when I asked how it was done, Chikaia instead of
answering "it has been done a long time" as an European servant would,
went one better and said "it has always been like that." "I suppose it
was made so," I replied. "Yes, Sir" was the answer and there was no more
to be said.

The banks of the river are here lined with villages and each time we
stop crowds run to see the steamer, while the Chief comes on board,
shakes hands solemnly and presents eggs, chicken or a goat. In return we
hand back a good value in cloth, beads or salt. Mitakos are not seen
here at all, for beads are used instead. The natives always seemed
grateful and satisfied with their presents, which was rarely the case on
the Congo where the people generally grumble even when they receive many
times the value of the article they sell. We camp at the village of Dru,
where we find it very difficult to pitch tents owing to the rocky nature
of the soil.

On September 22nd we reach the Kuangu river where is situated the chief
post of a French Trading Company. The buildings are as usual of bricks,
the mortar being made of the shells of river oysters and sand. Soon
after our arrival, a poor native was brought in whose hand had been
terribly mangled in a circular saw. We dressed it as carefully as
possible and fixed it on a splint until he could reach a post with a
hospital. In the night however, weird chanting was heard and next day we
discovered that his friends had been exorcising the evil spirits--i.e.
the perchloride of mercury in which the hand had been washed--had torn
off all the bandages and sent the boy a way in a canoe to avoid the
white medicine man. The hand will almost certainly fall off and the
further history of the boy will perhaps be interesting. One of the
traders, Mr. Constantine, a Swiss, said he had been stationed in the
interior and had heard no news since January. We are only able to bring
him up to June, three months behind date. This gentleman has had an
interesting career. He fought for England in the Matabele war and then
settled in the Orange Free State where he was commandeered by Cronje and
forced into the trenches at Magersfontein, but to his own great
satisfaction was soon taken prisoner by the British and was very well
treated. He now lives absolutely alone, without a guard of any sort,
some days' journey from the river and feels quite safe, for the natives
here look upon a white man as a protection from the Arabs. This Company