the Middle Congo tribes I know of do. He has no slaves, no
prisoners of war, no cemeteries, so you must draw your own
conclusions. No, my friend, I will not tell you any cannibal
stories. I have heard how good M. du Chaillu fared after
telling you some beauties, and now you come away from the
Fan village and down the Rembwe river.
CH A P T ER X V
DOWN THE REMBWB
Setting forth how the Voyager descends the Rembwe River, with divers
excursions and alarms, in the company of a black trader, and returns
safely to the Coast. To which is added some account of the
geography of this region, the Gaboon and its chief affluents.
GETTING away from A gon jo seemed as i f it would be
nearly as difficult a s .g e ttin g to it, but as the quaiters were
comfortable and the society fairly good, I was not anxious.
I own the local scenery was a little too much of the Niger
Delta type for perfect beauty, just the long lines of mangrove,
and the muddy river lounging almost imperceptibly to sea,
and nothing else in sight. Mr. Glass, however, did not take
things so philosophically. I was on his commercial conscience,
for I had come in from the bush and there was money in me.
Therefore I was a trade product— a new trade stuff that ought
to be worked up and developed ; and he found himself unable
to do this, for although he had secured the first parcel, as it
were, and got it successfully stored, yet he could not ship it,
and he felt this was a reproach to him.
Many were his lamentations that the firm had not provided
him with a large sailing canoe and a suitable crew to deal
with this new line of trade. I did my best to comfort him,
pointing out that the most enterprising firm could not be
expected to provide expensive things like these, on the extremely
remote chance of ladies arriving per bush at Agonjo—
in fact not until the trade in them was well developed. But
he refused to see it in this light and harped upon the subject,
wrapped up, poor man, in a great coat and a muffler, because