CHAPTER XI.

It was now time to adjourn the meeting of theEider's Geographical Society. Fred briefly announced that the reading would be continued in the evening, and immediately the little party proceeded to a promenade on deck, where they discussed the narrative to which they had just listened, and wondered what happened next.

"Mr. Stanley's hope of obtaining canoes was soon realized," said Fred, when the party assembled in the evening, "but he suffered greatly before he secured them. Small-pox and other diseases carried off many of his people; the natives at first refused all offers of peace, and would sell no provisions. At the rapids of Ukassa, near the mouth of the Ruiki River, a fleet of canoes came to attack him, but the savages retreated when they found the strangers were ready to fight.

CANOES IN THE MOUTH OF THE RUIKI RIVER.

"He found some old and abandoned canoes which his men repaired; and with these canoes and theLady Alicehe transported a part of hisforce, while the remainder went by land. The banks of the river were densely peopled, and the houses in the villages showed a considerable advance towards civilization. Many of the villages were built in regular streets, and some of these streets were fully two miles long. From a native, who was made prisoner, Mr. Stanley learned that he was in the district called Ukusu, and that the people would not permit strangers to pass along the river. The river was about seventeen hundred yards wide, and thickly studded in many places with islands densely covered with trees and undergrowth.

WAR-HATCHET OF UKUSU.

"The houses were of various patterns, but all of a single story in height. Most of them were mere double cages, made very elegantly of the panicum grass cane, seven feet long by five feet wide and six feet high, separated, as regards the main building, but connected by the roof, so that the central apartments were common to both cages, and in these the families meet and perform their household duties, or receive their friends for social chat. Near each village was the burial-place or vault of its preceding kings, roofed over, with the leaves of thePhrynium ramosissimum, which appears to be as useful a plant for many reasons as the banana to the Waganda.

STOOL OF UKUSU.

"At one of the villages a large number of natives attacked the expedition, which had taken position and built a stockade close to the river's bank. Thousands of poisoned arrows came whizzing into the stockade, and hundreds of spears were thrown, but the rifles of the expedition held the savages at bay. When the day ended, the negroes retired to the opposite side of the river, where they tied their canoes to the bank. During the night Mr. Stanley and Frank Pocock crossed the river with theLady Aliceand their large canoe; one by one the canoes of the natives were silently secured and taken away to the number of thirty-eight, and when the natives woke in the morning, they were probably never more astonished in their lives.

STEW-POT OF THE WAHIKA.

"A peace was negotiated, and terms of blood-brotherhood were made.Mr. Stanley returned fifteen of the canoes, and retained twenty-three as an equivalent for the losses he had sustained in the attack. He had a sufficient number of boats now for his purpose.

ENCOUNTER WITH A GORILLA.

"Tippu-Tib announced that he would go no farther. Mr. Stanley released him from his engagement, on condition that he would use his influence with the members of the expedition to remain with it. A satisfactory settlement was made with Tippu-Tib and his people; farewell feasts were given, and everything seemed favorable for the future. Provisions for twenty days were prepared, the men were assigned to the boats, and, to make the fleet as much like a civilized one as possible, each boat received a name. Here is the list:

1. The exploring boat, Lady Alice.13. London Town.2. Ocean, commanded by Frank.14. America.3. Livingstone.15. Hart.4. Stanley.16. Daphne.5. Telegraph.17. Lynx.6. Herald.18. Nymph.7. Jason.19. Vulture.8. Argo.20. Shark.9. Penguin.21. Arab.10. Wolverine.22. Mirambo.11. Fawn.23. Mtesa.12. Glasgow (flag-ship, commanded by Manwa Sera).

A HOUSE OF TWO ROOMS.

"And now," said Fred, "we will hear Mr. Stanley's story of how they set out on their adventurous voyage:

