1883. dawned upon our lives; but what it signifies let those
May 29. . , ,,
Ungende. answer who can |
And we, looking out from under our awnings, appear
to say, “ Ay, gaze, oh men and women, upon
these three symbols of civilisation. Ye see things
to-day which the oldest and wisest inhabitant of your
land never heard or dreamed of, and yet they are but
tiny types of self-moving leviathans that plough the
raging sea by night as well as by day ! ’
Two hours above Iyumbi we lost our way. The
channels were numerous. A reedy flat had appeared
above Iyumbi, to which we clung in order not to lose
sight of the mainland; and coming to a narrow creek
we ran in, expecting, although its direction was a little
too easterly, that perhaps we should emerge on the
Congo. There was a sluggish current in it, and we
kept on, but after seventeen miles it narrowed, and
reeds finally stopped further passage, and we had to
return, opposite the village of Ikulu.
We had not perceived many villages as we had
steamed along; but in coming back we sighted about
twenty canoes in the creek advancing towards us.
They had appeared from some direction through the
reeds. These, on seeing us, hastily turned back, but
wishing to know from them which route to take, the
En Avant cast off the whale-boat which she had been
towing, and steamed after them at full speed.
Not until we had run five miles could we overtake
the flying flotilla, and then we found that their crews
were women, who to escape us, dashed into the reeds,
LUKOLELA.
and splashed clumsily with water up to their necks to
reach the shore. Not a word would they answer ; but
stood, on reaching the shore, sulkily regarding us.
As we steamed six knots an hour, an idea may be
gained of the speed which the natives when pressed in
their canoes attain. These also were mere fishing-
pirogues. Had they been war canoes it is likely our
steamer would have been beaten in the race.
On the 31st of May we had a tolerably fair journey,
but the wind blew down river, and impeded us. Two
trading canoes with twenty paddlers in each were overtaken,
which kept pace with us the rest of the day,
and camped sociably with us on a park-like terrace,
which showed soft young grass, while the forest ran
in a deep black semicircle behind us. The By-yanzi
canoe-men were bound for Ubang-i.
On the 1st of June, after following a dense forest
for nine hours, we drew near another settlement.
Our provisions were running exceedingly low. Eighty
coloured men and seven Europeans consume at least
250 lbs. weight of food daily. Since leaving Bolobo,
nearly half a ton weight of provisions had been eaten.
It behoved us then to prepare ourselves for barter
with the community in view, which our guides called
Lukolela.
The settlement ran along a crescented bend of the
river, above a steep clay bank ranging from 5 feet to
25 feet above the water, in a clearing cut out of the
finest forest I had yet seen. The trees had not been
much thinned, so that from a distance, but for the
1883.
May 30.
Ikulu.