28 THE CONGO.
^1883. report until my return from the equatorial district, as
Irebu. I had not the means to idly feed eighty people.
With a guide from Mangombo and Msenné of
Mswata, we set out from the mouth of the Lukanga
and Upper Irebu, on the afternoon of the 6th of June,
up the Congo.
Among the topics I heard discussed between the
groups of commoners near the landing-place of Irebu
was the difference between Stanley and Buia Matari.
The majority contended that though Stanley was thè
first “ Mundele” who appeared on the river, and
fought everybody who attempted to stop him, yet it
was really Buia Matari who sent him to find all about
the country, and who owned all the men and canoes.
For, look you, Stanley had only canoes like we have,
whereas this Buia Matari has only one canoe ; all the
rest are boats that we never saw the like anywhere.
No : Stanley must be Buia Matari’s vizier, or big
captain ; for, you see, Buia Matari has many towns,
and thousands upon . thousands of bales of cloth.
“ Stanley gave proper measure of brass rods ; when
we go to Kintamo we shall ask for Stanley’s brass
rods ; they are half as long again as the rods of the
Bateké at the Pool.”
The notables of Irehu were uigent for the medicine
to make wealth grow quickly. I imparted to them
the lesson of trading, hut this advice they rejected with
scorn and contempt. They knew well enough how to
trade, but their wealth they confessed never increased.
“ You,” said they, “ must have some charm by which
COOKING THE BIG FOT. 29
your store increases without care. We saw at Kintamo
one day your shelves all empty; the very next day
when we called they were filled from top to bottom.
We wish to know this secret.” f
The slaves of Ibaka boasted that they knew it,
consequently their hut was besieged with applicants,
and they made nearly two hundred brass rods by
their extraordinary charlatanry.
Another subject of interested discussion among the
Irebu was, “ What was it that'turned the paddle-wheels
of the En Avant? ” This was a difficult puzzle to
them. Some would have it that there were about
twenty men concealed somewhere in the bottom of the
steamer; Others doubted - that, and hotly maintained
that the secret was in that “ big p o t” (boiler), otherwise
why should the cook (engineer) be always near
it making up the fire inside. But what was it that
the engineer was cooking so industriously ? A h ! that
was another puzzle.
“ Whatever it is,” said they, “ it takes alo n g time
to cook. That engineer has been cooking all day, and
it is not finished yet. It must be a strong medicine
that; and all that large pile of wood has been used up.
The two other boats have similar pots, into which their
cooks shove in fuel continually. Perhaps if we had also
big pots in our canoes, and we had some of the white
man’s medicine, we need not toil any more with tired,
arms at our paddles, and suffer from, aches and pains in
our shoulders.”
Fifty miles above Irebu we came to Ikengo at
Irebu.