"The crisis drew nigh when the 28th of December dawned. A gray mist hung over the river, so dense that we could not see even the palmy banks on which Vinya-Njara was situated. It would have been suicidal to begin our journey on such a gloomy morning. The people appeared as cheerless and dismal as the foggy day. We cooked our breakfasts in order to see if, by the time we had fortified the soul by satisfying the cravings of the stomach, the river and its shores might not have resumed their usual beautiful outlines, and their striking contrasts of light and shadow.CANOE SCOOP."Slowly the breeze wafted the dull and heavy mists away until the sun appeared, and bit by bit the luxuriantly wooded banks rose up solemn and sad. Finally the gray river was seen, and at 9a.m. its face gleamed with the brightness of a mirror.SCOOPS."'Embark, my friends! Let us at once away! and a happy voyage to us.'"TOWARD THE UNKNOWN.""The drum and trumpet proclaimed to Tippu-Tib's expectant ears that we were ascending the river. In half an hour we were pulling across to the left bank, and when we reached it, a mile above Vinya-Njara, we rested on our oars. The strong brown current soon bore us down within hearing of a deep and melodious diapason of musical voices chanting the farewell song. How beautiful it sounded to us as we approached them! The dense jungle and forest seemed to be penetrated with the vocal notes, and the river to bear them tenderly towards us. Louder the sad notes swelled on our ears, full of a pathetic and mournful meaning. With bated breath we listened to the rich music which spoke to us unmistakably of parting, of sundered friendship, a long, perhaps an eternal, farewell. We came in view of them, as, ranged along the bank in picturesque costume, the sons of Unyamwezi sang their last song. We waved our hands to them. Our hearts were so full of grief that we could not speak. Steadily the brown flood bore us by,and fainter and fainter came the notes down the water, till finally they died away, leaving us all alone on the great river.COIL OF PLAITED ROPE, CENTRAL AFRICA."But, looking up, I saw the gleaming portal to the Unknown: wide open to us and away down, for miles and miles, the river lay stretched with all the fascination of its mystery. I stood up and looked at the people. How few they appeared to dare the region of fable and darkness! They were nearly all sobbing. They were leaning forward, bowed, as it seemed, with grief and heavy hearts."'Sons of Zanzibar,' I shouted, 'the Arabs and the Wanyemwezi are looking at you. They are now telling one another what brave fellows you are. Lift up your heads and be men. What is there to fear? All the world is smiling with joy. Here we are all together like one family, with hearts united, all strong with the purpose to reach our homes. See this river; it is the road to Zanzibar. When saw you a road so wide? When did you journey along a path like this? Strike your paddles deep, cry out Bismillah! and let us forward.'"Poor fellows! with what wan smiles they responded to my words! How feebly they paddled! But the strong flood was itself bearing us along, and the Vinya-Njara villages were fast receding into distance."Then I urged my boat's crew, knowing that thus we should tempt the canoes to quicker pace. Three or four times Uledi, the coxswain, gallantly attempted to sing, in order to invite a cheery chorus, but his voice soon died into such piteous hoarseness that the very ludicrousness of the tones caused his young friends to smile even in the midst of their grief."We knew that the Vinya-Njara district was populous from the numbers of natives that fought with us by land and water, but we had no conception that it was so thickly populated as the long row of villages we now saw indicated. I counted fourteen separate villages, each with its respective growth of elais palm and banana, and each separated from the other by thick bush."Every three or four miles there were small villages visible on either bank, but we met with no disturbance, fortunately. At 5p.m. we made for a small village called Kali-Karero, and camped there, the natives having retired peacefully. In half an hour they returned, and the ceremony of brotherhood was entered upon, which insured a peaceful night. The inhabitants of Rukura, opposite us, also approached us with confidence, and an interchange of small gifts served us as a healthy augury for the future."On the morning of the 29th, accompanied by a couple of natives in a small fishing-canoe, we descended the river along the left bank, and, after about four miles, arrived at the confluence of the Kasuku, a dark-water stream of a hundred yards' width at the mouth. Opposite the mouth, at the southern end of Kaimba—a long wooded island on the right bank, and a little above the confluence—stands the important village of Kisanga-Sanga."Below Kaimba Island and its neighbor, the Livingstone assumes a breadth of eighteen hundred yards. The banks are very populous: the villages of the left bank comprise the district of Luavala. We thought for some time we should be permitted to pass by quietly, but soon the great wooden drums, hollowed out of huge trees, thundered the signal along the river that there were strangers. In order to lessen all chances of a rupture between us, we sheered off to the middle of the river, and quietly lay on our paddles. But from both banks at once, in fierce concert, the natives, with their heads gayly feathered, and armed with broad black wooden shields and long spears, dashed out towards us.WAR-DRUMS OF THE TRIBES OF THE UPPER LIVINGSTONE."Tippu-Tib before our departure had hired to me two young men of Ukusu—cannibals—as interpreters. These were now instructed to cry out the word 'Sennenneh' ('Peace!'), and to say that we were friends."But they would not reply to our greeting, and in a bold, peremptory manner told us to return."'But we are doing no harm, friends. It is the river that takes us down, and the river will not stop, or go back.'"'This is our river.'"'Good. Tell it to take us back, and we will go.'"'If you do not go back, we will fight you.'"'No, don't; we are friends.'"'We don't want you for our friends; we will eat you.'"But we persisted in talking to them, and, as their curiosity was so great, they persisted in listening, and the consequence was that the current conveyed us near to the right bank; and in such near neighborhood to another district that our discourteous escort had to think of themselves, and began to skurry hastily up river, leaving us unattacked."The villages on the right bank also maintained a tremendous drumming and blowing of war-horns, and their wild men hurried up with menace towards us, urging their sharp-prowed canoes so swiftly that they seemed to skim over the water like flying fish. Unlike the Luavala villagers, they did not wait to be addressed, but as soon as they came within fifty or sixty yards they shot out their spears, crying out, 'Meat! meat! Ah! ha! We shall have plenty of meat!'"There was a fat-bodied wretch in a canoe, whom I allowed to crawl within spear-throw of me; who, while he swayed the spear with a vigor far from assuring to one who stood within reach of it, leered with such a clever hideousness of feature that I felt, if only within arm's-length of him, I could have bestowed uponhim a hearty thump on the back, and cried out applaudingly, 'Bravo, old boy! You do it capitally!'VILLAGE SCENE."Yet not being able to reach him, I was rapidly being fascinated by him. The rapid movements of the swaying spear, the steady, wide-mouthed grin, the big square teeth, the head poised on one side with the confident pose of a practised spear-thrower, the short brow and square face, hair short and thick. Shall I ever forget him? It appeared to me as if the spear partook of the same cruel, inexorable look as the grinning savage. Finally, I saw him draw his right arm back, and his body incline backward, with still that same grin on his face, and I felt myself begin to count, one, two, three, four—andwhiz! The spear flew over my back, and hissed as it pierced the water. The spell was broken."It was only five minutes' work clearing the river. We picked up several shields, and I gave orders that all shields should be henceforth religiously preserved, for the idea had entered my head that they would answer capitally as bulwarks for our canoes. An hour after this we passed close to the confluence of the Urindi—a stream four hundred yards in width at the mouth, and deep with water of a light color, and tolerably clear."We continued down river along the right bank, and at 4p.m. camped in a dense low jungle, the haunt of the hippopotamus and elephant during the dry season. When the river is in flood a much larger tract must be under water."The traveller's first duty in lands infested by lions and leopards is to build a safe corral, kraal, or boma, for himself, his oxen, horses, servants; and in landsinfested like Usongora Meno and Kasera—wherein we now were—by human lions and leopards, the duty became still more imperative. We drew our canoes, therefore, half-way upon the banks, and our camp was in the midst of an impenetrable jungle."At dawn we embarked, and descended about two miles, close to the right bank, when, lo! the broad mouth of the magnificent Lowwa, or Rowwa, River burst upon the view. It was over a thousand yards wide, and its course by compass was from the southeast, or east-southeast true. A sudden rain-storm compelled us to camp on the north bank, and here we found ourselves under the shadows of the primeval forest.MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS AND MODE OF PLAYING."About ten o'clock, as we cowered in most miserable condition under the rude, leafy shelters we had hastily thrown up, the people of the wooded bluffs of Iryamba, opposite the Lowwa confluence, came over to see what strange beings were those who had preferred the secrecy of the uninhabited grove to their own loud, roystering society. Stock-still we sat cowering in our leafy coverts, but the mild, reproachful voice of Katembo, our cannibal interpreter, was heard laboring in the interests of peace, brotherhood, and good-will. The rain pattered so incessantly that I could from my position only faintly hear Katembo's voice pleading, earnestly yet mildly, with his unsophisticated brothers of Iryamba, but I felt convinced from the angelic tones that they would act as a sedative on any living creature except a rhinoceros or a crocodile. The long-drawn bleating sound of theword 'Sen-nen-neh,' which I heard frequently uttered by Katembo, I studied until I became quite as proficient in it as he himself."Peace was finally made between Katembo on the one hand and the canoe-men of Iryamba on the other, and they drew near to gaze at their leisure at one of the sallow white men, who with great hollow eyes peered from under the visor of his cap, on the well-fed, bronze-skinned aborigines."At 2p.m. we left our camp in the forest of Luru, and pulled across to the Iryamba side of the Livingstone. But as soon as the rain had ceased a strong breeze had risen, which, when we were in mid-river, increased to a tempest from the north, and created great, heavy waves, which caused the foundering of two of our canoes, the drowning of two of our men, Farjalla Baraka, and Nasib, and the loss of four muskets and one sack of beads. Half a dozen other canoes were in great danger for a time, but no more fatal accidents occurred."I feared lest this disaster might cause the people to rebel and compel me to return, for it had shocked them greatly; but I was cheered; to hear them remark that the sudden loss of their comrades had been ordained by fate, and that no precautions would have availed to save them. But though omens and auguries were delivered by the pessimists among us, not one hazarded aloud the belief that we ought to relinquish our projects; yet they were all evidently cowed by our sudden misfortune."On the 31st, the last day of the year 1876, we resumed our voyage. The morning was beautiful, the sky blue and clear, the tall forest still and dark, the river flowed without a ripple, like a solid mass of polished silver. Everything promised fair. But from the island below, the confluence of the Lowwa and the Livingstone, the warning drum sounded loudly over the river, and other drums soon echoed the dull boom."'Keep together, my men,' I cried, 'there may be hot work for us below.'"We resolved to keep in mid-stream, because both the island and the left bank appeared to be extremely populous, and to paddle slowly and steadily down river. The canoes of the natives darted from either shore, and there seemed to be every disposition made for a furious attack; but as we drew near we shouted out to them, 'Friends, Sennenneh! Keep away from us. We shall not hurt you; but don't lift your spears, or we'll fight.'"There was a moment's hesitation, wherein spears were clashed against shields, and some fierce words uttered, but finally the canoes drew back, and as we continued to paddle, the river with its stiff current soon bore us down rapidly past the populous district and island."At noon we came to the southern end of an uninhabited low and sandy island, where I ascertained the latitude to be south 1° 20' 3". The altitude, above sea level, of the river at this place is 1729 feet. After descending some five miles we formed our camp in the woods on the right bank."The beginning of the new year, 1877, commenced, the first three hours after sunrise, with a delicious journey past an uninhabited tract, when my mind, wearied with daily solicitude, found rejoice in dwelling musingly upon the deep slumber of nature. Outwardly the forest was all beauty, solemn peace, and soft, dreamy rest, tempting one to sentiment and mild melancholy. Though it was in vain to endeavor to penetrate with our eyes into the dense wall of forest—black and imperviousto the sunlight which almost seemed to burn up the river—what could restrain the imagination? These were my calm hours; periods when my heart, oblivious of the dark and evil days we had passed, resolutely closed itself against all dismal forebodings, and revelled in the exquisite stillness of the uninhabited wilderness.GORILLAS AND NEST."But soon after nine o'clock we discovered we were approaching settlements, both on islands and on the banks, and again the hoarse war-drums awakened the echoes of the forest, boomed along the river, and quickened our pulses."We descend in close order as before, and steadily pursue our way. But, heading us off, about ten long canoes dart out from the shadow of palmy banks, and the wild crews begin to chant their war-songs, and now and then, in attitudes of bravado and defiance, raise spears and shields aloft and bring them downward with sounding clash."As we approached them we shouted out 'Sen-nen-neh'—our Sesame and Shibboleth, our watchword and countersign. But they would not respond."Hitherto they had called us Wasambye; we were now called Wajiwa (people of the sun?); our guns were called Katadzi, while before they were styled Kibongeh, or lightning. Katembo was implored to be eloquent, mild of voice, pacific in gesture."They replied, 'We shall eat Wajiwa meat to-day. Oho, we shall eat Wajiwa meat!' and then an old chief gave some word of command, and at once one hundred paddles beat the water into foam, and the canoes darted at us. But the contest was short, and we were permitted to pursue our voyage.NATIVE PIPE."Farther down we met some friendly natives, who told us that we should soon come to the territory of the Mwana Ntaba, with whom we should have to fight; that the Mwana Ntaba people occupied the country as far as the falls; that below the falls were several islands inhabited by the Baswa, who were friends of the Mwana Ntaba. It would be impossible, they said, to go over the falls, as the river swept against a hill, and rolled over it, and tumbled down, down, down, with whirl and uproar, and we should inevitably get lost. It would be far better, they said, for us to return."About two o'clock, in the afternoon of January 4th, as we were proceeding quietly, our vessels being only about thirty yards from the right bank, eight men with shields darted into view from behind a bush-clump, and, shouting their war-cries, launched their wooden spears. Some of them struck and dinted the boat deeply, others flew over it. We shoved off instantly, and getting into mid-stream found that we had heedlessly exposed ourselves to the watchful tribe of Mwana Ntaba,who immediately sounded their great drums, and prepared their numerous canoes for battle.SCENE ON A TRIBUTARY OF THE GREAT RIVER—LAUNCHING A CANOE."Up to this time we had met with no canoes over fifty feet long, but those which now issued from the banks and the shelter of bends in the banks were monstrous. The natives were in full war-paint, one half of their bodies being daubed white, the other half red, with broad black bars, thetout ensemblebeing unique and diabolical. There was a crocodilian aspect about these lengthy vessels which was far from assuring, while the fighting-men, standing up alternately with the paddlers, appeared to be animated with a most ferocious cat-o'-mountain spirit. Horn-blasts, which reverberated from bank to bank, sonorous drums, and a chorus of loud yells, lent a fierceéclatto the fight in which we were now about to be engaged.MWANA NTABA CANOE (THE "CROCODILE")."We formed line, and having arranged all our shields as bulwarks for the non-combatants, awaited the first onset with apparent calmness. One of the largest canoes, which we afterwards found to be eighty-five feet three inches in length, rashly made the mistake of singling out theLady Alicefor its victim; but we reserved our fire until it was within fifty feet of us, and after pouring a volley into the crew charged the canoe with the boat, and the crew, unable to turn her round sufficiently soon to escape, precipitated themselves into the river and swam to their friends, while we made ourselves masters of theGreat Easternof the Livingstone. We soon exchanged two of our smaller canoes and manned the monster with thirty men, and resumed our journey in line, the boat in front acting as a guide. This early disaster to the Mwana Ntaba caused them to hurry down river, blowing their horns, and alarming with their drums both shores of the river, until about forty canoes were seen furiously dashing down stream, no doubt bent on mischief."At 4p.m. we came opposite a river about two hundred yards wide, which I have called the Leopold River, in honor of His Majesty Leopold II., King of the Belgians, and which the natives called either the Kankora, Mikonju, or Munduku."Soon after passing by the confluence, the Livingstone, which above had been two thousand five hundred yards wide, perceptibly contracted, and turned sharply to the east-northeast, because of a hill which rose on the left bank about three hundred feet above the river. Close to the elbow of the bend on the right bank we passed by some white granite rocks, from one to six feet above the water, and just below these we heard the roar of the first cataract of the Stanley Falls series.VILLAGE NEAR THE FOREST."But louder than the noise of the falls rose the piercing yells of the savage Mwana Ntaba from both sides of the great river. We now found ourselves confronted by the inevitable necessity of putting into practice the resolution which we had formed before setting out on the wild voyage—to conquer or die. Whatshall we do? Shall we turn and face the fierce cannibals, who with hideous noise drown the solemn roar of the cataract, or shall we cry out, 'Mambu Kwa Mungu' 'Our fate is in the hands of God'—and risk the cataract with its terrors?"Meanwhile we are sliding smoothly to our destruction, and a decision must therefore be arrived at instantly. God knows, I and my fellows would rather have it not to do, because possibly it is only a choice of deaths, by cruel knives or drowning. If we do not choose the knives, which are already sharpened for our throats, death by drowning is certain. So, finding ourselves face to face with the inevitable, we turn to the right bank upon the savages, who are in the woods and on the water. We drop our anchors and begin the fight, but after fifteen minutes of it find that we cannot force them away. We then pull up anchors and ascend stream again, until, arriving at the elbow above mentioned, we strike across the river and divide our forces. Mwana Sera is to take four canoes and to continue up stream a little distance, and, while we occupy the attention of the savages in front, is to lead his men through the woods and set upon them in rear. At 5.30p.m. we make the attempt, and keep them in play for a few minutes, and on hearing a shot in the woods dash at the shore, and under a shower of spears and arrows effect a landing. From tree to tree the fight is continued until sunset, when, having finally driven the enemy off, we have earned peace for the night."Until about 10p.m. we are busy constructing an impenetrable stockade or boma of brushwood, and then at length we lay our sorely fatigued bodies down to rest, without comforts of any kind and without fires, but (I speak for myself only) with a feeling of gratitude to Him who has watched over us in our trouble, and a humble prayer that His protection may be extended to us for the terrible days that may yet be to come."

