promenading along a smooth road Leopoid- 
 to Leopold Hill, whence a view worth seeing was 
 always obtainable. From its coign of vantage the great 
 leaping cataract of Kintamo, at a moderate distance 
 off, could be seen. The circular basin of Stanley Pool, 
 
 .KDS-ETE VIEW OF STANLEY POOl,, 
 
 rimmed with mountains and cliffs and isolated mounts, 
 could be admired, as well as the great island of Bamu, 
 and its tiny sister islets, slumbering in sunshine and 
 liaze, or lying silent under the black clouds which 
 threatened to deluge it all with rain, and shroud 
 it with tlie darkness of the coming tempest. If the
 
 ville. 
 
 o90 THE CONGO. 
 
 1882. rain has already fallen the niorht before, and the 
 
 April 9. , , . "^ 
 
 Leopold- opalesque skies give promise that the day will be 
 bright and clear, the glories of the Pool and iis 
 encircling ring of hill and mountain, with their wooded 
 slopes, are unequalled. Both the mountains, and the 
 wide plains they enclose, islands, and lake-like river 
 emerge through the bright atmosphere into view, with 
 a clearness of detail and beauty of outline almost new, 
 although you may have before gazed at every feature 
 in the scene until nearly sated. Nor is the view 
 inland or westward to be despised. To be delighted, 
 however, I could confidently recommend an ascent 
 to the top of some structure on the hill, from wlience 
 the vision embraces an uninterrupted view over the 
 trees in the immediate neighbourhood. One will be 
 astonished at the enlarged breadth and improved beauty 
 in the wilderness of hill-cones, and tabular heights, and 
 winding wood-clothed ridges, or sinuous depressions, 
 and irregular waves of land which are exposed. 
 There is lyumbi's massive form and bald top, the 
 cones of Nsangu and Kinduta's square-edged mount. 
 To our left advances Lama Lankori's dark forest ridge, 
 while Usansi's frowning mountain liue is to our right. 
 Across the Congo expands in rich brown colours the 
 grassy plains of Mundele Masuna ; and right oj^posite 
 the woods gather thicker, shrouding Bwabwa Njali's 
 and Gampa's villages. From under the depths of 
 the dark green leafage shoots the flood of the Gordon 
 Bennett in two silver sheets, while a long broad band 
 of sun-lighted water recedes further and further into
 
 COMPANIONABLE NEIGHBOURS. 391 
 
 the stony heart of the hilly world. Many and many 1882. 
 
 M • in April 9. 
 
 a time had I stood alone, dreamily gazmg at the really Leopold- 
 interesting view visible from the summit of Leopold 
 Hill, without once suspecting that there was such a 
 luxury within reach, until one day I mounted the roof 
 of the Sanatorium, and then I knew what a pleasure 
 had been hitherto unknown. 
 
 That broad low plain — from Kintamo south, to the 
 foot of Mabengu mountain — which forms the western 
 shore of the Pool, is to me full of promise and 
 beauty. Even now it is almost idyllic in appearance, 
 yet there is only the grass huts of Kintamo con- 
 spicuously in view ; the rest is literally only a wilder- 
 ness of grass, shrubs, and tree-foliage. But my mind, 
 when I survey the view, always reverts to the 
 possibilities of the future. It is like looking at the 
 fair intelligent face of a promising child ; we find 
 nought in it but innocence, and we fondly imagine 
 that we see the germs of a future great genius ; 
 perhaps a legislator, a savant, a warrior^ or a poet. 
 Supposing the rich fertile soil of that plain, well- 
 watered as it is by many running streams, were 
 cultivated, how it would reward the husbandman ! 
 How it would be bursting with fulness and plenty ! 
 In all the Mississippi valley there is no soil to equal 
 it ; yet here it lies a neglected waste. And perhaps 
 for generations yet the prospect will possess the same 
 idle slumbrous appearance it presents to-day. 
 
 If the station-chief and his comrades are sociable 
 beings, they may form warm friendships with some of 
 the people in that human hive at Kintamo. There
 
 392 THE CONGO. 
 
 1882. are human beings here, as elsewhere, amenable to the 
 
 April 9. . 
 
 Leopold- softer emotions, though the principal chief is such an 
 eccentric wrong-minded person. Old Ngako is garru- 
 lous and amusing, and requires but little prompting to 
 spin out tales of adventure and war. The ancient fifer 
 of Ngalyema, who lives recluse-like in his lone hamlet 
 halfway between Leopold ville and Kintamo, is a chatty, 
 agreeable old man, and is by no means churlishly in- 
 clined. Makabi is a character also deserving closer 
 study ; he is an acute fellow, neat in person, fully 
 possessed of the authority of a chief, and lord over 
 a large number of pretty wives and bright-eyed 
 children. Even Ngalyema himself at home is a better 
 man than Ngalyema abroad ; he has a miscellaneous 
 treasure which he has no objection to show ; he will 
 tell you with equanimity of what will happen ^vlien 
 he is dead ; how he will be swathed in cottons and 
 woollens and silks and satins, and, after many days 
 of continued fusilading, will be buried in an honoured 
 grave. Indeed, from the pleasure he takes in reciting 
 all this, he seems to you as a person whose life is 
 devoted to prepare for the great event of death. 
 The part of dying is hateful, because it involves 
 pain ; but the period after death will be glorious. All 
 those robes, and silken stuffs, and velvet cloaks that 
 I have given him, will adorn his body as it is con- 
 veyed in state, followed by chanting warriors, and 
 multitudes of female mourners loudly lamenting, while 
 the youths of all the surrounding villages will fire in- 
 cessant volleys of musketry for many days and nights. 
 " Ah," says Ngalyema, admiringly shaking his
 
 A Pi ICE BUT NEGLECTED LAND. 
 
 head, " that is what I call e-rand, and worthy of a 1882. 
 
 . April 9. 
 
 king ! " from which I gather that, in his opinion, life Leopold- 
 does not become a king: half so well as death. 
 
 ville. 
 
 'O 
 
 A five-mile march across that intervening stretch 
 of plain between Kinshassa and Kintamo may cause 
 our Europeans to reflect upon the prodigious waste 
 which this madcap population by whom they are sur- 
 rounded is guilty of. Eight hundred muscular slaves, 
 retainers, followers of the nine Kintamo chiefs, abso- 
 lutely doing nothing. Nay, they are almost starving, 
 only one day from it at least, and here, round about 
 them, are nearly 50,000 square acres of the richest 
 alluvium it would be possible to find in any part of 
 the world ! At Kinshassa there are some 500 stal- 
 wart male bodies just as lazy. Mikunga, Kimbangu, 
 Kindolo, Lema, and other places, can show over 
 1500 more, whose most industrious employment is 
 sitting down, while they are being rubbed over with 
 palm-oil and ochre by their females, or having their 
 beautiful chignons or hair top-knots dressed. While 
 they have to despatch squads of men miles away, to 
 hunt up provender for their people, there exists on 
 this immense waste of fat earth, enough virtue, if 
 solicited, to raise half a million tons of rice annually, 
 and wheat, sugar, yams, sweet potatoes, millet, Indian 
 corn ad infinitum. The lower slopes, too, of those 
 ridges, which lovingly shield the plain from the cold 
 sea winds of the South Atlantic, would permit the 
 remunerative growth of tea, coffee, cocoa, sago, and 
 other spices.
 
 ville. 
 
 394 THE CONGO. 
 
 ^^2 In short, if these Europeans will only use their 
 
 Leopold- Sundays in pleasant excursive walks, to study human 
 nature in the vicinity, they will go home thoughtful 
 men, and may return again to this land to put to good 
 use the wisdom they should have gained, ' and the 
 kindly social relations created during their peaceful 
 sojourn at Leopoldville. 
 
 By the 19th of April, friendly relations had heen 
 established with all our neio-hhours. Within Le'o- 
 poldville all w^as in foir order. The caravans marched 
 in and out of the station at regular periods. Goods, 
 provisions, tools, &c., flowed in as they were wanted, 
 a flock of goats formed the live-stock, among which 
 there were two or three milch goats. The fowls were 
 also numerous ; a few hens were hatching, a few 
 furnished fresh eggs, a few tended their young. I 
 directed the chief of the station to continue the work 
 of improvement ; to build another store-room in a 
 line with, or a few feet removed from, the block- 
 house ; to extend the terrace, to look after his gar- 
 dening, to increase his stock of goats, and to do all 
 he could towards consolidating our political interests, 
 as well as promoting the comfort of his people and 
 the prosperity of his estate. 
 
 At 6 A.M. of the 19 th we embarked the first Upper 
 Congo expedition, as follows : — 
 
 En Avant . . 19 coloured men. 3 whites. Freight 62 loa<ls. 
 Whaleboat. . 10 ,. „ 1 „ „ 53 „ 
 
 Two canoes . 20 „ „ „ 11 „ 
 
 Total . . 49 ,, „ 4 „ 129 „
 
 CO 
 00
 
 BAMU ISLAXD AXD STAXLEF POOL. 395 
 
 The powers of the little paddle-steamer were tasked is82. 
 
 . , April 19. 
 
 to the utmost, towing the two canoes, as the twenty i^opoid- 
 men in them were totally unpractised in the use of 
 paddles, and the steersmen gave us an infinite trouble 
 by their ignorance of knowing on which side their 
 steering paddles should be used. 
 
 We crept along the south shore, rounded the clifly 
 point now called Kallina in an hour, and continued 
 upward along the coast of the Kinshassa district, 
 "-mtil, coming abreast of the town, we cast the canoes 
 off, and, driven by necessity, the men were compelled 
 I J paddle their own canoes, an art which they soon 
 cquired. The steamer occupied nearly an hour in 
 crossing the broad southern arm of the Congo, running 
 between Bamu Island and the left bank. From thence 
 to 5 P.M. we skirted Bamu Island, and in a cove 
 opposite the river Xseleh, which issues into the Congo 
 from the southern side, we halted to cut fuel, and rest 
 for the nio'ht. 
 
 Bamu Island is about fourteen miles in length, and 
 occupies the centre of the Pool. The larger portion 
 of it is low ; at high-water about three-fourths of it 
 may be inundated. On the southern shore it shows 
 many miles of stiff clay bank, three feet of which may 
 be above the highest flood. On the northern shore it is 
 much lower ; abundance of timber fit for native uses 
 may be found on it. Buffalo, elephant, and hippos, 
 haunt its interior parts. Its south-eastern extremity is 
 a more grassy or reedy flat, close to which are wide and 
 extensive sandbanks. During a very low Congo, all this
 
 396 THE CONGO. 
 
 1882. part resembles a low sandy plain, where the fishermen 
 
 April 19. ^ . 
 
 Stanley lovB to ercct little grass huts to dry their fish. During 
 a high Congo the steamers may skirt Bamu right up to 
 the head of the Pool. The south-eastern part of the 
 island may be called the hippopotamus preserve ; the 
 herds are always numerous here. Altogether there may 
 be about two hundred of these amphibious animals 
 depending upon the reedy flats for their subsistence. 
 
 Stanley Pool is a lake-like expansion of the Congo, 
 about 250 square miles in extent, of which Bamu and 
 the other islands in it cover about 42 square miles. 
 Kallina Point is at its lower extremity ; Inga Peak 
 dominates the entrance to the united river above the 
 Pool. The distance in an air-line, which runs between 
 the base of Inga Peak and Kallina Point, is seventeen 
 and a half English miles, the greatest breadth from 
 shore of southern mainland to shore of northern main- 
 land is sixteen English miles. Bamu Island disparts 
 the river into main branches, each of which, however, 
 contains several small rocky or sandy islets. The 
 southern branch, which is the navigable one at all sea- 
 sons, has a shore-line twenty-four statute miles long, 
 while the northern is only nineteen English miles long. 
 Nearly one third of the northern shore is occupied 
 by Dover cliffs ; the other half is mainly a low plain, 
 which in one part projects in a low grassy valley 
 between high ridges. On the southern shore, however, 
 the mountainous ridge which has formed the left bank 
 of the river above, recedes from the immediate neigh- 
 bourhood of the river a few miles above Kimpoko,
 
 Pool. 
 
 ANIMAL LIFE. 397 
 
 leavino- a series of low hills, which descend into a i8S2. 
 
 ... -^Pi'il -0- 
 
 terrace, or low alluvial plain, of considerable breadth, Stanley 
 between the river and the base of the mountain ring, 
 terminating about three miles to the south-west of 
 Leopoldville. It is on the verge of this alluvial plain, 
 close by the river^ that Kimpoko, Mikunga, Kimbangu, 
 Kindolo, Kinshassa, and Kintamo, are placed, and 
 further inland, near the foot of the mountains, other 
 large villages such as Lema may l:)e found. 
 
 The southern branch sweeps by the shore of the 
 mainland with great force, and with destructive effect 
 at Kimpoko, the high clay bank of which is constantly 
 falling in large masses into the river to be dissolved 
 into sediment, and carried below by the current. 
 
 A rain-storm began at 1 am. of the 20th, continuing 
 until 8 A.M., wetting our fuel, and retarding the start 
 for an hour. For three hours we continued along the 
 reedy flats of Bamu, and within forty minutes more had 
 crossed the south branch. With the whale-boat and 
 canoes in tow we made but slow progress. At two we 
 were well above Kimpoko, in a channel between a 
 woody island and the south shore, which was now 
 a steep elevation clothed with tall young trees. 
 Presently the steep rise took a bolder height, the 
 woods became taller, wherein monkeys flung them- 
 selves with desperate leaps from tree to tree, whence 
 the white-collared fish-eagle, with a shrill scream, 
 sprang from its perch and winged its way across to 
 the island, and divers and kingfishers darted ahead of 
 the i)anting steamer, whose strange noiise caused all
 
 Pool. 
 
 398 THE CONGO. 
 
 1882. animal life to skurry away from its fearful nei&'libour- 
 
 April 20. . 
 
 Stanley bood. It was amusing to observe tbe effect of tbe 
 steamer on tbe bippo berds in tbe vicinity, tbe pointed, 
 attentive ears, tbe steady earnest attention, and a 
 sudden disa2:)pearance from tbe borrible distracting 
 noise ; wbereas tbe crocodiles darted witb tbe velocity 
 and directness of a Wbitebead torpedo. Evidently 
 tbey were fully determined not to stop until tbey bad 
 pierced tbe steel bull witb tbeir wedge-like beads 
 tbrougb and tbrougb ; but tbe creatures generally 
 sank wben tbey were about twenty feet off, probably 
 to explore tlie keels, rising up a sbort distance bebind 
 to pursue us again, no doubt wondering greatly mean- 
 wbile wbat strange animal tbis could be tbat bad no 
 legs to give a crocodile a cbance to bite ! 
 
 It was an exceedingly bot day, and tbe current 
 flowed tbree miles an bour in tbe cbannel. Tbe towing 
 of tbe boat and canoes was a severe strain on tbe 
 powers of tbe En Avant. Added to tbe bot sun, wbicb, 
 as it westered, sbot an intolerable beat under tbe 
 awning, was tbe beat of tbe boiler ; and besides tbis 
 trouble, trifling as it may appear in tbese pages, tbe 
 cramped posture, and tbe most unluxurious materials 
 — boxes and bales — on w^bicb we lay, vastly increased 
 our discomforts. At 4.30 p.m. we arrived at Firf^t 
 Point, on tbe soutb side above tbe Pool. "We bad 
 occupied seventeen and a balf bours on tbis first 
 trip, to perform wliat we bave several times since 
 performed in eleven bours witb tbe same steamer. 
 From tbis first point to Mswata we generally occupy
 
 IMPHESSIOXS OF SCEXERY. 399 
 
 in tlie U/i Avant twentr-one and a half hours, but on 1882. 
 
 „ " . , , . April 21. 
 
 our nrst voyage u-e were twenty-eight hours m per- ^n^^-ata. 
 
 forming the journey. 
 
 Our impressions depend on our feelings. A man 
 
 travelhng in misery is not Hkely to be so enthusiastic 
 
 as the one who jDerforms his journey in comfort. 
 
 Given a comfortable and quick steamer, good food, 
 
 and my mind free from anxiety, it is most likely that 
 
 I should try to do full justice to the real beauty of the 
 
 scenery of the river between Stanley Pool and Mswata. 
 
 Until that happy hour arrives I had better confine 
 
 myself to sober description of it. It never struck me 
 
 that I ought to be enthusiastic about the towering 
 
 ridges that rise in stately majesty above the broad 
 
 brown flood, or to paint the dark-green foliage of the 
 
 guaiacum, or to point out how it contrasts with the 
 
 tender green leafage of the bombax, or floss-wood, and 
 
 the silver-grey stem resembling a marble column amid 
 
 the wealth of leafy verdure which it overtops ; or 
 
 that I ought to dwell upon the petty details of a 
 
 jungly grove, to point out the difi'erence between the 
 
 tender green of the climbing calamus, and the darker 
 
 green of tlie bending feathery frond of the elais, and 
 
 to show how there are colours in a tropic forest, 
 
 from the crimson glories of the travellers' tree, to 
 
 the yellow blossoms of the acacia ; that deep shadows 
 
 and bright lights are here as elsewhere, and that 
 
 when the sun is slowly setting, the watching of the 
 
 rosy light diffused over the lengthy slope of the hills 
 
 on the left side of the river, — now narrowing,, ever
 
 400 THE CONGO. 
 
 1882. narrowino: — chased by the shadows of the rig'ht side, 
 
 April 21. .... . . 
 
 Mswata. which are rising in fantastic lines, fast after the 
 
 retreating light, until it is seen for an instant tipping 
 
 the very crown of the tallest hill, and the shadows 
 
 grow deeper and deeper, and darkness, as of the grave, 
 
 has fallen upon us ; — I say that I knew not to what 
 
 pitch of poetic fancy I ought to have been exalted 
 
 until the other day I travelled with a sober American 
 
 friend from Grreenock to Tarbert through Loch Fyne. 
 
 It had been a damp, dismal, disagreeable day, with 
 
 the wind howling, and dense stormy clouds rushing 
 
 wildly above. When we were about the middle of the 
 
 Loch my sober friend became excited, and touching me 
 
 upon the arm, cried out, " Look there ! What do you 
 
 think of that? Is it not lovely! Ah, there is 
 
 nothing like Scotch scenery ! " 
 
 " What is it ? What is lovely ? " I asked quickly, 
 fearing that I should lose the sight of some rare thing. 
 
 " Why, look at that sky — and look at those hills. 
 See, the sun is coming out ! " 
 
 I saw a bit of mist just whitened by a sun, deep 
 buried beneath fold upon fold of stormy clouds struggling 
 to beam upon desolate, cold-looking hills covered wdth 
 a low growth of heather. These hills were really of 
 equal height to those grand hills which hue this part 
 of the Congo, and Loch Fyne was about the same width. 
 The colour of its water differed from the brown volume 
 of the Congo. But why this sober gentleman should 
 have gone into such ecstacies of language about Loch 
 Fyne, with its cheerless grey sky and desolate-looking
 
 TEE COXGO COMPAEED TO OTEEB EIVEBS. 4.01 
 
 hills, ])asses mv comprehension. If such exag^era- 1882. 
 
 " -rrr- • April 21. 
 
 tions are permissible because "William Black has set the Mswata.' 
 fashion of enveloping every bit of Scotch scenery from 
 the Clyde to Stornoway with wealth of word-picturing, 
 what language shall do justice to the infinitely supe- 
 rior glories of Congo scenery ? How shall we paint 
 the effects of steady, bright sunshine on the lonely, un- 
 tenanted woods which clothe the gorges and the hill- 
 slopes and the lordly mountain-tops, which, with bare 
 heads, tower for 500 and 600 feet high to salute the 
 tropic sun ? They meet the eye proudly on either 
 bank, and wait tranquilly the advent of the Congo 
 poet who shall sing of the glories of the Congo moun- 
 tains, and their own unequalled river. American 
 patriots have invented poetic imagery to extol the 
 beauties of scenery which should perhaps, but do not, 
 belong to the Mississippi. From the Belize to Omaha 
 I have seen nothing to excite in me a poetic madness, 
 "What there is of beauty on its shores belongs solely 
 to the industry and enterprise of man and to the spirit 
 of utility pervading it. The Hudson is a trifle better 
 in its upper parts, the Indus, the Ganges, the Irawaddy, 
 the Euphrates, the Xile, the Xiger, the La Plate, the 
 Amazon — I think of them all — and I can see no beauty 
 on their shores that is not excelled many fold 
 by the natural beauty of this scenery, which, since 
 the Congo highlands were first fractured l)y volcanic 
 caprice or by some wild earth-dance, has remained 
 unknown, unhonoured, and unsung. 
 
 VOL. I. 2 D
 
 402 THE CONGO. 
 
 1882. My purpose, however, is not to make nations envious, 
 
 Mswata. SO We will drop this view, and become austerely modest 
 in our description. 
 
 In measuring the width of the Congo I found it to 
 be 2200 yards; a little below the first point we meet 
 above Stanley Pool I made a careful survey of the 
 bed of the river. Beginning at the right bank the 
 soundings across ran thus : — 
 
 1st 500 yards, 39, 48, 09, 78, 73, 72, 75, 72, G3, GG, G2, GO, 57, 48, 42 ft. 
 2nd „ „ 36, 35, 34, 32, 31, 30 feet. 
 3rd „ „ 31,30,28,27,26,30 „ 
 4th „ „ 32,30,31,29,32,33 „ 
 200 yards, 30, 28, 26, 24, 20, 18, 17, 15 feet. 
 
 Which, at three and a half knots per hour, will give a volume of 
 1,436,850 cubic feet per second. 
 
 By a plain high-water mark on a rock on the right 
 bank near by, I observe the river rises twelve feet 
 higher. If we suppose that the current is increased a 
 knot faster per hour, we shall find that at flood time 
 the Congo discharges into Stanley Pool a volume of 
 2,529,000 cubic feet per second. In addition to this 
 gigantic flood, before the mighty river issues into 
 the ocean, it has received from the right bank the 
 Gordon Bennet, Lubamba, Inkissi, Edwin Arnold, 
 Mbika, Lualla, Lulu, and Bundi Rivers, and from the 
 left bank it has been increased by the Nseleh, Lulu, 
 Loa, Mpalanga, Inkissi, Kwilu, Lunionzo, Lufii, Luizi, 
 and Mpozo, besides hundreds of smaller streams, the 
 united waters of which may well swell the Congo 
 during its flood to discharge the full sum of three 
 millions of cubic feet per second.
 
 JOTTINGS FOR PILOTS. 403 
 
 The mean width of the river from the head of Stanley i8S2. 
 
 •^ April 21. 
 
 Pool to Mswata is ahoiit 1500 yards. The base Hue Mswata. 
 of the hills, which is of rock, except in the bights or 
 curves, is, of course, very irregular. I counted thirty- 
 four different and distinct points within the distance 
 of 64 Eno-lish miles intervenino- between the Pool and 
 Mswata. 
 
 From the following brief jottings for future pilots 
 some information may be gleaned : — 
 
 Ist point above Stanley Pool, S. side. Two or tlu'ee large trees at 
 point serve excellently for shade. Good camping place. Forest behind a 
 few i^aces. Hill steep — 600 feet. Native path to district of Xfumn Ngiima, 
 cliief of the Banfunu. Eed wood abundant, good for fuel. Inga Peaks on 
 right bank visible from Leopoldville just opposite here. Yiew noble. 
 
 2nd point. Not very prominent, except to small boat skirting close to 
 shore. 
 
 3rd point. On rounding this point you lose view of Pool. Go a little 
 way out into stream, see view of river over twenty miles long. 
 ■1th point. Xot prominent, but distinct to boat hugging the shore. 
 5th i)oint. Opposite two gullies close together on X. side, just above 
 tabular hill. 
 
 6th point. Opposite deep valley N. side. 
 
 7th point. Opposite another deep valley, tall woods. Game abundant 
 sometimes at river-side. 
 
 8th point. One Palm Point on X. side comes into view. Bald top, 
 mount oioposite. Beware of rocks at point, keep 100 yards off shore. 
 
 9th point. Low Point extreme end of low spur. HUlls recede a little 
 from river. You are not far below One Palm Point, right bank, and just 
 below Hyphscne Palm Grove, left bank. 
 
 10th point. Some rocks close to point. You are now half way between 
 One Palm Point and Long Yiew Point, right bank. Manioc gardens on 
 liill slope, on left bank, are seen after rounding tliis point. 
 
 11th point. You are now above Ilyphrene Palm Grove, left bank, yet 
 below Long Yiew Point, right bank. 
 
 P-itli point. Another hyphajne palm grove above, and this is called 
 Kapid Point. Stream strong, six-knot power required to pass. Row 
 boats must be pulled by hands in shore. 
 
 13th ix)int. Before you come to this, pass close to fine forest-clad hills. 
 You are now a few hundred yards below Wanipoko Ilivcr, entering Congo 
 
 2 D 2
 
 Mswata. 
 
 404 THE CONGO. 
 
 1882. from left bank. Stream dark as strong tea, water much colder than Congo 
 ^I'l' - • "Wampoko is sixty yards wide ; a terrace plain on each side of mouth. 
 Keep well oiit to avoid shallows. At this point you are just at liend. 
 Best side for ascent is left bank. 
 
 14th point. Above Wampoko River and plain. A small village not 
 far off. Good marketing, fowls cheap, eggs proem-able, and dried fish. 
 Peoi^lc iileasant, and love to trade. 
 
 15th point. Eivcr strong at this point. A narrow creek is just above. 
 
 16th point. Just below the grey cliffs on right bank. Strong current 
 at point. 
 
 17th point. Opposite brown rock bluffs, right bank. 
 
 18th point. Narrows. Brown rock bluffs, right l)auk. 
 
 19th point. Hyphfene Palm Point, cliffy rock opposite, and you are 
 just below Dualla Island. Fuel on island. 
 
 20th point. Just above Dualla Island, and first below Pururu Island. 
 This island is large. Splendid grove of hyphfene palm. Twenty minutes 
 steaming by to pass it. 
 
 21st ])oint. Thirteen minutes above Pururu Island. Tillage close by 
 in plain. Food procurable. Fuel abundant on right bank. 
 
