IN AFRICAN FOREST AND JUNGLE 



bottom of the vessel, took the water and boiled it 

 with a certain amount of palm oil. By this process I 

 made soft soap. 



I had to wash my own clothes, for not only did the 

 people not know how, but in one sense did not know 

 what clean linen was. They could not tell whether 

 my clothes were soiled or not. I did not wonder, 

 seeing the way they made their toilet. After taking 

 a bath, they rubbed their bodies with oil mixed with 

 clay, or with oil mixed with the powder of odoriferous 

 woods. This was what they called making themselves 

 clean. 



The wives of the men and the children were to go 

 with us to help carry the food to our camp ; and 

 when the day of our departure arrived, three canoes 

 were loaded with food, bunches of plantain, and our 

 outfit. 



We had four axes with us, queer-looking ones, 

 several machetes, two sharpening stones, and ammu- 

 nition ; above all, my "precious box" with its inval- 

 uable instruments. 



Our party divided and went in different canoes. 



After ascending the river for a few hours, we 

 stopped by a path which had led formerly to the 

 village of Rotembo's slaves. There we camped, land- 

 ing our outfit. A few miles further navigation 



63 



