Running the gauntlet—Kindly solitudes—Amina’s death—The humanizing
effects of trade apparent—“The most plausible rogue of all
Africa”—The king of Chumbiri; his hospitality, wives, possessions,
and cunning—Making up a language—Pythons—The Ibari Nkutu or the
Kwango—Treacherous guides—The Stanley Pool—Chief Itsi of Ntamo—We
have to give up our big goat—River observations.
_Feb. 22._—From the left bank we crossed to the right, on the morning of
the 22nd, and, clinging to the wooded shores of Ubangi, had reached at
noon south latitude 0° 51′ 13″. Two hours later we came to where the
great river contracted to a breath of 3000 yards, flowing between two
low rocky points, both of which were populous, well cultivated, and rich
with banana plantations. Below these points the river slowly widened
again, and islands well wooded, as above river, rose into view, until by
their number they formed once more intricate channels and winding
creeks.
Desirous of testing the character of the natives, we pulled across to
the left bank, until, meeting with a small party of fishermen, we were
again driven by their ferocity to seek the untravelled and unpopulated
island wildernesses. It was rather amusing than otherwise to observe the
readiness of the savages of Irebu to fire their guns at us. They
appeared to think that we were human waifs without parentage,
guardianship, or means of protection, for their audacity was excessive.
One canoe with only four men dashed down at us from behind an island
close to the left bank, and fired point-blank from a distance of 100
yards. Another party ran along a spit of sand and coolly waited our
approach on their knees, and, though we sheered off to a distance of 200
yards from them, they poured a harmless volley of slugs towards us, at
which Baraka, the humourist, said that the pagans caused us to “eat more
iron than grain.”
Such frantic creatures, however, could not tempt us to fight them. The
river was wide enough, channels innumerable afforded us means of
escaping from their mad ferocity, and if poor purblind nature was so
excessively arrogant, Providence had kindly supplied us with crooked by-
ways and unfrequented paths of water which we might pursue unmolested.
_Feb. 23._—At noon of the 23rd we had reached 1° 22′ 15″ south latitude.
Strong gales met us during each day. The islands were innumerable,
creeks and channels winding in and out amongst the silent scenes. But
though their general appearance was much the same, almost uniform in
outline and size, the islands never became commonplace. Was it from
gratitude at the security they afforded us from the ruthless people of
these regions? I do not know, but every bosky island into whose dark
depths, shadowed by impervious roofs of foliage, we gazed had about it
something kindly and prepossessing. Did we love them because, from being
hunted by our kind, and ostracized from communities of men, we had come
to regard them as our homes? I cannot tell, but I shall ever and for
ever remember them. Ah, had I but space, how I would revel in
descriptions of their treasures and their delights! Even with their gad-
flies and their tsetsé, their mosquitoes and their ants, I love them.
There was no treachery or guile in their honest depths; the lurking
assassin feared their twilight gloom; the savage dared not penetrate
their shades without a feeling of horror; but to us they were refuges in
our distress, and their solitudes healed our woes. How true the words,
“Affliction cometh not out of the dust, nor doth trouble spring out of
the ground.” Innocence and peace dwelt in the wilderness alone. Outside
of them glared the fierce-eyed savage, with malice and rage in his
heart, and deadly weapons in his hand.
To us, then, these untenanted islets, with their “breadths of tropic
shade, and palms in clusters,” seemed verily “knots of paradise.” Like
hunted beasts of the chase, we sought the gloom and solitude of the
wilds. Along the meandering and embowered creeks, hugging the shadows of
the o’erarching woods, we sought for that safety which man refused us.
_Feb. 24._—The great river grew sea-like in breadth below Irebu on the
morning of the 24th; indeed, it might have been 100 miles in breadth for
aught we knew, deep-buried as we were among the islands. Yet there were
broad and deep channels on every side of us, as well as narrow creeks
between lengthy islands. The volume of water appeared exhaustless,
though distributed over such an enormous width. There was water
sufficient to float the most powerful steamers that float in the
Mississippi. Here and there amongst the verdured isles gleamed broad
humps of white sand, but on either side were streams several hundred
yards wide, with as much as three fathoms’ depth of water in the
channels.
At noon we reached south latitude 1° 37′ 22″. The Mompurengi natives
appeared on an island and expressed their feelings by discharging two
guns at us, which we did not resent, but steadily held on our way. An
hour afterwards faithful Amina, wife of Kachéché, breathed her last,
making a most affecting end.