 22nd point. One hour forty mimites above 21st point. 
 
 23rd point. Forty minutes above last point. Land poor. Hills 
 tinpicturesque on left Ixank. Plight bank better. 
 
 21:tii jwint. Five minutes above last point. 
 
 25th point. Twenty-five minutes above last point. Cross over to 
 right bank unless you have plenty of fuel on board. 
 
 26th point. Eight bank. Splendid young trees for building, on low 
 terrace along shore. Hill slopes forested. Lions, elephant, and buffalo, and 
 many antelope frequent this shore. The right bank is utterly uninhabited. 
 
 27th point. Half an hour's steaming above last point. Mswata in view 
 on left bank. Note the large trees near river to distinguish it. Ganchu's 
 Point, right bank, visible above it. 
 
 28tli point. Thirty-five minutes above last. Opposite tall bush and 
 trees on S. side in Malivu Bend. Villages opposite. Hills on left bank 
 lower than on right. 
 
 29th point. Just above first village seen on right bank from Stanley 
 Pool. Twenty-five minutes from last point. 
 
 30th point. Just above little river. Grassy Point very suitalile for 
 camp. Thirty-five minutes above last point. 
 
 31st point. Just above little snug cove. Twenty-five minutes above 
 last point. 
 
 32nd point. IMalivu village is opposite. Thirty-five minutes above 
 31st point. 
 
 33rd point. Just below Mswata. Forty-five minutes above last i^oint. 
 
 34th point. You are now opposite native village of Mswata. About 
 twelve miles below confluence of Kwa and Congo.
 
 MSWATA. 405 
 
 "These directions are for small, lia^lit-drauQ-lit steamers 1^82. 
 
 ° _ * April 21. 
 
 and row boats. Fifty yards off shore will clear most Mswata. 
 points. Xo trouble of ascent to six knots steam-power. 
 Between the points there is slack water clear of rocks. 
 If steamer is powerful, say ten knots, night and day 
 are available for navigation without fear. No night 
 so dark but you can see Ihe grey gleam of water, or 
 black outline of shore. Centre of stream has depth 
 from GO to 2.")0 feet deep. Average velocity of current 
 in middle, five knots ; in many places it is seven knots, 
 which our small steamers could never ascend," 
 
 On April 26tli we appeared before Mswata, and 
 after coquetting a little with the people on shore, were 
 invited to approach. The chief, Grobila, was an ex- 
 ceedingly stout man, of about forty-five, very unking- 
 like in dress. Beyond friendly greetings, no business 
 was done on this our first arrival. Eleven full days 
 were employed in the negotiations. A great deal of 
 patient palavering was needed for both parties to 
 arrive at a thorough understanding. 
 
 Above Kimbangu, on Stanley Pool, the chief Gobila 
 is the first Kiteke chief we meet on the left bank. 
 The aborigines are Banfunu, whose chief is Gandelay, 
 without whose permission and consent it would have 
 been useless to conclude negotiations, as a contrary word 
 from him would have made them impossible. After he 
 was informed of our arrival, he appeared at Mswata with 
 an unusual display, heralded by musical instruments. 
 Ganchu of the Bateke, on the right bank, also came in 
 three canoes, drums, bells, and horns melodiously an-
 
 406 THE coy GO. 
 
 188L'. nouncing his approach. Granchn, however, was not on 
 
 Jlav 1. 
 
 Mswata. ^^^^ ^^'^ •^*^^1» great as he might be on the territory of the 
 Bateke. He was a very handsome, light-complexioned 
 man, exceedingly vain and ceremonious. His head 
 was covered with a knit cap, made of palm fibre, to 
 which was fastened the tail feathers of several chanti- 
 cleers. Some of his men sported the downy feathers 
 of the pelican. 
 
 Gandelay's state eclipsed both Gobila's and Ganchu's, 
 for he was borne in a hammock, possessed a couple 
 of leopard skins to sit upon, several females to brush 
 off the flies from his stateliness, servants to blow sweet 
 music on ivory horns, and drummers, great and small, 
 to increase the sound. He was also a good-looking 
 person, amiably disposed, if one may judge by results. 
 He presented three goats, a basket of ground-nuts, a 
 jar of palm oil, a pot of honey, half-a-dozen fowls, and 
 several bunches of bananas. 
 
 Gobila broached the subject of my coming amongst 
 them. The land, he said, belonged to Gandelay, chief 
 of the Banfunu, while he was only an ivory trader, 
 long settled on the river. He was quite willing to 
 admit me as his neighbour and friend. A choice of 
 places would be given me, but Gandelay, who was 
 present, must confirm the deed. 
 
 Ganchu, tax-collector of Mpumu Xtaba, the great 
 chief of the Bateke country on the north bank, spoke : 
 *' I belong to the Bateke'. I like white men to come 
 into the country. If Gandelay refuses Bula Matari, I 
 will take him, and take ' Commanda,' and take all who
 
 GOBILA ASD GANDELAT. 407 
 
 come ; the more the better. AVe will make plenty of issi'. 
 trade then. Speak, Gandelay. Will you take him, jis^^ata. 
 or let him come with ine ? " 
 
 Gandelay replied : " I am chief of all this countrj^, 
 from the TVampoko to the Kwa, and from the mouth of 
 the Kwa to the land of the AYabuma. To Gobila I 
 have o-iven the river bank from Malivu to the Kwa. 
 
 o 
 
 If Gobila accepts Bula Matari as his white man, the 
 Banfunu will also accept him, and Bula Matari shall 
 be my brother." 
 
 Under such friendly auspices we were duly initiated 
 into the lordship of our little estate. Lieutenant 
 Eugene Janssen was introduced to the chiefs, by 
 whom he was taken by the hand, and made to stand on 
 a low hill, where he was bade to look around and 
 choose the site of his house. AYe chose a long- low 
 liill, commanding a lengthy prospect down the river, 
 and a shorter, though not more unpleasing prospect, 
 above. It was situated about 800 yards below the 
 native village. 
 
 The day succeeding the termination of our negotia- 
 tions was marked by the arrival of a good-looking* 
 quartermaster of the French navy, named Giral. He 
 rejoiced in perfect health, and was as merry as a 
 cricket. He had been visiting Le'opoldville, of course, 
 and had at last relieved poor ^lalameen from his com- 
 ])ulsory residence at Kinshassa, AYith 100 such young 
 men as Giral, so good-natured, so brave, so intelligent, 
 one might found an empire in Africa easily enough. 
 
 Gobila had imbibed a larger quantity of Ki3'anzi beer
 
 408 THE COXGO. 
 
 1882^ than usual this morning, and was disposed to be rude 
 
 31 ay 3. 
 
 Mswata. at first to the stranger, which Giral had the good sense 
 to laugh at. We finally persuaded Gobila to be happy 
 and good, when he became zealous to show Giral what 
 a remarkably hospitable chief Gobila could be when 
 pleased. After partaking of our hospitality for one 
 night, Mons. Giral left next morning for Ganchn's 
 village, which is just above Ganchu's Point, on the 
 north side. From here he proposed to travel to the 
 capital of Mpumu Xtaba in Mbe', on the right side of 
 the Congo. 
 
 Fourteen hours' steaming from Mswata down the 
 river brought us to Le'opoldville on the 9 th of May, 
 when the assembled chiefs of Kintamo clustered at the 
 landing-place and greeted us with cordial welcomes. I 
 was much affected by this manifestation of friendship, 
 as it encouraged me greatly. It was like a return 
 home. 
 
 During my absence four caravans had arrived at 
 Le'opoldville^ and I learned, among other news, that 
 Lieutenant Harou had delivered up his station to 
 Lieutenant Xilis, but that no officer had arrived at the 
 Pool to take command of the Sixth Station, nor was 
 any officer tn route, despite my frequent letters urging 
 the despatch of the Europeans from Yivi. 
 
 Unable to wait, I despatched the whale-boat and two 
 canoes, with the men and stores for the Sixth Station, 
 on the lOtli of May, and on the 11th I steamed up 
 river again in the En Avaut, arriving at Mswata 
 Station at sunset on the 14th.
 
 THE " WHITE CHICKEX:' 409 
 
 Young Lieutenant Janssen bad distinguished liim- ^]^^'{^y 
 self meanwhile by a great progress in the construction Mswata. 
 of a commodious house, while to Papa Gobila he bore 
 himself with filial respect. The stout old man regarded 
 him with paternal pride. Gobila, with rare humour, 
 had christened his white son '• Susu Mpembe," or the 
 " White Chicken." 
 
 As it would be a month at least before any Europeans 
 could arrive at the Pool, after the departure of the 
 special courier bearing the order to the chief of Yivi 
 to despatch all the Europeans designed for the Upper 
 Congo, it appeared to me advisable to set forward with 
 the steamer, and explore the Kwa river, in order to 
 discover whether any special advantages would result 
 from a more intimate acquaintance with that river and 
 its tribes. Meantime the men of the Sixth Station 
 might render valuable assistance to Lieutenant Janssen, 
 and expedite the construction of the station, clear the 
 ground in its neighbourhood, lay out gardens, and 
 improve the approaches to it from the river, and from 
 Mswata and the inland villa":es.
 
 410 THE CONGO. 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 DISCOVERY OF LAKE LEOPOLD IT. 
 
 Start on the exploration of the Kwa — The Mbiho and the Mfini — The 
 scenery of the Kwa — Fertile soil — Towing canoes, nnsnccessfnl — 
 Curions natives — " Don't frighten Gankabi too mnch " — Kemeh 
 Island — Sepulchre of chiefs — Different colonrs of the river — Musye — 
 Eela, the faithless — Mosquitoes in myriads — Natives extracting salt 
 from grass — Gankabi, Queen of Musye — A commanding woman — 
 " Follow me this instant to Ngete I " — Scarcity of food — Musyo 
 ZMunono — Difficulty in getting information — Hostile natives on the 
 river's banks — An unexpected lake — Film of dust ui)on the water — 
 Bays and wood-clad shore — Our lessening food — Encounter with 
 native canoes — Fright and skurry — Pursuit and a dive for a captui-e 
 — " There are many better than I in our village " — Piepelled by 
 natives — Circumnavigation of Lake Leopold II. — Himger, illness, 
 and return to Leopoldville — Pest at Isangila. 
 
 1882. Having engaged a couple of guides from Gobila, and 
 
 3Iay 19. 
 
 iiswata. one from Ganclm — the tax-collector on the north bank 
 — we set out in the En Avant on the 19th of May for 
 our exploring trip up the Kwa.* which river, from all 
 we could hear, was formed of two rivers, white and 
 Llack waters, respectively named Mbihe' and Mfini. 
 Further, we were told that the Mbihe was large and 
 rapid, and that it was dangerous to canoe navigation 
 
 * This river was falsely named Ibari Nkutu to me in 1877 by the 
 Tinscrupulous sons of Chumbiri. The natives along its banks call the 
 united river, below the junction of the Mbihe and the Mfini, the Kwa.
 
 THE MBIHE AND THE MFINI. 411 
 
 because of frequent explosive movements in the water, 1882. 
 which was liable to sudden boiling up wath wild com- Mswata. 
 motion, followed by an equally abrupt subsidence. The 
 Mfini, however, was a wide and even-flowing stream, 
 navigable for a great distance until there was a barrier, 
 formed by the two banks curving and meeting to- 
 gether. The natives, by embracing two hands together, 
 endeavoured to explain this union of the banks, or 
 formation of a barrier — by which I supposed they meant 
 a reedy tangle of jDapyrus, w^ater-cane, Pistia stratiotes, 
 water-lilies, &c., a feature of tropical aqueous vegetation 
 common to many African rivers of sluggish current. 
 Clearer information about these rivers w^e could not 
 obtain, owing to the jealousies of trade, and the informa- 
 tion w^e did receive was coloured deeply with alarming- 
 reports of aboriginal ferocity : the spears were sharper 
 and longer, the muscular force greater, and the will to 
 do mischief upon every possible occasion more ready 
 than elsewhere. Consequently I was not very sanguine 
 that I could do more than merely examine a certain 
 length of river and return speedily. 
 
 I prepared for a 200 miles journey, or six days 
 steaming against the current. At the utmost I sup- 
 posed I should be absent nine days, and rations for 
 that period were accordingly placed aboard. With a 
 few bales and boxes of beads, some packages of brass 
 rods, fuel, reserve of oil, fourteen men, and three 
 guides, ^^ En avantV was uttered to the engineer, and 
 wo started. 
 
 Within a little less than an hour we had rounded
 
 412 THE CONGO. 
 
 1882. Gancliu's Point, when, on account of the narrowness 
 
 May 19. 
 
 Mswata. ^^ the strcam, we encountered a strong current ; but 
 a rush across to the left bank enabled us to avoid the 
 tedious ascent of the north side, and to make a notice- 
 able headway. The bend below is a grand sweep of 
 water. On the southern shores of it is a fine field for 
 the future agriculturist. Its rich soil shows its adapta- 
 bility to his wants, which are furtlier met Ijy the 
 l^resence of clear water, fuel, timber on the slopes of 
 the hills for building, and the choice of many points 
 on which a farmhouse could be built having the enjo}^- 
 ment of a long prospect of river scenery. 
 
 In half an hour, Ganchu's promontory was out of 
 view, and the river opened out to the width of a 
 mile and a half by the receding north bank, which 
 shows from the south bank in agreeable and well- 
 wooded lines of hills, pierced by many little streams 
 issuing cool and clear from beneath shady depths. 
 On the south side we have nothing very agreeable 
 to look upon ; the ground rises in a dry front of arid 
 bluffs, with scrub on their edges ; in the hollows are 
 a tree or two, and at the mouths of gullies a clumj) of 
 trees, guarded by ugly rock, close in-fihore, until by- 
 and-bye, a few miles above Gancliu's jDromontory, a 
 belt of young trees lines the low shore, and screens the 
 hungry features of rocky hills, and lean wasted knolls, 
 while above us, we have as grateful a view as could 
 be desired. The left bank curves outward to the 
 north-north west, and midway w^e see the mouth of the 
 Kwa Eiver, variously called the Kwango, and Ibari
 
 THE KWA EIVEB. 413 
 
 Nkutii. Uyanzi begins on the right bank, presentino- 1882. 
 to us a triangular tract sloping up irom the confluence Mswata. 
 with a green smoothness of aspect, like the glacis of 
 a fortress, to the top of some hills behind, which may 
 be, perhaps, 250 feet above the river. The north bank 
 opposite presents a bolder outline, with hills of more 
 commanding height and steeper slopes, but, by their 
 woods, proving the fertility of the soil. 
 
 The Kwa, at the mouth, we found to be a deep 
 rapid stream, 450 yards wide, of a much browner 
 colour than the Congo. It enters from the north-east, 
 while the Congo meets it here from the north by w^est. 
 The first view upward is not promising ; the banks are 
 sheer bluff walls, of reddish stone and clay. 
 
 We had been three hours and forty minutes ascend- 
 ing the twelve miles from Mswata, which, with a little 
 palaver at Ganchu, had so delayed us that it was now 
 1 . 30 P.M. when we entered the liver. The Kwa w^e 
 soon discovered to be much more crooked than the Great 
 River, and until w^ell after sunset, our course up was 
 a series of traverses from right bank to left bank, and 
 vice versa, or from point No. 1 to point No. 2, and so 
 on ; no portion of the route offering a resting-place 
 until we had passed the third point, when the low 
 plain of Manabiza, on the left bank, offered at least 
 51 change in the scene. The river now widens a little, 
 and presents a longer reach ; while presently, on the 
 right bank, we see another village, called Matari's. 
 Before we come to point No. 5. we have a little islet 
 to admire ; tlie hills fall back, giving place to narrow
 
 414 THE CONGO. 
 
 1882. level terraces, wlncli luio'lit he of some use to man if 
 
 May 19. /^ , 
 
 Gobiia's. there were more trees in view. Round Point 5 is an 
 old village of Gobila's ; in fact, a poor brother of Gohila 
 has been made lord of it, but judging from the poverty- 
 stricken look of the village, he appears to be a sliiftless 
 kind of character. Gobila's guide being a headman, 
 of course obtains for us a welcome, and dark night has 
 covered us all before we can see the outlines of the 
 huts. 
 
 Next morning, while the crew of the steamer is busy 
 cutting fuel, and steam is being made by my young 
 Danish sailor, Albert Christopherson, — who by this time 
 is clever at native languages, clever at hauling wagons, 
 clever at carpentering, and now shows his cleverness 
 at driving an engine — we have a chance of seeing what 
 kind of soil is on these liverine terraces. Gobila's 
 headman takes me round the fields, to the cassava 
 plantations, and he pulls up several mammoth tubers 
 well fitted to obtain the prize at an Agricultural Exhibi- 
 tion for healthiness and size ; he also shows the sugar- 
 cane, of gigantic height and, when tried, of exquisite 
 saccharine flavour. I am like a city boy on a rustic 
 outing. I admire everj^thiug, eat raw cassava, try 
 the sugar-cane like a barbarian of inner Africa, eat 
 the ground-nuts, which are so fat, so white, and so 
 tender. I load my pockets, and finally, pockets and 
 hands being full, think of my cap, and return to the 
 steamer with my gifts of rural produce to exhibit to 
 Albert, who shows his hearty appreciation by driving 
 his white teeth into the cane-stalk, and smiling broadly
 
 TOWING CANOES. 415 
 
 his full content with the situation — because, for the 1882. 
 
 3Iav 20. 
 
 first time since coiiiino- into Africa, we are relieved k..,"p- J,, 
 from stern, severe, and exacting- work. We have 
 thrown off memories of anxieties and privations en- 
 dured together, and are now as happy as schoolboys 
 out on a holiday, during which we intend, God willing, 
 to procure a maximum of pleasure. 
 
 Steam ready, fuel stacked aboard, we leave the 
 landing-place, and continue the journey up the Kwa. 
 There is a grassy islet close to the soft bank oppo- 
 site, and a quiet channel. We steered for the channel, 
 and soon met a canoe bound down river to Stanley 
 Pool with ivory. Our native guide had friends aboard, 
 who were hailed. Soon we overtook two other canoes 
 going up to Queen Gankabi, who lived with her tribe 
 at a place called Musye (pronounced Musyay). The 
 crews seemed in a terrible fright ; 1 »ut our chief guide 
 Ankoli soon quieted them. They had great pots of 
 beer aboard, heaps of dried fish, crockery from Uyanzi ; 
 they had been on a trading expedition, and were 
 returning to Musye'. 
 
 " Would they like to l)e towed up river?" 
 
 " Ah, well, we don't know. We are rather afraid 
 of those turning things (paddle-wheels)." 
 
 •' Oh, no. We will give you a rope, to which you 
 will hold fist ; and if you look after your steering, 
 it will be all right, and ^bikoli says we shall reach 
 .Musye to-night." 
 
 They were persuaded to try. We gave them a rope, 
 to which they held on firmly. The steamer moved
 
 4JG THE CONGO. 
 
 1882. ahead, the paddle-wheels revolved fast, and drove 
 
 May 20. 
 
 Mabwa. the browu waves far astern. The prow of the canoe 
 was draii'O'ed throuo-h. and its steersman, becominG- a 
 little excited, deflected the prow athwart the waves. 
 Then the water began to enter the canoe ; the excite- 
 ment increased with the imminent danger ; the native 
 was being dragged overboard ; the canoe was capsis- 
 ing ; then we halted the steamer, and the poor natives 
 shook their heads and said — 
 
 " Ah, no ; those turning things are bad — they throw 
 too much water at us." 
 
 We waved our hands to them, and went on our own 
 way alone. 
 
 The village of Mabwa is first seen on the right bank, 
 l)Owered in banana-fronds ; the peaky hills sweep 
 round in a comfortable, cosy fold. It is a pretty, 
 agreeable locality. The river opens out finely. On 
 the left bank is a Ijroad plain. By the depth of 
 alluvium which the broken banks show, we know the 
 plain must l)e a fertile tract. 
 
 Above Mabwa, the river appears a veritalile Congo 
 in breadth — more than two miles wide. 
 
 Erabo-Embo comes into view, with a grove of tall 
 trees around it, and a still more spacious plain extend- 
 ing inland to blue hills. The left bank is also a rich 
 plain well-wooded, while along the river border num- 
 bers of villages appear. They include Livini, Mabula, 
 and intervenino; and recurrino- fishing- hamlets, eacb 
 owning a little flotilla of dug-outs. Grassy islets are 
 of course numerous, in series with channels between
 
 CURIOUS KATIVES. 417 
 
 them. Eo-rets and ducks and pelicans are startled in 1882. 
 
 ^ ^ ^ May 20. 
 
 successive flocks away from these islets, by the strenii- Mabwa. 
 ous throbbing of the engine, and the noise of the 
 escape-pipe. The hippos gather in sober conclave to 
 wait the advent of this terrible disturbing demon 
 intruding on tlieir quiet haunts, and then, utterly be- 
 wildered by the increasing clearness of the sounds, 
 they abandon their apparent studious indifference, and, 
 h'ke fish, disappear from the surface. 
 
 At Mabula the valley of the Kwa is broad. On 
 either banks are tlie plains of rich grass, stretching to 
 distant lines of deep blue hills. 
 
 Soon after passing Mabula w^e take advantage of a 
 channel, and cross over to the right bank. Seeing some 
 canoes which desire to accost us, we halt, and allow 
 them to come up for conversation. 
 
 " Where are you going ? And what is tbis all for ? 
 What Icind of a thing is this that goes up by itself on 
 our waters ? " 
 
 ^' Oh," Ankoli responds in a matter-of-fact manner 
 (he has forgotten that l:fe was also frightened by 
 it a few days ago), " we are going to visit Gankabi. 
 This is Bula Matari, you know, brother of great 
 Gobila, and this is the white man's boat. Ah^ it 
 takes the likes of white men to do things like this, 
 3'ou know ! " 
 
 At wliicli there is a great cry of admiration, and 
 very cautious approaches, lest those things begin to 
 revolve again, and send them all to the bottom. 
 
 Finally, when we express a desire to go on to find 
 
 VOL. I. 2 E
 
 418 THE CONGO. 
 
 1882. a camp before nio'lit, tliev cry out. " No\v mind don't 
 
 May 20. ^ . 
 
 Mabuia. frighten Gankabi too mncli. AVe hope you will be 
 very good to lier." 
 
 " Oh, we won't frighten her, not for the world, poor 
 woman, not for the world!" 
 
 Kemeh Island appeared, with its tall trees, far 
 ahead, dominating the waters and the plains. The 
 pale blue sky, out of which tlie sun had shone with 
 fervour all day, now began to be overcast. Large 
 masses of grey clouds advancing from the west, finally 
 shrouded the sun ; and then tlie clouds grew blacker, 
 auguring that the day would close with a rain-storm. 
 Long before we could see any immediate signs of a 
 camp, the lightning began to play, darting through 
 the dark clouds, and with the rolling of thunder 
 announcing that the temjoest was near. The breeze 
 rose, fair and strong astern, and a sail was hoisted to 
 assist our progress. On the level expanse of plain to 
 our right we w^ere yet unable to see aught by which 
 we could replenish our fuel ; but at 5.45 p.m. the rain 
 began to drop, and we had to lay up for the night, 
 a clear mile away from a scrubby grove, where fuel 
 might perhaps be found in the morning. 
 
 We were ill-prepared for the rainy tempestuous night 
 that followed. With the sail, however, stretched over 
 an oar, we contrived to pass the night without being- 
 wetted, though a certain dampness was unavoidable. 
 
 We were a long time in getting under way next 
 mornino'. Fuel had to be carried a o-reat distance over 
 a sloppy plain. The young scrubl)y grove furnished
 
 SEPULCHRE OF CHIEFS. 419 
 
 but poor material. The mud at the landino'-place ^^82. 
 hecame a quagmire, aud looking at it in this chilly, Kemeh is 
 damp state added to the disagreeableness of our situa- 
 tion. Steam took hours of coaxing before it rose in 
 the meter, despite our fond nourishment of the fire ; 
 l)ut at noon we started. 
 
 Kemeh Island — the Holy Isle — wherein the kings 
 and queens of the Wabuma are sepulchred under the 
 shade of the tall, deep grove, was soon reached. Clouds 
 of parrots rioted above, and made the air alive with 
 sound. Turtle-doves cooed their love-songs to missing 
 mates ; hawks soared in the clear air contemplating 
 some desired prey. Aboard came dragon-flies ; and 
 great gad-flies now and then bit us viciously. Tsetse, 
 too, were not wanting to force us to desist from 
 romantic brooding over the histories of the dead cliiefs 
 who in sweet oblivion lie honorably interred in the 
 Holy Isle. 
 
 Still skirting the right bank, we arrive at a place 
 where grey rocky hills slope to the water's edge. 
 AVe round tlie first point, and half-circle with the 
 curve of a bight, and come to another rocky point, 
 passing which we discover ourselves at the lower ex- 
 tremity of the populous settlement of Musye. 
 
 What wnth tlie miserable feeling of the morning,, 
 and the racino* of the niffht before in search of some 
 convenient trees, I have omitted to say that the right 
 Iialf of the Kwa is black as coffee, while the left half 
 is a pale grey, resembling lime-wash in colour. The 
 black water is discharged by the Mfini River, which is 
 
 7? 
 
 ^ ij t^
 
 420 THE CONGO. 
 
 1882 the right branch ; the grey comes out of the Mbihe', 
 
 Musre. or the left branch. 
 
 The centre of Musye' settlement commands the con- 
 fluence of these two rivers. As they are so different 
 in colour, it will be easy for the future traveller to 
 find his way from one stream to the other without a 
 guide. But a hasty glance at the prospect will scarcely 
 denote the route he should take. He sees only a 
 wide flat prospect covered ,with pale green reeds, 
 from a distance, not unlike a wide field of wavinu- 
 grain, through which he views two broad watery 
 channels as wide as the Seine at Paris, conflowing 
 towards the united river he has voyaged upon to 
 Musye. 
 