"The crisis drew nigh when the 28th of December dawned. A gray mist hung over the river, so dense that we could not see even the palmy banks on which Vinya-Njara was situated. It would have been suicidal to begin our journey on such a gloomy morning. The people appeared as cheerless and dismal as the foggy day. We cooked our breakfasts in order to see if, by the time we had fortified the soul by satisfying the cravings of the stomach, the river and its shores might not have resumed their usual beautiful outlines, and their striking contrasts of light and shadow.

CANOE SCOOP.

"Slowly the breeze wafted the dull and heavy mists away until the sun appeared, and bit by bit the luxuriantly wooded banks rose up solemn and sad. Finally the gray river was seen, and at 9a.m. its face gleamed with the brightness of a mirror.

SCOOPS.

"'Embark, my friends! Let us at once away! and a happy voyage to us.'

"TOWARD THE UNKNOWN."

"The drum and trumpet proclaimed to Tippu-Tib's expectant ears that we were ascending the river. In half an hour we were pulling across to the left bank, and when we reached it, a mile above Vinya-Njara, we rested on our oars. The strong brown current soon bore us down within hearing of a deep and melodious diapason of musical voices chanting the farewell song. How beautiful it sounded to us as we approached them! The dense jungle and forest seemed to be penetrated with the vocal notes, and the river to bear them tenderly towards us. Louder the sad notes swelled on our ears, full of a pathetic and mournful meaning. With bated breath we listened to the rich music which spoke to us unmistakably of parting, of sundered friendship, a long, perhaps an eternal, farewell. We came in view of them, as, ranged along the bank in picturesque costume, the sons of Unyamwezi sang their last song. We waved our hands to them. Our hearts were so full of grief that we could not speak. Steadily the brown flood bore us by,and fainter and fainter came the notes down the water, till finally they died away, leaving us all alone on the great river.

COIL OF PLAITED ROPE, CENTRAL AFRICA.

"But, looking up, I saw the gleaming portal to the Unknown: wide open to us and away down, for miles and miles, the river lay stretched with all the fascination of its mystery. I stood up and looked at the people. How few they appeared to dare the region of fable and darkness! They were nearly all sobbing. They were leaning forward, bowed, as it seemed, with grief and heavy hearts.

"'Sons of Zanzibar,' I shouted, 'the Arabs and the Wanyemwezi are looking at you. They are now telling one another what brave fellows you are. Lift up your heads and be men. What is there to fear? All the world is smiling with joy. Here we are all together like one family, with hearts united, all strong with the purpose to reach our homes. See this river; it is the road to Zanzibar. When saw you a road so wide? When did you journey along a path like this? Strike your paddles deep, cry out Bismillah! and let us forward.'

"Poor fellows! with what wan smiles they responded to my words! How feebly they paddled! But the strong flood was itself bearing us along, and the Vinya-Njara villages were fast receding into distance.

"Then I urged my boat's crew, knowing that thus we should tempt the canoes to quicker pace. Three or four times Uledi, the coxswain, gallantly attempted to sing, in order to invite a cheery chorus, but his voice soon died into such piteous hoarseness that the very ludicrousness of the tones caused his young friends to smile even in the midst of their grief.

"We knew that the Vinya-Njara district was populous from the numbers of natives that fought with us by land and water, but we had no conception that it was so thickly populated as the long row of villages we now saw indicated. I counted fourteen separate villages, each with its respective growth of elais palm and banana, and each separated from the other by thick bush.

"Every three or four miles there were small villages visible on either bank, but we met with no disturbance, fortunately. At 5p.m. we made for a small village called Kali-Karero, and camped there, the natives having retired peacefully. In half an hour they returned, and the ceremony of brotherhood was entered upon, which insured a peaceful night. The inhabitants of Rukura, opposite us, also approached us with confidence, and an interchange of small gifts served us as a healthy augury for the future.

"On the morning of the 29th, accompanied by a couple of natives in a small fishing-canoe, we descended the river along the left bank, and, after about four miles, arrived at the confluence of the Kasuku, a dark-water stream of a hundred yards' width at the mouth. Opposite the mouth, at the southern end of Kaimba—a long wooded island on the right bank, and a little above the confluence—stands the important village of Kisanga-Sanga.

"Below Kaimba Island and its neighbor, the Livingstone assumes a breadth of eighteen hundred yards. The banks are very populous: the villages of the left bank comprise the district of Luavala. We thought for some time we should be permitted to pass by quietly, but soon the great wooden drums, hollowed out of huge trees, thundered the signal along the river that there were strangers. In order to lessen all chances of a rupture between us, we sheered off to the middle of the river, and quietly lay on our paddles. But from both banks at once, in fierce concert, the natives, with their heads gayly feathered, and armed with broad black wooden shields and long spears, dashed out towards us.

WAR-DRUMS OF THE TRIBES OF THE UPPER LIVINGSTONE.

"Tippu-Tib before our departure had hired to me two young men of Ukusu—cannibals—as interpreters. These were now instructed to cry out the word 'Sennenneh' ('Peace!'), and to say that we were friends.

"But they would not reply to our greeting, and in a bold, peremptory manner told us to return.

"'But we are doing no harm, friends. It is the river that takes us down, and the river will not stop, or go back.'

"'This is our river.'

"'Good. Tell it to take us back, and we will go.'

"'If you do not go back, we will fight you.'

"'No, don't; we are friends.'

"'We don't want you for our friends; we will eat you.'

"But we persisted in talking to them, and, as their curiosity was so great, they persisted in listening, and the consequence was that the current conveyed us near to the right bank; and in such near neighborhood to another district that our discourteous escort had to think of themselves, and began to skurry hastily up river, leaving us unattacked.

"The villages on the right bank also maintained a tremendous drumming and blowing of war-horns, and their wild men hurried up with menace towards us, urging their sharp-prowed canoes so swiftly that they seemed to skim over the water like flying fish. Unlike the Luavala villagers, they did not wait to be addressed, but as soon as they came within fifty or sixty yards they shot out their spears, crying out, 'Meat! meat! Ah! ha! We shall have plenty of meat!'

"There was a fat-bodied wretch in a canoe, whom I allowed to crawl within spear-throw of me; who, while he swayed the spear with a vigor far from assuring to one who stood within reach of it, leered with such a clever hideousness of feature that I felt, if only within arm's-length of him, I could have bestowed uponhim a hearty thump on the back, and cried out applaudingly, 'Bravo, old boy! You do it capitally!'

VILLAGE SCENE.

"Yet not being able to reach him, I was rapidly being fascinated by him. The rapid movements of the swaying spear, the steady, wide-mouthed grin, the big square teeth, the head poised on one side with the confident pose of a practised spear-thrower, the short brow and square face, hair short and thick. Shall I ever forget him? It appeared to me as if the spear partook of the same cruel, inexorable look as the grinning savage. Finally, I saw him draw his right arm back, and his body incline backward, with still that same grin on his face, and I felt myself begin to count, one, two, three, four—andwhiz! The spear flew over my back, and hissed as it pierced the water. The spell was broken.

"It was only five minutes' work clearing the river. We picked up several shields, and I gave orders that all shields should be henceforth religiously preserved, for the idea had entered my head that they would answer capitally as bulwarks for our canoes. An hour after this we passed close to the confluence of the Urindi—a stream four hundred yards in width at the mouth, and deep with water of a light color, and tolerably clear.

"We continued down river along the right bank, and at 4p.m. camped in a dense low jungle, the haunt of the hippopotamus and elephant during the dry season. When the river is in flood a much larger tract must be under water.

"The traveller's first duty in lands infested by lions and leopards is to build a safe corral, kraal, or boma, for himself, his oxen, horses, servants; and in landsinfested like Usongora Meno and Kasera—wherein we now were—by human lions and leopards, the duty became still more imperative. We drew our canoes, therefore, half-way upon the banks, and our camp was in the midst of an impenetrable jungle.

"At dawn we embarked, and descended about two miles, close to the right bank, when, lo! the broad mouth of the magnificent Lowwa, or Rowwa, River burst upon the view. It was over a thousand yards wide, and its course by compass was from the southeast, or east-southeast true. A sudden rain-storm compelled us to camp on the north bank, and here we found ourselves under the shadows of the primeval forest.

MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS AND MODE OF PLAYING.

"About ten o'clock, as we cowered in most miserable condition under the rude, leafy shelters we had hastily thrown up, the people of the wooded bluffs of Iryamba, opposite the Lowwa confluence, came over to see what strange beings were those who had preferred the secrecy of the uninhabited grove to their own loud, roystering society. Stock-still we sat cowering in our leafy coverts, but the mild, reproachful voice of Katembo, our cannibal interpreter, was heard laboring in the interests of peace, brotherhood, and good-will. The rain pattered so incessantly that I could from my position only faintly hear Katembo's voice pleading, earnestly yet mildly, with his unsophisticated brothers of Iryamba, but I felt convinced from the angelic tones that they would act as a sedative on any living creature except a rhinoceros or a crocodile. The long-drawn bleating sound of theword 'Sen-nen-neh,' which I heard frequently uttered by Katembo, I studied until I became quite as proficient in it as he himself.

"Peace was finally made between Katembo on the one hand and the canoe-men of Iryamba on the other, and they drew near to gaze at their leisure at one of the sallow white men, who with great hollow eyes peered from under the visor of his cap, on the well-fed, bronze-skinned aborigines.

"At 2p.m. we left our camp in the forest of Luru, and pulled across to the Iryamba side of the Livingstone. But as soon as the rain had ceased a strong breeze had risen, which, when we were in mid-river, increased to a tempest from the north, and created great, heavy waves, which caused the foundering of two of our canoes, the drowning of two of our men, Farjalla Baraka, and Nasib, and the loss of four muskets and one sack of beads. Half a dozen other canoes were in great danger for a time, but no more fatal accidents occurred.

"I feared lest this disaster might cause the people to rebel and compel me to return, for it had shocked them greatly; but I was cheered; to hear them remark that the sudden loss of their comrades had been ordained by fate, and that no precautions would have availed to save them. But though omens and auguries were delivered by the pessimists among us, not one hazarded aloud the belief that we ought to relinquish our projects; yet they were all evidently cowed by our sudden misfortune.