Being told by Kachéché that his poor wife was dying, I drew my boat
alongside of the canoe she was lying in. She was quite sensible, but
very weak. “Ah, master!” she said, “I shall never see the sea again.
Your child Amina is dying. I have so wished to see the cocoanuts and the
mangoes; but no—Amina is dying—dying in a pagan land. She will never see
Zanzibar. The master has been good to his children, and Amina remembers
it. It is a bad world, master, and you have lost your way in it. Good-
bye, master; do not forget poor little Amina!”
While floating down, we dressed Amina in her shroud, and laid her
tenderly out, and at sunset consigned her body to the depths of the
silent river.
_Feb. 25._—The morning of the 25th saw us once again on the broad stream
floating down. We got a view of the mainland to the right, and
discovered it to be very low. We hurried away into the island creeks,
and floated down amongst many reedy, grassy islets, the haunt of bold
hippopotami, one of which made a rush at a canoe with open mouth, but
contented himself fortunately with a paddle, which he crunched into
splinters.
At noon we had reached south latitude 1° 58′ 12″. About 4 P.M. we came
to what appeared to be a river, 1500 yards wide, issuing from north-
north-east, while the course that we had followed was from the north-
east during the afternoon. It was quite free from islets, and this made
me suspect it was a separate river. The main river was here about six
miles wide.
_Feb. 26._—During our voyage on the 26th, the grassy islets became more
frequent, inhabited by the flamingo, pelican, stork, whydahs, ibis,
geese, ducks, &c. The saltmakers find a great source of wealth in the
grasses; and the smoke of their fires floated over the country in
clouds.
At 10 A.M. the Levy Hills rose into view about two miles beyond the
river on the left bank, which as we neared Kutumpuku approached the
river, and formed a ridge. Instantly the sight of the approaching hills
suggested cataracts and the memories of the terrific struggles we had
undergone in passing the Stanley Falls were then brought vividly to our
mind. What should we do with our sadly weakened force, were we to
experience the same horrible scenes again?
At noon I took an observation and ascertained that we were in south
latitude 2° 23′ 14″. Edging off towards the right bank, we came to a
creek, which from the immense number of those amphibious animals, I have
called “Hippopotamus Creek.” Grass-covered islets, innumerable to us as
we passed by them, were on either side. When about half-way through this
creek we encountered seven canoes, loaded with men, about to proceed to
their fishing haunts. Our sudden meeting occasioned a panic among the
natives, and as man had hitherto been a dreaded object, it occasioned us
also not a little uneasiness. Fortunately, however, they retreated in
haste, uttering their fearful “Yaha-ha-has,” and we steadily pursued our
way down river, and about 3 P.M. emerged in view of the united stream,
4000 yards wide, contracted by the steep cultivated slopes of Bolobo on
the left, and by a beautiful high upland—which had gradually been
lifting from the level plains—on the right bank.
For a moment, as we issued in view of the stream, with scores of native
canoes passing backwards and forwards, either fishing or proceeding to
the grassy islets to their fish-sheds and salt-making, we feared that we
should have another conflict; but though they looked at us wonderingly,
there was no demonstration of hostility. One man in a canoe, in answer
to our question, replied that the bold heights 200 feet above the river,
which swarmed with villages, was Bolobo. Being so near the border of the
savage lands above, we thought it safer to wait yet one more day before
attempting further intercourse with them.
_Feb. 27._—On the 27th, during the morning, we were still among islets
and waving branches, but towards the afternoon the islets had
disappeared, and we were in view of a magnificent breadth of four miles
of clear water. On our left the cultivated uplands of Bolobo had become
elevated into a line of wooded hills, and on our right the wall of the
brown grassy upland rose high and steep, broken against the sky-line
into cones.
Gradually the shores contracted, until at 3 P.M. the right bank
deflected to a south-east course, and finally shot out a long rocky
point, which to us, accustomed to an enormous breadth of river, appeared
as though it were the commencement of a cataract. We approached it with
the utmost caution, but on arriving near it we discovered that the
mirage had exaggerated its length and height, for between it and the
left bank were at least 2500 yards of deep water.
The time had now come when we could no longer sneak amongst reedy
islets, or wander in secret amongst wildernesses of water; we must once
more confront man. The native, as we had ascertained opposite Bolobo,
was not the destructive infuriate of Irebu or Mompurengi, or the frantic
brute of Mangala and Marunja. He appeared to be toning down into the
MAN, and to understand that others of his species inhabited this globe.