 Xaturally the appearance of a steamer created a 
 sensation among the inhabitants of Musye. For us it 
 is well that it did so, since anything less w^ould scarcely 
 have roused the drowsy people from their noon-sleep, 
 or from their noon-carousals over beer and trade-gossip 
 under their verandahs, or in the cool twilight of their 
 houses. Within two minutes the rumour had awakened 
 the whole place ; the people mustered in crowds on the 
 bank ; and man}^ of the most daring shot out into 
 the river in their light dug-outs to examine, while 
 floating down the stream, the strange structure that, 
 without aid of hand or eS"ort of muscle, cleaved the 
 waters of the Kwa, and beat them astern into two 
 lines of rolling waves. 
 
 The first founder of the community must have 
 possessed an eye to business. Xo European could
 
 EELA, THE FAITHLESS. 421 
 
 have chosen better. The site was a rich earth terrace 1882. 
 
 ' May 21. 
 
 20 to 40 feet above the highest flood. Behind it, at a Musye." 
 respectable distance, was a low grass^^ ridge, in the 
 folds of which there was ample room for gardens, fields, 
 and pasture ground. The grey Mbihe was open to 
 them for several days' journey ; the black stream of 
 the Mfini offered to them the same advantages. The 
 lower course of the Kwa offered access to the cloth 
 markets of Stanley Pool, or to the upper markets of 
 Uyanzi for ivory, beer, and crockery, in exchange for the 
 camwood powder and dried fish and millet and Indian 
 corn and tobacco that could be obtained from some 
 tribes of their rivers. 
 
 Ankoli discovered, after some inquiries, that Gan- 
 kabi, the queen, was absent up the Mfini. The people 
 did not know, or would not tell, when she would be 
 back, and no one would undertake to invite us to the 
 settlement. 
 
 We asked for Eela, the wife of Kibibi, the woman 
 who had vowed a score of times that Bula Matari was 
 her " man." Eela came raving up. Oh, woman, coy, 
 and hard to please, faithless like all the rest ! In the 
 hour of danger she denied her " man." 
 
 '' Ha ! Bula Matari," she screamed, clutching her 
 throat. " Have I no throat ? Must this, my only one, 
 Ije slit to please you ? Who am I that you ask me to 
 take you in when Gankabi is away ? Out upon you 
 lor a fool ! ^ly throat is worth more to me than all 
 your cloth ! " 
 
 " Eela, Eela"; never more will I trust the word
 
 422 THE CONGO. 
 
 1882. of a woman ! " I cried. " Is this the extent of your 
 
 3Iav -21. "^ 
 
 Musye. iovB for me ? Have I dared the dangers of the mighty 
 river's flood and many stony points and rapids, and 
 come up the Kwn, to be denied by you, who exclaimed 
 before all Mfwa and Kintamo that I was your 'man'? 
 Oh, Eela I Eela ! ungrateful, faithless, fickle Eela ! 
 Adieu, wicked traitress ! I go. Eest in peace ! " 
 
 The steam meanwhile had risen to ten atmospheres, 
 and when I gave the order to '* go ahead," the En 
 Avant seemed to partake of my rage, for she darted 
 off with such velocity that a cry of admiration was raised 
 along the peopled bank. 
 
 The villa o'es of Musve extended alono; the rio-ht 
 bank, continuously from the Mfini to the Kwa, a 
 distance of five miles. The population may be esti- 
 mated at 5000 souls. Gankabi's reign is absolute over 
 this portion of the tribe of the TTabuma, and it is 
 evident that her subjects stand in considerable awe of 
 her. Her son, Buguku, is chief over both banks of the 
 Kwa, and his territory must be extensive, judging from 
 the reports of the guides. 
 
 TVe camped at 5.45 on a little island in the Mfini 
 River, a few miles below Mbutchi. Hitherto we had 
 enjoyed considerable immunity from mosquitoes. At 
 Yivi and Manyanga mosquitoes were unknown ; at 
 Le'opoldville they troubled us occasionally at first, but 
 the large clearing and terrace cliilled them, and finally 
 drove them away. At Mswata they were so rare that 
 they were comparative curiosities, but in this low 
 grassy region, in the extensive reedy flats in tlie
 
 JIO.SQUJTOES IX MYRIADS. 423 
 
 Mfini, they existed in myriads upon myriads. Xot an is82. 
 
 May 21, 
 
 incli of space above or below, except within the boiler, Musve. 
 seemed untenanted by the vicious and insatiable insects. 
 Our moscj[uito-nets contributed some relief to Albert and 
 myself, but as for the poor crew — fires all round them, 
 and clouds of smoke and long wisps of grass availed 
 them but little — they said it was one long agony all 
 night. 
 
 Fuel was very scarce. Everything that bore the sem- 
 blance of being dry wood was industriously searched 
 for, but it was eight o'clock on the 21st before we 
 were able to move from the islet. 
 
 We seemed to be voyaging up some reedy river 
 delta. High green spear-grass, taller than a man's 
 head, spread over a space some fifteen miles in breadth, 
 and of unknown length, through which these two 
 rivers flowed for many miles. About a mile to our 
 left, as we ascended, was a continuous range of low 
 hills, with the crest partly wooded, and the slopes and 
 base wholly. If we look to our right the line of hills 
 seems to be between fifteen and twenty miles off, and 
 all the space between seems to be occupied with this 
 low and level grassy expanse, excej^t where some 
 scrubby tree grew, or a clump of worthless cotton-wood, 
 whose soft, pithy, fibrous texture was most unfit for 
 fuel. Altogether this was a most singular condition of 
 things to us who had l>een so long amongst rocks 
 and hard wood forests. Yet it should be mentioned 
 that the river was now at high-flood, or near the com- 
 menceineiit of its subsidence, as the black loam which
 
 424 THE CONGO. 
 
 1882. nourished this dense crop of spear-grass here and 
 Musye. there showed itself. 
 
 Necessity has taught the natives that a nitrous salt 
 can he extracted from this grass. In June, July, and 
 August they cut large quantities of it, which they 
 leave on swathes on the ground until it is dry, and 
 then collect it into heaps and burn it. Afterwards 
 they collect the lye, and in their pots — which this 
 black clay and loam enable tliem to make — they boil 
 it. In the residuum they find their salt, which is a 
 dirty grey in colour. 
 
 A singular thing which we observed in this river, 
 so close to such fat pastures, was the utter absence of 
 hippopotami, whereas in the Mbihe they are very 
 abundant. This may, however, be due to the fact that, 
 being high-flood, the river overflows the water-courses, 
 and penetrates the depressions behind the natural 
 banks of the river, where they may lie undisturbed. 
 But in the whole course of the Mfini River we did 
 not observe one of these animals ; crocodiles also were 
 very rare. 
 
 About an hour after we left our camp we were met 
 b}' two well-manned canoes ; in the foremost of which 
 there was a female paddling vigorously for a few 
 strokes, and then in a peculiar style bringing her right 
 arm akimbo to her waist. Ankoli recognised her, and 
 cried out, " There is Gankabi ! " 
 
 Naturally, to meet such a celebrity, the Queen of 
 Musye, the friend of Clobila, and the principal person 
 on the river, we halted very quickly ; and, without the
 
 GANKABI, QUEEX OF MUSYK 425 
 
 sli '•litest sio'ii of timidity, she steered her forty-five foot 1882. 
 canoe alongside. This very action on ner part de- Musye. 
 noted a person of character. She brought her paddle 
 in-board, and with her right arm to her waist she 
 examined ns keenly and attentively for some minutes 
 without speaking. 
 
 She probably was listening to Ankoli, who, like all 
 other natives, begin at the yery beginning of a story, 
 and continue to the end. Her attentiye survey of 
 Bula Matari was with interest reciprocated. Excepting 
 her hair and colour she had nothing negroid about her. 
 Draw a figure with the Martha Washington type of 
 face, colour it with rich bronze, put short frizzly hair of 
 a ne2:ro above, and one has a strikino^ likeness of 
 Queen Gankabi. If of full length, draw it to represent 
 a figure of 5 feet Ih inches of sturdy, square-shouldered, 
 substantial form, with an ample grass-cloth about her ; 
 bare bust, bare feet and bare head, with no ornaments 
 about her except a heayy copper wristlet, and you 
 have a life-like picture of Queen Gankabi. 
 
 Amons: neffro women this kind of face of the Martha 
 AVashington type — austere, fixed, resolute, and earnest- 
 eyed — is very unusual. Probably I have seen 200,000 
 African women during my many years of travel in the 
 Dark Continent, and I cannot remember to have seen 
 more than half-a-dozen such women. A certain feminine 
 softness was prevalent ; they were narrow browed, with 
 narrow and receding chins, but the best of these for- 
 midable types were governing women, great in their 
 own way, such as the Queen Mother of Uganda, and
 
 426 THE CONGO. 
 
 1882. Gankabi, Queen of Musye. That the latter was not 
 
 llay21. ' ^ *' 
 
 Musye. greater is due solely to a lack of opportunities. Per- 
 haps Candace of Ethiopia, and Cornelia, the mother of 
 the Gracchi, may have been women of the same type. 
 I observe, however, that such women have one strong 
 character written on their features, viz.. Maternity, 
 the ideal maternity ! 
 
 " So 3^ou are Bula Matari ! " Slie did not speak 
 gently, but abruptly, rather with the air of a judge. 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 "Come along with me. You can stop at Ngete' 
 to-day, and to-morrow we can go to Musye." 
 
 This woman commanded already. 
 
 " Pardon, Gankabi. Musye' I saw yesterday, Musye 
 drove me away. I came up river, and I am now going 
 to the end of it." 
 
 " What ! you cannot go higher than Ngete' with me. 
 Do you know I am Gankabi, and what I say is done ? 
 Ay?" 
 
 " Oh, well, Ankoli has told me of Gankabi. Gobila 
 has spoken of Gankabi. I know Gankabi is great, the 
 mother of Buguku, and Queen of the Wabuma ; but my 
 name is Bula Matari, ' the man who breaks rocks.' " 
 (Tbere is nothing like asserting one's self in such an 
 obstinate presence. If I had not done so, this virago 
 would have taught me, I believe, what a stout-armed 
 mother can do. The paddle was in her hand !) 
 
 " Be quiet. Follow me this instant to Ngete'. What 
 do you want to see tlie river for ? There is nothing 
 beyond Ngete'. The two banks meet so. [She inter-
 
 A COMMANDING WOMAN. 427 
 
 laced the fingers of both hauds.] Take my word for it, i88-2. 
 
 jMay "21. 
 
 and come along." Mu>^yo. 
 
 " Xo," I re2:)lied. " To-day I do not wish to see 
 Ngete'. I am going to see the end of this river, and 
 when I return, if you are at Musye, I will see you, that 
 is, if you wish ; if not, T go down as I came up past you." 
 
 " Well, what next, I wonder ! How will you go 
 past Ngete' ? The people will fight you. No one is 
 allowed to go past Xgete. The people are bad ; they 
 will kill you all." 
 
 "Ah, well, I shall be very sorry to get killed, of 
 course ; but I must go all the same." 
 
 '^ What for ? " 
 
 " To see the river." 
 
 " And what will you do with it, when you do see it?" 
 
 " Nothing. When I have seen the end, I will return." 
 
 "Enough then. Listen. Stay here. Gro close to 
 the bank there, and I will go and get you something 
 to eat, and we will go together down to Musyc." 
 
 " No. I am glad to have seen you. You go and do 
 your work at Ngete. Wait there two or three dnys, 
 and I shall return to you, and together we will go 
 to Musye." 
 
 " No, no, no ; do not be fooHsh, Bula Matari. Come 
 on with me to this next village, and I will give you 
 some food and you shall stay there. Meantime, 1 will 
 go to Ngete' and get my things, and we will go down 
 to Musye to-day." 
 
 I assented to go with her as far as the village, where 
 she procuie<l me a goat and some bananas, which were
 
 428 THE CONGO. 
 
 1882. very accej^table presents. AVe waited an hour for lier 
 :Musye. retum from Xgete, after she had departed on her 
 errand, and then, fearing that she might have another 
 opportunity to begin her obstinate entreaties, we con- 
 tinued on our voyage. When Xgete', which was also 
 a populous place almost as large as Mus3'e, appeared 
 in view, Albert received a hint to fire up to eight 
 atmospheres of steam, with which we dashed on despite 
 the frantic shouts of the people of Xgete, in the midst 
 of which Gankabi's conspicuous figure Avas seen waving* 
 her hands energetically with all the stern mothers 
 manner so noticeable in her character. 
 
 Xgete is on the left bank, and commands the en- 
 trance to two channels caused by a long island. The 
 site is a reddish clay hump rising above the surround- 
 ing sea of spear-grass. Just above are the villages of 
 Impali, and five or six miles higher is the district of 
 Muleke', where we arrived at 3 F.3I. Our fuel was 
 almost consumed, and there seemed to be no prospect 
 of obtaining any. The wooded hills appeared to be 
 about a mile away from either bank. After consulta- 
 tion with Ankoli we thought it best to treat for fuel,, 
 bread, and bananas. It may be imagined wdiat kind 
 of a country this was when we had to pui chase w^ood 
 for fuel ! 
 
 The people found a means to approach the steamer, 
 and visit us by a natural canal. We found them 
 a wild-looking set. Their women, like the Wy-yanzi, 
 affect heavy brass collars, from ten to sixty pounds 
 weio-ht of brass around their necks, while le^'lets and
 
 SCARCITY OF FOOD AND FUEL. 429 
 
 armlets were also massive. The hair was in towerino- I882. 
 
 ^ Jlav -22. 
 
 top-knots. They carried spears like Zulu assegais ; the xgete. 
 shafts being slender and long, and beautifully grooved. 
 
 With Ankoli's assistance we were not lono; in makina- 
 friends with Ifwe, chief of Muleke. But negotiations 
 with African chiefs are tedious affairs, and require a 
 vast deal of patience. The explorer may fret and 
 fume, and wish to finish his set task within a reason- 
 able time ; but the force of circumstances in this grass- 
 banked river were too strong for once, even with a 
 steamer. Our fuel cost us 100 brass rods, which at 
 this distance were worth sixpence each. Fish — dried 
 and fresh — was abundant ; one dried, twelve inches 
 {Silurus)^ was worth one brass rod, or a sixpence ; six 
 fresh fish, a foot long, were purchased for four brass 
 rods, or two shillings. 
 
 On the 23rd, our steamers, well loaded with dry fuel, 
 set out from Muleke at noon. 
 
 The tribes inhabiting the district on the left bank, 
 and wlio extend far inland, are the Basazza. Muleke 
 is the first district we encountered. There is but a 
 slight difference in dialect between their language and 
 that of the Wabuma. Ankoli was therefore still useful 
 to us. 
 
 Ndua, a village situated on another humpy rise in the 
 land, reminded us of a Nilotic village during an inun- 
 dation. Though it was only 12 feet above the level of 
 the liver, it was at a commanding height above it, the 
 sea of grass rustling and waving beneath, judging 
 from the prominence of the black figures of its people,
 
 430 
 
 THE CONGO. 
 
 18S-_'. 
 Ndua. 
 
 who stood grouped, watching the approacli of the 
 steamer under sail and steam. 
 
 A few miles above Ndiia, we came to the upper 
 end of the long island, to pass which had required five 
 hours' steaming. At its upper extremity on the right 
 bank stands the village of Ganto. At 5 p.m. we pre- 
 pared to camp on the left bank near a clump of 
 cotton-wood trees, from which we managed to pick 
 some remnants of dried wood. 
 
 VILLAGE OF NDUA. 
 
 Early dawn on the 24th found us moving up river, 
 and about 7 a.m. we came to a grove of hard wood in 
 a bend of the stream. Such being a great rarity in 
 this region, we availed ourselves of the treasure, and 
 in two hours we were well loaded with at least enough 
 for eighteen hours' continuous steaming. 
 
 Ndu Kumbi, a large village on the left bank, was- 
 reached within an hour, and about 1 p.m. we were
 
 HOSTILE NATIVES. 481 
 
 abreast of ]\Iusye Munono, wliere Ankoli iDossessed 1882. 
 friends. This compelled another stoppage for the day, Ndu 
 which was not considered regrettable, since we obtained 
 a supply of fresh bread, made of millet, sufficient to 
 last for several days. The bread was in the form of 
 a roll of about nine inches long and one inch in 
 diameter, thirty being obtainable for a brass rod. 
 
 All this time, despite our utmost efforts to obtain 
 information, nothing was elicited tending to make one 
 suppose that farther up there was any extraordinary 
 feature worth seeing. The natives willingly imparted 
 all they knew ; they gave the names of villages and 
 peoples, and told us what villages possessed " good 
 people.'' At " the end of the river,'' they said, was 
 a meeting of the banks, beyond which the steamer 
 could not travel. 
 
 Since leaving Ngete the river had varied in breadth 
 from 250 3-ards to 400 yards, deep enough for all the 
 purposes of navigation. Although the man at the bow 
 held the sounding-pole in his hand, and continually 
 tested the depth, we were never warned of shoal water. 
 The current was a steady even flow of two and a half 
 knots per hour, and the river was clean from bank to 
 bank, presenting no obstructions, such as snags or 
 sand-bars, between the sedgy banks. Had there been 
 wood on its shores we should have considered it as 
 superior even to the Congo for navigation, from its 
 unruffled flow, deep water, and clean bed. An artifi- 
 cial canal could not have excelled it. It had also a 
 gently-winding course, though erratic in the detail of
 
 432 THE COXGO. 
 
 1882. the curves, but was witliout eddies, backwaters, or 
 
 3Iay 25. ' ' ' 
 
 Yamru. rusbing ciUTents at tlie corners ; everywliere it was 
 smoothly flowing, even at the angles. 
 
 On the 25th, soon after leaving Miisje Munono, we 
 passed the village of Miikana — right bank — which was 
 hostile, we were told, to the former. Near noon, 
 on a bluff about 80 feet above the river, appeared 
 Yamvu, the people of which, despite our endeavour to 
 be peaceable, would not respond, but kept regarding 
 us, weapons in hands, vrith a mute and stupid curiosity. 
 By the banana groves flourishing around, we should 
 judge Yamvu must be blessed with plenty. Abund- 
 ance of fish, unequalled growth of bananas, with palm- 
 oil, millet-seed for bread, form a luxurious chop for 
 black Africans bred on such a diet. 
 
 The latitude at noon showed we were in S. Lat. 
 2^ 27'. At 12.45 p.m. we sighted and passed Unkuri. 
 Until near night we held on our way — sedgy banks on 
 either hand, to the depth of half a mile, backed by a 
 line of low hills, which were always inaccessible, except 
 for narrow dug-outs, wliich could be j)^iii^ed through 
 the foot-wide channels in the sedge. 
 
 Near the evenins: of this dav, at the end of a lono- 
 reach, we came to a sudden curve of the river. The 
 hills on the right ran sharply to the left, while the 
 river reach appeared to end at their base. The sedge 
 became narrower on the right, and for the first time we 
 looked upon the space between the river's course and 
 the base line of the hills, and saw they were lines of 
 silent pools or lagoons, connected by intricate narrow
 
 LAKE LEOPOLD. 433 
 
 channels. On an ant-hill, where there were a couple i8S2. 
 of ruined huts, we made our camp. The next morning \^-^q ' 
 we were obliged to break up one of these huts to '"^^°^*^* 
 obtain fuel. 
 
 But next morning, pressing onward, we found the 
 river course simply curving at right angles to the long 
 reach, and that we had not arrived at the end yet. 
 An hour later a change in the monotony of sedgy 
 banks and broad sedgy valley appeared. The river 
 now washed on the rio-ht the base of well-wooded and 
 green hills of moderate height, and green-topped bluffs, 
 crowned with populous villages, were seen. Mutumba 
 was first spoken. Ankoli had never been so far. He 
 mentioned the name of Gankabi, but the name evoked 
 not that interest we should have expected. They 
 crowded to the steamer in unpleasant numbers, which 
 seemed to be augmenting. ^Ve should have purchased 
 food were there any immediate prospect of being able 
 to effect a favourable impression. But time was valu- 
 able to us, and we were not prepared for a lengthened 
 sojourn on the present voyage. "^Ve steamed on, with 
 a promise that we should call on our way back. Half 
 a dozen other villages, pleasantly situated, came into 
 view one after another. The two last commanded tlie 
 confluence of two channels, the left, a hundred yards 
 wide, " led to Ngana ; " but whether Ngana is a river, 
 lake, village, or district, we did not know. We 
 chose the right-hand channel, as being the largest, or 
 rather widest, being three times the width of the other. 
 A sedgy tract, which spread out like a waving grain- 
 
 VOL. I. 2 F
 
 434 THE CONGO. 
 
 1882. field, separated one from tlie other. The riglit bank 
 Lake "^'^s a tree-clothed steep, exquisitely green, and the 
 ''"°^°'' larcre nmbrao'eous red-wood trees towered from near 
 the water's edge for up the bluffy face of the hills.. 
 Then we were sheered from their immediate nei^-h- 
 bourhood by a tract of sedge again, but there was still 
 500 yards of clear water. Within two hours, a break 
 in the dense low sedge on our left gave us a view of 
 two miles of clear water, and it was only now I began 
 to suspect that we were about entering a lake, perhaps 
 a wide marsh. 
 
 I examined with interest the shores, and observed 
 that we were passing them at an unusual speed. We 
 halted, and reversed the engines ; there was a slight 
 current perceptible still. AYe dropped a lead-line 
 overboard, and found 22 feet. 
 
 A low point, with one palm conspicuous on it, stood 
 out from the right bank, and the nearer we approached 
 it, the more I became convinced that we had stumbled 
 unexpectedly upon a lake, for to our left the low 
 liills were five miles away, and between us was open 
 water. 
 
 As we steamed along, we observed on the inky sur- 
 face of the lake a film of dust, which was like flour of 
 sulphur in colour, and far away in the wake of the 
 steamer astern, the water was like a lengthy mirror 
 set in a broad gilded frame. 
 
 Just above One Palm Point we found a bight, with 
 a smooth pebbly shore, and deep impenetrable woody 
 tangle aback. Here we camped, at 5 o'clock, to obtain
 
 TEE SHORES OF LAKE LEOPOLD. 435 
 
 fncl, to romp on the clean pebbled shore, to skim 1882. 
 
 May 26. 
 
 flat blue slate stones, and sling round marble-like L^k-e 
 pebbles of quartz and porous red stone on the yellow '''^^ 
 sulphurous face of the lake. The light pithy cotton- 
 wood we had obtained on the banks of the river below 
 was here discarded and thrown overboard^ and harder 
 white wood, with a deep red core, was substituted 
 instead. In the morning the discarded firewood was 
 still floating in our neighbourhood. 
 
 The water, when held to the light in a glass, was 
 of the colour of brandy, but looking down into deep 
 water, it was like ink. 
 
 The next day, the 27th of May, we continued our 
 voyage of exploration, and skirted the shore, at the 
 distance of 1 00 yards off from it. 
 
 As we proceeded, we observed that the left shore 
 receded gradually from view, until our eyes rested on 
 a watery horizon eastward. But, by the dark loom of 
 land over the bow of the steamer, we became convinced 
 that this lake possessed great bays indenting far in- 
 land, or that there were large islands in it. We 
 sounded occasionally, and found the depth to vary 
 from 10 feet to 24 feet. Not a ripple rufEed its smooth 
 dead surface, but that winds did occasionally agitate it 
 was proved by the line of wave-washed shore, by the 
 rounded pebbles strewn on it, by the form of the sand}' 
 beach, and the traces of the effects of spurted spindrift, 
 and sprayed surge visible in the shade of overhanging 
 shrubbery. 
 
 Most of our attention was, howevcr_, attracted to the 
 
 2 F 2
 
 43G THE COXGO. 
 
 1882. wood-clothed shore, which rose in harmonious hnes 
 
 May 27. 
 
 Lake from the margin of the lake to the leafy summit of 
 hills varying from 150 to 300 feet above, to the wag- 
 tails and sand-pipers which were hopping briskly on 
 the beaches, while jays careered from bush to bush, 
 and contemplative fish-eagles perched on the highest 
 boughs, curiously regarded us. Parrots, flying with 
 affected weary wing, and uttering harsh strident cries 
 as they passed overhead; a family of weaver-birds, 
 liovering under their pendent nests, with their yellow 
 bellies upward; divers darting in alarm from our 
 proximity, or some slow lumbering fat crocodile, loth 
 to be disturbed, sneakingly moving his lengthy form 
 waterward, added to the satisfaction we felt as we 
 steamed swiftly along. 
 
 Let it not be forgotten, however^ that much as we 
 were willing to enjoy ourselves, there were serious 
 drawbacks to enjoyment. Our pleasure jaunt was dis- 
 turbed by the fact, ever recurring to the memory, that 
 we had but little food. It was now the ninth day of 
 our departure from Mswata. It would require three 
 days to return to the station, even if we on the instant 
 desisted from further exploration. Who could tell how 
 many days we might be occupied on this circumnaviga- 
 tion of the lake ? — for that is naturally what we had 
 resolved upon, the moment that the idea flashed upon 
 us that a lake had been discovered. Some wise man 
 had implanted the lesson in my mind when I was still 
 young, " Never to abandon a good thing until you 
 have seen it through, lest you may never have the
 
 Leopold. 
 
 A STOEM. 437 
 
 opportunity again." In other words, if you discover a is82. 
 
 Mav '11, 
 
 new Jake, or a new river, exert yourself to see as niucli Lake 
 of it as you can, lest the accidents of life may prevent 
 another visit to it. 
 
 This is what we were bent upon doing, although the 
 crew were already looking unutterable things at me 
 for my hardihood. But we — Albert and I — were not 
 a whit better off than they. Two days more would 
 make us poor indeed. Who could have dreamed of a 
 sedgy-banked river whereon fuel was so scarce that 
 we should be compelled to lose precious half-days in 
 bargaining for it ? And who could have dreamed of a 
 lake lying in this direction ? 
 