"On the 31st, the last day of the year 1876, we resumed our voyage. The morning was beautiful, the sky blue and clear, the tall forest still and dark, the river flowed without a ripple, like a solid mass of polished silver. Everything promised fair. But from the island below, the confluence of the Lowwa and the Livingstone, the warning drum sounded loudly over the river, and other drums soon echoed the dull boom.

"'Keep together, my men,' I cried, 'there may be hot work for us below.'

"We resolved to keep in mid-stream, because both the island and the left bank appeared to be extremely populous, and to paddle slowly and steadily down river. The canoes of the natives darted from either shore, and there seemed to be every disposition made for a furious attack; but as we drew near we shouted out to them, 'Friends, Sennenneh! Keep away from us. We shall not hurt you; but don't lift your spears, or we'll fight.'

"There was a moment's hesitation, wherein spears were clashed against shields, and some fierce words uttered, but finally the canoes drew back, and as we continued to paddle, the river with its stiff current soon bore us down rapidly past the populous district and island.

"At noon we came to the southern end of an uninhabited low and sandy island, where I ascertained the latitude to be south 1° 20' 3". The altitude, above sea level, of the river at this place is 1729 feet. After descending some five miles we formed our camp in the woods on the right bank.

"The beginning of the new year, 1877, commenced, the first three hours after sunrise, with a delicious journey past an uninhabited tract, when my mind, wearied with daily solicitude, found rejoice in dwelling musingly upon the deep slumber of nature. Outwardly the forest was all beauty, solemn peace, and soft, dreamy rest, tempting one to sentiment and mild melancholy. Though it was in vain to endeavor to penetrate with our eyes into the dense wall of forest—black and imperviousto the sunlight which almost seemed to burn up the river—what could restrain the imagination? These were my calm hours; periods when my heart, oblivious of the dark and evil days we had passed, resolutely closed itself against all dismal forebodings, and revelled in the exquisite stillness of the uninhabited wilderness.

GORILLAS AND NEST.

"But soon after nine o'clock we discovered we were approaching settlements, both on islands and on the banks, and again the hoarse war-drums awakened the echoes of the forest, boomed along the river, and quickened our pulses.

"We descend in close order as before, and steadily pursue our way. But, heading us off, about ten long canoes dart out from the shadow of palmy banks, and the wild crews begin to chant their war-songs, and now and then, in attitudes of bravado and defiance, raise spears and shields aloft and bring them downward with sounding clash.

"As we approached them we shouted out 'Sen-nen-neh'—our Sesame and Shibboleth, our watchword and countersign. But they would not respond.

"Hitherto they had called us Wasambye; we were now called Wajiwa (people of the sun?); our guns were called Katadzi, while before they were styled Kibongeh, or lightning. Katembo was implored to be eloquent, mild of voice, pacific in gesture.

"They replied, 'We shall eat Wajiwa meat to-day. Oho, we shall eat Wajiwa meat!' and then an old chief gave some word of command, and at once one hundred paddles beat the water into foam, and the canoes darted at us. But the contest was short, and we were permitted to pursue our voyage.

NATIVE PIPE.

"Farther down we met some friendly natives, who told us that we should soon come to the territory of the Mwana Ntaba, with whom we should have to fight; that the Mwana Ntaba people occupied the country as far as the falls; that below the falls were several islands inhabited by the Baswa, who were friends of the Mwana Ntaba. It would be impossible, they said, to go over the falls, as the river swept against a hill, and rolled over it, and tumbled down, down, down, with whirl and uproar, and we should inevitably get lost. It would be far better, they said, for us to return.

"About two o'clock, in the afternoon of January 4th, as we were proceeding quietly, our vessels being only about thirty yards from the right bank, eight men with shields darted into view from behind a bush-clump, and, shouting their war-cries, launched their wooden spears. Some of them struck and dinted the boat deeply, others flew over it. We shoved off instantly, and getting into mid-stream found that we had heedlessly exposed ourselves to the watchful tribe of Mwana Ntaba,who immediately sounded their great drums, and prepared their numerous canoes for battle.

SCENE ON A TRIBUTARY OF THE GREAT RIVER—LAUNCHING A CANOE.

"Up to this time we had met with no canoes over fifty feet long, but those which now issued from the banks and the shelter of bends in the banks were monstrous. The natives were in full war-paint, one half of their bodies being daubed white, the other half red, with broad black bars, thetout ensemblebeing unique and diabolical. There was a crocodilian aspect about these lengthy vessels which was far from assuring, while the fighting-men, standing up alternately with the paddlers, appeared to be animated with a most ferocious cat-o'-mountain spirit. Horn-blasts, which reverberated from bank to bank, sonorous drums, and a chorus of loud yells, lent a fierceéclatto the fight in which we were now about to be engaged.

MWANA NTABA CANOE (THE "CROCODILE").

"We formed line, and having arranged all our shields as bulwarks for the non-combatants, awaited the first onset with apparent calmness. One of the largest canoes, which we afterwards found to be eighty-five feet three inches in length, rashly made the mistake of singling out theLady Alicefor its victim; but we reserved our fire until it was within fifty feet of us, and after pouring a volley into the crew charged the canoe with the boat, and the crew, unable to turn her round sufficiently soon to escape, precipitated themselves into the river and swam to their friends, while we made ourselves masters of theGreat Easternof the Livingstone. We soon exchanged two of our smaller canoes and manned the monster with thirty men, and resumed our journey in line, the boat in front acting as a guide. This early disaster to the Mwana Ntaba caused them to hurry down river, blowing their horns, and alarming with their drums both shores of the river, until about forty canoes were seen furiously dashing down stream, no doubt bent on mischief.

"At 4p.m. we came opposite a river about two hundred yards wide, which I have called the Leopold River, in honor of His Majesty Leopold II., King of the Belgians, and which the natives called either the Kankora, Mikonju, or Munduku.

"Soon after passing by the confluence, the Livingstone, which above had been two thousand five hundred yards wide, perceptibly contracted, and turned sharply to the east-northeast, because of a hill which rose on the left bank about three hundred feet above the river. Close to the elbow of the bend on the right bank we passed by some white granite rocks, from one to six feet above the water, and just below these we heard the roar of the first cataract of the Stanley Falls series.

VILLAGE NEAR THE FOREST.

"But louder than the noise of the falls rose the piercing yells of the savage Mwana Ntaba from both sides of the great river. We now found ourselves confronted by the inevitable necessity of putting into practice the resolution which we had formed before setting out on the wild voyage—to conquer or die. Whatshall we do? Shall we turn and face the fierce cannibals, who with hideous noise drown the solemn roar of the cataract, or shall we cry out, 'Mambu Kwa Mungu' 'Our fate is in the hands of God'—and risk the cataract with its terrors?

"Meanwhile we are sliding smoothly to our destruction, and a decision must therefore be arrived at instantly. God knows, I and my fellows would rather have it not to do, because possibly it is only a choice of deaths, by cruel knives or drowning. If we do not choose the knives, which are already sharpened for our throats, death by drowning is certain. So, finding ourselves face to face with the inevitable, we turn to the right bank upon the savages, who are in the woods and on the water. We drop our anchors and begin the fight, but after fifteen minutes of it find that we cannot force them away. We then pull up anchors and ascend stream again, until, arriving at the elbow above mentioned, we strike across the river and divide our forces. Mwana Sera is to take four canoes and to continue up stream a little distance, and, while we occupy the attention of the savages in front, is to lead his men through the woods and set upon them in rear. At 5.30p.m. we make the attempt, and keep them in play for a few minutes, and on hearing a shot in the woods dash at the shore, and under a shower of spears and arrows effect a landing. From tree to tree the fight is continued until sunset, when, having finally driven the enemy off, we have earned peace for the night.

"Until about 10p.m. we are busy constructing an impenetrable stockade or boma of brushwood, and then at length we lay our sorely fatigued bodies down to rest, without comforts of any kind and without fires, but (I speak for myself only) with a feeling of gratitude to Him who has watched over us in our trouble, and a humble prayer that His protection may be extended to us for the terrible days that may yet be to come."

NATIVE CORN-MAGAZINE.

Fred paused a few moments and then resumed the narrative:

"At 4a.m. of the 5th of January we were awake, cooking betimes the food that was to strengthen us for the task that lay before us, while the screaming lemur and the soko still alarmed the dark forest with their weird cries.AFRICAN STOOL."We were left undisturbed until 8a.m., when the canoes of the Mwana Ntaba were observed to cross over to the left bank, and in response to their signals the forest behind our camp was soon alive with wild men. Frank distributed thirty rounds to each of the forty-three guns which now remained to us. Including my own guns, we possessed only forty-eight altogether, as Manwa Sera had lost four Sniders in the Ukassa Rapid, and by the capsizing of the two canoes in the tempest which struck us as we crossed the Livingstone below its confluence with the Lowwa, we had lost four muskets. But more terrible for our enemies than Sniders or muskets was the courage of despair that now nerved every heart and kept cool and resolute every head."By river the cannibals had but little chance of success, and this the Mwana Ntaba after a very few rounds from our guns discovered; they therefore allied themselves with the Baswa tribe, which during the night had crossed over from its islands, below the first falls. Until 10a.m. we held our own safely in the camp,but then, breaking out of it, we charged on the foe, and until 3p.m. were incessantly at work. Ten of our men received wounds, and two were killed. To prevent them becoming food for the cannibals, we consigned them to the swift brown flood of the Livingstone."The Mwana Ntaba and the Baswas at length retired, and though we momentarily expected a visit from them each day, for the next two or three days we were unmolested."Early on the morning of the 6th I began to explore the first cataract of the Stanley Falls. I found a small stream about two hundred yards wide, separated by a lateral dyke of igneous rocks from the main stream, which took the boat safely down for a couple of miles. Then presently other dykes appeared, some mere low, narrow ridges of rock, and others, much larger and producing tall trees, inhabited by the Baswa tribe. Among these islets the left stream rushed down in cascades or foamy sheets, over low terraces, with a fall of from one foot to ten feet. The Baswas, no doubt, had recently fled to these islets to seek refuge from some powerful tribe situated inland west of the river."The main stream, nine hundred yards wide, rushed towards the east-northeast, and, after a mile of rapids, tilted itself against a hilly ridge that lay north and south, the crest of which was probably three hundred feet above the river. With my glass, from the fork of a tree twenty feet above the ground, I saw at once that a descent by the right side was an impossibility, as the waves were enormous, and the slope so great that the river's face was all a-foam; and that at the base of the hilly ridge which obstructed its course the river seemed piling itself into a watery bank, whence it escaped into a scene of indescribable confusion down to the horror of whirling pools and a mad confluence of tumbling, rushing waters."I decided, therefore, to go down along the left stream, overland, and to ascertain the best route I took eight men with me, leaving five to guard the boat. Within two hours we had explored the jungle, and 'blazed' a path below the falls—a distance of two miles."Then, returning to camp, I sent Frank off with a detachment of fifty men with axes to clear the path, and a musket-armed guard of fifteen men, to be stationed in the woods parallel with the projected land route, and, leaving a guard of twenty men to protect the camp, I myself rowed up river along the left bank, a distance of three miles.SPEAR-HEAD."By noon of the 7th, having descended with the canoes as near as prudence would permit to the first fall of the left stream, we were ready for hauling the canoes overland. A road, fifteen feet in width, had been cut through the tangle of rattan, palms, vines, creepers, and brushwood, tolerably straight except where great forest monarchs stood untouched, and whatever brushwood had been cut from the jungle had been laid across the road in thick piles. A rude camp had also been constructed half-way on the river side of the road, into which everythingwas conveyed. By 8p.m. we had hauled the canoes over one mile of ground.THE KOOLOO-KAMBA, OR LONG EARED SOKO."The next day, while the people were still fresh, we buckled on to the canoes, and by 3p.m. of the 8th had passed the falls and rapids of the first cataract, and were afloat in a calm creek between Baswa Island and the left bank!A BASWA KNIFE."Not wishing to stay in such a dangerous locality longer than was absolutely necessary, we re-embarked, and, descending cautiously down the creek, came in a short time to the great river, with every prospect of a good stretch of serene water. But soon we heard the roar of another cataract, and had to hug the left bank closely. Then we entered other creeks, which wound lazily by jungle-covered islets, and, after two miles of meanderings among most dismal islands and banks, emerged in view of the great river, with the cataract's roar sounding solemnly and terribly near. As it was near evening, and our position was extremely unpleasant, we resolved to camp for the night at an island which lay in mid-stream. The inhabitants fled as we approached.STYLE OF KNIVES."During the morning of the 9th we explored the island of Cheandoah, where we were encamped, and found it much longer than we at first supposed. It was extremely populous, and contained five villages. We discovered an abundance of spears here and iron-ware of all kinds used by the natives, such as knives, hammers, hatchets, tweezers, anvils of iron, or, in other words, inverted hammers, borers, pole-burners, fish-hooks, darts, iron rods; all the spears possessed broad points, and were the first of this style I had seen. Almost all the knives, large and small, were encased in sheaths of wood covered with goat-skin, and ornamented with polished iron bands. They varied in size, from a butcher's cleaver to a lady's dirk, and belts of undressed goat-skin, of red buffalo or antelope hide, were attached to them for suspension from the shoulders. There were also iron bells, like our cow and goat bells, curiously carved whistles, fetiches or idols of wood, uncouth and rudely cut figures of human beings, brightly painted in vermilion, alternating with black; baskets made of palm fibre, large wooden and dark clay pipes, iron rings for arms and legs, numerous treasures of necklaces of theAchatina monetaria, the black seeds of a species of plantain, and the crimson berries of theAbrus precatorius; copper, iron, and wooden pellets. The houses were all of the gable-roofed pattern, which we had first noticed on the summit of the hills on which Riba-Riba, Manyema, is situate; the shields of the Baswa were also after the same type.BASWA BASKET AND COVER."The vegetation of the island consisted of almost every variety of plant and tree found in this region, and the banana, plantain, castor-bean, sugar-cane, cassava, and maize flourished; nor must the oil-palm be forgotten, for there were great jars of its dark-red butter in many houses."

"At 4a.m. of the 5th of January we were awake, cooking betimes the food that was to strengthen us for the task that lay before us, while the screaming lemur and the soko still alarmed the dark forest with their weird cries.

AFRICAN STOOL.

"We were left undisturbed until 8a.m., when the canoes of the Mwana Ntaba were observed to cross over to the left bank, and in response to their signals the forest behind our camp was soon alive with wild men. Frank distributed thirty rounds to each of the forty-three guns which now remained to us. Including my own guns, we possessed only forty-eight altogether, as Manwa Sera had lost four Sniders in the Ukassa Rapid, and by the capsizing of the two canoes in the tempest which struck us as we crossed the Livingstone below its confluence with the Lowwa, we had lost four muskets. But more terrible for our enemies than Sniders or muskets was the courage of despair that now nerved every heart and kept cool and resolute every head.

"By river the cannibals had but little chance of success, and this the Mwana Ntaba after a very few rounds from our guns discovered; they therefore allied themselves with the Baswa tribe, which during the night had crossed over from its islands, below the first falls. Until 10a.m. we held our own safely in the camp,but then, breaking out of it, we charged on the foe, and until 3p.m. were incessantly at work. Ten of our men received wounds, and two were killed. To prevent them becoming food for the cannibals, we consigned them to the swift brown flood of the Livingstone.

"The Mwana Ntaba and the Baswas at length retired, and though we momentarily expected a visit from them each day, for the next two or three days we were unmolested.

"Early on the morning of the 6th I began to explore the first cataract of the Stanley Falls. I found a small stream about two hundred yards wide, separated by a lateral dyke of igneous rocks from the main stream, which took the boat safely down for a couple of miles. Then presently other dykes appeared, some mere low, narrow ridges of rock, and others, much larger and producing tall trees, inhabited by the Baswa tribe. Among these islets the left stream rushed down in cascades or foamy sheets, over low terraces, with a fall of from one foot to ten feet. The Baswas, no doubt, had recently fled to these islets to seek refuge from some powerful tribe situated inland west of the river.

"The main stream, nine hundred yards wide, rushed towards the east-northeast, and, after a mile of rapids, tilted itself against a hilly ridge that lay north and south, the crest of which was probably three hundred feet above the river. With my glass, from the fork of a tree twenty feet above the ground, I saw at once that a descent by the right side was an impossibility, as the waves were enormous, and the slope so great that the river's face was all a-foam; and that at the base of the hilly ridge which obstructed its course the river seemed piling itself into a watery bank, whence it escaped into a scene of indescribable confusion down to the horror of whirling pools and a mad confluence of tumbling, rushing waters.

"I decided, therefore, to go down along the left stream, overland, and to ascertain the best route I took eight men with me, leaving five to guard the boat. Within two hours we had explored the jungle, and 'blazed' a path below the falls—a distance of two miles.

"Then, returning to camp, I sent Frank off with a detachment of fifty men with axes to clear the path, and a musket-armed guard of fifteen men, to be stationed in the woods parallel with the projected land route, and, leaving a guard of twenty men to protect the camp, I myself rowed up river along the left bank, a distance of three miles.

SPEAR-HEAD.

"By noon of the 7th, having descended with the canoes as near as prudence would permit to the first fall of the left stream, we were ready for hauling the canoes overland. A road, fifteen feet in width, had been cut through the tangle of rattan, palms, vines, creepers, and brushwood, tolerably straight except where great forest monarchs stood untouched, and whatever brushwood had been cut from the jungle had been laid across the road in thick piles. A rude camp had also been constructed half-way on the river side of the road, into which everythingwas conveyed. By 8p.m. we had hauled the canoes over one mile of ground.

THE KOOLOO-KAMBA, OR LONG EARED SOKO.

"The next day, while the people were still fresh, we buckled on to the canoes, and by 3p.m. of the 8th had passed the falls and rapids of the first cataract, and were afloat in a calm creek between Baswa Island and the left bank!

A BASWA KNIFE.

"Not wishing to stay in such a dangerous locality longer than was absolutely necessary, we re-embarked, and, descending cautiously down the creek, came in a short time to the great river, with every prospect of a good stretch of serene water. But soon we heard the roar of another cataract, and had to hug the left bank closely. Then we entered other creeks, which wound lazily by jungle-covered islets, and, after two miles of meanderings among most dismal islands and banks, emerged in view of the great river, with the cataract's roar sounding solemnly and terribly near. As it was near evening, and our position was extremely unpleasant, we resolved to camp for the night at an island which lay in mid-stream. The inhabitants fled as we approached.

STYLE OF KNIVES.

"During the morning of the 9th we explored the island of Cheandoah, where we were encamped, and found it much longer than we at first supposed. It was extremely populous, and contained five villages. We discovered an abundance of spears here and iron-ware of all kinds used by the natives, such as knives, hammers, hatchets, tweezers, anvils of iron, or, in other words, inverted hammers, borers, pole-burners, fish-hooks, darts, iron rods; all the spears possessed broad points, and were the first of this style I had seen. Almost all the knives, large and small, were encased in sheaths of wood covered with goat-skin, and ornamented with polished iron bands. They varied in size, from a butcher's cleaver to a lady's dirk, and belts of undressed goat-skin, of red buffalo or antelope hide, were attached to them for suspension from the shoulders. There were also iron bells, like our cow and goat bells, curiously carved whistles, fetiches or idols of wood, uncouth and rudely cut figures of human beings, brightly painted in vermilion, alternating with black; baskets made of palm fibre, large wooden and dark clay pipes, iron rings for arms and legs, numerous treasures of necklaces of theAchatina monetaria, the black seeds of a species of plantain, and the crimson berries of theAbrus precatorius; copper, iron, and wooden pellets. The houses were all of the gable-roofed pattern, which we had first noticed on the summit of the hills on which Riba-Riba, Manyema, is situate; the shields of the Baswa were also after the same type.

BASWA BASKET AND COVER.

"The vegetation of the island consisted of almost every variety of plant and tree found in this region, and the banana, plantain, castor-bean, sugar-cane, cassava, and maize flourished; nor must the oil-palm be forgotten, for there were great jars of its dark-red butter in many houses."

SHOOTING A CROCODILE AT THE RAPIDS.

"The natives on the mainland," said Fred, raising his eyes from the book for a few moments, "opposed the explorers, and a sharp fight followed, with the same result as at the first cataract. The boats were dragged overland around the worst of the falls, and then lowered through the last rapid by means of ropes. This rapid was separated by an islet from a steep fall which was impassable by the boats. A canoe was swept over this fall and one of its crew drowned; the rest were rescued by Frank Pocock and some of the land party who were below the fall.

CAVERN NEAR STANLEY FALLS.