At least, we hoped so. We wished to test the accuracy of this belief,
and now eagerly searched for opportunities to exchange greetings, and to
claim kindred with him. As we had industriously collected a copious
vocabulary of African languages, we felt a certain confidence that we
had been sufficiently initiated into the science of aboriginal language
to be able to begin practising it.
Behind the rocky point were three natives fishing for minnows with hand-
nets. We lay-to on our oars and accosted them. They replied to us
clearly and calmly. There was none of that fierce fluster and bluster
and wild excitement that we had come to recognize as the preliminary
symptoms of a conflict. The word _ndu_—brother—was more frequent. To our
overtures of friendship there was a visible inclination of assent; there
was a manifest desire to accept our conciliatory sentiments; for we
received conciliatory responses. Who could doubt a pacific conclusion to
the negotiations? Our tact and diplomacy had been educated in a rough
school of adversity. Once the attention of the natives had been
arrested, and their confidence obtained, we had never failed to come to
a friendly understanding.
They showed us a camping-place at the base of the brown grassy upland,
in the midst of a thin grove of trees. They readily subscribed to all
the requirements of friendship, blood-brotherhood, and an exchange of a
few small gifts. Two of them then crossed the river to Chumbiri, whose
green wooded slopes and fields, and villages and landing-place, were
visible, to tell the king of Chumbiri that peaceable strangers desired
friendship with him. They appeared to have described us to him as most
engaging people, and to have obtained his cordial co-operation and
sympathy in a very short time, for soon three canoes appeared conveying
about forty men, under three of his sons, who bore to us the royal
spear, and several royal gifts, such as palm-wine, a goat, bananas, and
a chicken to us, and a hearty welcome from the old king, their father,
with the addition of a promise that he would call himself the next day.
[Illustration: THE KING OF CHUMBIRI.]
_Feb. 28._—About 9 A.M. of the 28th the king of Chumbiri appeared with
_éclat_. Five canoes filled with musketeers escorted him.
Though the sketch above is an admirable likeness of him, it may be well
also to append a verbal description. A small-eyed man of about fifty or
thereabout, with a well-formed nose, but wide nostrils and thin lips,
clean-shaved, or rather clean-plucked, with a quiet yet sociable
demeanour, ceremonious, and mild-voiced, with the instincts of a greedy
trader cropping out of him at all points, and cunning beyond measure.
The type of his curious hat may be seen on the head of any Armenian
priest. It was formed out of close-plaited hyphene-palm fibre,
sufficiently durable to outlast his life, though he might live a
century. From his left shoulder, across his chest, was suspended the
sword of the bill-hook pattern, already described in the passages about
Ikengo. Above his shoulder stood upright the bristles of an elephant’s
tail. His hand was armed with a buffalo’s tail, made into a fly-flapper,
to whisk mosquitoes and gnats off the royal face. To his wrist were
attached the odds and ends which the laws of superstition had enjoined
upon him, such as charm-gourds, charm-powders in bits of red and black
flannel, and a collection of wooden antiquities, besides a snuff-gourd
and a parcel of tobacco-leaves.
[Illustration: GREAT PIPE OF KING OF CHUMBIRI.]
The king’s people were apparently very loyal and devoted to him, and his
sons showed remarkable submissiveness. The little snuff-gourd was in
constant requisition, and he took immoderate quantities, inhaling a
quarter of a tea-spoonful at a time from the palm of his hand, to which
he pressed his poor nose until it seemed to be forced into his forehead.
Immediately after, one of his filially-affectionate children would fill
his long chibouque, which was 6 feet in length, decorated with brass
tacks and tassels of braided cloth. The bowl was of iron, and large
enough to contain half an ounce of tobacco. He would then take two or
three long-drawn whiffs, until his cheeks were distended like two
hemispheres, and fumigate his charms thoroughly with the smoke. His sons
then relieved him of the pipe, at which he snapped his fingers—and
distended their cheeks into hemispherical protuberances in like manner,
and also in the same way fumigated their little charms; and so the
chibouque of peace and sociability went the round of the circle, as
though it was a council of Sioux about to hold a pow-wow, and as the
pipe passed round there was an interchange of finger-snaps in a
decorous, grave, and ceremonious style.
Our intercourse with the king was very friendly, and it was apparent
that we were mutually pleased. The only fault that I, as a stranger,
could find in him was an excessive cunning, which approached to the
sublime. He had evidently cultivated fraud and duplicity as an art, yet
he was suave and wheedling. Could I complain? Never were people so
willing to be victimized. Had we been warned that he would victimize us,
I do not think that we should have refused his friendship.