 The bights were noble curves of land, but the rising- 
 land behind showed nothing more than one continuous 
 forest, the notable details being, perhaps, some tower- 
 ing cotton-wood, attracting attention by its large and 
 UDrio-ht ii'rev columnar trunk, or some palm raising 
 its head in a tuft of bending fronds. But there was 
 not a break to indicate that there might be human 
 habitants in the unknown land. Unbroken by any 
 incident the day passed, and in the evening we camped 
 in the wilds beside a silver beach, being apparently the 
 undisputed lords of the silent lake and land. 
 
 Near midnight we were roused from our slumbers 
 \^y a storm of driving rain. The lightning darted in 
 fierce flaming pennants and blinding white flashes 
 through the intense blackness of the night, and the 
 thunder followed with long-continued reverberating- 
 rolls, or in short, sharp explosions which stunned our
 
 438 THE coy GO. 
 
 1882. senses. Then the rain fell afresh in eaffer showers, as 
 
 May 28. ^ 
 
 Lake though forced down upon us ; and presently the wind 
 rose into a gale, and we soon heard the surge respond- 
 ing by sounding Llows upon the hollow shore. For- 
 tunately, we had been so far prudent that the steamer 
 was safe, though we did not quite escape the swell. 
 I should have wished that this stormy event had 
 happened during the day, that I might have seen the 
 inky water rise in waves crested with its syrup- 
 coloured foam. 
 
 But ly morning of the 28th the rain had ceased, 
 the wind had been hushed, and only the uneasy swell 
 reminded us of the wilduess of the past night. Our 
 sail had ill-protected us from either rain or damp ; the 
 steamer had six inches of water after the copious rain. 
 Baling had to be done, fuel had to be cut, steam 
 required careful attention, a warm breakfast had to be 
 prepared of very mild tea and roasted bananas, before 
 we were encouraged to venture out. 
 
 About ten o'clock, as we were issuing out of a long 
 bay-like bight in the shore, we saw half a dozen small 
 canoes well out in the lake, and one probably two 
 miles further out, and after passing the rocky point, 
 we saw the village to which these canoes evidently 
 belonged. I thought this an excellent opportunity to 
 obtain some information respecting the country, and 
 perhaps obtain fresh fish and food. We bore down 
 upon the fishermen, who, all engrossed in hauling their 
 seines aboard, permitted us to approach within a mile 
 of them before they were aware of our presence. And
 
 ALARMED FISHERMEN. 439 
 
 siicli a presence as we must have been to tliem ! A 1882. 
 large white boat with outspread and ample '^'ing, {^^^ ' 
 emitting strange noises, which was unlike the sounds '"^^° ' 
 sent out by any animal they had ever heard ! They 
 lift their hands up in dismay. One, with more pre- 
 sence of mind than the others, claps his hands to his 
 paddle, and instinctively skims away. "An admirable 
 idea," the others seem to cry, and all strike their 
 paddles deep in the black water, and urge their tiny 
 dug-outs until they appear to fly over the lake. But 
 the other — the canoe all alone in the watery waste — in 
 which the fisherman, profoundly abstracted in his task, 
 sits heedlessly hauling his seines aboard ? When, hark ! 
 What is that ? What strange sighing sound, and 
 harsh grating, and plashing noise is that ? He turns 
 toward our direction, and beholds a strange structure, 
 all white, with lofty wing, and a pair of revolving 
 clappers striking the lake water into long trailing 
 waves behind. He falls sideways into his little canoe 
 completely paralysed, as if striving to realise that the 
 vision is not all a dream. No doubt the thought flashes 
 into his mind, " But a moment since I swept my eyes 
 around, and saw naught strange to inspire fear or 
 anxiety in me. But this ! Whence could this have 
 issued ? It must be a wild dream, surely." 
 
 But again the gentle wind bears to his ears the 
 strong pulsating sounds, and the deep but sharp 
 sighing ; he hears the desperate whirl of the paddle- 
 wheels ; he sees the trail of rolling wavelets astern. 
 Leaping to his feet with frantic energy, he takes one
 
 440 THE CONGO. 
 
 1882. short e'lance around, and realises that he, insensate 
 *iay28. ^. . . '. . . . -11 
 
 Lake fool, while indulging- in Waltonian reveries in midday, 
 
 ''^° ■ has been abandoned by his friends ! However, there 
 
 is hope while there is life ; he bends his back, and 
 
 draws, with long-reaching grasp, the water sideways, 
 
 this way, and that, and the tiny pirogue, sharp as a 
 
 spear-point, leaps over the water, obeying his will 
 
 dexterously. 
 
 " Down with the sail, boys," and the wing is folded, 
 and a tall shaft stands revealed, with a black column 
 behind vomiting flame and smoke from its muzzle. 
 
 Nearer and nearer the steamer draws on the fugitive 
 pirogue, but, by a whirl of the paddle, the dark man 
 shoots triumphantly at right angles away, while the 
 En Avanf, confused by this sudden movement, careers 
 madly along. In a short time, however, she is in full 
 chase again, this time carefully watching every move- 
 ment. The man has kept throwing wild glances over his 
 shoulders ; he observes the monster rapidly gaining on 
 him, and each time it seems to loom larger and larger 
 to his excited imagination ; he hears the tremendous 
 whirl of the wheels, and tlie throbbing of the engines, 
 and the puffing of the steam. Another glance, and it 
 seems to be overwhelming him, when, "Ach Gott !" 
 he springs overboard, and we sweep past the empty 
 canoe. 
 
 " Now, Uledi and Dualla, we will go round to the 
 spot where he sank, and as he comes up jump over- 
 board and catch him." 
 
 We steered the steamer round, and proceeded slowly
 
 llilUi'«r:i; ' Mllih.ii' ■llliitllSlJ' 
 
 iil'I'lfll 
 
 r\
 
 OUR CAPTIVE. 441 
 
 towards the empty canoe. Tlie man was swimmins: in 1882. 
 
 . , May 28. 
 
 its vicinity. As we came up he divecl, and our two L^ke 
 sailors flashed into the depths after him. It was a '*'°^° 
 pretty sight to see the graceful bodies darting like 
 sharks towards their prey. They brought him up, 
 each holding an arm, and swam with him to the boat. 
 We lifted him up tenderly, and seated him on the sail, 
 waiting patiently for his pulses to beat less wildly, and 
 the excited heart to cease its rapid throbbing. 
 
 "Now, Ankoli, speak softly to the poor man." 
 
 No answer was given to Ankoli's cooing tones and 
 wooing accents. 
 
 •' Try again — softer still, Ankoli." 
 
 And again Ankoli, in soothing whispers, asked what 
 his name was. 
 
 " What did you pick me out for ? There are many 
 better than I in our village." 
 
 "One what?" I ask. "How better? What does 
 he mean ? " 
 
 " He means," answered Ankoli, " that there are finer 
 slaves than he in the village." 
 
 " Ah ! There have been slave-catchers here, then. 
 Where do they come from ? " 
 
 " How do I know ? — I never saw this lake before. 
 Perhaps Gankabi, perhaps Ingya of Ngete'." 
 
 Having evidently obtained all the information the 
 ])Oor fellow could give, Dualla filled his two hands 
 with bright beads, and laid a dozen handkerchiefs by 
 his side, then bringing the canoe alongside, we asked 
 him to step in, and placed his cloth in the stern of it,
 
 442 THE CONGO. 
 
 1882. with a small parcel of cowries. After lie liad stepped 
 
 INIay 28. . . 
 
 Lake 11^5 ^16 did not seem to realise that he was a free and rich 
 '°^'° ■ man until there was such a distance between us that he 
 thought it impossible for us to catch him again, even 
 if we tried. When he seemed a small speck in the 
 lake, we saw the figure rise to its height, and then we 
 knew that he was conscious that his old life had begun 
 again. 
 
 We arrived at the head of the lake, which is in 
 south lat. 1° 28', and after going into two or three 
 deep bights in the hope that in this direction we should 
 meet some navigable river, we came in sight of a very 
 large village. We halted, and lay to about 150 yards 
 off" shore, while Ankoli endeavoured to make himself 
 understood. But the inhabitants gathered together, 
 and only made hostile demonstrations with their 
 bows and arrows. To put the matter beyond doubt, a 
 native advanced to a projecting log, and deliberately 
 placed his arrow ready, while a few more lined the 
 shore with light assegais. Ankoli recited Gobila and 
 Gankabi's names, as though they were the names of 
 protecting deities, \ml never a word of reply gave 
 these people. Under such conditions, with time flying, 
 and food now at starvation scantiness, we could not 
 stay to convert them into showing hospitality to 
 strangers. Rebuffed by these coercive intimidations 
 we steamed away, still skirting the rock-bound shore, 
 until, coming to an island, we encamped for the night. 
 On the 29 th we were away before the dawn, running 
 in and out of deep bays, along a low shore of rock
 
 LAKE LEOPOLD CIRCUMNAVIGATED. 443 
 
 capped by humus and alluvium, until about noon, when 1882. 
 we entered another bay in the southern coast, where a Lake 
 large extent of forest was submerged, and the water 
 penetrated far inland. 
 
 On the 30th we were still engaged in exploring the 
 deep bays of the irregular south coast. Only a few 
 villages were seen, but the instant we appeared the 
 inhabitants betook themselves to the bush. Numbers 
 of small streams entered these bays. 
 
 On the 31st I wrote the following in my diary : — 
 *' Explored three bays to-day, and, clinging closely to 
 the shore until 2 p.m., I crossed over to the west side, 
 arriving at One Palm Point at 3.30 p.m., and the circum- 
 navigation of Lake Leopold IL was completed. The 
 greatest depth I discovered is 24 feet ; its average 
 depth is perhaps 16 feet at this season; it may be 
 6 or 8 feet less in the dry season. Though so shallow, 
 it covers a considerable area — nearly 800 square miles. 
 I have only discovered one river of any importance, 
 which is at the north-east extremity of the lake. I 
 penetrated upward 5 miles. Ankoli informed me that 
 the Wyyanzi sometimes came down by the Mfini, but 
 by what means they could have reached the lake, if 
 true, I am at a loss to know. A great many small 
 streams converge into the lake. 
 
 " The southern coast presents mainly the irregular 
 fracture that a cake of slag might be supposed to 
 jiresent after being struck with a hammer, it is so 
 jagged in outline. Tt is a hard grit-stone, and j^itted 
 like pumice-stone in its character, veined with iron ore.
 
 444 THE COXGO. 
 
 1882. The north coast is com2:)Osed of lines of hills, well- 
 Lake ^oodcd, witli Open bights and a few snug coves. Red 
 ''^^^ ■ wood powder, and rubber and fish, with ivory, are 
 the jorincipal products of these people, according to 
 my guide, who has traded often with Gankabi, who, 
 in her turn, has obtained most of her trade with the 
 villages near the entrance to tbe lake. 
 
 " AVe are almost famished, because I was buoyed up 
 with the hope that we would be able to obtain food 
 somewhere ; but such is the extraordinarily wild and 
 timid character of the natives around the lake, that, 
 with the best desire in the world, prompted by pinched 
 vitals, we have been unable to obtain anything. It 
 would jDrobably take two voyages more to conquer this 
 suspicion of our intentions. 
 
 '• Besides my anxiety about obtaining food for my 
 crew I am oppressed to-night with a deathly languor. 
 My entire frame aches with pains, but fortunately I 
 have all my observations worked out, and if I am 
 taken seriously ill, it is only a descent down a river 
 that has been sufficiently surveyed while ascending. 
 
 *' June 1st. — AVe start at 7.55 a.m. from One Palm 
 Point, Lake Le'opold II. Arrive at confluence of 
 Ngana with Mfini at 11.20 a.m., and Musye' Munono 
 at 6.20 P.M., when, late as it is, the ravenous jrieople 
 begin bartering-, and the natives, never loth to trade 
 after their confidence has been obtained, respond 
 heartily. 
 
 " I have a strong fever on me to-night. 
 
 "June 2nd. — Left Musye' Munono 7.5 a.m.; arrived
 
 Tille. 
 
 AGAIN IN SICKNESS. 445 
 
 at Muleke 11.45 a.m.: arrived at Musye 4.45 p.m. 1882. 
 
 . ' , , June 12. 
 
 Gankaoi has received my excuses. My illness is in- Leopold- 
 creasing in intensity. Albert and Dualla must no^v 
 take charge. 
 
 "June 3rd to 6th. — Halt, and sick at Gankabi's. 
 
 "June 7th. — I urge departure, and at 11.30 a.m. we 
 leave G-ankabi's, and arrive at Mswata 3.45 p.m." 
 
 By this time I had become perfectly helpless. On 
 the 11th, Albert, engineer and captain, took the boat 
 to Stanley Pool. Xext day we arrived at Le'opoldville, 
 where I dimly remember being carried to the station. 
 
 Four or five days later I remember to have been told 
 that some Europeans had arrived, those very people I 
 had waited for so long. I remember that they came 
 to my bedside, but I have no distinct recollection of 
 anything particular relating to them. 
 
 There were brief intervals of consciousness each day. 
 In one of these I gave orders for a caravan to be pre- 
 pared ; and, as the Zanzibaris who had accompanied 
 ine from Zanzibar had performed their three years' term 
 of service, they should convey me to Tivi. 
 
 It was on the 27th of June, in camp at Mpakambendi, 
 that my position fully dawned upon me, and I believed 
 myself free from danger. We had left Le'opoldville on 
 the 23rd, and had since crossed the Congo to the north 
 bank. On the 28th I was conveyed to Manyanga, and 
 liere incipient gastritis made itself manifest. 
 
 During the interval of waiting for the boat from 
 Isangila, Mr. T. J. Comber, head of the Baptist Mission, 
 applied to me fur advice, and I strongly recommended
 
 446 THE COXGO. 
 
 18S2. to him a settlement at Leopoldville, and agreeably to liis 
 isancriia. I'^qucst I managed to scraM'l a letter with a trembling 
 hand to the chief in charge. 
 
 And now with other infirmities — excessive weakness 
 after my month's illness ; with gastric attacks in the 
 stomach — my lower limbs assumed a dropsical largeness. 
 I was glad to hear the boat had arrived, that I might 
 reach some locality w'here a little good nourishing-, 
 palatable food was obtainable. 
 
 Though I had been absent from Manyanga station 
 nearly twelve months, I cannot say that I was other 
 than depressed by the very little progress made in that 
 time. 
 
 Within sixteen hours we arrived at Isangila, of which 
 my former secretary, Swinburne, had command. Poor 
 and humble enough the station seemed, but at least 
 goodwill was manifest. Within the station-house the 
 young chief had contrived to modify the harsh squalor 
 • of his surroundings by the simple elements of neatness 
 and cleanliness. A few yards of j^i'inted calico over 
 the bed, a scrap of snow-white sheeting over the 
 window, a narrow fringe of crimson savelist, a cloth 
 hanging here and there, tastefully distributed, did 
 wonders; and so rude had my existence for the last 
 three years been, that the effect of even this small 
 effort acted like a tonic on my vitiated system.
 
 XO PnOGBESS AT VIVI. 447 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 liETURX TO EUROPE. 
 
 Keturn to Yivi — Xo progress — Dr. Peschuel-Loeche — Zanzibaris sent 
 home — Good-bye to Vivi — St. Paul de Loanda — Appearance of the 
 city — Absence of sanitary measures — The hospital and prison — A 
 Howard wanted — The Governor-General in the past — Neglected 
 ■water and railway works — En route to Lisbon — ^Ports of call — Dis- 
 comforts of the voyage — Madeira, the Pearl of tlie Atlantic. 
 
 Towards noon of July the 8tli the caravan ascended 1882. 
 the steep road that led up immediately to the v ivi xlxi. 
 rock platform. When near the summit the hammock 
 was stopped, and a group of strange Europeans ap- 
 peared to tender a welcome. Among them was a 
 middle-aged gentleman, whom Herr Lindner intro- 
 duced as Dr. Peschuel-Loeche. 
 
 " "What ? Good heavens ! Dr. Peschuel-Loeche still 
 here ! I thought he had gone four montlis ago on his 
 mission. I am surprised." 
 
 Yivi was in the same condition as I had built it in 
 Dec-Jan. 1879-80. Only one magazine had been 
 added, and for that Herr Lindner deserves the credit. 
 The roads also were much in the same condition — 
 if anything they were wois?. The bridge over the
 
 448 THE CONGO. 
 
 1882. Nkusu had Jong ago been swept away, and no attempt 
 vivi. had been made to build another. Man had been in- 
 dififerent, but nature had not been idle. The mango 
 trees were growing finely, the papaws were tall, and 
 by their verdure relieved the glaring white of the 
 painted magazines. Had nature been assisted by man 
 I should have had cause to be grateful. 
 
 Dr. Peschuel-Loeche was currently reported to be an 
 enterprising person, and believed to be a man of intense 
 energy. He had been of some note in tlie German 
 Expedition of 1873-1875, on the south-west coast 
 of Africa. He volunteered his services to the Comite 
 of the Association, and was despatched in December 
 1881 to Tivi, whence he was to obtain thirty-four 
 picked men to make an expedition to Loango and 
 the interior. Two or three Europeans were deputed 
 to assist him in his mission. It is unnecessary for me 
 to dwell upon the causes that seem to have arrested 
 the party. His staff and expedition, after some months 
 of preparation, were still resting at Yivi, patiently in- 
 active, although I had reason to believe that in March 
 the expedition had departed on its mission. 
 
 Dr. Peschuel-Loeche appeared before me with other 
 credentials. He bore a sealed commission from the 
 President of the Association appointing him com- 
 mander of the Expedition du Haut Congo in the event 
 of my being disabled by accident or by serious indispo- 
 sition. Dr. Peschuel-Loeche could scarcely have done 
 me greater service than by showing this document from 
 the supreme authority. To a person in my state it was
 
 GOOD-BYE TO VIVI. 44:9 
 
 a reprieve. But for this I slioiild have heen anxious, i8S2. 
 
 . . . July 8 
 
 and worn myself out with fretting over my pitiful vivi. 
 condition and slow convalescence. I should have 
 dreaded the arrival of every courier from the interior, 
 lest he bore some grievous news necessitating my 
 instant departure. But the legitimate substitution of a 
 person of Dr. Peschuel-Loeche's attainments and well- 
 known character for energy, coupled with his African 
 experience and scientific acquirements, satisfied every 
 hope that my work would be prosecuted with the same 
 devoted spirit that had animated me. 
 
 To the learned doctor I imparted such necessary 
 information and hints for guidance as would enable 
 him, provided that he was endowed by nature with a 
 moving impulse, to realise perfect success. As a further 
 encouragement and augury of success, Lieutenant Louis 
 Yalcke appeared with 225 new recruits for the expe- 
 dition. 
 
 The services of Albert Christopherson, who was 
 the first European to serve his three years' term 
 faithfully and honestly, were rewarded by his being 
 charged with the escort of the brave, hard-working, 
 patient Zanzibari pioneers on their voyage home. 
 
 On the 15th of July I was conveyed down the hill- 
 road of Yivi, placed aboard the Comite steamer La 
 Belgique^ and, with many cheers from my dark com- 
 rades in our late terrible work ringing in my ears, I 
 was quickly carried away by the little steamer which 
 sped down the river to the steamer Heron, which was 
 waiting for me at Mussuko. 
 
 VOL. I. 2 o
 
 450 TEE coy: GO. 
 
 1882. Four davs later Tre were in the harbour of St. Paul 
 
 July 19. 
 
 Loanda. ^^^ Loaucla, the capital of Angola, where we found 
 that the Portu^-uese mail steamer liad already de- 
 parted. This misfortune compelled a stay in the city 
 for a month, during which time I was comfortably 
 housed and kindly attended to by Herr Xieman of the 
 Afrikaansche Tenootschap and doctored by Senhor 
 OHviera, a noted physician of the city. Through the 
 skilful treatment of Doctor Oliviera and the pleasant 
 hospitality of ^Ir. Xieman, I gradually recovered 
 strength, although the dropsical swelling of the lower 
 limbs prevented me from enjoying many excursions. 
 
 A few paragraphs will dispose of the city of St. 
 Paul de Loanda, although, being over three centuries 
 old, it has a famous history. 
 
 From the harbour and sea the view is noble, and 
 presents an aspect of importance. The city extends in 
 a row of substantial structures along the shore-line of 
 the harbour, up the steep red bluffs, and continues 
 over the summit, on which there are a number of de- 
 tached and disjointed buildings of commodious length 
 and commanding prominence, stuccoed, washed with 
 lime, and coloured white, zinc-blue, or yellow. There 
 are three forts in view, possessing a strength and 
 solidity sufficient to resist the attacks of the puny 
 cannon of past ages ; but ill adapted for defence 
 against the prodigious dynamic power of modern guns. 
 The Custom House is a tremendous erection, covering 
 some acres of flat ground near the water side. 
 
 I mentioned the steep red bluffs. These are a
 
 ST. PAUL BE LOAXDA. 451 
 
 portion of the almost continuous sea frontage of the i8S2. 
 
 ^ . , Julv 19. 
 
 land, extending from the Congo. Being of soft clayey Loamia. 
 material, the rains have gnawed and eaten into its 
 face, until, on a close examination, you see that the 
 bluffs are a series of precipitous earth cliffs, showing- 
 dangerous crevices and fissures, several fathoms deep. 
 In places that are unoccupied by houses, this state of 
 dangerous ugliness is immaterial ; in the city, how- 
 ever, it has caused painful troubles. Once upon a 
 time, when tlie slave-trade was at its height^ and legi- 
 timate, St. Paul de Loanda was solidly paved, and 
 laid out with all the semblance of prosperity. Dark 
 days have, however, come over the city. Civilised 
 nations frowned upon the nefarious and inhuman 
 trade. The abandonment of the slave-trade was 
 decreed. Like falcons, the British cruisers pounced 
 upon and hunted the slave vessels, and St. Paul's 
 commercial prosperity shrank before the punishing 
 policy of England. Deficits in the colonial treasury 
 became frequent. The churches fell out of repair, 
 and became roofless as they are to-day. The pave- 
 ment of the streets was forgotten. Year by year the 
 rains swept down the sands from the bluffs, and deeply 
 buried the streets. The ruin, unchecked, grew each 
 year worse and worse ; the sand was washed down 
 into the harbour, so that now that fine expanse of 
 protected water is half filled. If it continues in this 
 state, and no Governor with intellect and energy rises 
 to stop this decay, arising from the slovenly neglect 
 of a gift of Nature, there can be no doubt that in a few 
 
 2 G 2
 
 452 THE CONGO. 
 
 1882. o'enerations the harbour will be of no use whatever. 
 
 July 19. ^^ 
 
 Loanda. NatuVe, while untouched, kept that harbour deep for 
 man's use. The Portuguese, however, with a view, it 
 may be presumed, of utilising what they had seized 
 upon before the law of meiim and tuum was so strictly 
 defined as it is now, made paved streets perpendicular 
 to the harbour. Of course the rains swej^t the de'bris 
 of the clay bluffs down the scoured pavement, into 
 the flats below, and thence straight into the harbour. 
 An expenditure of £50,000 would be required to 
 remove the effects of this madness of the colonial 
 engineer^ and perhaps £100,000 would hardly suffice 
 to cover the expense of clearing out the sands in the 
 harbour. 
 
 They need not have told me that it was useless to 
 unearth the pavement, because the next rains would 
 cover the streets to as great a depth with sand. That 
 is true enough ; but the sand meanwhile is an un- 
 deniable nuisance. Every street corner is a nuisance. 
 The lowest of the inhabitants find it convenient to 
 use the sand of the streets as latrines. This is surely 
 an abominable system for the cathedral city of Angola 
 to maintain. 
 
 Worthy efforts have been made to plant rows of 
 umbrageous trees and sweet-flowering shrubbery in 
 the streets ; but they are unable to thrive, owing to 
 the censurable neglect which leaves them exjDOsed to 
 injury through the filthy practices of the inhabitants. 
 Sanitary laws receive no enforcement ; and the absence 
 of restrictions in this respect is only too pungently
 
 LOANDA HOSPITAL AND PEISOX. 453 
 
 exemj^lified. There never was a city in the old or the 1882. 
 new world where a hroom — a broom of power — was Loaada. 
 so wanted as it is in modern Loanda. 
 
 I went to the summit of the bluff, where the resi- 
 dences of the dignitaries are found. I was first 
 attracted by the new hospital they are building for 
 Loanda. The architects and builders have effected 
 their work worthily and well. It is a notable and 
 magnificent feature in the modern city, and will be 
 visible from afar. If the attendance and the diet 
 will bear any comparison to the commodiousness 
 and airiness of the hospital, the place will deserve 
 renown. 
 
 In the front, grading, excavating and levelling the 
 approaches to the hospital, were seen some hundreds 
 of convicts from the mother couQtr}^ I have no idea 
 of the nature of the crimes these people were guilty 
 of to render them liable to compulsory expatriation. 
 But it seemed to me that the numbers of men who 
 have been received in this penal colony ought, under 
 a wise administration, to have contributed something 
 towards its enrichment. When I think of the number 
 of fair and rich valleys in the interior of Angola, it 
 appears to me that by this time good work might 
 have been done by the establishing of agricultural 
 reformatories. 
 
 One Sunday I saw the exterior of the prison, where 
 many of these people are confined, and I observed 
 that, for such a warm climate, the poor prisoners were 
 much too closely packed, and must have suffered
 
 454 THE COXGO. 
 
 1882. greatly. Everv window was crowded with pale sallow 
 
 Loanda. feces, wbosc black evcs glared despairingly at the 
 
 passer-by. A man having the instinct and benevolence 
 
 of a Howard would probably discover painful incidents 
 
 iu connection with this Loanda Bastille. 
 
 The Governor-Greneral's palace is much too fine a 
 building for the official who generally occupies it ; but 
 not too fine for the type of man who used to govern 
 Angola in former days. I have never yet been within 
 the mansion without giving a mental Requiescat in 
 pace for the heroes of the old days when a Governor- 
 General of Angola acted as a man of spirit and 
 bravery. "Within, it has the air of faded stateliness, 
 with its time-worn crimson carpets, plush gilt-edged 
 couches and chairs, full-length portraits in gilt frames, 
 laro^e chandeliers, and suites of semi-eors^eouslv fitted 
 rooms. A garden adjoining the palace presents a 
 dreary scene of neglect, unworthy of being looked at 
 twice. The jDublic park or garden close by is better ; 
 but it seems to be hard work to get its verdure to look 
 fresh. 
 
