indeed been sitting quietly on
steamers all day for the previous week.

On the afternoon of the 12th we reach Isangi, a Post at the junction of
the Lomami and the Congo. This river drains the territory occupied by
the Company of the same name and we turn up it to visit Hambi, the chief
town. There are a few large villages on the banks where the natives
exhibit a curious method of hair dressing. It is allowed to grow long,
which is very unusual in the Congo, and is then turned up and matted
together on the top of the head with grease and the red powder of the
cam-wood. The effect is, that each appears to be wearing a red and black
cloth cap.

We reach Hambi, which is a large Station well built and very tidy, the
next day. The Company leases a very extensive territory along the river
banks and does a large trade in rubber and ivory, the Brazilian variety
of the former growing here very well. The natives are quite satisfied,
work well and give very little trouble, although it is necessary to
punish them sometimes, and as usual, the prisoners on the chain are
given work to do outside the prison. We stay here one day and then
descend the Lomani, and turn up the Congo. The banks of the river now
have a new appearance, for they are higher and no longer densely wooded
and at short intervals are villages thickly populated and containing a
high percentage of children. Most of the men fish or build canoes, and
all the people seem to be constantly trading with each other, selling
food or curiosities for mitakos or cloth.

We stop for the night at Yonanghe, a Post which has been built by a true
native of the Congo, who at one time was the boy of Inspecteur d'Etat,
Malfeyt. He has travelled to Europe, speaks French and English and makes
an excellent Chef du Poste, which rank he enjoys officially, with all
its rights and privileges. Everyone agrees he is thoroughly responsible
and a very good friend, but if a captain of a steamer offends him, he
will not sell him a chicken or even an egg for any sum.

On the 15th we reach Yakussu, where is a Mission Station of the English
Baptists. As I cannot go ashore, the missionary, Mr. Stapleton, comes on
board and we have an interesting chat. He has known the Bangala District
for many years and has seen the riverside population diminish very much
during the last fifteen years. This he ascribes partly to the Sleeping
Sickness and partly to emigration to the State Posts. At first it was
very d