An invitation was extended to us to make his own village our home. We
were hungry; and no doubt we were approaching cataracts. It would be
welcome knowledge to know what to expect below in that broad defile
filled by the great river; what peoples, countries, tribes, villages,
rivers we should see; if the tribes were amenable to reason in the
unknown country; if white men had ever been heard of; if there were
cataracts below, and if they were passable. We accepted the invitation,
and crossed the river, drums and double bell-gongs sounding the peaceful
advance of our flotilla upon Chumbiri.
We were proud of our reception by the dames of Chumbiri. Loyal and
submissive to their king, they exhibited kindly attentions to the
strangers. We held a grand market, and won the natives’ hearts by our
liberality. Back rations for several days were due to our people, and,
filled with an extravagant delight—even as Frank and I were—they
expended their ration moneys with a recklessness of consequences which
only the novelty of the situation explained. We had arrived at port, and
weather-beaten voyagers are generally free with their moneys upon such
occasions.
The dames at Chumbiri were worth seeing, even to us, who were sated with
the thousand curious things we had met in our long travels. They were
also pretty, of a rich brown colour many of them, large-eyed, and finely
formed, with a graceful curve of shoulder I had not often observed. But
they were slaves of fashion. Six-tenths of the females wore brass
collars 2 inches in diameter; three-tenths had them 2½ inches in
diameter; one-tenth were oppressed with collars 3 inches in diameter;
which completely covered the neck, and nearly reached the shoulder ends.
Fancy the weight of 30 lbs. of brass, soldered permanently round the
neck! Yet these oppressed women were the favourite wives of Chumbiri!
And they rejoiced in their oppression!
I believe that Chumbiri—who, as I said, was a keen and enterprising
trader, the first aboriginal African that might be compared to a
Parsee—as soon as he obtained any brass wire, melted it and forged it
into brass collars for his wives. That the collars were not larger may
be attributed, perhaps, to his poverty. He boasted to me he possessed
“four tens” of wives, and each wife was collared permanently in thick
brass. I made a rough calculation, and I estimated that his wives bore
about their necks until death at least 800 lbs. of brass; his
daughters—he had six—120 lbs.; his favourite female slaves about 200
lbs. Add 6 lbs. of brass wire to each wife and daughter for arm and leg
ornaments, and one is astonished to discover that Chumbiri possesses a
portable store of 1396 lbs. of brass.
[Illustration: ONE OF THE KING’S WIVES AT CHUMBIRI.]
I asked of Chumbiri what he did with the brass on the neck of a dead
wife. Chumbiri smiled. Cunning rogue; he regarded me benevolently, as
though he loved me for the searching question. Significantly he drew his
finger across his throat.
The warriors and young men are distinguished for a characteristic style
of hair-dressing, which belongs to Uyanzi alone. It is arranged into
four separate plaits, two of which overhang the forehead like lovers’
curls. Another special mark of Uyanzi are two tattooed lines over the
forehead. In whatever part of the lower Livingstone these peculiarities
of style may be seen, they are indubitably Wy-yanzi, or natives of
Uyanzi.
The country of Uyanzi embraces many small districts, and extends along
the left bank of the great river, from Bolobo, in south latitude 2° 23′
14″, to the confluence of the Ibari Nkutu, or river of Nkutu, and the
Livingstone, in 3° 14′ south latitude. The principal districts are
Bolobo, Isangu, Chumbiri, Musevoka, Misongo, and Ibaka. Opposite is the
country of the Bateké, a wilder tribe than the Wy-yanzi, some of the
more eastern of whom are professed cannibals. To the north is the
cannibal tribe of the Wanfuninga, of ferocious repute, and dreaded by
the Wy-yanzi and Bateké.
The language of Uyanzi seemed to us to be a mixture of almost all
Central African dialects. Our great stock of native words in all
dialects proved of immense use to me; and in three days I discovered,
after classifying and comparing the words heard from the Wy-yanzi with
other African words, that I was tolerably proficient, at least for all
practical purposes, in the Kiyanzi dialect.
_Mar. 7._—On the 7th March we parted from the friendly king of Chumbiri,
with an escort of forty-five men, in three canoes under the leadership
of his eldest son, who was instructed by his father to accompany us as
far as the pool, now called Stanley Pool, because of an incident which
will be described hereafter.
For some reason we crossed the river, and camped on the right bank, two
miles below Chumbiri. At midnight the Wy-yanzi awoke us all by the
fervour with which they implored their fetishes to guide us safely from
camp to camp, which they named. As they had been very successful in
charming away the rain with which we had been threatened the evening
before, our people were delighted to hear them pray for success, having
an implicit faith in them.