 I recollect that in IS 77, there was an intention to 
 convey water in pipes from the Bengo Eiver ; but 
 this very necessary public work has never yet been 
 accomplished. The intention even has become dor- 
 mant through some inexplicable difficulty to raise 
 means. In 1877, also, there were surveyors at work 
 in connection with a proposed railway to Ambacca on 
 the Kwanza Eiver. The survey was completed, and 
 cost a large sum of money for outfits, etc. ; but the
 
 ox BO J ED THE " CfflXA:' 455 
 
 railway sclieme, as well as the water-supply project, 1882. 
 
 Julv 19. 
 
 has utterly collapsed. Loanda. 
 
 St. Paul de Loanda is reported to have a popula- 
 tion of 11,000 souls, consisting of Europeans and 
 natives. It is the chief city — euphoniously termed 
 " cathedral city " — of the province of Angola. The 
 recognised northern boundary of the Portuguese do- 
 minion on the West Coast of Africa is the River 
 Loge, S. Lat. 7' 50", whence it runs southerly to 
 S. Lat. 18^, a distance of over GOO geographical 
 miles. Direct authority is exercised, so officials report, 
 over an area of about 300,000 square miles. 
 
 On the iTth of August, the mail steamer China 
 appeared at the port of Loanda, bound for Lisbon. 
 The China belongs to a line of steamers, subventioned 
 by the Portuguese government, to run from Lisbon to 
 Madeira, St. Vincent, St. Jago, Bulama, Prince's Island, 
 St. Thomas Island, Ambriz, St. Paul de Loanda, Ben- 
 guella, and Mossamedes once a month. From Mossa- 
 medes northward, they return, via each of the above- 
 mentioned ports, back to Lisbon. A first-class passage 
 ticket from Loanda to Lisbon, or vice versa, costs £35 ; 
 a second-class ticket costs £24. 
 
 Our dates of arrivals and departures on our voyage 
 to Lisbon by the China were as follows : — 
 
 Left Loanda Aug, 17th, midniglit. 
 
 Arrived at Ambriz .... „ 18th, at 8 a.m. 
 
 St. Thomas Island „ 21st, „ 9 „ 
 
 Left St. Thomas .... „ 25th, „ 9 p.m. 
 
 Arrived at Prince's Island . „ 2Gth, „ 7 a.m. 
 
 Arrived at Bulama . . . Sept. 3rd, „ 5 p.m.
 
 456 THE CONGO. 
 
 1882. Departed from Bulama . . Sept. dth, at 2 p.m. 
 
 Aug. 17. Arrived at St. Jago ... „ 8th, „ 6 „ 
 
 Loanda. Departed from St. Jago . . „ 9th, „ 2 „ 
 
 Arrived St Vincent ... „ 10th, „ 9 a.m. 
 
 (Cape de Yerde Islands.) 
 
 Departed from St. Vincent . „ 10th, „ o p.m. 
 
 Arrived at Madeira ... „ 17th, „ 6 a.m. 
 
 Departed „ ... „ „ „ 2 p.m. 
 
 Arrived at Lislx)n. ... ,, 21st, ,, 5 „ 
 
 A voyage of 25^ days' actual steaming. The China 
 was, however, au unusually slow boat. 
 
 Xo more than mere useful notes can be given of the 
 voyage, as I have yet much to relate directly bearing- 
 upon the subject of this book. 
 
 At Benguella the China had received on board about 
 sixty or seventy Africans from the interior. I am 
 informed that these people were taken before an 
 official, and answered in the affirmative to all questions 
 asked. These answers were officially understood ta 
 express a willing*ness to depart from Benguella volun- 
 tarily for a term of service lasting five years in the 
 coffee and cocoa plantations of the Island of St. 
 Thomas. Each native received a fathom or so of 
 cloth to cover their nudity. Arriving at St. Thomas 
 they appeared to be averse to leave the steamer^ 
 Some required gentle but firm coercion before they 
 would descend into the lighter. 
 
 Six thousand bags of coffee were shipped on board 
 the China from the port. 
 
 St. Thomas is a perfect tropical island, eminently 
 picturesque, and fertile beyond" conception. It is well 
 worthy a visit, though it is scarcely advisable for a
 
 PBINCI7S 2SLAXD. 457 
 
 tourist to endure a month's detention for the privileo'e. 1882. 
 
 Aug. 21. 
 The time generally occupied by a steamer in the port, st. Thomas. 
 
 may be well employed in visiting the plantations, 
 
 waterfalls, and mountains. 
 
 Prince's Island is another of these extraordinarily 
 exuberant tropical islands, fit for the production of 
 valuable spice of all kinds, as well as coffee and cocoa. 
 The bananas, palms, and jungle, grow down to the 
 very edge of the salt sea ; and to the highest pinnacles 
 of the soaring peaks the fertile isle seems clothed in 
 richest green. 
 
 The town, or port, is undergoing the process of 
 abandonment, judging from what I have seen. It lies 
 at the entrance to a valley which, but for its seaward 
 gap, would have been intolerable to human life ; so 
 narrow is it, and so high, and sharply upward, do the 
 mountains rise to a height of some thousands of feet. 
 And yet there is presented an inconceivable depth of 
 vegetation that must exhale such oppressively warm 
 vapours, that the physical constitution of the strongest 
 man must soon yield to its enervating influence. 
 From the desire to obtain breathing-room, or from 
 the limited space in the valley, the townspeople have 
 actually constructed • their houses over the low flats 
 which are visited by each recurring tide. That the 
 power of humanity to resist the steamy atmosphere 
 has been patiently tested is proved by the number of 
 ruined churches, ruined forts, ruined houses, mansions, 
 shops, stores, cottages, that are visible everywhere. 
 Those not yet convinced of the inability of man to
 
 458 THE COS GO. 
 
 1882. bear it, wliether official or civilian, are in sucli a state 
 
 Aug. 2G. 
 
 Prince's that onc's compassioH is immediately aroused. 
 
 The steamer received on board 800 bags of cocoa 
 from the port. The stories relating to the voracity of 
 sharks in the bay remind one of incidents heard in 
 mid- Africa relating to crocodiles. 
 
 This was the very first Portuguese steamer that I 
 had been aboard ; and, possibly from ideas derived 
 from reading about severity and of Portuguese mili- 
 tary and naval discipline, I had the opinion that the 
 mercantile service might perhaps have become im- 
 pregnated with just enough of this discipline to have 
 produced a wholesome effect. I was disappointed. 
 The world is wrong altogether in its rules, from its 
 proneness to generalise upon isolated facts. The 
 Americans, for instance, possess the largest civil liberty 
 in the world, but the discipline in the army, navy, or 
 mercantile service of the United States is most severe. 
 In the mercantile service it is Draconian, and the 
 distance between the forecastle and the cabin is im- 
 measurable. But, with these reputedly severe Por- 
 tuguese, less restraint than the ofiBcers of the ship 
 exercised can not be conceived. The second-class 
 passengers occupied the seats of those of the first class 
 on the after deck above their cabins, and the limited 
 promenade that ought to have been secured to the first- 
 class passengers was always monopolised by the second. 
 These, permitted to leave their own quarters, and 
 intrude on the narrow deck, expectorated, smoked, and 
 sprawled, in the most socialistic manner. Hundreds of
 
 UNCOMFOBTABLE SUBBOUXDIXGS. 459 
 
 parrots, filthy monkeys, gazelles, and other creatures, 1882. 
 
 Sept. 1. 
 
 were placed in cages only ten feet away from the saloon The ss. 
 skylights. They made such hideous shrieking noises 
 and emitted such an ammoniac stench that the life on 
 board was simply one of torment. Adjoining the saloon 
 of the first-class cabin was the main deck-room into 
 which, for the convenience of the stewards, Avas an 
 open doorway. The heavy baggage of the first-class 
 passengers was stored here ; and on mattresses thrown 
 over the bao'2:ao;e reclined the third-class females, and 
 half a score of half-naked white children, who reminded 
 us of our misery by the moans, cries, and complaints 
 provoked by their own. To gain the upper deck from 
 the saloon we were obliged to endure these sights and 
 sounds, as often as we wished to exchange the misery 
 of being stewed in our cabins, for that of being com- 
 pelled to walk over the catarrhic mucus expectorated on 
 . the deck by the underbred men of the second class. 
 
 The food was execrable, and consisted of a series of 
 messes (unexplored but by few daring Portuguese) 
 floating in palm-oil, wliich provoked the gorge. Every 
 dish either floated, or sank sodden in the bilious-looking 
 unguent. The butter was a pallid, rancid-flavoured 
 oleomargarine. 
 
 After the indigestiljle meal was over, the criados, 
 or servants, took the rice, calavances, beans, or bread, 
 to the monkeys, which might be called the fourth-class 
 ])assengers. As they were frequently tethered apart 
 on each side of the rpiarter-deck, their food was 
 scattered al)Out by the stewards, and the unruly crea-
 
 460 THE CONGO. 
 
 1882. tiires in their sportive playfulness did not improve the 
 Thess. scene. Thus man and Least, tne underbred colonist 
 and the denizen of the woods, with their mutual filth ; 
 the squalling child, and the unwashed females below, 
 made all parts of the ship equally unpleasant. To 
 avoid these extreme socialistic tendencies, one had to 
 escape to the hot, close cabin, where, by thrusting my 
 head into an open port, I was enabled to live. 
 
 An undisguised familiarity marked the intercourse 
 between the principal officers and the stewards ; hence 
 the latter were frequently sulky, and continually scowled 
 when a mild request was made for their services. Were 
 they unhappy convicts they could not have evinced a 
 stronger dislike to a compulsory servitude than their 
 faces showed to offices which were sure to be remune- 
 rated before the passengers disembarked. An Ameri- 
 can or a British captain_, with a few iron belaying-pins 
 within easy reach, would have restored order in the 
 most peremptory manner ; but Portuguese officers are 
 altogether too good-natured to use coercive measures. 
 It w^as not so, however, if Camoens relates truly, in the 
 days of Da Gama. 
 
 By the time the China reached the beautiful island 
 of Madeira, I could walk a few paces, though my limbs 
 seemed weighted w^ith lead. At Read's Hotel I obtained 
 a royal breakfast worthy of an epic. The Portuguese 
 know the value of this superb island, for they have 
 generally made it as inaccessible as the Happy Yalley 
 of Rasselas by means of frequent stringent quarantine 
 rules. Three or four times I had passed by it before,.
 
 THE PEAEL OF THE ATLANTIC. 461 
 
 but the yellow flag at the fore signalled that the ship is82. 
 was under a ban. If ever a ship deserved not to Madeira. 
 approach the sacred shores of Madeira, it was our own, 
 with its matchless disorder, its unhealthy, almost over- 
 powering emissions of ammonia ; its freight of mon- 
 keys, animals, and birds, bearing a stenchy plague in 
 their furs and feathers, and for the general disreputable 
 ajopearance of its passengers. However, we had the 
 glorious Portuguese flag waving proudly above us, 
 wafting with rippling glee from the masthead its 
 salutes to the royal standards above the forts which 
 dominate the Pearl of the Atlantic.
 
 462 TEE CONGO. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 COXDITIOX OF AFFAIRS OX THE COXGO. 
 
 Tlie position explained to the Comite — A raikoacl imperative — Import- 
 ance of retaining the guardianship of the territory — The prospects of 
 trade — Arrangements for the Upper Congo expedition — Difficulty in 
 getting an efficient assistant chief. 
 
 1882. Before many days were over I bad laid before tbe 
 Europe. " Comite of tbe Association Internationale du Congo," 
 wbicb by tbis time bad assumed tbe antbority and 
 duties of tbe '^ Comite d'Etudes," by oral communica- 
 tions, tbe true condition of affairs on tbe Congo. 
 
 In brief, I pointed out tbat by strenuous effort we 
 bad acbieved more tban was intended by tbe modest 
 and pacific Comite d'Etudes du Haut Congo, m 
 December 1878. " Tbree stations were to be built, a 
 steamer launcbed on tbe Upper Congo, and communi- 
 cations were to be kept open to tbe sea." Tbrougb 
 tbe fidelity of sixty-eigbt Zanzibaris, and tbe faitbful 
 co-operation of a few Europeans, five stations bad 
 been constructed, a steamer and sailing-boat launcbed 
 on tbe Upper Congo, wbile anotber small steamer and 
 ligbter maintained communications between tbe second
 
 A I^ AILS AD IMPERATIVE. 463 
 
 and third station. A wagon-road had also been made is82. 
 
 . . October. 
 
 at great expense and tune between Yivi and Isangila, Europe. 
 and Manyanga and Stanley Pool. 
 
 We had now to secure what we had gained by our 
 toils. The object of our work hitherto had been to 
 demonstrate the practicability of communicating with 
 the Upper Congo from the sea. We had succeeded far 
 beyond what we anticipated in 1878. We had reached 
 the confluence of the Kwa with the Congo, 440 miles 
 from the sea. We had found the people amiable. In 
 several districts we had found them even willine to 
 work, which is a reason for hoping that this willing- 
 ness will increase with better acquaintance. We had 
 discovered that no native is averse to trade — that the 
 very name of barter actively excites the aborigines. 
 Unless we are prepared to relinquish our discoveries, 
 and the moral success we have gained, we had to 
 secure all the rights that the native chiefs could 
 endow us with, that we might exercise the political 
 power necessary for guaranteeing the permanency of 
 the benefits we had sought to obtain. 
 
 I declared that the Congo basin was not worth a 
 two-shilling piece in its present state. To reduce it 
 into profitable order, a railroad must be made between 
 tlie Lower Congo and the Upper Congo, when with its 
 accessibility will appear its value. I said, " To render 
 it even prospectively valuable, you must first have a 
 charter from Europe that you shall be permitted to 
 Imild that railroad, that you shall govern the land 
 through which it passes, that, in short, the guardian-
 
 464 THE COXGO. 
 
 1882. sliip of it shall not pass into the liands of any power 
 
 October, 
 
 Europe, ^^^t JOUr OWn/' 
 
 No European government can make such a railway 
 remunerative, for the simple reason that, in addition to 
 to the fare and freight money, there will be duties, 
 imposts, over-regulation, over-interference, restriction 
 here, restriction there, municipal taxes, li.a^hthouse and 
 navigation dues, &c., &c., in a country where nature 
 has already imposed such severe laws that the un- 
 conscious unpremeditated infraction of them incur 
 death penalties. All these matters are duly considered 
 Ijy cautious traders. 
 
 The railway will not be remunerative unless com- 
 mercial men and settlers will be induced to attempt 
 the exploitation of the Upper Congo basin, by the large 
 liberty guaranteed to them and by the large margin 
 of profits on trade secured to them by the absolute 
 immunity from oppressive tariffs, and from the black- 
 mailing tricks of officials who have no interest in 
 anything save their own pecuniary advantages. The 
 railway must be made solely for the benefit of Central 
 Africa, and those Europeans who are desirous to trade 
 in that region. 
 
 " The first phase of the mission is over. As I said, it 
 has been successful ; we now know what communica- 
 tion can be preserved uninterruptedly between the 
 Upper Congo and the Atlantic. The second phase is 
 the consolidation of the work, by obtaining the con- 
 cession of their authority from all the chiefs along the 
 route, and such other rights as they may possess,
 
 THE UPPER CONGO EXPEDITION. 465 
 
 which could be obtained by others to oppress us who is82. 
 pioneered the way. These rights are necessary for Europe 
 the existence of the Association, and for the success of 
 your grand projects of developing Africa, for without 
 these rights you have merely sown that some idle 
 power may reap the harvest, and toiled to invoke com- 
 pulsory abandonment." 
 
 The Comite were unanimously of the same convic- 
 tion. The maps were brought out, and the localities 
 where action ought to be immediately taken explained 
 in detail. As the field was surveyed, it became evident 
 that to occupy the various strategic points would in- 
 volve a large annual expenditure, that a much greater 
 increase of jyersoniiel would be necessary, including 
 Europeans and African employes. For all this the 
 Comite, however, expressed themselves fully prepared, 
 provided that I would undertake the charge of the work. 
 Though somewhat taken aback by the proposal, as my 
 physical system was completely deranged, I at last pro- 
 mised to return to the Congo and complete the establish- 
 ment of the stations as far as Stanley Falls ; provided 
 that within a reasonable time, say two or three months, 
 some efficient assistant-chief would be despatched to ad- 
 minister the establishment on the Lower Congo during 
 my absence on the Upper Congo. Experience had 
 taught me already that to leave my principal base in 
 the hands of flighty-headed young people, who recog- 
 nised no higher law than their own heedless impulses 
 and passions, was to prepare for myself endless troulde 
 
 VOL. I. 2 II
 
 466 THE CONGO. 
 
 1SS2 and continual anxiety. I needed a solid, reliable 
 
 October. ^ ^^ . . i • ^ c • ^ 
 
 Europe, gentleman, of sumcient reputation and weight oi judg- 
 ment to inspire respect in his subordinates ; one whose 
 name would be a guarantee for stability of character, 
 whose word would be as good as his bond, and whose 
 past conduct might be taken as an indubitable proof 
 that his future actions would be also highly creditable 
 to him. Such persons, so new to the necessities of a 
 hard practical life, that they at once confessed them- 
 selves crushed in the presence of every new exigency 
 that they encountered ; or such, as soon as they were 
 left alone to contend against the trivial troubles of 
 a tropic life, had no other resource than to send a 
 letter of resignation to their chief, who might be 
 hundreds of miles away from them, and incontinently 
 throw up their command and run away to Europe — 
 could not be trusted with a responsible command in so 
 important an enterprise. These people had already 
 given me more trouble than all the African tribes put 
 together. They had inspired such disgust in me that 
 I would rather be condemned to be a boot-black all my 
 life than to be a dry-nurse to beings who had no 
 higher claim to manhood than that externally they 
 might be pretty pictures of men. 
 
 If my experience of such men had been so annoy- 
 ing when only 400 miles from the sea, what would 
 it be now when I should be nearly 1500 miles away? 
 It was, therefore, absolutely necessary that I should 
 be represented on the lower river by a person who
 
 A GOOD SECOXD IN COMMAND. 467 
 
 not only could work himself, and loyally perform his 1832. 
 
 Ill 1 T • • 1 in October. 
 
 duty, but who could inspire other men to loyally Europe. 
 execute each his special trust and mission. The Comite 
 promised to send me such a person, in consequence 
 of which my stay in Europe was to be limited to six 
 weeks. 
 
 1 II '1
 
 4G8 TEE COXGO. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIY. 
 
 TO STANLEY POO L. 
 
 Lisbon to Banana Creek — Dismal news — Yivi demoralised — Elliott's 
 expedition to Kwihi-Xiadi — Massala shot by a French trader — An 
 enormous fine — I act as peacemaker — Lieutenant Van de Yelde's 
 mission to Kwilu-Niadi — Appearance of the Saggitaire — Eelief of 
 Elliott's expedition — Bad news from Leopoldville — A starving station 
 — Feny tratfic on the Congo— Kindly attentions from the natives — 
 Leopoldville neglected and gi-ass-grown ! — A sad state of matters — 
 An imfortunate young ofl&cer — Canoe accidents — A false alarm of 
 murder! — A suicide — Ke-establishing friendly relations with the 
 chiefs— An important conference^ and its results —Noble work of 
 English missionaries. 
 
 1882. I SAILED awav for CoDfi-0-laud from the Port of 
 
 Dec. 20. ^ -^ ^ 
 
 Vi^_ Cadiz, in the steamer Harhaway, on tlie 23rd of 
 November, 1882. This steamer had left England a 
 few days previously with fourteen officers and about 
 six hundred tons of miscellaneous goods, consigned for 
 the Expedition of the Association Internationale du 
 Congo. 
 
 On the 14th of December the Harkawar/ entered 
 Banana Creek, and on the 20th of the month I 
 arrived in Yivi, with physical energies recuperated 
 and freshened during my five months' absence from 
 the expedition.
 
 riVI DEMOBALISED. 469 
 
 But, alas ! what dismal news was borue to me as I 1882. 
 
 Dec. 20. 
 
 made myself more and more acquainted with the state viyj, 
 of affairs in the expedition! The German gentleman 
 who had presented such high credentials for potent 
 force of character and earnestness of purpose, well- 
 known experience and scientific acquirements, had gone, 
 he had departed from the Congo for home nearly a 
 month before ! The expedition had been nearly four 
 weeks without its leader. The chief of Vivi, the second 
 in rank, had also disaf)peared ; the chief of Leopold- 
 ville, the third in importance, was rusticating on the 
 coast ; the chief of Isangila had hurried homeward ; 
 the second chief of Le'opoldville had fled ; the captain 
 of La Belglque had been dismissed by somebody ; the 
 En Avant had been robbed by a spiteful miscreant of 
 her steam-valve, and had ever since lain idle at the 
 landing-place of Leopoldville, as useless as a log; an 
 engineer, by some odd freak, was doing duty at Yivi as 
 a clerk or storekeeper, and some person was reported 
 to be acting with unlimited powers in the interior, and 
 in a manner not very conducive to peace and order. 
 The temporary chief had been shot at while passing 
 Mowa, which was supposed to be a justification for 
 retaliating on Mowa. Yerily the news could scarcely 
 have been worse. There tvere numbers of other dis- 
 agreeable incidents unnecessary to rehearse, because 
 mention of them could not be made without bringing 
 into this book the names of those whom it is my desire 
 to screen from the slightest implicatiou. That the 
 conduct of the expedition had not been a happy one
 
 470 TEE CONGO. 
 
 1882. may be imagined, however, from the departure en 
 
 Dec. 20. 
 
 vivi. masse of those in authority. What could be expected 
 from a number of subordinates when the responsible 
 head retires from his duties with such undignified 
 haste ? 
 
 During my absence Yivi, which was always remark- 
 able for the latitude it assumed even when I was on 
 the Upper Congo, was now in a most demoralised 
 state. The steamers had been taken possession of by 
 a jDarty that had attached itself to the expedition, 
 originally for the service of transjDort on the Lower 
 • Congo, but which now, by some inscrutable process 
 of evolution, dominated the expedition effectively by 
 withholding all the steamers and boats and dis- 
 charging the goods where it pleased, generally a mile 
 below the landing-place. The entire strength of the 
 station was thus wasted in the removal of goods 
 from this distant landing-place to Yivi, and the temper 
 of the officials and employes was much embittered 
 accordingly. 
 
 This required correction immediately, but it was a 
 most unpleasant task, as the crews of the steamers 
 seemed to be persuaded that they had changed masters. 
 However, by dint of insistence, the steamers were com- 
 pelled to deliver their cargoes at the landing-place of 
 Yivi as before, and the great strain on the staff of the 
 station was thus relieved. 
 
 The next important work was the equipment of an 
 expedition under Captain J. Gr. Elliott to the Kwilu- 
 Niadi district to found a line of stations from the
 
 MISSION TO KWILU XIADL 471 
 
 nearest point on that river to Isangila Station, along isss. 
 
 Jan. 13. 
 Vivi. 
 
 its lower course to its mouth. The arrival of a new 
 force of recruits was very opportune. Captain Elliott's 
 force numbered some seventy coloured men, and four 
 European assistants — Messrs. Yan Schuman, an Aus- 
 trian ofScer, Mons. Lehrman, a Croat, and two Eng- 
 lishmen. They marched from Vivi on the 13th of 
 January. 
 
 The object of this mission was to secure to the Asso- 
 ciation a wide stretch of inland country and an extent 
 of coast line between the French territory on the 
 Gaboon and the d'houchure of the Congo as a free 
 alternative route to the Upper Congo. 
 
 The chief of Le'opoldville, discovered rusticating on 
 the coast, was despatched back to his post with a small 
 caravan, and on the 14th of January the medical 
 director of Leopoldville and Stanley Pool started up- 
 river with four whites and a caravan of forty-eight 
 coloured men. 
 
 On the loth of January Yivi was startled by a 
 report that a French trader, in the employ of the party 
 in charge of our Lower Congo transport service had 
 shot Massala, a native lingster or interpreter attached to 
 the station. Massala is a native of Vivi, a fine well- 
 behaved man of calm and equable temper, who was 
 well known to be guiltless of any antipathy to white 
 men ; but, like the natives, fond of a glass of grog, 
 though quite too dignified ever to l)e seen inebriated. 
 It is doubtful whether he would perform any service 
 for a wliite man without at least some small recognition
 
 472 THE CONGO. 
 
 1883. or payment according to stipulation. Tins is human 
 
 Jan. 15. 
 
 vivi. nature everywhere. Altogether Massala was most 
 harmless, and at the same time invaluable to us for the 
 faithful and good-tempered manner with which he 
 looked after our mutual interests. Fortunately the 
 wound was not mortal, but as he was a man of im- 
 portance, it caused a great excitement in the Yivi 
 native community, and at first a large force poured 
 down for vengeance. The guilty trader was, however, 
 safe in our hands; and after the doctor had declared 
 the wound to be not dangerous, the natives were 
 induced to leave the case in my hands. There was a 
 fair trial, and the chiefs were told that the wrong was 
 on the side of the white man, and were asked to state 
 the amount of the fine they expected. 
 
 They went aside for a private parlance among them- 
 selves, and in half an hour they brought the following 
 demand, which I publish to show how severe are native 
 laws against the shedding of blood : — 
 
 £ s. d. 
 
 100 whole pieces of cloth 20 
 
 „ flintlock muskets 30 
 
 „ kegs of powder 25 
 
 „ machettes 20 
 
 „ blankets 30 
 
 „ demijohns of rum 30 
 
 „ boxes of gin 60 
 
 „ i^ieces of handkerchief 15 
 
 liliscellaneous articles 200 
 
 £430 
 
 The trader declared his total inability to pay such a 
 sum, but as the natives insisted that they would take
 
 AN ENOBMOUS FINE. 473 
 
 no less, I had to obtain from each permission to pass isss. 
 