"Just before the boat made its leap over the fall, Zaidi, its captain, sprang into the water and caught upon a rock where he clung until Mr. Stanley devised and executed a plan for his rescue. Strong cables were made from rattans cut in the forest; two cables were attached to a canoe, one at its bow and the other at the stern, and then the canoe, manned by Uledi, the coxswain of theLady Alice, and a youth named Marzouk, was lowered carefully down the current until the unhappy man was reached. It was a position of great peril, and the rescue of the poor fellow was due to the skill of the leader of the expedition and the bravery of Uledi and Marzouk.

THE DESPERATE SITUATION OF ZAIDI, AND HIS RESCUE BY ULEDI, THE COXSWAIN OF THE BOAT.

"Seven cataracts in all were passed," said Fred, "some of them by lowering the boats through rapids and others by cutting roads through the forest and dragging the craft overland. Some of the natives along the route were peaceable, but the majority of the tribes and villages were hostile. Mr. Stanley always exhausted all possible efforts at peace,and never fought them until the natives themselves struck the first blow. A short battle was usually sufficient to convince the savages of the futility of opposition. At one place a strong net was drawn around the camp by the natives during the night, in the same manner that nets are drawn for hunting game in various parts of Africa. But the savages found that the plan so effective against wild animals did not work well against the expedition, as the net was cut to pieces by those whom it enclosed.

THE SEVENTH CATARACT, STANLEY FALLS.

"The passage of the cataracts and rapids which comprise the Stanley Falls occupied twenty-two days. At the seventh cataract there was a fish-weir, and Mr. Stanley made drawings of several fishes that were caught there. Below Stanley Falls the river spread out again and presented no obstacles to navigation until Stanley Pool was reached, a distance of several hundred miles.

PIKE—STANLEY FALLS.

"And now," said Fred, "you shall hear from Mr. Stanley about this part of the great river:

AN AFRICAN SUSPENSION BRIDGE.

"We hastened away down river in a hurry, to escape the noise of the cataracts which, for many days and nights, had almost stunned us with their deafening sound."The Livingstone now deflected to the west-northwest, between hilly banks—"'Where highest woods, impenetrableTo star, or sunlight, spread their umbrage broadAnd brown as evening.'FISH—SEVENTH CATARACT, STANLEY FALLS.28 inches long; 16 inches round body; round snout; no teeth; broad tail; large scales; color, pale brown."We are once again afloat upon a magnificent stream, whose broad and gray-brown waters woo us with their mystery. We are not a whit dejected after our terrible experiences; we find our reward in being alive to look upon wild nature, and a strange elasticity comes over us. The boat-boys amuse me by singing their most animating song, to which every member of our expedition responds with enthusiasm. The men, women, and children are roused to maintain that reckless, exuberant spirit which assisted me to drive through the cannibal region of the Stanley Falls, for otherwise they might lose that dash and vigor on which depends our success. They are apt, if permitted thinking-time, to brood upon our situation, to become disquieted and melancholy, to reflect on the fate of those who have already been lost, and to anticipate a like dolorous ending to their own lives.BASWA PALM-OIL JAR AND PALM-WINE COOLER."At noon, on the 29th, when approaching a large village, we were again assaulted by the aborigines. We drove them back, and obtained a peaceful passage past them, until 1p.m. From 1p.m. we were engaged with a new tribe, which possessedvery large villages, and maintained a running fight with us until 4p.m., when, observing the large village of Ituka below us, and several canoes cutting across river to head us off, we resolved to make our stand on the shore. Material for constructing a boma was soon discovered in the outlying houses of the village, and by five o'clock we were tolerably secure on the edge of the steep banks—all obstructions cleared away on the land side, and a perfect view of the river front and shore below us.MOUTH OF DRUM."The savages were hideously bepainted for war, one half of their bodies being white, the other ochreous. Their shields were oblong squares, beautifully made of rattan-cane, light, tough, and, to spears and knives, impenetrable. A square slab of ebony wood with a cleat, and one long thin board placed lengthways, and another crossways, sufficed to stiffen them. Shouting their war-cries—'Ya-Mariwa! Ya-Mariwa!'—they rushed on our boma fences like a herd of buffaloes several times, in one of which charges Muftah Rufiji was killed, and another man received a wound from a spear, which glanced along his back. As the heavy spears hurtled through the boma, or flew over it, very many of us had extremely narrow escapes. Frank, for instance, avoided one by giving his body a slight jerk on one side. We, of course, had the advantage, being protected by doors, roofs of houses, poles, brushwood, and our great Mwana Ntaba shields, which had been of invaluable use to us, and had often in the heat of fights saved us and made us almost invulnerable.WOODEN SIGNAL-DRUM OF THE WENYA, OR WAGENYA, AND THE TRIBES ON THE LIVINGSTONE."From the Ruiki River up to this afternoon of the 29th of January we had fought twenty-four times, and out of these struggles we had obtained sixty-five doorlike shields, which upon the commencement of a fight on the river at all times had been raised by the women, children, and non-combatants as bulwarks before the riflemen, from behind which, cool and confident, the forty-three guns were of more avail than though there were one hundred and fifty riflemen unprotected. The steersmen, likewise protected, were enabled to steer their vessels with the current while we were engaged in these running fights. Against the spears and arrows the shields were impervious.DRUMSTICKS, KNOBS BEING OF INDIA-RUBBER."About ten o'clock of the 30th another conflict began, in the usual way, by a determined assault on us in canoes. By charging under cover of our shields we captured one canoe and eight men, and withdrew to a low grassy islet opposite Yangambi, a settlement consisting of five populous villages. We had discovered by this that nothing cowed the natives so much as a capture, and as it was the most bloodless mode of settling what might have been a protracted affair, I hadadopted it. Through our captives we were enabled to negotiate for an unmolested passage, though it involved delay and an expenditure of lung force that was very trying; still, as it ended satisfactorily in many ways, it was preferable to continued fighting. It also increased our opportunities of knowing who our antagonists were, and to begin an acquaintance with these long-buried peoples.SHIELDS OF ITUKA PEOPLE."When the natives observed us preparing to halt on the grassy islet directly opposite their villages, with their unfortunate friends in our power, they withdrew to their villages to consult. The distance between our grassy islet and the right bank was only five hundred yards, and, as it was the eastern bank, the sun shone direct on them, enabling me, with the aid of a field-glass, to perceive even the differences of feature between one man and another.FISH—STANLEY FALLS.Fine scales; weight, 23 lbs.; thick, broad snout; 26 small teeth in upper jaw, 23 teeth in lower jaw; broad tongue; head, 11 inches long."We placed our captives in their canoe, and, giving each a few shells, motioned them to depart. As the warriors on the bank saw their friends return, they all gathered round the landing-place, and, as they landed, asked scores of questions, the replies to which elicited loud grunts of approval and wonder. The drumming gradually ceased, the war-cries were heard no more, the people left their processions to crowd round their countrymen, and the enormous spear-blades no longer flashed their brightness on us. We waited about an hour, and, taking it for granted that after such a signal instance of magnanimity they would not resume their hostile demeanor, we quietly embarked, and glided down river unopposed."At a little after noon, on February 1st, we were attacked by a larger force of canoes than on any previous occasion. We were passing the mouth of the Aruwimi River, where there was a great concourse of canoes hovering about some islets which stud the middle of the stream. The canoe-men, standing up, give a loud shout as they discern us, and blow their horns louder than ever. We pull briskly on to gain the right bank, when, looking up stream, we see a sight that sends the blood tingling through every nerve and fibre of the body, arouses not only our most lively interest, but also our most lively apprehensions—a flotilla of gigantic canoes bearing down upon us, which both in size and numbers utterly eclipse anything encountered hitherto! Instead of aiming for the right bank, we form in line, and keep straight down river, the boat taking position behind. Yet after amoment's reflection, as I note the numbers of the savages, and the daring manner of the pursuit, and the apparent desire of our canoes to abandon the steady, compact line, I give the order to drop anchor. Four of our canoes affect not to listen, until I chase them, and threaten them with my guns. This compelled them to return to the line, which is formed of eleven double canoes, anchored ten yards apart. The boat moves up to the front, and takes position fifty yards above them. The shields are next lifted by the non-combatants, men, women, and children, in the bows and along the outer lines, as well as astern, and from behind these the muskets and rifles are aimed."We have sufficient time to take a view of the mighty force bearing down on us, and to count the number of the war-vessels which have been collected from the Livingstone and its great affluent. There are fifty-four of them! A monster canoe leads the way, with two rows of upstanding paddles, forty men on a side, their bodies bending and swaying in unison as with a swelling barbarous chorus they drive her down towards us. In the bow, standing on what appears to be a platform, are ten prime young warriors, their heads gay with feathers of the parrot, crimson and gray; at the stern, eight men, with long paddles, whose tops are decorated with ivory balls, guide the monster vessel; and dancing up and down from stem to stern are ten men, who appear to be chiefs. All the paddles are headed with ivory balls, every head bears a feather crown, every arm shows gleaming white ivory armlets. From the bow of the canoe streams a thick fringe of the long white fibre of the Hyphene palm. The crashing sound of large drums, a hundred blasts from ivory horns, and a thrilling chant from two thousand human throats, do not tend to soothe our nerves or to increase our confidence. However, it is 'neck or nothing.' We have no time to pray, or to take sentimental looks at the savage world, or even to breathe a sad farewell to it. So many other things have to be done speedily and well."As the foremost canoe comes rushing down, its consorts on either side beating the water into foam and raising their jets of water with their sharp prows, I turn to take a last look at our people, and say to them:"'Boys, be firm as iron; wait until you see the first spear, and then take good aim. Don't fire all at once. Keep aiming until you are sure of your man. Don't think of running away, for only your guns can save you.'"Frank is with theOceanon the right flank, and has a choice crew, and a good bulwark of black wooden shields. Manwa Sera has theLondon Town—which he has taken in charge instead of theGlasgow—on the left flank, the sides of the canoe bristling with guns, in the hands of tolerably steady men.MONSTER CANOE."The monster canoe aims straight for my boat, as though it would run us down; but, when within fifty yards off, swerves aside, and, when nearly opposite, the warriors above the manned prow let fly their spears, and on either side there is a noise of rushing bodies. But every sound is soon lost in the ripping, crackling musketry. For five minutes we are so absorbed in firing that we take nonote of anything else; but at the end of that time we are made aware that the enemy is re-forming about two hundred yards above us."Our blood is up now. It is a murderous world, and we feel for the first time that we hate the filthy, vulturous ghouls who inhabit it. We therefore lift our anchors, and pursue them up-stream along the right bank, until, rounding a point, we see their villages. We make straight for the banks, and continue the fight in the village streets with those who have landed, hunt them out into the woods, and there only sound the retreat, having returned the daring cannibals the compliment of a visit."While mustering my people for re-embarkation, one of the men came forward and said that in the principal village there was a 'Meskiti,' a 'pembé'—a church, or temple—of ivory, and that ivory was 'as abundant as fuel.' In a few moments I stood before the ivory temple, which was merely a large circular roof supported by thirty-three tusks of ivory, erected over an idol four feet high, painted with camwood dye a bright vermilion, with black eyes and beard and hair. The figure was very rude, still it was an unmistakable likeness of a man. The tusks being wanted by the Wangwana, they received permission to convey them into the canoes. One hundred other pieces of ivory were collected, in the shape of log wedges, long ivory war-horns, ivory pestles to pound cassava into meal, and herbs for spinach, ivory armlets and balls, and ivory mallets to beat the fig-bark into cloth.NATIVE SPADE."The stores of beautifully carved paddles, ten feet in length, some of which were iron-pointed, the enormous six-feet-long spears, which were designed more for ornament than use, the splendid long knives, like Persian kummars, and bright iron-mounted sheaths with broad belts of red buffalo and antelope hide, barbed spears, from the light assegai to the heavy double-handed sword-spear, the tweezers, hammers, prickers, hole-burners, hairpins, fish-hooks, hammers, arm and leg-rings of iron and copper, iron beads and wrist-bands, iron bells, axes, war-hatchets, adzes, hoes, dibbers, etc., proved the people on the banks of this river to be clever, intelligent, and more advanced in the arts than any hitherto observed since we commenced our descent of the Livingstone. The architecture of their huts, however, was the same, except the conical structure they had erected over their idol. Their canoes were much larger than those of the Mwana Ntaba, above the Stanley Falls, which had crocodiles and lizards carved on them. Their skull-caps of basket-work, leopard, civet, and monkey skins, were similar to those that we had observed in Uregga. Their shields were like those of the Wariwa.There were various specimens of African wood-carving in great and small idols, stools of ingenious pattern, double benches, walk-staffs, spear-staffs, paddles, flutes, grain-mortars, mallets, drums, clubs, troughs, scoops and canoe-balers, paddles, porridge-spoons, etc. Gourds also exhibited taste in ornamentation. Their earthenware was very superior, their pipes of an unusual pattern—in short, everything that is of use to a well-found African village exhibited remarkable intelligence and prosperity.THE FIGHT BELOW THE CONFLUENCE OF THE ARUWIMI AND THE LIVINGSTONE RIVERS."Evidences of cannibalism were numerous in the human and 'soko' skulls that grinned on many poles, and the bones that were freely scattered in the neighborhood, near the village garbage heaps and the river banks, where one might suppose hungry canoe-men to have enjoyed a cold collation on an ancient matron's arm. As the most positive and downright evidence, in my opinion, of this hideous practice, was the thin forearm of a person that was picked up near a fire, with certain scorched ribs which might have been tossed into the fire after being gnawed. It is true that it is but circumstantial evidence, yet we accepted them as indubitable proofs. Besides, we had been taunted with remarks that we would furnish them with meat supplies—for the wordsmeatandto-dayhave but slight dialectic difference in many languages.SPEAR, ISANGI."We embarked in our canoes at 5p.m., and, descending the affluent, came to the confluence again, and then, hugging the right bank, appeared before other villages; but after our successful resistance to such a confederation of chiefs and the combined strength of three or four different tribes, it was not likely that one small settlement would risk an encounter. For several days after this battle we had little opposition. We avoided the villages as much as possible, and by the 8th of February we were entirely out of provisions. On the 9th we camped on a grassy islet in front of a village called Rubunga, where, after a great deal of parleying, we bought a plentiful supply of bananas and other food. We made brotherhood with the chief, and had no trouble during our stay.KNIVES, RUBUNGA."The people of Rubunga carry knives which are singular specimens of the African smith's art, being principally of a waving sickle-shaped pattern, while the principal men carried brass-handled weapons, eighteen inches long, double-edged, and rather wide-pointed, with two blood channels along the centre of the broadblade, while near the hilt the blade was pierced by two quarter-circular holes, while the top of the haft was ornamented with the fur of the otter."The aborigines dress their hair with an art peculiar to the Warua and Waguha, which consists in wearing it in tufts on the back of the head, and fastening it with elegantly shaped iron hairpins—a fashion which also obtains among many kitchen maids in England. Tattooing is carried to excess, every portion of the skin bearing punctured marks, from the roots of the hair down to the knees. Their breasts are like hieroglyphic parchment charts, marked withraisedfigures, ledges, squares, circles, wavy lines, tuberose knots, rosettes, and every conceivable design. No coloring substance had been introduced into these incisions and punctures; the cuticle had simply been tortured and irritated by the injection of some irritants or air. Indeed, some of the glossy tubercles, which contained air, were as large as hens' eggs. As many as six thin ledges marked the foreheads from temple to temple, as many ran down each cheek, while from lower eyelid to base of septum curved wavy lines; the chin showed rosettes, the neck seemed goitrous with the large vesicular protuberances, while the front parts of their bodies afforded broad fields upon which the native artist had displayed the exuberant fertility of his genius. To such an extent is this fashion carried that the people are hideously deformed, many of them having quite unnatural features and necks.RINGS FOR PROTECTING THE ARM."To add to the atrocious bad taste of these aborigines, their necklaces consisted of human, gorilla, and crocodile teeth, in such quantity in many cases that little or nothing could be seen of the neck. A few possessed polished boars' tusks, with the points made to meet from each side."The most curious objects we discovered at Rubunga were four ancient Portuguese muskets, at the sight of which the people of the expedition raised a glad shout. These appeared to them certain signs that we had not lost the road, thatthe great river did really reach the sea, and that their master was not deluding them when he told them that some day they would see the sea."In reply to our questions as to where they had obtained them, they said from men in canoes from Bankaro, Bangaro, Mangara, or, as the word finally settled down, from Mangala, who came once a year to buy ivory. These traders were black men, and they had never heard of white men or of Arabs."

