nature, and a strange elasticity comes over us.
The boat-boys amuse me by singing their most
animating song, to which every member of our
Expedition responds with enthusiasm. The men
women, and children are roused to maintain that
reckless, exuberant spirit which assisted me to
drive through the cannibal region of the Stanley
Falls, for otherwise they might lose that dash
and vigour on which depends our success. They
are apt, if permitted thinking-time, to brood upon
our situation, to become disquieted and melancholy,
to reflect on the fate of those who have
already been lost, and to anticipate a like dolorous
ending to their own lives.
I thought even Frank was half affected by
the sudden cessation of trouble, and the sight
of the now broad tranquil river to which we had
been a stranger for some time; for after the
boat-boys had become hoarse from chanting,
his voice was heard in a doleful and sad strain,
of which the words were as follows:—
“ The home land, the fair land,
Refuge for all distressed,
Where pain and sin ne’er enter in,
But all is peace and rest.
“ The home land! I long to meet
Those who have gone before;
The weeping eyes, and weary feet,,
Rest on that happy shore.
“ The home land, the bright land,
My eyes are filled with tears,
Remembering all the happy band,
Passed from my sight for years.
“When will it dawn upon my soul?
When shall I meet that strand?
By night and day X watch and pray
For thee, dear, blest home land.”
I thought the voice trembled as the strain
ended— and, lest I should be affected also, by
no means a desirable thing, I said cheerily,
“ F r a n k , my dear fellow,. you will make everybody
cry with such tunes as those; they are
too lachrymose altogether for our present state.
The men are so weak and excited that mournfulness
will derange their nerves, and make us
all utterly unfit for the work before us. Choose
some heroic tune, whose notes will make us all
feel afire, and drive our canoes down stream as
though we were driven by steam.”
“ A ll right, sir,” he replied with a bright,
cheerful face, and sang the following:—
“ Brightly gleams our banner,
Pointing to the sky,
Waving wanderers onward
To their home on high.
“ Journeying o’er the desert,
Gladly thus we pray,
And with hearts united
Take our heavenward way.”