Just below our camp the river contracted to 2500 yards, between two high
hilly banks, and 400 to 600 feet high.
_Mar. 8._—A violent rain-storm began at 8 A.M. of the 8th, which lasted
four hours. We then made a start, but after an hour of our company the
escort lagged behind, but told us to continue our journey, as they would
overtake us. Though I strongly suspected that the Wy-yanzi intended to
abandon us, we could find no reasonable cause to doubt them, and
therefore proceeded without them until near sunset. We camped in the
midst of a dense jungly forest. About an hour after, the camp was
alarmed by the shrieks of a boy, who was about to be attacked by a
python, which vanished in the woods when the people rushed to the
rescue. The boy said he had hailed it at first, imagining it to be one
of his friends. In half an hour the python, or another one, was
discovered in a different part of the camp, about to embrace a woman in
its folds; but this time, after tremendous excitement, the monster was
despatched. It measured only 13 feet 6 inches in length, and 15 inches
round the thickest part of the body.
_Mar. 9._—At early dawn we continued our journey along the right bank,
and about 7 A.M. discovered a rapid river about two hundred and fifty
yards wide, having two mouths, to which I have given the name of Lawson
River, after Mr. Edward Levy Lawson. The water was of a very light
colour.
[Illustration: SON OF THE KING OF CHUMBIRI.]
The water of the Ikelemba river, which enters the Livingstone above
Ikengo in about 12′ south latitude, did not commingle with that of its
great recipient until both had flowed side by side in the same bed for
about 130 miles, or near Bolobo. Its strong-tea-coloured water had now
quite changed the complexion of the Livingstone; for, while above Bolobo
it had a clear whitey-grey colour, it was now of a deep brown. The other
tea-coloured rivers, such as the Ruiki, Kasuku, and Black, above the
Stanley Falls, had soon become absorbed by the waters of the
Livingstone.
Below the last affluent the Livingstone narrowed to 1500 yards, and
flowed with a perceptibly quickened current through the deep chasm in
the table-land, the slopes of which were mostly uninhabited; but on the
summit near the verge, on either side, villages, banana plantations, and
other signs of population were visible.
I tossed my lead into the stream in this comparatively narrow channel,
and obtained at the first cast 158 feet; half an hour afterwards I
obtained 163; a third time, 79 feet.
On our left, in south latitude 3° 14′ 4″, we came to the Ibari (river)
Nkutu, issuing from east-north-east through a deepening cleft in the
table-land, and 450 yards wide at the mouth, a powerful and deep river.
There is no doubt that this Ibari-Nkutu is the Coango or Kwango of the
Portuguese, the sources of which Livingstone crossed, on his way to
Loanda in 1854, and which takes its rise in the watershed that separates
the basin of the great river from that of the Zambezi.
Six miles below the confluence of the Nkutu river with the Livingstone
we drew our vessels close to a large and thick grove, to cook breakfast,
and with a faint hope that in the meantime our guides would appear.
Fires were kindled, and the women were attending to the porridge of
cassava flour for their husbands. Frank and I were hungrily awaiting our
cook’s voice to announce our meal ready, when, close to us, several loud
musket-shots startled us all, and six of our men fell wounded. Though we
were taken considerably at a disadvantage, long habit had taught us how
to defend ourselves in a bush, and a desperate fight began, and lasted
an hour, ending in the retreat of the savages, but leaving us with
fourteen of our men wounded. This was our thirty-second fight, and last.
After the wounded had been tended, and breakfast despatched, we
proceeded down river, and two miles below we discovered the settlement
to which our late antagonists belonged. But we continued our journey
until 2 P.M., when, coming to a small island, we disembarked. At 4 P.M.
our long absent guides appeared, and, as they were disinclined to halt,
we followed them down river, until they stopped at a large settlement
called Mwana Ibaka, which occupied a low semi-circular terrace at the
base of tall hills. Imagining that there was not the slightest fear of a
rupture after being heralded by our friends, we steered for the shore;
but as we approached, the shore swarmed with hundreds of excited men,
with brass-banded muskets in their hands. Through sheer surprise at the
frantic savagery so suddenly displayed, we floated down dangerously near
the aiming men, before we observed that our guides were making violent
gestures for us to move off. This recalled us to our senses, and we
rowed away before the fierce people had drawn trigger. Three miles below
we encamped on the right bank, and at sunset our guides appeared, but
halted on the left bank.
