wondering at the excitement and followed by the complainant shouting
"die, die, die, fowl" and the defendant shouting "live, live, live,
fowl." The strength of the solution was always arranged by the judge so
the verdict was known to him beforehand. A curious instrument to take
the place of a jury, is a nut through which a piece of fibre has been
passed in such a way, that when it is held vertically, the nut slides up
and down. By a curious twist of the fibre however, it is possible to
prevent the nut falling. At the trial, the nut is raised to the top of
the string and if it stays there, the accused is innocent, but if it
falls, he is guilty. Here again, the judge can make the machine decide
either way at his will.

Among the many objectionable insects of the Congo is the _jigger_, a
kind of sand fly which burrows under the skin, usually of a toe, and
deposits eggs in a sack there. Unless these are removed an abscess
forms. The natives sit about calmly removing jiggers from each other's
feet with needles, and show considerable skill in this small operation.
It is necessary therefore never to move about with bare feet, for the
boys carry them into every place.

Much ivory comes into the Post at intervals, the points sometimes
weighing 70 or 80 lbs. each. The State preserves the elephant very
strictly, and the export duty on tusks above 6 kilos in weight, is 21
frs. per kilo. Still it is not likely that the Congo will continue to
yield such large quantities of ivory, for the elephant only bears one
offspring in three years and the growth of the baby is very slow. There
is a baby elephant here one year old. He stands about 4 feet, 6 inches
high, and has no sign of tusks at present. He is fed on rice, milk and
bananas and is a playful little fellow. A tame ape here fears the
elephant very much and at his approach at once clings to the native who
tends him or climbs over his shoulder, so as to place the boy's body
always between himself and the elephant.

On Monday October 10th we prepare to continue our journey up river. We
shall now require six or seven canoes, as they are not so large as the
ones lower down and our crews, servants, escort and camp followers total
up to nearly two hundred. Captain Auita sends a few State capitas with
us and Captain Meilleur lends us some French soldiers belonging to the
1st Senegalese Tirailleurs, a splendid set of fellows, very smart in
their khaki uniforms. We can, therefore, land w