man
in Africa is delighted with the gift of territory as every Englishman
should be with the settlement of so many prickly questions.

[Illustration: SANGO NATIVES OF THE UBANGI.]

[Illustration: THE UPPER UBANGI]

CHAPTER VI.

The Upper Ubangi.--Banzyville to Yakoma.

Banzyville has been built on a beautiful site at a double bend of the
river. Opposite is the French Post of Mobaie and between them roars a
rapid. The country on each side is hilly, while the soil is rocky, great
boulders of granite and quartz lying about in isolated grandeur. We
reach the Post on the morning of September 26th and are met by Captain
Auita, an Italian, who is the Zone Chief here. The buildings are
arranged on two sides of a square, the other two being formed by the
river as it turns to the left, and the open space is covered with gravel
which makes a welcome change from sand and clay while the house placed
at our disposal looks particularly inviting after a week of tents and
the small launch. Everything is wet through and has to be spread out on
the gravel to dry under nature's great fire. Unfortunately some of the
skins, which perforce have been left in cases for a week, under water
one minute and baked in the sun the next, have hopelessly rotted and
have to be thrown away. Next morning we interviewed numbers of native
Chiefs who were all very anxious to exchange lances and other
curiosities for European clothes. All were content with _Bulamatadi_,
although some grumbled at the necessity to find porters and paddlers.

This is evidently one of the most populous districts in the whole Congo,
for on all sides, both at the river edge and on the hill tops, are large
villages consisting of tent-shaped huts and _shimbeks_, or square open
sheds, under which the natives sit and sleep most of the day. Besides
rubber, great quantities of rice are grown here, the plantations
extending parallel to the river for more than two miles. Here men,
women, and children are at work and those near the road come forward,
give a military salute and shake hands, a custom peculiar to this part,
for hitherto the women have not saluted and only the chiefs offered the
hand. Many of the people have thin lips and Semitic noses and most are
well made. As usual, if one meets a husband and wife, the former strolls
ahead with a spear or stick, while the latter follows carrying a baby
riding on one of her hips, tied on by her wrap of cloth, and with a
heavy lo