_Mar. 10._—On the morning of the 10th, at 6 A.M., the downward voyage
was continued, between lofty and picturesque shores, here bold and
precipitous, there wooded from base to summit—here great hill shoulders
sloping abruptly to the edge of the deep river, there retreating into
wooded valleys between opposing ridges. Our guides overtook us, but they
would hold no conversation with us, until, arriving at the woods of
Ndandé-Njoko, at 10 A.M., they changed their minds, crossed over to the
right bank, and halted for breakfast. We also stopped, and renewed our
intercourse with them, while they began vehemently to excuse themselves
from being the cause of Mwana Ibaka’s outrageously wild conduct, and of
not warning us of the murderous community which had attacked us in the
grove the day previous, and which had caused us such a grievous loss. We
excused them gladly, and then took an opportunity of promising more
brass wire to them if they would accompany us to the cataract; but our
friends required it in advance. But having already been paid at Chumbiri
most bounteously for services which they had as yet shown no disposition
to give, and as we felt assured they would not fulfil any new
engagement, we resolved to depend upon ourselves.
When I came to reflect upon the manner we had been treated above river
by the cannibals who had netted us in at the Sixth Cataract of the
Stanley Falls, and the extraordinarily cunning king of Chumbiri and his
sons, I perceived that the conduct of both had alike sprung from
contempt of people of whom they knew nothing. Though I have seen five
hundred African chiefs, it may not be amiss to record here my firm
belief that the mild-voiced king of Chumbiri is the most plausible rogue
of all Africa.
Near sunset we camped in a little cove below precipitous red cliffs,
which had contracted the river to 1000 yards in width. The upper parts
of these cliffs consisted of hard grey sandstone, overlying a soft red
sandstone.
_Mar. 11._—The 11th of March was passed without further incident than
the usual storm—south-wester—which blew almost every day, and often made
the river dangerous to low-board river canoes. The river was very deep,
and flowed with a current of 3 knots an hour, and varied in width from
1000 to 1400 yards, pent in by the steep but wooded slopes of the hilly
ridges that rose to the height of 600 feet above us. Red buffaloes and
small antelope were abundant on the right bank, but not even a shot
dared we fire, lest it might startle some frenzied savage to sound the
call to war, and so alarm the people at the cataract the terrors of
which we were constantly exaggerating in our thoughts.
_Mar. 12._—About 11 A.M. of the 12th, the river gradually expanded from
1400 yards to 2500 yards, which admitted us in view of a mighty breadth
of river, which the men at once, with happy appropriateness, termed “a
pool.” Sandy islands rose in front of us like a sea-beach, and on the
right towered a long row of cliffs, white and glistening, so like the
cliffs of Dover that Frank at once exclaimed that it was a bit of
England. The grassy table-land above the cliffs appeared as green as a
lawn, and so much reminded Frank of Kentish Downs that he exclaimed
enthusiastically, “I feel we are nearing home.”
While taking an observation at noon of the position, Frank, with my
glass in his hand, ascended the highest part of the large sandy dune
that had been deposited by the mighty river, and took a survey of its
strange and sudden expansion, and after he came back he said, “Why, I
declare, sir, this place is just like a pool; as broad as it is long.
There are mountains all round it, and it appears to me almost
circular.”[12]
-----
Footnote 12:
Frank described the crater of an extinct volcano, which is six miles
in length and four miles wide, as described more in detail
subsequently.
-----
“Well, if it is a pool, we must distinguish it by some name. Give me a
suitable name for it, Frank.”
“Why not call it ‘Stanley Pool,’ and these cliffs ‘Dover Cliffs’? For no
traveller who may come here again will fail to recognize the cliffs by
that name.”
Subsequent events brought these words vividly to my recollection, and in
accordance with Frank’s suggestion I have named this lake-like expansion
of the river from Dover Cliffs to the first cataract of the Livingstone
Falls—embracing about thirty square miles—the Stanley Pool. The latitude
of the entrance from above to the pool was ascertained to be 4° 3′ south
latitude.
The left shore is occupied by the populous settlements of Nshasa,
Nkunda, and Ntamo. The right is inhabited by the wild Bateké, who are
generally accused of being cannibals.
Soon after we began our descent of the pool, skirting the right shore,
we observed a chalky mount, near which were two or three columns of the
same material. From a cove just below emerged two or three Bateké
canoes, the crews of which, after collecting their faculties, consented
to show us the cataract, the noise of which, as they attempted to
describe it, elicited roars of laughter from the members of the
Expedition. This outburst of loud merriment conquered all reluctance on
the part of the Bateké to accompany us.
