During our journey up the Kasai the captain of the Velde told us that about the year 1904 or 1905 a very deadly epidemic had broken out among the hippopotami of that river and the Sankuru. So great had been the mortality among the animals (which even now exist in the middle Kasai in almost as great numbers as in Wissman Pool) that the factories on the bank had been obliged to employ men with canoes to push out into the current the carcases which had lodged on the shore close at hand, the stench from which, as they began to decay, had been appalling. I could gather no information as to the nature of this disease.

When we entered the Sankuru the river banks became more densely wooded, and the patches of open grass land visible in the background rarer and more rare. The river is narrower than the Kasai, seldom exceeding about a mile in width, and the foliage on the banks rises abruptly from the water’s edge, forming solid walls of luxuriant vegetation. This kind of scenery, although undoubtedly beautiful, is very apt to become monotonous, so that we were always glad when a call at one of the factories, of which there are about eight below Lusambo, broke the dulness of a voyage through the forest. Of course there was always plenty to look at; for, in addition to animal life, canoes of native fishermen were ever to be seen darting in and out of the almost invisible openings in the vegetation, making the entrance to the little harbours where are kept the canoes of the villages, which as a rule are situated some little way inland. But we were eager to begin our work in earnest, and naturally chafed at our enforced inactivity upon the steamer. In addition to the delay of which the pitching and striking of our camp was the cause, our progress was retarded by the lack of prepared fuel on the banks. Wood only is burned on the steamers, and the Kasai Company has established posts all along the river, at each of which about half-a-dozen natives are employed in felling trees and cutting the wood into suitable lengths for the furnaces of the vessels. As these men are under no supervision they by no means overwork themselves, with the result that one often finds very little wood ready when the steamer calls; consequently the voyage has frequently to be interrupted while the crew cut wood in the forest or on the shore. We were, I believe, exceptionally unlucky in finding so little wood prepared, and our stoppages were therefore more frequent than is usual. We paid a brief visit to the English mission at Inkongu, a few miles below Lusambo, where Mr. Westcott is doing a very good work, strictly undenominational, among the natives, and at Lusambo itself, the centre of government of the district of Lualaba-Kasai. We found that Commandant Gustin, the commissioner, was absent upon a tour of inspection, but we were received by the deputy-commissioner, Commandant Saut. On hearing that our destination was the Lubefu River, this gentleman informed us that he was expecting a caravan to arrive with rubber from that river, and that he had no doubt the men would be glad to earn an additional wage instead of returning without loads to their homes. He therefore promised to send them on to us at Batempa, where we agreed to await their arrival.

Just as our steamer was leaving we received a message from the magistrate who resides at Lusambo, strongly advising us to abandon our journey to Mokunji, for he had heard that there was considerable unrest and anti-European feeling among the Batetela villages that lay upon the road, and he was of the opinion that we should not reach the Lubefu without being attacked. We thanked the magistrate for his friendly warning, but we had come too far to abandon our journey at the first rumour of trouble, and we continued our voyage to Ikoka, a factory between Lusambo and Batempa, fully determined to try our best to reach our destination, Mokunji.