ge noise. Ball, 3 and 5' shot were equally
efficacious and more than a dozen fell in a few minutes. These birds
have a beautiful black and white plumage with a long neck and bill and
webbed feet and weigh five or six pounds each. The flavour is somewhat
like ptarmigan and the natives eat them, as usual, without waiting until
they were properly cooked.

In the evening I took a stroll in the forest and soon found the recent
spoor of an elephant. Chikaia was just ahead, when he suddenly stopped
and whispered _macat_ pointing in the air. There was a fine monkey and
the boy's instinct for such a choice morsel, actually caused him to
stop, although he knew very well it would have been absurd to fire and
so frighten the elephant. At one time we must have been within a few
yards of the beast when a snapping of a twig or some sound disturbed him
and with a bellow he rushed away crashing through the forest. It is
curious that while birds are so bold in Africa, ground game is extremely
shy and most difficult to stalk.

On September 2nd we reach Imese, the first place on the Ubangi where
there are white men. Mr. Donneaux was the Chef du poste and everything
was in good order. Rubber vines were being planted in the forest and
rubber shrubs in the clearings. Coffee was also growing and pineapples
and other fruits looked well. All the houses are, as usual, of brick
which are of better quality than on the Congo, as the clay is good and
very abundant. The native village is about ten minutes' walk distant and
is arranged in two or three regular streets and not in patches of huts
dotted down here and there as in the Lake Tumba District. The State
impost here is one kilogramme of rubber each month from each man for
which he is paid 40 or 50 centimes. Collecting this amount takes one or
two days and the rest of the time the native works for himself or not
as he chooses. Here the people seem more industrious than in most parts,
many women being engaged in making mats and pottery. The pots are
fashioned by hand with the aid of a round stone and are so wonderfully
symmetrical that they resemble those made on a lathe. The clay is
obtained from the river bed by diving and after the vessel is made, it
is first dried in the sun and then baked in a wood fire. While still
hot, it is painted with gum copal which renders it water-tight.

[Illustration: YOUNG COFFEE TREES AT COQUILHATVILLE.]

At dinner we have a dish called _beefsteak American_. for