lar attached on the outside. The whole is hammered
on and must be intensely uncomfortable. A special pillow, consisting of
a piece of wood hollowed out for the head is necessary, as sleep would
otherwise be impossible with such a contrivance round the neck. A great
number of children run about and seem to be well nourished. Some have
large heads and protruding stomachs, without however, other signs of
_rickets_. Many of the men are painted with yellow stripes, an
indication that they have killed their man in battle, and these donned
their fighting clothes of many colours and with shields and spears posed
to be photographed, dancing around and uttering wild war whoops. A human
skull partly buried in the middle of a road is evidently a souvenir of
the terrible orgy which followed some recent encounter. Indeed all the
people here are cannibals and those killed or captured in war, except
women and children, are always eaten. When not fighting, the people
fish, collect rubber, grow kwanga and generally work fairly well and are
not troublesome. Mr. Vannini, however, evidently thinks it safer to
erect a high stockade around his house and the huts of the soldiers.
This is a wise precaution, as only a few months ago four French traders
were killed and eaten on the opposite bank of the river.

After passing several densely populated villages, one of which extends
in a straight line for ten miles, we reach Libenge, the capital of the
Ubangi District. The houses here have been arranged around a square with
one side open to the river. In one of these we take up our quarters and
then go for a stroll with Captain Bertrand, the Commissaire of the
District, and Dr. Rhodain, the medical officer for Ubangi. The latter
states that he has only seen two cases of sleeping sickness in several
years' residence and that there is no syphilis, small-pox or
tuberculosis in the neighbourhood. The people work well here,--the
villagers collecting the usual kilogramme per month, while the workers
in the plantations clear the forest and plant more rubber for future
use. The hunting here is very good in the dry season. Now however, it is
necessary to wade in water three feet deep in the forest. Spoor of
elephant and antelope abound and there are several magnificent eagles
and hawks overhead.

The chief difficulty here for Europeans is the water question. Although
much of this necessity is on all sides, it is not of good drinking
quality and dysentery is