rmany every year. Now they are
diverted to England where large kernel-crushing plants have been
installed and the whole activity has become a British enterprise. With
the eclipse of the German Colonial Empire in Africa it is not likely
that she can regain this lost business.

The creation of new palmeries is merely one phase of the company's
development. One of its largest tasks is to safeguard the immense
natural palmeries on its concessions. The oil palm requires constant
attention. The undergrowth spreads rapidly and if it is not removed
is liable to impair the life of the tree. Thousands of natives are
employed on this work. A large knife something like the Cuban machete is
used.

[Illustration: RESIDENTIAL QUARTERS AT ALBERTA]

[Illustration: THE COMTE DE FLANDRE]

Harvesting the _regimes_ is a spectacular performance not without its
element of danger. The _regime_ grows at the top of the tree, usually a
height of sixty or seventy-five feet and sometimes more. The native
literally walks up the trunk with the help of a loop made from some
stout vine which encircles him. Arriving at the top he fixes his feet
against the trunk, leans against the loop which holds him fast, and
hacks away at the _regime_. It falls with a heavy thud and woe betide
the human being or the animal it strikes. The natives will not cut fruit
in rainy weather because many have slipped on the wet bark and fallen to
their death.

So wide is the Alberta fruit-producing area that a narrow-gauge railway
is necessary to bring the fruit in to the mill. Along its line are
various stations where the fruit is mobilized, stripped from the
_regime_ and sent down for refining in baskets. Each station has a
superintendent who lives on the spot. The personnel of all the staff in
the Congo is almost equally divided between British and Belgians.

While the "H. C. B." is the largest factor in the palm oil industry in
the Congo, many tons of kernels are gathered every year by individuals
who include thousands of natives. One reason why the savage takes
naturally to this occupation is that it demands little work. All that he
is required to do is to climb a tree in the jungle and lop off a
_regime_. He uses the palm oil for his own needs or disposes of it to a
member of his tribe and sells the kernels to the white man.

The "H. C. B." is independent of all other water transport in the
Congo. Its river tonnage aggregates more than 6,000, and in addition it