| COLOURED PLATES | ||
| The Old Bilumbu relating the Legends of his Tribe | Frontispiece | |
| Wissmann Pool | To face page | 20 |
| Sounding the Signalling Gong | ” | 68 |
| Misumba | ” | 91 |
| Embroidering the Raphia Cloth | ” | 93 |
| The Equatorial Forest | ” | 150 |
| Bushongo Elders Dancing | ” | 201 |
| An Incident at Pana | ” | 246 |
| HALF-TONES | ||
| The Congo at Matadi | ” | 5 |
| A Street in Matadi | ” | 5 |
| The Congo Railway | ” | 10 |
| A Stop at a Wayside Station | ” | 10 |
| Bateke Village, Kinshasa | ” | 14 |
| Fishermen on the Congo | ” | 14 |
| Open Country beside the Kasai | ” | 29 |
| Mangay | ” | 29 |
| The Leader of the Basonge Orchestra | ” | 36 |
| The Sankuru near Batempa | ” | 36 |
| A Batetela Drummer | ” | 52 |
| Batetela Wall Pictures | ” | 52 |
| An Old-fashioned Batetela Hut | ” | 62 |
| Jadi and some of his Wives | ” | 62 |
| Batwa Dwarfs | ” | 84 |
| A Street in Misumba | ” | 84 |
| The Hunting Fetish, Misumba | ” | 101 |
| A Bushongo of Misumba | ” | 101 |
| The Bilumbu taking Pills under a Blanket | ” | 105 |
| The Bilumbu dismissing an Inquisitive Child | ” | 105 |
| A Ceremonial Dance by an Elder | ” | 111 |
| A Dance at Misumba | ” | 111 |
| A Basongo-Meno Warrior | ” | 118 |
| Our Camp at Gandu | ” | 118 |
| A Bankutu Cannibal | ” | 132 |
| A Bankutu Village | ” | 132 |
| Bankutu Bark Huts | ” | 142 |
| A Village in the Equatorial Forest | ” | 142 |
| Our Loads in a Forest Village | ” | 162 |
| The Dogs with which the Olemba buy their Wives | ” | 162 |
| A Vungi Mother | ” | 173 |
| An Akela Beauty | ” | 173 |
| A Primitive Signalling Gong | ” | 176 |
| A Grave-hut in the Equatorial Forest | ” | 176 |
| An Akela cutting up his Food | ” | 181 |
| Akela Warriors | ” | 181 |
| A Belle of the Mushenge | ” | 194 |
| A Bushongo Elder | ” | 194 |
| The Nyimi in his Ghost-dance | ” | 204 |
| An Elder displaying a Statue | ” | 204 |
| The Statue of Shamba Bolongongo (now in the British Museum) | ” | 209 |
| Children at the Mushenge imitating a Bearded White Man | ” | 222 |
| The Nyimi’s Sons playing with our Firearms | ” | 222 |
| Mikope and Mingi Bengela | ” | 226 |
| A Bushongo Village near the Mushenge | ” | 226 |
| A Child from the Mission at Pana | ” | 244 |
| Bos Caffer Simpsoni: a cow | ” | 244 |
| Bos Caffer Simpsoni: our best bull | ” | 248 |
| Cutting up a Buffalo at Pana | ” | 250 |
| A Hippopotamus from the Kwilu | ” | 250 |
| A Bambala Girl playing a Nose Flute | ” | 255 |
| A Bambala Boy playing an Ordinary Flute | ” | 255 |
| The Friction Drum | ” | 257 |
| Bambala Gambling | ” | 257 |
| A Babunda Hut | ” | 262 |
| Babunda Porters entering Athenes | ” | 262 |
| The Kwilu Valley at Bondo | ” | 269 |
| A View from the Factory of Athenes | ” | 269 |
| Crossing the Lubue | ” | 276 |
| A Bapende Dance at Dumba | ” | 276 |
| Kangala | ” | 283 |
| Bapende Boys wearing Masks | ” | 283 |
| A Bakongo Village, photographed from the top of its Stockade | ” | 290 |
| A View of the Unknown Country from Kangala | ” | 290 |
| Carving a Wooden Cup at Insashi | ” | 295 |
| The Chief of Insashi calling for Canoes | ” | 295 |
| Gandu, Son of the Chief of Kanenenke | ” | 308 |
| Removing a Lady’s Eyelashes | ” | 308 |
| Bakongo of Kenge looking at our Doll | ” | 321 |
| The Clockwork Elephant | ” | 321 |
| A Badjok Camp at Makasu | ” | 330 |
| Bashilele Hunters | ” | 330 |
| Our Porters from the Kwilu | ” | 338 |
| Interior of a Bashilele Village | ” | 338 |
About This Book
The author recounts an extended expedition through the Kasai basin of the Congo, combining travel narrative with ethnographic description. He details routes and river navigation, logistical arrangements and trading with local suppliers, and the process of collecting objects and natural specimens. The account presents portraits of diverse native communities, their material culture, ceremonies, social customs, and oral traditions, illustrated by drawings, colour plates, and a map. Reflections on fieldwork challenges, colonial administration, and commercial contacts provide contextual background for the observations.