ACCOUNT OF THE MUSEUM’S CONGO EXPEDITION 165 
ble that two men in the short space of two months after reaching their 
base of operations should have been able to prepare such a list of speci- 
mens, 291 mammals and 472 birds, besides more than 2000 specimens of 
the smaller fauna. A later report sent out January 5, little more than 
three months after reaching Avakubi, shows a record of 510 mammals 
and 762 birds, with more than 4000 of the smaller fauna, and this col- 
lection covered by 400 pages of descriptive matter. 
That so much has been done is due not only to speed and skill, but 
also to the foresight of the leaders in planning and to that force of 
personality which can get enthusiastic work from subordinates. Three 
assistants (Loangos, a tribe from the French Congo, known as very 
intelligent) were hired before leaving Leopoldville. These fellows 
were taught during the voyage up the river. Afterward, just before 
leaving Stanleyville, the last place where natives can be engaged by 
contract, fifteen assistants were hired — for a monthly payment of 
three dollars in addition to food. 
We have done our utmost [writes Mr. Lang] in training these natives and look 
forward with great pleasure to the results. Six of them ean prepare small mammals, 
four can prepare birds, several of them can do the work on larger mammals, though 
all of them can take active part in it. Besides, two are successful hunters, and all 
know how to set traps for small mammals and to catch reptiles and batrachians. 
Several are very keen in catching invertebrates, and one is remarkable for finding 
different species of ants. Others are fishermen; they know how to weave native 
fish traps and they handle canoes with skill. As a whole they are a remarkable lot 
of natives, and I sincerely hope that the results will show what can be achieved by 
native assistance. 
In addition to these trained assistants the expedition has forty 
porters for the work of ordinary occasions. The porters are not hired 
for a long period but are paid and discharged at the end of every trip, 
fresh ones being engaged in each new locality through the assistance of 
government officials. The porters of the Upper Congo cannot carry as 
heavy loads as those of British East Africa; fifty-five pounds (English) 
is taken as a maximum load. This results not only from their inferior 
physical constitution, for there are many strong and well-built porters, 
but it is, of course, more weakening, even for natives, to carry loads 
in the hot moist atmosphere of the forest than on the generally healthy 
plains of British East Africa. A very large caravan was necessary for 
the travel through the dense forest from Stanleyville to Avakubi; one 
hundred and sixty porters were hired at Stanleyville and to get along 