After winding in and out of many creeks which were very shallow, we
approached the village of Mankoneh, the chief of the Bateké. His people
during the daytime are generally scattered over these sandy dunes of the
Stanley Pool attending to their nets and fish-snares, and to protect
themselves from the hot sun always take with them several large mats to
form sheds. Mankoneh, to our great delight, was a bluff, hearty, genial
soul, who expressed unbounded pleasure at seeing us; he also volunteered
to guide us to the falls. He was curious to know how we proposed
travelling after arriving near them, for it was impossible, he said, to
descend the falls. By a ludicrous pantomime he led us to understand that
they were something very fearful.
A few hundred yards below his village the pool sharply contracted, and
the shore of Ntamo—a projecting point from the crescent-shaped ridge
beyond—appeared at a distance of 2000 yards. It was then that we heard
for the first time the low and sullen thunder of the first cataract of
the Livingstone Falls.
Slowly Mankoneh, in his canoe, glided down towards it, and louder it
grew on the ears, until when within one hundred yards of the first line
of broken water he pointed forward, and warned us not to proceed
farther. We made for the shore, and found ourselves on a narrow ledge-
like terrace bristling with great blocks of granite, amidst a jungly
tangle, which grew at the base of high hills. Here, after a short busy
period with axe and machete, we constructed a rude camp. The only level
spot was not six feet square.
Mankoneh, the Bateké chief, pointed out to us the village of Itsi, the
chief of Ntamo, which is situate on the left bank, in a line with the
beginning of the first cataract, and spoke of Itsi with great respect,
as though he were very powerful.
About 5 P.M. a small canoe was observed to cross over to our side from
the left bank, a mile above the falls. The canoe-men, through the
representations of our hearty friend Mankoneh, were soon induced to land
in our camp to converse with the white men, and before long we had
succeeded in making them feel quite at home with us. As they were in a
quiver of anxious desire to impart to the chief Itsi all the wonderful
things they had witnessed with us, they departed about sunset, solemnly
promising we should see the famous Itsi of Ntamo next morning.
Lashing our canoes firmly lest an accident should happen during the
night, we turned to our rude huts to sleep in peace. We were all very
hungry, as we had been able to purchase nothing from the natives since
leaving Chumbiri five days before, and we had been more than usually
improvident, having placed far too much reliance on the representations
so profusely made to us by the mild-voiced but cunning king of Chumbiri.
From very shame I refrain from publishing the stores of goods with which
I purchased the glib promises of assistance from Chumbiri, not one of
which were realized.
_Mar. 13._—Morning of the 13th of March found us, from the early hours
of dawn, anxiously waiting the arrival of Itsi of Ntamo and the
reappearance of Mankoneh. From our camp we might easily with a glass
note any movement on the other bank. At 9 A.M.—Itsi evidently was not an
early riser—a large canoe and two consorts, laden with men, were seen
propelled up stream along the left bank, and a mile above the landing-
place to cross the river at a furious pace. The rows of upright figures,
with long paddles, bending their bodies forward in unison, and their
voices rising in a swelling chorus to the sound of the steady beat of a
large drum, formed a pretty and inspiring sight. Arriving at the right
bank, with a perfect recklessness of the vicinity of the falls, they
dashed down towards our camp at the rate of six knots an hour. The large
war-canoe, though not quite equal to the monster of the Aruwimi in size,
was a noble vessel, and Itsi, who was seated in state “mid-ship,” with
several grey-headed elders near him, was conscious, when he saw our
admiration, that he had created a favourable impression. She measured 85
feet 7 inches in length, 4 feet in width, and was 3 feet 3 inches deep.
Her crew consisted of sixty paddlers and four steersmen, and she carried
twenty-two passengers, close-packed, besides, making a total of eighty-
six persons. The other two canoes carried ninety-two persons altogether.
We cordially invited Itsi and his people to our camp, to which they
willingly responded. Some grass, fresh cut, in anticipation of the visit
of our honourable friends, had been strewn over a cleared space close to
the stream, and our best mats spread over it.