 Jan. 15. 
 
 judgment, and an agreement that they wonld consider yw\. 
 themselves as mutually bound to accept it as final. 
 It cost me two hours' work to reduce the above sum 
 to £24 4s. Od., and as a propitiatory gift, the revolver 
 which had done the wicked deed was also added, that it 
 might be broken in pieces, and thus rendered for ever 
 incapable of doing future harm. The verdict was 
 accepted, but the natives also insisted that the Euro- 
 pean should be banished the land for ever, otherwise 
 he might commit a similar crime. 
 
 Treaties were made also with all the surroundino- 
 chiefs conceding to the Association sovereign power. 
 This was not difficult to obtain, as we were in ex- 
 tremely intimate relations with the north and south 
 bank natives in the neighbourhood of Yivi. 
 
 Fully expecting that the Comite would send some 
 qualified officer to take charge of its valuable interests 
 on the Lower Congo, I entrusted the command of 
 Yivi to Lieutenant Van de Yelde until the arrival 
 of a person from the coast who had applied and ob- 
 tained the promise of this position. Unfortunately, a 
 few months had to elapse before he could be available. 
 Meantime, of the young and inexperienced, though 
 willing, officers within call. Lieutenant Yan de Yelde 
 was the most eligible for the post. 
 
 On the 22nd of January I left Yivi, trusting that the 
 minute instructions deposited with the chief would tide 
 me over the difficulties wliich I constantly dreaded in 
 connection with this station. There is an old proverb
 
 474 THE CONGO. 
 
 1883. wliicb says " when the cat's away the mice will play.'* 
 
 Jan. 22. 
 
 vivi. There was no actual proof tliat any officer in the 
 service of the Association did play ; but there was 
 abundant evidence that the lower stations did not ad- 
 vance in improvement ; and that they suffered greatly 
 in appearance in comparison with those on the upper 
 river. 
 
 On arrivino- at Isano-ila news was received that it 
 would be wise not to rely too much on the overland 
 expedition to the Kwilu-Niadi. Taking into considera- 
 tion the many days that would be occupied in the 
 journey from Isangila to the Kwilu-Niadi valley, it 
 would be as well to supplement it with a sea expedition 
 direct to the Kwilu-Niadi. Lieutenant Yan de Yelde 
 was chosen to conduct this mission, and the Association 
 steamer, the Heron, was j^b^ced at his disposal to con- 
 vey his men and stores, while a deputy-resident at Vivi 
 was appointed to j^^rform the Lieutenant's station 
 duties in the meantime. 
 
 Lieutenant Van de Velde, accompanied by two 
 officers, sailed on the 5 th of February, 1883, for the 
 Kwilu, where he arrived on the Oth of the same month, 
 and proceeded to negotiate for ground for a station, 
 and for the sovereignty of the territory in the neigh- 
 bourhood. In a short time he had purchased the 
 houses, stores, and tents of a person named Saboga. 
 Here he erected his station and called it Rudolfstadt. 
 On the 12th of February a treaty was made with Mani- 
 pambu, the senior chief of the district of Chissanga, at 
 the mouth oi the Kwilu, on the left bank, by which
 
 THE FOUNDING OF RUDOLFSTADT. 475 
 
 tliat cliief ceded his sovereign rights to the Association isss. 
 Internationale du Congo. Active, and most loyal to Rudoif- 
 his duties, Lieutenant Yan de Yelde negotiated several 
 treaties in succession — first at Chilungu, on the right 
 of the debouchure of the River Kwilu, and con- 
 tinuously upward along both banks to the rapids, 
 situated twenty-eight miles from the sea. 
 
 Eeturning to Rudolfstadt in the beginning of March, 
 
 LIEUTEXAXT VAN HE VELDE. 
 
 he heard from Loango on the 9th of the same month, 
 of the arrival of 'the Saggitaire of the French navy in 
 that port. On the 11th of March he was able, by 
 means of his boats, to render efficient service to 
 Capilaine Cordier of the Saggitaire, by which that 
 officer was enabled to enter the river, and partake of 
 the hospitalities of the young Lieutenant. 
 
 On the 1 Uh of ]March Lieut. Yan de Yelde heard a 
 rumour bruited in the neighbourhood of Loango of the
 
 stadt. 
 
 476 THE CONGO. 
 
 1883. arrival of white men at a place called Kitabi, some 
 
 March 11. . . 
 
 Kudoif- distance inland, who were said to be in distress. 
 Rightly surmising that these whites must belong to 
 Captain Elliott's expedition, the energetic officer lost 
 no time in equipping a boat expedition for their 
 relief. 
 
 In April Captain Elliott arriving with his party at 
 Rudolfstadt, was able to relieve Lieutenant Yan de 
 Yelde from his temporary duty at the Kwilu, upon 
 which the Lieutenant returned to resume the superin- 
 tendence of Yivi. The abilit}^, activity and zeal dis- 
 played by Lieutenant Yan de Yelde on this Kwilu 
 mission was remarkable, and I fondly hoped that I had 
 discovered, after much painful search and weary wait- 
 ing, a valuable assistant for effective work in Africa. 
 L'nfortunately, however, after a few months' stay at 
 Yivi, his failing health compelled him to return to 
 Europe. 
 
 Captain Elliott, during his journey from Isangila to 
 Rudolfstadt, had left an officer and a few men at each 
 of the stations along the course of the river, to be 
 established at Stephanieville, Franktown and Kitabi. 
 A continuous stretch of territory along the entire line 
 secured by treaties duly signed in presence of European 
 witnesses, was a proof of how this officer distinguished 
 himself. 
 
 On the 4th of February I arrived at Manyanga. 
 From this station Captain Hanssens received com- 
 mand of an expedition to depart immediately for the 
 Upper Kwilu-Xiadi^ his instructions being to establish
 
 Feb. 4. 
 anyanga. 
 
 ESTABLISHING COMMUNICATIONS. 4:11 
 
 a line of communication between Manyanga and that isss 
 river, and to continue his explorations downwards mitil ^,l^ 
 he had effected a junction with Captain Elliott's party 
 at Stephanieville. Captain Hanssens, some months 
 later, sent in a lengthy and interesting report of his 
 extensive explorations, by which I was informed that 
 by means of the stations at Phillippeville and Bulan- 
 gungu the Upper Kwilu-Niadi was in direct com- 
 munication with the Congo. 
 
 Lieutenant Yalcke, whom I encountered at Man- 
 yanga, was despatched along the south bank of the 
 Congo, to make treaties with all the principal chiefs 
 betv»'een Manyanga and Leopoldville, and to found a 
 station at Sabuka's, from which, without further cause 
 of alarm and anxiety at Leopoldville, provisions could 
 be sent to that entrepot of the Upper Congo. He was 
 also charged to take with him the boilers of the new 
 ho^i A. I. A., which some careless official had left at a 
 wayside village, where they had been lying some 
 months rusting. 
 
 Couriers were also hurried forward to the chief of 
 Leopoldville with orders to proceed immediately to 
 make treaties with the chiefs of Kinshassa, Kimbangu, 
 and Kimpoko. 
 
 On the 7th of February the steam launch Royal 
 was mounted on a wagon for transport overland to 
 Leopoldville. 
 
 Aiiother engineer was also dc.'simtchcd on the same 
 <lay to Stanley Pool, with a suflicient escort to assist 
 in the completion of the steam-launch A.I. A. (Asso-
 
 478 THE CONGO. 
 
 1883. ciation Internationale Africaine), the construction of 
 
 Feb. 7. . . 
 
 ^Manyanga. which had Leeu unaccountably delayed during my 
 absence. 
 
 Lieutenant Parfoury was detailed with forty men 
 to commence the construction of a good road on the 
 south bank of the river between Manyanga and the 
 Pool. 
 
 Lieutenant Grang and Captain Anderson, with 164 
 coloured men, I reserved to assist me in hauling the 
 steam-launch Royal by our old road on the north 
 bank. 
 
 On the 27th of February we arrived with the boat 
 at the Tnkissi River, where I received the astonishing 
 news from the chief of Leopoldville that the station 
 was nearly starving for want of food. As he had 
 already been thirty-eight days at his post from his 
 coasting excursion, I thought it singular that he should 
 have withheld this important information so long, as 
 Yivi possessed food enough to supply any number of 
 stations. Numerous caravans, too, were conveying 
 their goods inland to Isangila, the boats jDcrformed 
 their voyages regularly between Isangila and Man- 
 yanga, and we were not short of men nor unwilling 
 that Europeans should be dieted according to the most 
 liberal scale, provided the chiefs of stations would only 
 give sufficient notice of their requirements. 
 
 At Nsangu Ferry, a large caravan of independent 
 natives from the coast crossed the Congo from the 
 south bank, bound for Mfwa, north bank of Stanley 
 Pool. The chief of the ferry, under the influence of
 
 BAD NEWS FROM LEOPOLDVILLE. 479 
 
 sociability inspired by our liberal joatronage of his isss. 
 canoes, informed me that he frequently transported xsano-u.' 
 500 people a week with their stores from the south 
 side to the north side, and as many people from the 
 nortli side to the south side, who were taking ivory and 
 rubber to the coast. As this business of ferrying had 
 been continued for years, I have often wondered why 
 the ferrymen did not appear more prosperous than the 
 inland chiefs. 
 
 The transport of a thousand people across the 
 Congo implies at least a hundred voyages of a canoe, 
 for which they would receive a hundred pieces of 
 cloth per week. In a year the transit receipts de- 
 rived from native custom alone ought to amount to 
 5200 pieces of cloth, which, at a dollar each, would be 
 equivalent to $5200, while the caravans of the Asso- 
 ciation might increase the sum to $7000. Yet with 
 all this prosperous business, the Nsangu chiefs and 
 people exhibit no improvement in j^ersonal appearance, 
 nor any increase of population, such as is shown in 
 Kintamo for instance, where the effects of a profitable 
 trade present substantial proofs in the increasing- 
 numbers of armed people, claiming Ngalyema, and 
 Makabi as their chiefs. 
 
 On reachinu: the summit of the hif^hland on the 
 south bank, another courier was received from the 
 chief of Leopoldville, bearing a letter which implored 
 me not to bring too many men to that station, as it 
 would be impossible to supply them witli Ibod ; that the 
 countiy was — if not actually hostile — so indifferent to
 
 480 THE CONGO. 
 
 1883. our existence that no native ever visited the station ! 
 Uo^o\'i- Although the chief evidently had cause to write in such 
 a despairing manner, I was utterly unable to divine 
 why such an extreme change had come over the 
 country, because the only information obtainable was 
 through this gentleman, and he confined himself to 
 reports of imminent starvation for the Europeans — 
 " No tea, no coffee, no cocoa, no milk, nor anything." 
 The bread had risen to famine prices, the country was 
 scoured round about by parties of foragers, who gene- 
 rally returned with only a scant quantity, insufficient 
 to last until another foraging party could appear with 
 a fresh supply. 
 
 Yet in our immediate neighbourhood wherever we 
 moved there was abundance^ as an evidence of which 
 there were twenty-five goats in our camp, besides 
 dozens of fowls. On the receipt of this sad intelli- 
 gence from Leopoldville, two dozen goats and baskets 
 of fowls, with a few luxuries for the sick Europeans, 
 were immediately despatched, along with a letter 
 urging Lieutenant Valcke to hasten the establishment 
 of his supply-collecting station at Sabuka. 
 
 Our wagon broke down frequently, compelling 
 annoying delays, the most serious taking place at the 
 Mpalanga crossing. Rains of four seasons had com- 
 mitted havoc on our former road, and young shrubs 
 and reeds had thriven over our once cleared path. 
 But, notwithstanding these various impediments, we 
 were advancing on Leopoldville at the rate of 2 J miles 
 per day, with our heavily- weighted wagon.
 
 ville. 
 
 UNREALISED ANTICIPATIONS. 481 
 
 The nearer I approached Stanley Pool the warmer isss. 
 
 March 19 
 
 grew the kindly attentions of the natives. From long Liopoid- 
 distances they came to welcome me back into their 
 country, bringing with them acceptable gifts of food 
 — goats, and sheep, and fowls — and the heartiest 
 assurances of their friendship, so that in presence 
 of this real and marked amicability of the natives, 
 I was still more perplexed to understand the gloom 
 and depression under which the chief of Leopoldville 
 laboured. 
 
 On the 19th of March Lieutenant Yalcke wrote to me 
 that he had established himself at Sabuka, and was pur- 
 chasing at the rate of 400 rations per day, besides pigs, 
 goats, fowls, eggs, bananas, &c., and two days later 
 I marched to Le'opoldville, leaving Messrs. Grrang and 
 Anderson to conduct the Royal and the hauling force 
 to the landing-place. 
 
 I expected to have seen great changes at Leo23old- 
 ville — to have seen a thriving station, and gardens 
 beautifully laid out, and plants and fruit-trees in a 
 flourishing condition, for since the latter part of April, 
 1882, I had been absent, establishing Mswata station, 
 exploring Lake Ijeopold IL, and in Europe recuperat- 
 ing. I had fondly calculated upon the effect of forty 
 or fifty labourers united in the joint cause of beauti- 
 fying, improving, and cultivating the township, under 
 the direction of a sharp, enterprising, intelligent 
 European, during a period of eleven months. My 
 imagination had revelled in the scenes of beauty it 
 pictured, of walks shaded by rows of year-old banana 
 
 VOL. I. 2 I
 
 viUe. 
 
 482 TEE CONGO. 
 
 1883. stalks, at least 10 feet high; a broad and imposing 
 Leopold- approach to the station, embellished by hedges of shrub- 
 bery ; along its flanks budding fruit-trees in clusters, 
 a vigorous young forest of papaws, plots of pine-apple, 
 with promise of a surfeit of delicious odour of fruit and 
 flowers ; while in the background would lie the broad 
 acres devoted to the more humble but useful vegetables, 
 such as sweet potatoes, Indian corn, beans, cassava, and 
 what not. Indeed, in my hours between sunset and 
 bed-time, having not much else to do, the lapses of time 
 had often been lubricated with these beauties which my 
 vigorous fancy had conjured up. 
 
 " For," I argued with myself, " it must be so. What 
 else can they have had to do, unless they have been 
 building a series of fine residences and store-rooms ? 
 They have lived in some manner, and surely they have 
 not been asleep for eleven months ! " 
 
 And now, on entering on the terrace of Leopoldville, 
 .1 quickly cast my eyes around to enjoy the delightful 
 vision, and my first feeling, I remember, was one of 
 stupefaction, an inability to realise the details, but 
 conscious that all I looked upon was very sad and 
 disheartening. 
 
 Grass everywhere: grass on the terrace, tall grass 
 luxuriantly thick on its slope, grass in the crevices 
 of the wall of the one residence, a damp green on 
 the unbarked tree pillars of the veranda, the broad 
 way of the native town like a grass-covered marsh, 
 above which the roofs of the huts could only be seen 
 even from the commanding position of the terrace. A
 
 LEOPOLD VLLLE GRA SS- GROWN / 483 
 
 few acres of cassava, perhaps a liiindrecl bananas inde- i883. 
 pendently apart and widely scattered, not a single itSopoid- 
 jDapaw stalk in view, and if the semblance of a garden " '^' 
 possessed any virtue within its ricketty fence, it was of 
 such a mythical and modest nature that the prolific 
 grass completely shrouded it from view. At one end 
 of the terrace there was a palisaded enclosure intended 
 for a redoubt, which I took to be evidence of unfriendly 
 relations with the natives. Since the block-house of 
 Le'opoldville was finished, only one small magazine had 
 been added to the European quarter. The native town 
 stood intact as it had been built eleven months previ- 
 ously, though in a dilapidated condition, and smothered 
 by the wild and stubborn tall grass. Externally there 
 was an unmistakable air of abandonment. Leopold- 
 ville could not have been worse had it been uninhabited 
 ever since I left in April, 1882. When I examine the 
 magazines internally, I find that the treasury of Le'o- 
 poldville is at its lowest ebb: there are only 783 brass 
 rods in the station, sufficient to purchase three days' 
 provisions for the eleven Europeans and 212 coloured 
 men now at the station. There are numbers of bales 
 of cloth and boxes of beads, but these have to be 
 bartered for brass rods before purchasing bread. The 
 caravan book, with its notices of arrival and depar- 
 ture of caravans, informs me that there need have been 
 no such agony of scarcity as the empty food shelves 
 exhibit. 
 
 Down at the grass-grown port the En Avant and 
 whaleboat lie, rust-blistered and almost ruined. For 
 
 2 I 2
 
 484 
 
 TEE CONGO. 
 
 1883. seventeen months tlie steel boats have lain in the water; 
 
 March 21. . 
 
 Leopold- the slime covers their sides; they have never been 
 looked at apparently. The boatmen confess that they 
 have never been drawn out of the water to be scrubbed 
 and painted. 
 
 OUK WEST COAST EMPLOYES. 
 
 The new steamer A. I. A., put on the stocks months 
 ago, is still many weeks from completion. She is only 
 41 feet long. From three to four engineers, with 
 several coloured artisans, have been engaged the last 
 month on her, but the progress is very slow. 
 
 As for the political state, it is still worse. There has
 
 A SAD STATE OF MATTERS. 485 
 
 been a quarrel about something' very trivial, and both isss. 
 
 , . , . , 111 ^l-'^rch 21. 
 
 whites and natives have seemingly agreed that they Leopoid- 
 had best leave one another severely alone, in which 
 impassive warfare the whites have suffered severely. 
 It has been a mutual challenge as to who can best 
 survive this forced, unsociable situation ; and while the 
 natives are abounding in plenty, the garrison of Le'o- 
 poldville has fallen into a disgraceful poverty. No 
 wonder that the chief of the station thinks fit to 
 implore me not to bring the force of wagon-haulers to 
 sufi'er from the famine at Leopoldville. 
 
 Thus, instead of having entered upon a fair land of 
 order and plenty, with the view of which my imagina- 
 tive speculations had fed me with pleasant dreams and 
 glorious prospects, I had been abruptly introduced into 
 a scene of disorder, waste, strife, and peevish recrimi- 
 nations. Every man struggled to free himself from 
 the imputation of being involved in the blame, but 
 without success, since every one of them had certain 
 duties to perform, with one all-paramount responsibility, 
 viz., that of looking out for himself, which he could not 
 have done as a passive spectator to this decay, ruin, 
 and discomfort. 
 
 The extraordinary impassivity and most imprudent 
 tlioughtlessness, which had drawn on them the miseries 
 of impending famine and the contempt of the natives, 
 cannot be better illustrated than by relating an episode 
 which had a tragic ending. 
 
 A young Austrian cavalry lieutenant named Kallina, 
 of aristocratic connections in Vienna, I am told, eager
 
 486 THE CONGO. 
 
 1883. to distinguish liimself on the Upper Congo, succeeds 
 
 March 21. _ 
 
 Leopold- in purchasing a canoe from Ngalyema. The day 
 arrives that he is about to depart from the port of 
 Leopoldville. A small and narrow dug-out is manned 
 with a crew half native and half of our own employes, 
 A long black portmanteau stands on its end in the 
 pirogue, to serve for a seat to Mons. Kallina. This 
 military officer is a tall, stalwart young gentleman, 
 fitter for a grenadier corps than for service in a small 
 canoe as an explorer ; but he, unwittingly of this, and 
 unconscious that there is any unfitness in his circum- 
 stances, stands helmet in hand, bov^-ing and smiling 
 his adieus to the gallant group of military officers who 
 have gathered at the landing-place to exchange these 
 bland amenities of civilisation. He takes his place, 
 with cavalry boots reaching his knees, a heavy, double- 
 barrelled rifle strapped over one shoulder, a cartridge- 
 holder slung over the other, and a brace of revolvers 
 attached to his waist. While the military officers on 
 shore simultaneously doff their helmets with true 
 military grace and precision, not one shadow falls 
 athwart their minds to indicate to them that they 
 have done the least wrong, or have been guilty of 
 almost criminal thoughtlessness in thus permitting a 
 worthy though rash young man to depart in this 
 manner. Not until an hour later, when there is loud 
 shouting at Kintamo, a rushing hither and thither, as 
 many canoes dart from Kintamo's water-side towards 
 the centre of the river, do they feel the least anxiety or 
 alarm. They are then told that Lieutenant Kallina's
 
 niPRUDEXT OFFICERS. 487 
 
 canoe was capsized at the CliSy Point, in view of the isss. 
 
 Ill fv« ^ n fi- March 21. 
 
 station, and that the young omcer and tour of his crew Leopold- 
 have been drowned. 
 
 Not many days after this calamity an officer started 
 to go up the river in a canoe. Coming to KalHna 
 Point his frail craft was met by a strong current, which 
 almost swept him and his crew over the cataracts. 
 This young gentleman, distinguished otherwise for 
 manly qualities when on terra jirma, informed me that 
 after desperate paddling across the river, he barely 
 succeeded in saving his party and himself by snatching 
 wildly at overhanging trees on the north bank, while 
 the cataract roared like thunder a few yards below 
 him. 
 
 Another officer suddenly affecting nautical tastes, 
 after buying a canoe and nailing a keel on it, rigs 
 a sail, and adventurously floats away before a fair 
 breeze up the river all alone. But presently the breeze 
 treacherously leaves him, while the current bears him 
 
 resistlessly down river. His people, alarmed, man a 
 pirogue and proceed in search of him, and hours after, 
 through the fast gathering darkness, they hear him 
 lustily cry for aid, as they paddle down an inland 
 channel halloing to him. 
 
 As if this intolerable condition of affairs at Leopold- 
 ville did not require all my best efforts, the following 
 day's notes of the 24th of March, three days after 
 arrival, will serve to show tlie desperate nature of my 
 duties about this time. 
 
 " March 24th. Despatched Lieutenant Orban with
 
 488 
 
 THE CONGO. 
 
 1883. thirty-one men to Vivi, to liurrv up by forced marclies 
 
 March 24. "^ ' ^ i J 
 
 Leopold- a caravan with brass rods. 
 
 "He takes orders also for Lieutenant Harou to 
 depart for the Luemme River, and build a station on 
 the coast in the neighbourhood of Massabe'. Twenty 
 men are to be delivered to him by the Chief of 
 Yivi. 
 
 LIEUTENAXT ORBAN. 
 
 *' Lieutenant Grang departs with sixty-four men to 
 Matoma's village to haul the boilers of the Royal to 
 Leopoldville. 
 
 " Received news to-day that a Mons. Callewart had 
 been killed and decapitated at Kimpoko, the station 
 near head of Stanley Pool on the south bank." 
 
 "I send thirty men to Sabuka to bring a store of 
 rations from Lieutenant Yalcke." 
 
 " The Chief of Leopoldville has been instructed to 
 proceed instantly with whale-boat with twenty-five
 
 RELIEVING LEOPOLDVILLE. 489 
 
 men to Kimpoko, to searcli out the truth of this rumour isss. 
 
 /-in 55 «■ March 24. 
 
 about Callewart. '^ Leopoid- 
 
 "This evening I received by courier letters from down 
 river. Second chief at Yivi declaims against asking 
 him to manage the duties of chief, second chief, and 
 storekeeper, and declares he will not — suffer who may. 
 His letter is remarkable for impoliteness, and is replete 
 with gross accusations against a number of people. 
 
 " The officer in charge of the transport of a whale- 
 boat from Yivi to Isangila, having fifty-eight men with 
 him, writes that he cannot, and will not carry the boat 
 with such a limited number.'' 
 
 "The Chief of Manyanga writes that the chief in 
 charge of Yivi is acting an * infamous comedy,' that 
 his letters demanding supplies are unanswered." 
 - " He also writes that Mons. Luksic, an Austrian 
 marine officer, has committed suicide by shooting him- 
 self through the head. 
 
 " I have now to sit up till past midnight to prepare 
 letters for to-morrow's courier, to cheer up these 
 various gentlemen down river. Were there a man 
 on the expedition that I could believe capable of 
 executing his instructions faithfully and intelligently, 
 Yivi would be the place for him ; but Captain Hanssens 
 is away on his expedition to the Kwilu-Niadi, Lieu- 
 tenant Yalcke is performing valuable service at 
 Sabuka, Lieutenant Grang distinguishes himself in a 
 different field, Lieutenant Orban is en route to Yivi, 
 where he may assist the clamorous and defiant second 
 * Which turned out to be false.
 
 490 TUE CONGO. 
 
 1883. chief of that miicli disturbed station. Lieutenant 
 
 March 24. 
 
 Leopold- Eugene Janssen is up at JMswata, and cannot be com- 
 municated with. In my neighbourhood are young 
 and inexperienced people. What is wanted is a strong 
 and efficient officer of note and years, able during my 
 absence to manage the ever intractable Europeans at 
 Vivi. Until he comes I must have patience." 
 
 On the 1st of April, after having thoroughly informed 
 myself of the causes which brought about this pitiful 
 condition of the station, the chief of Leopoldville 
 received word that his resignation would be accepted, 
 and two days later he was sent to the coast under an 
 escort of thirty men. 
 