"We hastened away down river in a hurry, to escape the noise of the cataracts which, for many days and nights, had almost stunned us with their deafening sound.

"The Livingstone now deflected to the west-northwest, between hilly banks—

"'Where highest woods, impenetrableTo star, or sunlight, spread their umbrage broadAnd brown as evening.'

FISH—SEVENTH CATARACT, STANLEY FALLS.28 inches long; 16 inches round body; round snout; no teeth; broad tail; large scales; color, pale brown.

"We are once again afloat upon a magnificent stream, whose broad and gray-brown waters woo us with their mystery. We are not a whit dejected after our terrible experiences; we find our reward in being alive to look upon wild nature, and a strange elasticity comes over us. The boat-boys amuse me by singing their most animating song, to which every member of our expedition responds with enthusiasm. The men, women, and children are roused to maintain that reckless, exuberant spirit which assisted me to drive through the cannibal region of the Stanley Falls, for otherwise they might lose that dash and vigor on which depends our success. They are apt, if permitted thinking-time, to brood upon our situation, to become disquieted and melancholy, to reflect on the fate of those who have already been lost, and to anticipate a like dolorous ending to their own lives.

BASWA PALM-OIL JAR AND PALM-WINE COOLER.

"At noon, on the 29th, when approaching a large village, we were again assaulted by the aborigines. We drove them back, and obtained a peaceful passage past them, until 1p.m. From 1p.m. we were engaged with a new tribe, which possessedvery large villages, and maintained a running fight with us until 4p.m., when, observing the large village of Ituka below us, and several canoes cutting across river to head us off, we resolved to make our stand on the shore. Material for constructing a boma was soon discovered in the outlying houses of the village, and by five o'clock we were tolerably secure on the edge of the steep banks—all obstructions cleared away on the land side, and a perfect view of the river front and shore below us.

MOUTH OF DRUM.

"The savages were hideously bepainted for war, one half of their bodies being white, the other ochreous. Their shields were oblong squares, beautifully made of rattan-cane, light, tough, and, to spears and knives, impenetrable. A square slab of ebony wood with a cleat, and one long thin board placed lengthways, and another crossways, sufficed to stiffen them. Shouting their war-cries—'Ya-Mariwa! Ya-Mariwa!'—they rushed on our boma fences like a herd of buffaloes several times, in one of which charges Muftah Rufiji was killed, and another man received a wound from a spear, which glanced along his back. As the heavy spears hurtled through the boma, or flew over it, very many of us had extremely narrow escapes. Frank, for instance, avoided one by giving his body a slight jerk on one side. We, of course, had the advantage, being protected by doors, roofs of houses, poles, brushwood, and our great Mwana Ntaba shields, which had been of invaluable use to us, and had often in the heat of fights saved us and made us almost invulnerable.

WOODEN SIGNAL-DRUM OF THE WENYA, OR WAGENYA, AND THE TRIBES ON THE LIVINGSTONE.

"From the Ruiki River up to this afternoon of the 29th of January we had fought twenty-four times, and out of these struggles we had obtained sixty-five doorlike shields, which upon the commencement of a fight on the river at all times had been raised by the women, children, and non-combatants as bulwarks before the riflemen, from behind which, cool and confident, the forty-three guns were of more avail than though there were one hundred and fifty riflemen unprotected. The steersmen, likewise protected, were enabled to steer their vessels with the current while we were engaged in these running fights. Against the spears and arrows the shields were impervious.

DRUMSTICKS, KNOBS BEING OF INDIA-RUBBER.

"About ten o'clock of the 30th another conflict began, in the usual way, by a determined assault on us in canoes. By charging under cover of our shields we captured one canoe and eight men, and withdrew to a low grassy islet opposite Yangambi, a settlement consisting of five populous villages. We had discovered by this that nothing cowed the natives so much as a capture, and as it was the most bloodless mode of settling what might have been a protracted affair, I hadadopted it. Through our captives we were enabled to negotiate for an unmolested passage, though it involved delay and an expenditure of lung force that was very trying; still, as it ended satisfactorily in many ways, it was preferable to continued fighting. It also increased our opportunities of knowing who our antagonists were, and to begin an acquaintance with these long-buried peoples.

SHIELDS OF ITUKA PEOPLE.

"When the natives observed us preparing to halt on the grassy islet directly opposite their villages, with their unfortunate friends in our power, they withdrew to their villages to consult. The distance between our grassy islet and the right bank was only five hundred yards, and, as it was the eastern bank, the sun shone direct on them, enabling me, with the aid of a field-glass, to perceive even the differences of feature between one man and another.

