THE CONGO.
1884. district. Consistent, patient conduct, and steady for-
Kinshassa. bearance bad performed wonders, and the most intractable
community on tbe Upper Congo bad been converted
to have a perfect faith in our honesty and in
the purity of our motives.
Two hours after leaving Kinshassa, the flotilla
steamed into the cove of Leopoldville, from which it
had been absent 146 days, having meantime travelled
3050 miles on the Upper Congo.
Leopoldville, as might be expected from the happy
selection of its chief, Lieutenant Yalcke, was a flourishing
station. For from the matin to the vesper
bells, excepting Sundays, work—purposeful work—
ran on in a steady, unruffled current. By this means,
nature assisting, the gardens teemed with abundance,
and the houses lined the terrace in an imposing row,
so that our guests from Nyangwe uttered exclamations
of admiration which were indeed echoed by everybody
on the boats. Nor on searching into details was there
any cause found for regret. All the chiefs round
about were on excellent terms with the'Europeans;
the market held at Leopoldville Plaza supplied all
that the community needed. There had been no out-1
• break of temper, and, consequently, there was no
marring: or inharmonious incident to relate. The
magazines were full of goods and provisions, containing
enough to supply all the stations on the Upper
River, and for the new places to be established on the
next journey to the regions above.
Meantime, on the Lower Congo, owing to the fact