 Since my arrival, observing the severe silence of the 
 chiefs of Kintamo, I strove to re-establish that kindly 
 feeling that had animated us mutually before my de- 
 parture in June, 1882. On Sunday evening, the 8th 
 of April, I indited the following notes in my diary : 
 
 " About one p.m. the native chiefs of Leopoldville 
 district — Kimpalampalla, G-anchui, Mballa, Kinswangi 
 Kimpe — appeared on behalf of the Wambundu, and 
 presently Ngalyema, Makabi, Mubi, Manswala, Gan- 
 chu and old Ngako, came from Kintamo with a 
 large following. The meeting was very cordial, and 
 after congratulations upon my return had been de- 
 livered by each in his turn, Ngalyema proceeded, as 
 the orator of the occasion, to utter his views upon 
 the causes of the unpleasant relations existing between 
 the different peoples in the district. He recapitulated 
 as usual in detail the incidents attending our first
 
 EE-ESTABLISHIXG FBIEXDLT BELATIOXS. 491 
 
 acquaintance, and the ceremony of brotherhood, down isss. 
 to the numerous episodes which marked the advent LeopoW- 
 of Bula Matari a second time to the neighbourhood ; 
 and then began to expatiate upon the difiSculties of 
 maintaining friendly relations with the Europeans who 
 had been left in charge of Leopold ville, after I had been 
 conveyed away in a condition which they regarded as 
 hopeless. He thought he had been treated very ill, 
 and the native chiefs of the neighbourhood would 
 corroborate every word he said. ' One after another 
 the white men have treated me as if I were a common 
 slave. One said he would kill me, another said he 
 would fight me, another said he would drive me away 
 from Kintamo. One who calls himself Tembo (ele- 
 phant) asks me if I know who he is. No, I say. 
 Well, I am the elephant, and Ngalyema must 
 remember that, because he knows what an elephant 
 does to small people who are insolent. The elephant 
 crushes them thus and thus, and he dances with his 
 feet to show me what he will do with me, if I do not 
 do what he wants with me. Another of your white 
 men — a little fellow, he is not here now — if we came 
 to the station to exchange brass rods for cloth, screams 
 at us, pushes our people about, and treats us like little 
 slaves ; and there sits one before us now, he has 
 behaved badly to us all ; he has threatened several 
 times to kill me. As for the chief of the station whom 
 you left here, no one could get along with him. If 
 any of our children came near him — there, that will 
 do, he said, you may go, go away, go away quick. At
 
 492 
 
 TEE CONGO. 
 
 1883. last I kept myself and people away from liim, and 
 
 Leopold- would have nothing to do with your white men. I 
 
 have not been here f6r now six moons, and I would 
 
 not have come now if you had not sent for me to hear 
 
 these things.' " 
 
 Turning around to the officer accused by Ngalyema, 
 I asked him to give me his version of these complaints, 
 of which I had not heard before. 
 
 He replied in a frank and straightforward manner 
 as follows : 
 
 " * There may be a little truth in what Ngalyema 
 says, but he has exaggerated these trifling matters in 
 order to prove to you that he is blameless. But he is 
 not at all blameless in this matter. It is his arrogance 
 and pig-headedness that is really the cause of this 
 trouble. For instance, my troubles began with him at 
 the time of Lieutenant Kallina's death by drowning. 
 Ngalyema's people picked up Kallina's private port- 
 manteau floating about, and on hearing of it, I 
 demanded that he should return the box. Ngalyema 
 would not return the property unless I paid him a tax 
 of ninepence on each article within. That was the 
 first quarrel. 
 
 " The second was when the chief of division paid 
 a visit of inspection here, and wished to see Ngalyema, 
 that gentleman refused to come unless a white man 
 was sent as hostage to Kintamo during his visit. I 
 volunteered to go and be the hostage. On reaching 
 the village, unarmed and alone, the people began to 
 search me, and fumbled me about most rudely, and
 
 AN IMPORTANT CONFERENCE. 493 
 
 then Ngalyema ordered a hundred men to surround isss. 
 
 1 • 1 1 T 1 ^ ' April 8. 
 
 me, which they did, making savage gestures at me Leopoid- 
 with their swords and spears,' while Ngalyema was 
 received at the station with every mark of honour be- 
 coming a guest of his rank. That was a small affair, 
 but officers do not like to be treated as I was treated. 
 
 " The third quarrel between us arose from Ngalyema 
 striding into the station and seizing upon two little 
 boys, sons of Ngamberengi, who had brought us a 
 message from their father. Some quarrel between the 
 two chiefs had provoked Ngalyema to act in this 
 arbitrary manner, and seize upon these two children 
 to keep as sureties that the other would yield to him. 
 We had nothing to do with their quarrel ; this station 
 was our property; the ground of the Association is 
 free, and acting upon that idea I chased Ngalyema, 
 caught him, and swung him round, and snatched the 
 children from him ; and perhaps I may have been 
 rougher than I intended, but that is the extent of my 
 offence, and if you judge me to have done wrong, you 
 must accept my resignation, for I am sure to do the 
 same again, and perhaps this arrogant savage will not 
 escape with a whole skin if he carries his slave-making 
 tricks to a district where I am chief." 
 
 " Nobly spoken, my dear ; but do not be 
 
 excited ; there is no necessity for talking about resig- 
 nations. Good gracious, cannot I ask about the truth 
 of a matter like this without you all flying into a fury, 
 and at once offering your resignations and your dis- 
 missions ? You must know all this is new to me. I
 
 494 THE CONGO. 
 
 1883. never heard about hostages, and I would rather offer 
 
 ■Aprils. 
 
 Leopold- myself a hostage than ask any man with me to do 
 a thing I would not care to do myself. I remember 
 too many fatal accidents attending this giving of 
 hosta,Qres. You are a brave man, sir, and I honour 
 you for your moral courage, and the ofifer of j'our 
 person as a sacrifice to keep the peace." 
 
 I then turned to Ngalyema and the assembled chiefs, 
 and said gravely, yet in kind and softened tones, for 
 
 the frank and noble reply of Mr. had considerably 
 
 affected me : 
 
 "Ngalyema, and you, chiefs of the TTambundu, I 
 Lave heard what vou have said, and I have heard the 
 words of the white man. You and he, and all of you, 
 have been wrong. Xot one of you have followed the 
 right way to be friends. You have all been head- 
 strong and hard-hearted to one another. This is not 
 the way to be brotherly. You, Xgalyema, should have 
 known better. These vouns* white men do not know 
 you as I do. They are strangers to you, and you 
 to them. Knowing that you were safe with your 
 brother Bula Matari, why need you have cared what 
 white boys say ? You must have known that they had 
 a father who would be very angry with them if they 
 did any harm to you. Supposing that you had been 
 fighting with them, how would you have answered me 
 when I should ask you, ' Xgalyema, why did you fight 
 your brother's people ? ' Xow that I have come back 
 you must drop all talk of this trouble. All the white 
 men who have been quarrelling with you shall go to
 
 ^.V IMPOETANT CONFERENCE. -^95 
 
 other jDlaces, and you must make peace with the iss3. 
 Elephant, for you have misjudged him. To-dav, being Leopold- 
 Sunday, Tve do not work except when we are making 
 friendship. If you all come back to-morrow we will 
 come to an ao'reement, bv which no one can hurt his 
 fellow without incurrins; the ano-er of every one." 
 
 The next day a treaty was made uniting all the 
 chiefs of the Wambundu, Kintamo and the Association 
 in a confederation for the preservation of peace in the 
 region south, and west of Stanley Pool. The chief 
 sovereign power was vested in the Association, which 
 reserved to itself the power to declare war, and to 
 arbitrate on all questions likely to endanger the peace. 
 It was also further stipulated that no foreigner could 
 enter any district belonging to any of the confederated 
 chiefs witliout a recommendation from the ofiicers of the 
 Association, who would guarantee that such stranger 
 was a bond fide trader, or that he was not a political 
 agent. 
 
 It was also stipulated that the flag of the Association 
 should be hoisted over the villages of the signatory 
 chiefs every Sunday morning, and upon all great or 
 festive occasions, notice of wdiicli would be given by the 
 hoisting of the flag from the summit of Leopold Hill. 
 
 Three days later negotiations w^ere seriously com- 
 menced with the chiefs of Kinshassa, who, hearing of 
 the terms of the agreement with Kintamo, wished 
 to share in its privileges. A verbal agreement was 
 entered into, and an officer was temporarily placed 
 there, who was withdrawn a few days later ; but after
 
 ville. 
 
 496 THE CONGO. 
 
 1883. the lapse of sufficient time for mature consideration, 
 
 April 12. 
 
 Ldopoid- 9- garrison was finally accepted, Mr. A. B. Swinburne 
 being adopted as the chief of the station. 
 
 It should have been observed before that two English 
 religious missions had established themselves at Leopold- 
 ville, one to the right, and one to the left of the station, 
 on ground belonging to the Association. The one 
 established on Leopold Hill is called the Arthington 
 Mission of the Baptist Church ; the other is undenomi- 
 national, and is styled the Livingstone Inland Congo 
 Mission. Mr. T. J. Comber presides over the Baptist 
 Mission, and Dr. Sims is chief of the other. Both 
 gentlemen take a warm interest in their respective Mis- 
 sions, both have been remarkably energetic, and both 
 have especially distinguished themselves for zeal in 
 looking after the important interests entrusted to their 
 charge. It has been a well-contested race to the great 
 goal ; the Baptists were the first to win the race to 
 Stanley Pool ; Dr. Sims was the first to navigate any 
 portion of the waters of the Upper Congo. The 
 Baptists were the first to occupy a station above 
 Stanley Pool ; but soon after, the Livingstone Mission 
 had arranged for a station even at the Equator. The 
 Baptists were the first to launch a steamer; but the 
 Livingstone Mission were engaged in building their 
 steamer at Leopoldville at the same date that the other 
 was launched. It has been a singular religious duel 
 between two missions of the Protestant Church ; both 
 mission chiefs alternately have gained the advance 
 post, and have exhibited remarkable individual apti-
 
 NOBLE WORK OF ENfJLISH MISSIONABIES. 497 
 
 tudes. Where and when this unique race will end no isss. 
 
 -^ . , April 12. 
 
 one knows, teo long as these missions are supported Leopoid- 
 by the subscriptions of their faithfid and loyal sup- 
 porters, it will no doubt be continued, until the Congo 
 basin has been over-run, conquered morally, and won 
 over to the Christian fold. Meantime the author 
 wishes the two leaders in this daring spiritual cam- 
 paign against moral darkness more wisdom, light, 
 renewed courage, and abundant success. They also 
 have passed through dark days, and have been sorely 
 afflicted ; but each month the horizon has been clear- 
 ing:-, and the prospect is infinitely brighter before them 
 to-day than they could have anticipated some time 
 airo. 
 
 VOL. r. 2 k
 
 498 THE COXGO. 
 
 CHAPTER XXY. 
 
 TO BOLOBO. 
 
 Improving Leopoldville — Departxvre of tlie Upper Congo expedition — Its 
 eqiiipment — Kimpoko, "Good View Station" — Gambiele, chief of 
 KiiniX)ko —Stanley Pool again — Papa Gobila — IMakoko of ^MIdc* — Fumn 
 Xtaba — "Bula Matari, don't you go to ]ND:)e — Growth of Mswata 
 town — The beer of Mantu — The Lawson-Lufini river — The real 
 heart of equatorial Africa — A splendid region — My former repulse by 
 the wild men — Two Palm Point — Mnrder of two of our men — Bolobo 
 district — A populous neighboiu'hood — Difficulty- ia finding Europeans 
 adapted for intercourse with natives — Ibaka, the senior chief of 
 Bolobo — Incidents in his life — A bellicose garrison — A jealous chief, 
 and conjugal infidelity — " Blood must be shed for blood, or money 
 must pay for it " — A tardy payment — Dangers of beginning war — 
 Bolobo cession of territory. 
 
 1883, Xo sooner was Leopoldville relieved of its retarding 
 
 April. 
 
 Leopold- influence in the person of its indifferent chief, than it 
 began to assume the decently progressive aspect that it 
 should present as the entrepot of the Upper Congo. 
 The grass was certainly not permitted to smother the 
 place long ; the native town was pulled down and 
 transferred to another locality more on the direct road 
 to Kintamo, the redoubt and the ricketty fence dis- 
 appeared ; the terrace was enlarged right and left to 
 permit more space for buildings, and the cutting was 
 deepened into the hill to allow more air ; the terrace
 
 2 K 2
 
 500 THE CONGO. 
 
 1883. slopes were faced with stone ; a large banana garden 
 i.eopoid- occupied the site of the old native town, and in 
 it mangoes and papaws were planted ; barracks 
 for Europeans began to be raised, and a number 
 of other improvements were commenced, which pro- 
 mised greatly to improve the sanitary condition of 
 Leopoldville. Before I left the station of the Upper 
 Congo, I had the satisfaction of seeing it approach 
 that respectable appearance it should have presented 
 months before, and which its position in the rank 
 of stations required. Instead of detailing foragers 
 every other day for scouting the country in search of 
 food, the native men, women, and children conveyed 
 food to Le'opoldville's terrace plaza, to vend it in open 
 market, either wholesale to the chief of the station, 
 or to barter it individually to such as appeared to buy, 
 either dwellers in the town or natives of Kintamo. 
 When I saw the terrace j^laza being employed as a 
 common market-ground, I became conscious that the 
 victory against aboriginal conservatism was won. I 
 believed that I enjoyed more real pleasure in watching 
 the groups of buyers and sellers pursuing their in- 
 tending bargains within the shadow of the old Block- 
 house of Leopoldville, than I had in any other event 
 that transpired this year. For before any place can 
 aspire to the dignity of a town on the Congo, it 
 must possess a market-place of its own, and this was 
 one of the little successes I considered essential to 
 our well-being. Not having many women of our 
 own I felt, when I saw two scores of women and
 
 TEE STABT FOR THE UPPER CONGO. 501 
 
 children squatted in the perfect enjoyment of ini- isss. 
 limited confidence, that I had become endowed with ^^ y. 
 the honour of paternity, and not for untold wealth ^^^^^' 
 would I have permitted that confidence to be tar- 
 nished with the least exhibition of distrust or 
 violence. 
 
 The A.I. A. steam-launch had been finished, painted 
 repeatedly, and effectively tried two or three times. 
 The Royal steam-launch was almost brand-new again, 
 with Tiewly-coppered hull, and minutely repaired. The 
 Ell Avant had been on the stocks, and was scraped, 
 scrubbed, polished with emery-paper, and re-painted 
 three times over. An ornamental cap had been placed 
 above the funnel, new masts had been rigged, and 
 furnished with new sails ; awnings were put up, and, 
 better than all, a cabin sufficiently large to stow the 
 goods and house myself; wdiile instruments had been 
 erected, as I had a vague idea that the sun-roasting 
 received on Lake Leopold II. in 1882 had been the 
 cause of my terrible illness. 
 
 On the 9th of May, 1883, every article is aboard, and 
 every man is in his place, as the En Avant leads the 
 way up at 6 a.m., towing the whaleboat. The Royal 
 follows next, with a large GO-foot canoe alongside ; the 
 A. I. A, comes last. 
 
 The inventory of the cargoes is as follows : — 
 
 En Avant. Cloth ....... 21 bales. 
 
 Cowries GOO lbs. 
 
 Oil (engine) 10 gallons. 
 
 Flour and potatoes . . 140 lbs. 
 
 Beans 70 „
 
 502 
 
 THE CONGO. 
 
 1883. 
 Jlay 9, 
 
 Leopold- 
 ville. 
 
 ^Mixcd provisions .... 1 ease. 
 
 Sugar 50 lbs. 
 
 Biscuits 30 „ 
 
 Tea 25 „ 
 
 Cofifee 40 „ 
 
 Cognac 1 case. 
 
 Mess chest 1 „ 
 
 Bedding 140 lbs. 
 
 Medicine 2 cases. 
 
 Instruments 1 case. 
 
 Personal baggage . . . 250 lbs. 
 
 Cooking utensils .... GO „ 
 
 Ammunition 4 cases. 
 
 Fine cloth 1 trunk. 
 
 Crew 7 men. 
 
 Passengers 10 „ 
 
 Whale-boat. Crew 10 „ 
 
 Brass rods 56 loads = 3640 lb.=. 
 
 Garden seeds 2 cases. 
 
 Boyal. Crew 4 men. 
 
 Passengers 9 men. 
 
 Ammunition 19 cases. 
 
 Engine oil 5 gallons. 
 
 Canoe. Passengers 26 men. 
 
 Engine oil 50 gallons. 
 
 Brass rods 650 lbs. 
 
 A. I. A. Cloth 26 bales. 
 
 Engine oil 5 gallons. 
 
 Salt 4 kegs. 
 
 Boat provisions, European . 4 cases. 
 
 Up-river station provisions . 22 „ 
 
 Biscuits 4 „ 
 
 Velvet caps and hats . . 1 case. 
 
 Fancy beads 6 cases. 
 
 Medicine chest .... 1 case. 
 
 Cutlasses 1 package. 
 
 Carpenters' tool chests . . 4 
 
 Eip-saws, cross cut -saws,) „, , 
 
 , -, ■ ?■ 2 loads, 
 
 hand-saws ) 
 
 Picks, axes, spades, shovels,^ . , . 
 
 adzes, hoes j 
 
 Nails, spikes, screws . . 6 „ 
 
 Passengers 8 men. 
 
 Crew 6 „
 
 May 9. 
 
 Leopold- 
 ville. 
 
 EQUIPMEXT FOR THE UPPER COXGO. 503 
 
 A well-equipped expedition of eighty men, with isss 
 about six tons of material, consisting of every necessary 
 article for the construction of two small stations, and 
 provisions and means for the sustenance of the garri- 
 sons for at least six months. An equal number of 
 colonists could not have been better provided. We 
 have axes for them to hew the forest, hammers to 
 break the rock, spades to turn up the sod and to drain 
 the marsh, or shovels to raise tlie rampart, scythes to 
 mow the grass, hatchets to penetrate the jungle, and 
 seeds of all kinds for sowing. Saws to rip planking, 
 and hammers, nails, and cabinet-makers' tools to make 
 furniture ; needles and thread for sewing all the cloth 
 in their bales, twine to string their beads, and besides 
 these useful articles in the cases, there are also count- 
 less "notions" and fancy knick-knacks to appease the 
 cupidity of the most powerful chief or excite the 
 desire for adornment in the breast of woman. Nor has 
 the white man been neglected ; there is enough for him 
 to eat and grow fat upon while in good health, and 
 enough medicine to cure a hundred fevers for each. It 
 were well that these things should be told perhaps once 
 in a while to the reader, that he may have a sensible 
 idea of what planting stations in distant places really 
 means. These articles were not thrown promis- 
 cuously into the boats ; a due «nd equitable j^roportion 
 of each had to be calculated and measured out per head 
 of white and black per month ; otherwise turmoil and 
 peevish discontent were certain to be heard in a very 
 short time:
 
 504 THE CONGO. 
 
 1883. It was liiffli water in the Cono-o now. We could 
 
 May 9. ^ ^ , ^ , . . 
 
 Kinshassa. travel in still havens in shore, under the overhanging 
 boughs of trees, screened from the heat. At eight 
 o'clock we passed Kinshassa, nestling under the shade 
 of its grove of mighty baobab, the low grassy bank 
 near the village being lined by a wall of black bodies, 
 who gave us a rousing cheer as the flotilla hove in 
 view round its point, and steamed past, dipping ensigns 
 to show our appreciation. From here we bore across 
 
 -m- '-^'^*%-- 
 
 ^ 
 ^^"-C'^- ^^^ 
 
 VIEW FEOM THE TEBBACE BELOW K15IP0K0. 
 
 the wide Congo, and, clinging to the southern shore of 
 Bamu, steamed steadily through deep water, past dense 
 forests of sturdy young timber, and then skimming 
 along the edges of fat green reedy flats, until, a little 
 after 4 p.m., we were abreast of Kimpoko Station, to 
 which we now headed in order to rest for the night in 
 such comfort as we could find in a place that was 
 undergoing process of construction.
 
 GOOD VIEW STATIOX. 
 
 505 
 
 Kimpoko ouo-bt to be called " Good View Station," isss. 
 
 . . . May 9. 
 
 since from it we have a sight of a really noble breadth Kiaipoko. 
 of river. It shows fully five miles of clear water, 
 stretching down to a grey horizon fifteen miles away. 
 A vast length of Bamu Island is seen north, and far 
 beyond the tallest trees on the island rise the purpling 
 hills enfolding De Brazza's future settlements •, while 
 
 VIEW IRO.M KIMrOKO. 
 
 to the eastward is the cliffy crescent known as Dover 
 Cliffs. Inland from the river's verge a few pillared 
 hyphoene stand rustling their fan-like leaves, and 
 Itetween these, at a distance of a mile, rise low hills, 
 iiacked by higher liills, beyond which rise the outlying 
 spurs of the uplands of the Banfunu, governed by 
 Nfumu Nguma.
 
 1883. 
 May 9. 
 
 KimiJoko. 
 
 506 
 
 THE CONGO. 
 
 Grambiele is the chief of Kimpoko's native com- 
 munity — a tribe of the Babari, or river people — and 
 he it was who was falsely reported to have murdered 
 Callewart. A man with but slight force of character, 
 there is little to commend him to our esteem. He has 
 studied liis own interests well in the invitation extended 
 
 
 THE UPPEE CONGO ISSUING INTO STANLEY POOL. 
 
 {From a photograph?) 
 
 to US. He is placable now. because his senses are fed 
 with seeing, and far too often tasting, the good things 
 we possess. To satisfy him and Nfumu Nguma has 
 been a costly matter. Nevertheless, if the peace is only 
 kept, time and better acquaintance may modify his 
 ardour for begging; the future may disclose virtues 
 that are at present invisible.
 
 FAPA GOBILA. 507 
 
 The next day wo leave Kimpoko, and a few hours isss. 
 
 May 10, 
 
 later have entered the gates of the Upper Congo, at ^,u^;,^i 
 the head of Stanley Pool. On the evening of the third 
 day we are alongside of the landing-place of Mswata 
 Station. Lieutenant Janssen, brought here thirteen 
 months ago, has by this time completed his station. 
 His residence is like a genteel farmhouse in appear- 
 ance, with a cool and shady porch, where he holds his 
 joalavers and chats twice a day with Papa Gobila, or, 
 as he is now called, Grantiene. 
 
 This old gentleman, stout of form, hearty and genial 
 in manner, came up breathlessly and held out his fat 
 hands, and welcomed Bula Matari after his long- 
 absence. He expressed a positive opinion that it was 
 the fetish of the Wabuma which so sickened me last 
 year, and insisted on my yielding him a promise never 
 to live with them. 
 
 We halted a few days at Mswata to purchase food for 
 the up-river journey to Bolobo, our next destination. 
 During the morning of this day Fumu Ntaba, with 
 about sixty musketeers, and a few women and domestic 
 slaves, arrived. Fumu Ntaba is the principal chief 
 of the Bateke' of Mbe' district, which lies W.N.AV., five 
 days' journey from the landing-place on the north 
 bank opposite Mswata. 
 
 A great deal has been uttered within the last few 
 years about Makoko of Mbe, and of Fumu Ntaba, but 
 in order to thoroughly understand the power of these 
 two chiefs in one and the same district, it is necessary 
 to compare Makoko with Ngako, the hereditary chief of
 
 ISSiJ. 
 May 12. 
 
 Alswata. 
 
 508 
 
 THE CONGO. 
 
 Kintamo, and Fuimi XtaLa \^-itli Xgalyema, the actual 
 chief. 
 
 Makoko is the hereditary chief of the north-westeru 
 Bateke', but being infirm through years, and dulled 
 b}' age, he has become, by common consent, super- 
 
 PAPA GOBILA OF SISWATA. 
 
 annuated, and the sovereignty has been assumed by 
 the Regent, Fumu Ntaba. ^lakoko is now only fit 
 for the seclusion of his hut and the ministrations 
 of his female attendants. And although he may 
 appear in j)ubhc, and receive a sympathetic respect
 
 FU2IA NTABA. 509 
 
 from the chiefs In council, it is the dictum of Fumu isss. 
 Xtaba that obtains ooedience ; nor is there any hesita- Mswata. 
 tion felt in proving to Makoko that his days of power 
 are over. 
 
 Along the riverside and mountain slopes between 
 Stanley Pool and the Lawson River there are only 
 four villages, two of these being nearly opposite to 
 i\Iswata. The lions, elephants, buffixloes, and antelope 
 found as we voyage on the Congo between these tw^o 
 points are also proofs that the territory of Fumu 
 Ntaba, within five days' journey from the Congo 
 must be singularly denuded of population, and the 
 paucity of people on the north bank of Stanley Pool 
 is already known to us. 
 
 Fumu Xtaba asked me when I was going to send 
 white men to live at Mbe, as Lieutenant Yalcke had 
 promised they would be sent to him. Under altered 
 circumstances, I could scarcely explain clearly why we 
 had not already occupied a station on his land, but he 
 ■pressed me to make a promise to meet him and talk it 
 over at Malima, whither he intended to pay a visit in 
 about two months. 
 
 " And," said he, " have no fear about Malima and 
 Mfwa. I want all white men to come who like to 
 come. I have made blood-brotherhood with Valcke ; 
 he and his people are my friends, and they may 
 build freely in any part of the country, either by 
 the riverside or inland." 
 
 I comforted Fumu Ntaba with the ]»romi.se that 
 I should " see about it ; " and, exchanging ]jresents,
 
 510 THE CONGO. 
 
 1883. we parted, vowing eternal friendship and immutable 
 Mswata. fidelity to one another. 
 
 Gobila^ genial, aldermanic Gobila — Papa Gobila — 
 had been listening quietly to all this, never uttering a 
 word, but an hour after came to me, and said : 
 
 "Bula Matari, don't you go to Mbe ; you will be a 
 fool if you will. There are no people there, nothing 
 but a little ivory to l^e had. Your bread will cost you 
 three times more than it costs you here. There is 
 nothing in Mbe but elephants and lions. Ask yourself 
 why we should have left Mbe', if it were not that it was 
 a poor country. I j)refer to live with Gandelay, on 
 the south side of the river, than with Fumu Xtaba on 
 the north side. Xgalyema of Kintamo, Nchulu of 
 Kinshassa, myself and people, have all run away from 
 there, because they were all killing one another at 
 Mbe', continually fighting, fighting. We have now all 
 got rich, and have slaves, ivory, and plenty of wives on 
 this side, but if we went over to Mbe' we should lose 
 everything. Ob, they will take your cloth and speak 
 you fair so long as you give it to them ; but what will 
 you p-et for it all ? If you think I speak falsely, go 
 over to Ganchu, and try to buy even a roll of Ijread, 
 and see for yourself. They come to me for food, and I 
 send my canoes full of l>read every week to Mfwa and 
 Malima. Did you see any lions or buffaloes on this 
 side as you came up ? Xo ! '\^^ell, that proves it. 
 The Banfunu of the south side are too numerous, 
 and Xfumu Xguma has too many people to allow 
 lions and buffaloes to live long here."
 