FISH—STANLEY FALLS.Fine scales; weight, 23 lbs.; thick, broad snout; 26 small teeth in upper jaw, 23 teeth in lower jaw; broad tongue; head, 11 inches long.

"We placed our captives in their canoe, and, giving each a few shells, motioned them to depart. As the warriors on the bank saw their friends return, they all gathered round the landing-place, and, as they landed, asked scores of questions, the replies to which elicited loud grunts of approval and wonder. The drumming gradually ceased, the war-cries were heard no more, the people left their processions to crowd round their countrymen, and the enormous spear-blades no longer flashed their brightness on us. We waited about an hour, and, taking it for granted that after such a signal instance of magnanimity they would not resume their hostile demeanor, we quietly embarked, and glided down river unopposed.

"At a little after noon, on February 1st, we were attacked by a larger force of canoes than on any previous occasion. We were passing the mouth of the Aruwimi River, where there was a great concourse of canoes hovering about some islets which stud the middle of the stream. The canoe-men, standing up, give a loud shout as they discern us, and blow their horns louder than ever. We pull briskly on to gain the right bank, when, looking up stream, we see a sight that sends the blood tingling through every nerve and fibre of the body, arouses not only our most lively interest, but also our most lively apprehensions—a flotilla of gigantic canoes bearing down upon us, which both in size and numbers utterly eclipse anything encountered hitherto! Instead of aiming for the right bank, we form in line, and keep straight down river, the boat taking position behind. Yet after amoment's reflection, as I note the numbers of the savages, and the daring manner of the pursuit, and the apparent desire of our canoes to abandon the steady, compact line, I give the order to drop anchor. Four of our canoes affect not to listen, until I chase them, and threaten them with my guns. This compelled them to return to the line, which is formed of eleven double canoes, anchored ten yards apart. The boat moves up to the front, and takes position fifty yards above them. The shields are next lifted by the non-combatants, men, women, and children, in the bows and along the outer lines, as well as astern, and from behind these the muskets and rifles are aimed.

"We have sufficient time to take a view of the mighty force bearing down on us, and to count the number of the war-vessels which have been collected from the Livingstone and its great affluent. There are fifty-four of them! A monster canoe leads the way, with two rows of upstanding paddles, forty men on a side, their bodies bending and swaying in unison as with a swelling barbarous chorus they drive her down towards us. In the bow, standing on what appears to be a platform, are ten prime young warriors, their heads gay with feathers of the parrot, crimson and gray; at the stern, eight men, with long paddles, whose tops are decorated with ivory balls, guide the monster vessel; and dancing up and down from stem to stern are ten men, who appear to be chiefs. All the paddles are headed with ivory balls, every head bears a feather crown, every arm shows gleaming white ivory armlets. From the bow of the canoe streams a thick fringe of the long white fibre of the Hyphene palm. The crashing sound of large drums, a hundred blasts from ivory horns, and a thrilling chant from two thousand human throats, do not tend to soothe our nerves or to increase our confidence. However, it is 'neck or nothing.' We have no time to pray, or to take sentimental looks at the savage world, or even to breathe a sad farewell to it. So many other things have to be done speedily and well.

"As the foremost canoe comes rushing down, its consorts on either side beating the water into foam and raising their jets of water with their sharp prows, I turn to take a last look at our people, and say to them:

"'Boys, be firm as iron; wait until you see the first spear, and then take good aim. Don't fire all at once. Keep aiming until you are sure of your man. Don't think of running away, for only your guns can save you.'

"Frank is with theOceanon the right flank, and has a choice crew, and a good bulwark of black wooden shields. Manwa Sera has theLondon Town—which he has taken in charge instead of theGlasgow—on the left flank, the sides of the canoe bristling with guns, in the hands of tolerably steady men.

MONSTER CANOE.

"The monster canoe aims straight for my boat, as though it would run us down; but, when within fifty yards off, swerves aside, and, when nearly opposite, the warriors above the manned prow let fly their spears, and on either side there is a noise of rushing bodies. But every sound is soon lost in the ripping, crackling musketry. For five minutes we are so absorbed in firing that we take nonote of anything else; but at the end of that time we are made aware that the enemy is re-forming about two hundred yards above us.

"Our blood is up now. It is a murderous world, and we feel for the first time that we hate the filthy, vulturous ghouls who inhabit it. We therefore lift our anchors, and pursue them up-stream along the right bank, until, rounding a point, we see their villages. We make straight for the banks, and continue the fight in the village streets with those who have landed, hunt them out into the woods, and there only sound the retreat, having returned the daring cannibals the compliment of a visit.

"While mustering my people for re-embarkation, one of the men came forward and said that in the principal village there was a 'Meskiti,' a 'pembé'—a church, or temple—of ivory, and that ivory was 'as abundant as fuel.' In a few moments I stood before the ivory temple, which was merely a large circular roof supported by thirty-three tusks of ivory, erected over an idol four feet high, painted with camwood dye a bright vermilion, with black eyes and beard and hair. The figure was very rude, still it was an unmistakable likeness of a man. The tusks being wanted by the Wangwana, they received permission to convey them into the canoes. One hundred other pieces of ivory were collected, in the shape of log wedges, long ivory war-horns, ivory pestles to pound cassava into meal, and herbs for spinach, ivory armlets and balls, and ivory mallets to beat the fig-bark into cloth.

NATIVE SPADE.

"The stores of beautifully carved paddles, ten feet in length, some of which were iron-pointed, the enormous six-feet-long spears, which were designed more for ornament than use, the splendid long knives, like Persian kummars, and bright iron-mounted sheaths with broad belts of red buffalo and antelope hide, barbed spears, from the light assegai to the heavy double-handed sword-spear, the tweezers, hammers, prickers, hole-burners, hairpins, fish-hooks, hammers, arm and leg-rings of iron and copper, iron beads and wrist-bands, iron bells, axes, war-hatchets, adzes, hoes, dibbers, etc., proved the people on the banks of this river to be clever, intelligent, and more advanced in the arts than any hitherto observed since we commenced our descent of the Livingstone. The architecture of their huts, however, was the same, except the conical structure they had erected over their idol. Their canoes were much larger than those of the Mwana Ntaba, above the Stanley Falls, which had crocodiles and lizards carved on them. Their skull-caps of basket-work, leopard, civet, and monkey skins, were similar to those that we had observed in Uregga. Their shields were like those of the Wariwa.There were various specimens of African wood-carving in great and small idols, stools of ingenious pattern, double benches, walk-staffs, spear-staffs, paddles, flutes, grain-mortars, mallets, drums, clubs, troughs, scoops and canoe-balers, paddles, porridge-spoons, etc. Gourds also exhibited taste in ornamentation. Their earthenware was very superior, their pipes of an unusual pattern—in short, everything that is of use to a well-found African village exhibited remarkable intelligence and prosperity.

THE FIGHT BELOW THE CONFLUENCE OF THE ARUWIMI AND THE LIVINGSTONE RIVERS.

"Evidences of cannibalism were numerous in the human and 'soko' skulls that grinned on many poles, and the bones that were freely scattered in the neighborhood, near the village garbage heaps and the river banks, where one might suppose hungry canoe-men to have enjoyed a cold collation on an ancient matron's arm. As the most positive and downright evidence, in my opinion, of this hideous practice, was the thin forearm of a person that was picked up near a fire, with certain scorched ribs which might have been tossed into the fire after being gnawed. It is true that it is but circumstantial evidence, yet we accepted them as indubitable proofs. Besides, we had been taunted with remarks that we would furnish them with meat supplies—for the wordsmeatandto-dayhave but slight dialectic difference in many languages.

SPEAR, ISANGI.

"We embarked in our canoes at 5p.m., and, descending the affluent, came to the confluence again, and then, hugging the right bank, appeared before other villages; but after our successful resistance to such a confederation of chiefs and the combined strength of three or four different tribes, it was not likely that one small settlement would risk an encounter. For several days after this battle we had little opposition. We avoided the villages as much as possible, and by the 8th of February we were entirely out of provisions. On the 9th we camped on a grassy islet in front of a village called Rubunga, where, after a great deal of parleying, we bought a plentiful supply of bananas and other food. We made brotherhood with the chief, and had no trouble during our stay.

KNIVES, RUBUNGA.

"The people of Rubunga carry knives which are singular specimens of the African smith's art, being principally of a waving sickle-shaped pattern, while the principal men carried brass-handled weapons, eighteen inches long, double-edged, and rather wide-pointed, with two blood channels along the centre of the broadblade, while near the hilt the blade was pierced by two quarter-circular holes, while the top of the haft was ornamented with the fur of the otter.

"The aborigines dress their hair with an art peculiar to the Warua and Waguha, which consists in wearing it in tufts on the back of the head, and fastening it with elegantly shaped iron hairpins—a fashion which also obtains among many kitchen maids in England. Tattooing is carried to excess, every portion of the skin bearing punctured marks, from the roots of the hair down to the knees. Their breasts are like hieroglyphic parchment charts, marked withraisedfigures, ledges, squares, circles, wavy lines, tuberose knots, rosettes, and every conceivable design. No coloring substance had been introduced into these incisions and punctures; the cuticle had simply been tortured and irritated by the injection of some irritants or air. Indeed, some of the glossy tubercles, which contained air, were as large as hens' eggs. As many as six thin ledges marked the foreheads from temple to temple, as many ran down each cheek, while from lower eyelid to base of septum curved wavy lines; the chin showed rosettes, the neck seemed goitrous with the large vesicular protuberances, while the front parts of their bodies afforded broad fields upon which the native artist had displayed the exuberant fertility of his genius. To such an extent is this fashion carried that the people are hideously deformed, many of them having quite unnatural features and necks.

RINGS FOR PROTECTING THE ARM.

"To add to the atrocious bad taste of these aborigines, their necklaces consisted of human, gorilla, and crocodile teeth, in such quantity in many cases that little or nothing could be seen of the neck. A few possessed polished boars' tusks, with the points made to meet from each side.

"The most curious objects we discovered at Rubunga were four ancient Portuguese muskets, at the sight of which the people of the expedition raised a glad shout. These appeared to them certain signs that we had not lost the road, thatthe great river did really reach the sea, and that their master was not deluding them when he told them that some day they would see the sea.

"In reply to our questions as to where they had obtained them, they said from men in canoes from Bankaro, Bangaro, Mangara, or, as the word finally settled down, from Mangala, who came once a year to buy ivory. These traders were black men, and they had never heard of white men or of Arabs."

"We will now," said Fred, "leave you to pass the night among the people of Rubunga, who seem friendly enough to warrant my trusting you with them." The eager listeners took the hint thus conveyed and there was a concerted movement towards the doorway.

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