Phillips.] 44U [Nov. 2, 1888, aud 



3. L'Empreza National, froui Lisbon, on the sixth of the month ; twenty- 

 two days ; 750 francs. 



4. Nieuvve Afrik. Handels-Vennootschap, Rotterdam, five times a year ; 

 twenty-one to twenty-two days. 



5. Hatton, Cookson and Co. 's steamers, from Liverpool. 



RAILROAD, &c., IN THE CONGO INDEPENDENT STATE. 



As above stated, a railroad is to go from Matadi to Noolo, near Leo- 

 poldville, on Stanley-Pool, for which the survey, employing fourteen 

 engineers for sixteen months, has just been completed and estimates pre- 

 pared. Its cost has been estimated at 25 millions of franc?, including 

 purchase of rolling stock and miscellaneous expenses in Europe and 

 Africa, and is considered sufficient to pay besides the expenses an interest 

 of 7'/o during the four years that are deemed necessary for the laying of 

 the road. 



The length of the line will be 436 kilometres, of which only the first 

 twenty-six present any engineering difficulties, while the remainder of 

 the line "will be laid under exceptionally easy circumstances. " It will 

 have a rail gauge of 75 centimetres, with steel rails weighing 23 kilos., 

 steel sleepers at equal distances of 80 centimetres and weighing 33 kilos., 

 the whole of the line weighing 75 tons per kilometre. 



Tlie neighborhood through which the line is to pass abounds with ample 

 materials for ballast, and firm soil is found for the abutments of bridges 

 very near to the surface of the ground. 



Matadi, the starting point of the railway on the Lower Congo, is a place 

 easily accessible to sea-going vessels, and where they can discharge their 

 cargoes directly into the freight cars ; Noolo, the terminus at Stanley- 

 Pool, is a short distance above Kinchassa and 3 miles from Leopoldville, 

 well above all the rapids that obstruct and hinder navigation in the region 

 of the Cataracts. From this point light draught vessels can ascend the Congo 

 and its affluents for an uninterrupted distance of eleven thousand five hun- 

 dred kilometres. Large docks can be advantageously built at Noolo. Be- 

 tween these two first-class stations an intermediate one will be placed at 

 Kimpese, where travelers will spend the evening, as it is not intended to 

 run any trains during the night, and the distance is too great to be traversed 

 within one day. Stations will also be established at Loufou, Inkessi, and 

 Ntampa, thus dividing the whole distance between the Lower Congo and 

 Stanley-Pool into five sections of an average length of 85 kilometres 

 each. 



The journey that now requires a whole month for its accomplishment, 

 entailing delay and often damage, could then be made within two days, 

 and the expense of freightage greatly reduced, enabling goods to be de- 

 livered in Europe at a much greater profit. 



The navigable waters of the Upper Congo are 6000 kilos. Steamers 