There were four or five grey-headed elders present, one of whom was
introduced as Itsi. He laughed heartily, and it was not long before we
were on a familiar footing. They then broached the subject of blood-
brotherhood. We were willing, but they wished to defer the ceremony
until they had first shown their friendly feelings to us. Accordingly
the old man handed over to me ten loaves of cassava bread, or cassava
pudding, fifty tubers of cassava, three bunches of bananas, a dozen
sweet potatoes, some sugar-cane, three fowls, and a diminutive goat. A
young man of about twenty-six years made Frank’s acquaintance by
presenting to him double the quantity I received. This liberality drew
my attention to him. His face was dotted with round spots of soot-and-
oil mixture. From his shoulders depended a long cloth of check pattern,
while over one shoulder was a belt, to which was attached a queer medley
of small gourds containing snuff and various charms, which he called his
Inkisi. In return for the bounteous stores of provisions given to Frank
and myself, as they were cotton- or grass-cloth-wearing people, we made
up a bundle of cloths for each of the principals, which they refused, to
our surprise. We then begged to know what they desired, that we might
show our appreciation of their kindness, and seal the bond of
brotherhood with our blood.
The young man now declared himself to be Itsi, the king of Ntamo; the
elder, who had previously been passed off for the king, being only an
ancient councillor.
It was a surprise, but not an unpleasant one, though there was nothing
very regal or majestic about him, unless one may so call his munificent
bounty to Frank, as compared to the old man’s to me. We finally
prevailed upon Itsi to inform us what gift would be pleasing to him.
He said, “I want only that big goat; if you give me that, I shall want
nothing more.”
The “big goat” which he so earnestly required was the last of six
couples I had purchased in Uregga for the purpose of presentation to an
eminent English lady, in accordance with a promise I had made to her
four years previously. All the others had perished from heat apoplexy,
sickness, and want of proper care, which the terrible life we had led
had prevented us from supplying. This “big goat” and a lion-like ram,
gigantic specimens of the domestic animals of Manyema and Uregga, were
all that survived. They had both become quite attached to us, and were
valued companions of a most eventful journey of 1100 miles. I refused
it, but offered to double the cloths. Whereupon Itsi sulked, and
prepared to depart, not, however, before hinting that we should find it
difficult to obtain food if he vetoed the sale of provisions. We coaxed
him back again to his seat, and offered him one of the asses.
The possession of such a “gigantic” animal as an ass, which was to him
of all domestic animals a veritable Titanosaurus, was a great
temptation; but the shuddering women, who feared being eaten by it,
caused him to decline the honour of the gift. He now offered three goats
for what appeared to him to be the “largest” goat in Africa, and boasted
of his goodness, and how his friendship would be serviceable to me,
whereas, if he parted in anger, why, we should be entirely at his mercy.
The goat was therefore transferred to his canoe, and Itsi departed for
Ntamo as though he were in possession of a new wonder.
Our provisions were only sufficient to prove what appetites we
possessed, and not to assuage them: all were consumed in a few minutes,
and we were left with only hopes of obtaining a little more on the next
day.
_Mar. 14._—On the 14th Itsi appeared with his war-canoe at 9 A.M.,
bringing three goats and twenty loaves of cassava bread and a few
tubers, and an hour afterwards Nchuvira, king of Nkunda, Mankoneh, chief
of the Bateké fishermen near the Stanley Pool, and the king of Nshasa,
at the south-east end of the Stanley Pool, arrived at our camp with
several canoe crews. Each of the petty sovereigns of the districts in
our neighbourhood contributed a little, but altogether we were only able
to distribute to each person 2 lbs. of eatable provisions. Every chief
was eager for a present, with which he was gratified, and solemn
covenants of peace were entered into between the whites and the blacks.
The treaty with Itsi was exceedingly ceremonious, and involved the
exchange of charms. Itsi transferred to me, for my protection through
life, a small gourdful of a curious powder, which had rather a saline
taste, and I delivered over to him, as the white man’s charm against all
evil, a half-ounce vial of magnesia; further, a small scratch in Frank’s
arm, and another in Itsi’s arm, supplied blood sufficient to unite us in
one and indivisible bond of fraternity. After this we were left alone.
An observation by boiling-point, above the First Cataract of the
Livingstone Falls, disclosed to us an altitude of 1147 feet above the
ocean. At Nyangwé the river was 2077 feet. In 1235 miles therefore there
had been only a reduction of 930 feet, divided as follows:—
Feet. Distance Fall per Mile.
in Miles.
Nyangwé 2077 }
4 miles below seventh cataract, }
Stanley Falls 1511 } 327 20 inches.
—— }
Feet 566 }
4 miles below seventh cataract, }
Stanley Falls 1511 }
River at Ntamo, above first } 898 5 inches nearly.
cataract, Livingstone Falls 1147 } River
—— } uninterrupted.
Feet 364