Chap. V. THE LOUVENDJI EIVER. 93 



tired, and more or less unwell from the constant wet- 

 ting we had had, and from sleeping in damp clothes. 

 The gorillas were ten in number, and of different 

 ages and sizes, but apparently all females except the 

 one male. My men rushed after the beasts with 

 their guns, but the chase was useless ; the forest had 

 resumed its usual stillness, and we continued our 

 march. 



At noon we arrived on the banks of the Louvendji 

 river, a stream similar to the Ovigui, and flowing 

 from the south to^^•ards the great Ngoujai river, in 

 which were the Falls of Samba Nagoshi. We break- 

 fasted on the brink of this pleasant stream flowing 

 through the silent forest ; our breakfast, as usual, 

 consisting of boiled plantains, poor fare for the 

 weary traveller whose bones were aching with the 

 effects of overwork and exposure. The altitude of 

 the river-level above the sea, according to my ane- 

 roids, was 490 feet. 



Resuming our journey about one p.m. we soon got 

 into a district of swamps, and had to wade at times 

 up to the waist. In places where the \^'ater was 

 only ankle-deep the mud had a fetid smell. I found 

 that my Ashira companions were taking me by a 

 veiy roundabout way, and our journey was long and 

 fatiguing, although we accomplished but a very 

 moderate distance in a straight line. Their object 

 was to avoid some of the Bakalai villnges, with the 

 inhabitants of whicli they had trade-palavers remain- 

 ing unsettled. At half-past fiv^e p.m. we came again 

 upon the Ovigui, where we had resolved to pass the 

 night. As we emerged from the jungle, we were 