 GBOWTH OF 3ISWATA. 511 
 
 Grobila's town of Mswata had greatly grown in isse 
 
 May ] 
 Mswata. 
 
 May 12 
 
 thirteen months. It now contained about 1,500 souls. 
 
 Gandelay also had sent one of his chiefs to build a 
 small town above Mswata, close to the river. The 
 lesser chiefs below the station seemed to be extendino- 
 
 o 
 
 their hutted areas. All this I naturally took to be the 
 effect of the residence of our people amongst them, 
 because, being non-producing, yet having abundance of 
 means to purchase the necessities of subsistence, their 
 daily wants stimulated the natives to greater efforts. 
 
 On the 15th the flotilla left Mswata for Bolobo. 
 About 9 A.M. it passed the confluence of the Kwa with 
 the Congo, and proceeded up the main river. 
 
 From this point, as we ascend the Congo, which has 
 a width hereabouts of one mile, or one and a quarter 
 miles, up to one and a half miles in some places, we 
 have Uyanzi on our right, forming the left bank of 
 the river, and Ml)e on our left, forming the right bank. 
 Uyanzi begins with a tame aspect of low ridges, 
 sloping gradually but grandly to the Kwa and the 
 Congo, and robed with a grassy covering of tender 
 green. The village of Mantu, close squatted by the 
 Congo water, really makes a pretence to look some- 
 thing different from ordinary villages by a broad path 
 kept clear of weeds, leading from the landing-place to 
 the palm-shaded . village. The observant traveller, on 
 landing, will soon discover that this appearance is 
 delusive; the pleasing impression formed by anything 
 approaching to neatness and cleanliness soon vanish- 
 ing, when ho finds that the inside of the place is not
 
 512 THE cos GO. 
 
 1883. a wliit better tlian elsewhere. Beer wliich tastes like 
 
 May 15. . 
 
 jiaintu. stale lager is a great manufacture here ; its colour 
 is like water darkened by a slight quantity of infusion 
 of tea. It is made of fermented millet, or more 
 generally of fermented juice of sugar-cane, and stored 
 in great black ten-gallon pots. Doubtless they find 
 it a remunerative manufacture, as customers from the 
 Kwa and Stanley Pool are frequently found here. 
 
 Beyond Mantu the long tender green slopes become 
 more and more shortened, until finally the low ridges 
 drop sheer into the depths of tlie river, and jut out in 
 harsh and naked rocky points. 
 
 Viewing the opposing shores of Mbe, the eye com- 
 mands long curving sweeps of half-wooded slopes of 
 hills, rising to 300 feet in height, with sufficient deptli 
 and breadth of green woods over them, however, to 
 make them present a more refreshing aspect than that 
 furnished by the treeless ridges of Uyanzi . 
 
 We hoisted our sails, as there was an eight-knot 
 breeze on the river, and stretched them out flat, wliich 
 greatly relieved the engines, and increased our rate 
 of progress. 
 
 At noon we were opposite the confluence of the 
 Lawson-Lufini Biver and the Congo. The former 
 flows into the Congo from the west-south-west. The 
 main river comes from a northern direction. 
 
 At its mouth the Lawson has a few small islets 
 which disjoint it into two main branches, and under 
 the lee of these a wide sandy bar has been formed, 
 which necessitates vessels to edge away towards the
 
 TEE LAWSON-LUFINI BIVEB. 513 
 
 shore of Uyanzi, until they have well passed tlie river. i883. 
 It is about 250 yards wide above the confluence, and :Mantn. 
 of a much paler colour than the ochreous brown of the 
 Congo. It is considered to be the boundary between the 
 Bateke of Mbe, ruled by Fumu Ntaba, and the Bateke', 
 ruled by two chiefs, named Muijuba and Kamolondo. 
 A few miles above it the hilly ridges on the right bank 
 recede from the water-side, and form wide folds, half 
 enclosing broad and fertile basins. Uyanzi begins 
 again to show grand slopes of distant grassy ridges. 
 A cluster of palms span the river's margin or an 
 isolated grove, specking darkly the green of the 
 surrounding grass, denotes the presence of villages, 
 and as these features are on a lars-e scale we do not see 
 much improvement in the scene on either side until 
 above Chumbiri, when the Congo widens rapidly from 
 a width of two miles to four miles. 
 
 On passing Rocky Point, and emerging in view of 
 this broader width, we may be said to have entered 
 fairly on the Upper Congo. Hitherto we have been 
 voyaging since leaving Boma, and the estuary-like 
 breadth of the Lower Congo, in a pass or defile. From 
 Boma to Yivi we steamed between two lines of moun- 
 tain heights ; between Yivi and Isangila we tra- 
 velled in a narrow valley parallel with the chasmic 
 trough of the Congo ; between Isangila and Manyanga 
 our boats ran up the crooked ravine-like valley of the 
 river ; between Manyanga and Leopoldville we marched 
 along the edge of the deep fracture in the highlands 
 through which the Congo continuously roars; then after 
 
 VOL. I. 2 L
 
 514 THE CONGO. 
 
 1883. a slight relief obtained by the lake-like expansion called 
 
 May 15. n t • ^ 
 
 Chumbiri. Stanley Pool, we have been confined again between 
 two mountain lines of more or less picturesqueness, np 
 as far as the Rocky Point above Chnmbiri, to finally 
 emerge into this lacustrine breadth which the volu- 
 minous waters of the Congo have scooped out of the 
 plains and lowlands which we now behold extended 
 on either hand, with scarcely any extraordinary rise or 
 hill, until we shall approach the Biyerre affluent. 
 
 The real heart of equatorial Africa, is this central 
 fertile region, whose bountiful and unparalleled richness 
 of soil will repay the toil and labour required to bring 
 it within the reach of Europe. It was not the up- 
 lands of the maritime region, with their millions of 
 ravines, and narrow oven-hot valleys, and bald grass 
 tops, and limited bits of grassy plateaus, with here and 
 there a grove of jungly forest scattered like islets amid 
 the grassy wastes, that I strove for ; it was this million 
 square miles of almost level area, which we may call 
 the kernel, that was worth the trouble of piercing the 
 235 miles of thick rude mountain husk which separates 
 it from the energies of Europeans, who, could they but 
 reach it, would soon teach the world what good might 
 come out of Africa. 
 
 In my voyage down the great river in 1877, I had 
 but a dim glimpse of the mainland. To escape the 
 unaccountable ferocity which then menaced us as soon 
 as we came in sight of the wild men, we had to seek 
 refuge in the mazy channels between the islets. [NTow, 
 however, our mission is to build in the midst of these
 
 31 Y FORMES REPULSE BY WILD MEN. 515 
 
 wild men, but before we can do so we must seek for isss. 
 
 May 15. 
 
 them, confront them cahnly, persuade them to hush chumbin. 
 their clamours, soothe their unquiet hearts, and win 
 them to gentle ways and arts of peace. To those who 
 read the narrative of my journey ' Through the Dark 
 Continent,' this work, as the sequel of that story, must 
 doubtless be interesting. I shall endeavour not to be 
 tedious. 
 
 From the low E,ocky Point on the right bank above 
 Chumbiri, we cross over to the left bank with the sea- 
 like river dotted with distant spectral islets extending 
 above us to an infinite horizon. There is a blazing 
 sun reflecting its brightness on the river, the waters 
 of which lie as smooth and motionless as a mirror. 
 The breeze has gone down, and not even a breath 
 disturbs the pendant star-flag hanging down its staff, 
 or flaps the lappets of the awning. The smoke from 
 the funnel shows almost a horizontal and straight 
 line nearly parallel with the disturbing wake of the 
 steamer. It lakes us quite an hour to reach the left 
 bank, which we now begin to follow, for Bolobo, our 
 destination, lies on the left bank, and is distant about 
 nine hours' steaming. 
 
 We arrive at the upper end of the hill range, pass 
 two or three villages at Mompurengi, situated within 
 cosy folds of wood-covered hills, and then we observe 
 the hills trend further and further eastward, and we 
 come abreast of a low clay bank, with tall dense 
 grass above. The river is bank-full at this season, but 
 some portions of it are a clear five feet higher. Grey 
 
 2 L 2
 
 616 THE CONGO. 
 
 1883. clay is at the water's level, darkening to blackness as 
 
 May 15. . 
 
 3iompu- it rises upright as a wall to the grassy roots, 
 rengi. rpj^^ islets are now in parallel lines to the shore, 
 for just at this place the river is divided into five 
 broad channels. At a short distance the islets purple ; 
 they become indistinct masses, more like hills than 
 trees, so curious is the influence of the misty veil 
 with which the extreme heat has covered them. TThen 
 wearied by the monotonous length of the clay bank, 
 we veer towards the tree-covered isles, which in the 
 afternoon act effectively as a screen. We are steaming 
 in the shadow of the forest grove, and although fully 
 50 feet away, our eyesight can penetrate far into the 
 cool recesses of the shade, and up the bole of stout 
 Cottonwood and its great leafy crown, and through the 
 lesser but sturdy growth of hardwood, under whose 
 shade and shelter are the shrubs, climbing Calamus and 
 sprouts of palm. 
 
 At a place on the mainland called Two Palm Point, 
 so called from the solitary specimens of the Hyphoene 
 guineensis, which stand above the grassy covered 
 point, we camp. Presently two canoes are seen de- 
 scending. They boldly paddle towards us, and give 
 us a letter, in which we are told by the chief of Bolobo 
 Station that two of our men have been murdered by a 
 native chief called Gatula, who lives close by. 
 
 At nine o'clock next morning we are at the lower 
 end of Bolobo district, which begins with the pretty 
 village of Itimba, situated on a low hill, thickly 
 wooded. Then village after village appears in a nearly
 
 MUBDER OF TWO OF MY MEX. 517 
 
 continuous line for about an hour, when the station isss. 
 
 May 16. 
 
 comes into view on the open higher ground behind the Boiobo. 
 narrow belt of tall timber lining the river side. 
 
 Were it not for the dense population of this district 
 Boiobo would not be called a happy choice for a 
 station. That it is a healthy situation, there can be 
 no doubt, as we have had abundant proof of its 
 salubrity. But kinder people to dwell with might 
 have been found, as it is not an easy thing to find 
 Europeans adapted by nature and disposition for con- 
 verting suspicious natives into harmless friends. Un- 
 fledged Europeans fresh from their homes, brimful of 
 intolerable conceits, and indififerent to aught else save 
 what submits to their own prejudices, are not as a rule 
 the best material to work with for the civilisation of 
 the African. As the European will not relax his 
 austerity, but will very readily explode his unspeakable 
 passions, the aboriginal native does not care to venture 
 into familiar life with the irascible being. The native 
 therefore shrouds himself with his own sulkiness and 
 savage hate of what he does not like. But there are 
 natives who are as likely to explode into mischievous 
 passions as the Europeans ; and Gatula was one of 
 these blacks who had a tendency to show what he 
 could do in the way of hurtful outbursts. In this way 
 he showed his first attempt by murdering and hacking 
 to j^ieces two of the garrison of Boiobo. 
 
 Imagine a strip of the left bank of the river, about 
 twelve miles long, a thin line of large umbrageous trees 
 close to the water's edge, and a gently sloping back-
 
 518 THE CONGO. 
 
 1883. ground of cleared country rising to about 30 feet above 
 
 ilay 16. 
 
 lioiobo. the tallest tree. Just about the centre of this strip on 
 the open ground is the station of Bolobo, consisting of 
 a long mat-walled shed, a mud and wattle kitchen, a 
 mud walled magazine with grass roofs, and about 
 twenty huts arranged in a square on the outside of the 
 inner group of buildings. Above and below it close 
 to the water-side, amid banana and palm groves, are 
 scattered about fifteen villages. Seven of these, Itumba, 
 Mungolo, Biangala, Ururu, Mongo, Manga, Yambula, 
 and Lingenji, are below the station. Eight are above, 
 among which is Mbanga and a few villages of the 
 Banunu tribe. These form what is called Bolobo, 
 which is a rich district, affording excellent fields for 
 a colony of white agriculturists who could live here, 
 if they could be supplied with their usual luxuries 
 of tea and coffee, &c., as well as they could live any- 
 where in the world. The population of the river front 
 of Bolobo is about 10,000, over whom Ibaka is the senior 
 chief. The back country is also rich and populous. 
 
 To effect an influence on this population with a 
 garrison of about twenty-five men would by no means 
 be a difiScult task, provided that the European chosen 
 over the station was ingenuous and easy in disposition, 
 and devoted himself to win the friendship of Ibaka. 
 The chief would not long be considered the senior, unless 
 he had friends with whom a union of interests could be 
 formed to defend himself against attack, and to advance 
 the mission entrusted to liim. Captain Hanssens, who 
 established this station, understood all this, and he
 
 TEE STORY OF IBAEA. 519 
 
 placed young Lieutenant Orban in charge. But Orban, isss. 
 
 May 16. 
 
 after a few months of agreeable residence and pleasant Boiobo. 
 relations at Boiobo, at last sighed for a change ; be 
 did not like being cooped up in Boiobo all alone ; he 
 imagined himself ill, and asked permission to visit the 
 coast. Unwilling to refuse the young gentleman — 
 who was in all other respects a most estimable person — 
 he received leave to depart, and another was substituted 
 in his stead, who had not the faculty of making him- 
 self amiable. Another was then tried, but he also 
 failed, and it was about this time that the murder at 
 Boiobo happened. 
 
 From my note-book I quote verbatim the history of 
 Ibaka, as given to me by Ibaka himself, and translated 
 by Sergeant Khamis, his friend, from which the causes 
 of the restlessness which distinguished Boiobo above 
 all other districts may be divined. 
 
 " About thirty years ago Ibaka, a powerful chief, 
 lived at Kutumpuku, on the bauks of the Mikene 
 (on riglit bank). Among his subject chiefs were 
 those known by the names of Manga, Mwekwanga, 
 Ururu, and Mongo. They quarrelled with Ibaka, and 
 after several little battles, they discovered that Ibaka 
 was too strong for them, and fled to settle on the left 
 bank at Boiobo. Mwekwanga chose the very spot on 
 which the station now stands, the others occupied the 
 villages named after them to-day. Some time after, 
 when friendship was re-established between Ibaka and 
 his mutinous chiefs, Ibaka, still residing at Kutumpuku, 
 was himself chased away from the right bank by a
 
 o20 THE CONGO. 
 
 1883. " horde of savages from the interior, and he was corn- 
 May 16. ° ' 
 
 Boiobo. pelled to seek shelter at Bolobo, between Mwekwanga's 
 village and Manga's. He lived for several years in his 
 new place, recognised by all as the superior chief, and 
 undisturbed in his authority. When he died, his son 
 Lingenji being a minor, his name and authority was 
 assumed by his principal slave. This being the custom 
 of the Wy-yanzi, Lingenji became no more than an 
 inferior chief, lord of his own domestics. The new 
 Ibaka; — the same whom we know to-day under that 
 name— had soon to contend against the jealousies of the 
 older chiefs who had often fought his old master ; but, 
 being a vigorous and resolute man, he gradually com- 
 pelled recognition as the superior chief of Bolobo. 
 Mwekwanga, however, his right-hand neighbour^ a 
 sullen and obstinate old fellow, long defied him, until 
 the superiority was decided after a series of stubborn 
 contests, when he was finally driven away from his 
 place, to locate himself inland of Manga, on the borders 
 of a timber belt near that chiefs village. Since that 
 day Ibaka has been duly acknowledged as the principal 
 in authority. 
 
 " A few vears after this affair with Mwekwangra, 
 Captain Hanssens arrived at Bolobo, and having 
 ascertained from the natives he spoke with that Ibaka 
 was the senior chief, he applied to him for permission 
 to build a station, more for the sake of provisioning the 
 steamers than from any merits the locality possessed, 
 though, as an agricultural and commercial station it is 
 not to be despised."
 
 A BELLICOSE 0>ABBISOX. 521 
 
 The fact that Ibaka has thus, by a lucky accident, ' isss. 
 
 , . . • May 16. 
 
 considerably improved his strength — this being the Boiobo. 
 lio^ht in which his old rivals reocard our settlement 
 amongst them — has aroused and intensified the bate 
 they always bore him. Long before we knew why 
 Bolobo was so inimical to white men, in various ways 
 our people were made to understand that they bore 
 a stubborn dislike to them. They were not allowed 
 to trespass beyond a certain limit near the station, 
 whether to cut timber for building, fuel for cooking, 
 or grass for roofing. Nor were they allowed to go 
 to the markets to buy food. If through ignorance of 
 this antipathy, any one strayed beyond the set limits, 
 he was chased, and, if caught, severely beaten with 
 sticks. Finally, as months passed away, the fire of 
 their enmity cooled slightly, but its flame was soon 
 rekindled by Gatula, who, during a drunken fit, sus- 
 pecting that a female slave preferred the society of 
 one of the Bolobo garrison to his own, and seeing 
 two of the garrison near his village, ordered his people 
 to massacre them, and in his revengeful spleen hewed 
 them to pieces. 
 
 Thus, on my arrival at Bolobo, I found a serious 
 affair to settle. The two white men in cliarge declared 
 to me that it was necessary to give the natives a lesson. 
 Our crews and large reliefs, which made a force of 
 eighty men, were soon thoroughly impregnated with 
 the hostile views of the Bolobo garrison. They took 
 this lucky arrival of the flotilla to mean revenge for 
 the murder of their comrades. They primed the new-
 
 522 
 
 THE CONGO. 
 
 1883. comers with the heat for battle which raered within 
 
 May 16. ° 
 
 Boiobo. themselves, and the arguments they used to me, when 
 I questioned them, were, I admit, very powerful. 
 
 Ibaka himself came up to see Bula Matari, of whom 
 he had heard often enough. The chief was not a bad- 
 looking man. On his head he wore a tall, brimless, 
 Armenian-shaped hat, knit out of hyphcene fibre, and 
 
 ^a^^ 
 
 TYPES OF OUR COLOURED EMPLOYES. 
 
 sprinkled over with gilt lizards, presented to him 
 by Hanssens. He and his vizier, Lugumbila, recited 
 the details of the tragedy. Gatula's female slave, like 
 other women, frequently visited the garrison to sell 
 bread, corn, chickens, and sugar-cane. Perhaps, as 
 acquaintance grew, they stayed too long — at least, so 
 long that Gatula's suspicions were aroused. Gatula
 
 A JEALOUS CHIEF. 523 
 
 one day, inebriated from the quantity and potency isss. 
 
 •^ May 16. 
 
 of the native beer he had drank, found her at the Bdobo. 
 station, where he belaboured her with his staff most 
 brutally, and then took her to the superintendent of 
 the station, and demanded that he should buy her 
 off-hand, as he cast her off for her conjugal infidelity. 
 The European probably did not understand him very 
 well, but his gestures were too violent to be endured, 
 and he was expelled ignominiously from the grounds of 
 the station. Three days passed, and on the fourth day 
 eight of the garrison proceeded to cut timber, four of 
 them by G-atula's house ; and two were no sooner seen 
 than they were killed. A native next day, perched up 
 in a tree near the station boundary, was heard calling 
 on Sergeant Khamis to come out from the station and 
 fight. Khamis, nothing loth, walked up to about a 
 hundred yards from the tree and shot the native dead. 
 " Thus Gatula has lost one man," said Lugumbila ; 
 " and now, Bula Matari, Ibaka requires to know what 
 you intend doing." 
 
 Now, the truth is, I am never in a mood for fighting 
 when cold-blooded. The murdered men were buried 
 and out of sight. The inspiration to fury was absent. 
 To Gatula I was a stranger. However much reliance 
 I might place on the story as related to me, I had a 
 vague suspicion that laxity of discipline, springing out 
 of inexperience, may have caused this. Besides, blood- 
 shedding leaves resentment, feeds rumour, and rumour 
 exaggerates and breeds general distrust. I had still 
 700 miles of a river alon^^ the banks of which the
 
 524 TEE CONGO. 
 
 1883. natives were to be converted to peace and confidence 
 
 May 16. . _ ^ _ 
 
 Boiobo. in the white man. If I began fighting here, how could 
 I hope to prosper if my advent was to be heralded with 
 stories of bloodshed ? At the same time, this massacre 
 of two men, if permitted to go unpunished, might be 
 a preliminary to a more serious calamity. 
 
 I replied, " We are strangers in Ibaka's country. 
 Ibaka gave us ground, for which he took much money. 
 Our people were put into his hands. Two of these 
 people are not to be found. I want them. I cannot 
 do without them. They were freemen. They had 
 families. Those families will ask me for them. Shall 
 I show them empty hands. Blood must be shed for 
 blood, or money must pay for it. Gatula must pay or 
 fight. Ibaka says he has heard of Bula Matari before. 
 Ibaka and the other chiefs must advise Gatula which is 
 best. I will wait two suns for the money. If it is not 
 paid I will go to Gatula's village and bring him out." 
 
 It was bravely said, but I hoped Ibaka would not put 
 my courage to the test. 
 
 On the 18th of May a conference of several chiefs was 
 held. Ibaka first demanded his fee, 120 brass rods — 
 £3 — for the tribunal of justice. The conditions were 
 related, and discussed in excellent temper. It was the 
 custom of the By-yanzi to pay or fight. A rainstorm 
 broke up the conference at sunset. 
 
 On the 19th I am told Gatula and Manga have 
 fortified their village with palisades, and sent their 
 women to Biangala. The conference sat at ten o'clock, 
 and the question was given to Gatula, Would he pay
 
 BLOOD MONEY. 525 
 
 or fio:lit ? Gatula replied he would pay. Then comes isss. 
 
 r • ^ ^ i ■ r i ^^^^^ 19. 
 
 the amount of compensation ; but the chiefs resolved to Boiobo. 
 demand of Bula Matari how much he required, and 
 Ibaka was commissioned to sound Bula Matari on this 
 important topic, which he did in a manner showing 
 that he was well fitted for his position of an adviser 
 in an exceptionally disagreeable and turbulent com- 
 munity. 
 
 The next day I replied to Ibaka that I must receive 
 ray fee from Gatula before speaking, since he had 
 admitted that he would pay, w^hich Ibaka, wondering 
 whence I had obtained this knowledge of By-yanzi 
 law customs, said was quite riglit. 
 
 The fee must be : One goat, five fowls, one Win- 
 chester rifle (belonging to one of the murdered men\ 
 twenty rolls of camwood powder, one pot of palm oil, 
 and two bunches of bananas. 
 
 On the 21st the legal fee of Bula Matari was paid. 
 
 The next day the blood-money for the murdered 
 men's families was fixed by me at 3000 brass rods, 
 value in cash here £50, which, added to costs already 
 paid by Gatula, will amount to £83 6s. Sof., and then 
 and not till then will the odium of murder be removed, 
 and peace and tranquillity restored. 
 
 On the 23rd Ibaka brought a tusk of ivory weighing 
 58 lbs., as the utmost that Gatula would be induced 
 to give. It was instantly rejected, despite the most 
 eloquent appeals on the part of Ibaka, and the loud 
 banter of Gatula and his confederates Manga, Mwek- 
 wanga, and Yambula.
 
 526 
 
 THE CONGO. 
 
 1883. Mv position however was extremely difficult. To 
 
 May 23. "^ ^ "^ 
 
 Boiobo. figlit and conquer was easy enough, and to wreck the 
 murderer's fortunes was possible, but war, whether 
 followed by victory or defeat, leaves its stings to both 
 sides. Even victory would be only a temporary and 
 small advantage, since it would quadruple the diffi- 
 culties of settling up-river, to which purpose we were 
 on our way when halted by these dismal tidings. 
 
 Rumour would magnify its terrors until it would 
 shortly appear that I was the aggressor, and Gatula 
 was the wronged victim of our misused strength. 
 And it is also certain that, possessing a reputation 
 for strength, it would be hinted about that I enter- 
 tained sinister designs against the whole country. 
 
 On the other hand, the danger was imminent of 
 causing the natives to suppose that the lives of our 
 people were held but cheaply by me if I accepted less 
 than the price usually given for shedding blood. This
 
 DANGERS OF BEGINNING WAS. 527 
 
 miglit inspire them to try again, perhaps next time to isss. 
 murder a European or two. My pohcy was therefore Boiobo. 
 to stand out to the utmost verge of war, and maintain 
 an ostentatious readiness to fight and exact summary 
 vengeance immediately on the rupture of negotiations 
 or confessed failure to pay, until they would — to avoid 
 the necessity of pushing the affair to the extreme of 
 bloody arbitration — make two or three offers more, 
 then accept the ransom, and seal a true and effective 
 peace, taking the opportunity to admonish them 
 carefully in the future. 
 
 On the 24th the fine was paid, and amounted to 
 £42 4.S., and the acceptance of it was announced by 
 salvoes of musketry, which was immediately followed 
 by the return of the women, children, and effects 
 by land and water to the villages of the guilty 
 confederates. 
 
 Ibaka's comments on the case were summed up in his 
 pithy declaration that " Gatula has received such a 
 fright, and has lost so much money, that he will never 
 be induced to murder any man again. No, indeed, 
 he would rather lose ten of his women than go through 
 this scene again." 
 
 Lugumbila, the vizier of Boiobo, expressed his be- 
 lief that I would have been still more successful if I 
 had appeared amongst them in a dress covered with 
 cowries, instead of the common tweed and grey serge 
 and white flannels of which my clothes consisted, as 
 By-yanzi people did not respect a chief who bore not 
 on his person the garb of sovereignty.
 
 nC^R MBRARY 
 
 528 
 
 THE CONGO. 
 
 Ma^^24 ^^^ ^^^^ ^^ ^^^^^ ^^y ^^^ passed in a grand assembly 
 
 Boiobo. of the chiefs , of Bolobo, who confirmed the cession of 
 
 territOFy to the Association. The men gathered about 
 
 NATIVE METHOD OF HOLDISG A GUN. 
 
 (^From a sketch by Mr, Glave.) 
 
 gave me a better insiglit into the dangers I was pro- 
 voking with an apparently reckless spirit, but the 
 reader whom I have taken into my confidence will 
 know whether the recklessness was real or assumed. 
 
 END OF VOL. I. 
 
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