Through the Semliki Valley 227 



able in fourteen days. The spirit of enterprise evinced in this 

 great work is all the more admirable when the tremendous 

 obstacles offered by the nature of the ground to be traversed are 

 taken into consideration. The region between Kilo and Nsabe 

 is an undulating country intersected by gullies, and its eleva- 

 tions in the neighbourhood of Kilo attain a height of i,6oo 

 metres, whilst the western ridges descend steeply to the banks 

 of the lake. From the long mountain ridges one can see the 

 thatched houses of the town, the environs of which abound with 

 unalloyed gold. 



The discovery of this rich and unsuspected treasure is of 

 comparatively recent date. The Congo State is indebted for 

 the find to Hannam, a prospector, who discovered many other 

 copper and gold veins, and who, in consequence, enjoys great 

 popularity and esteem. The workings were taken up on Han- 

 nam's advice. Brisk activity soon developed itself, and in the 

 brief space of one and a half years the silent valleys of the 

 primeval forest became busy hives of industry. Engineers and 

 prospectors flocked there, and made rich auriferous finds in the 

 creeks and valleys around. A busy mining industry is now 

 carried on, and in 1908 there were twenty-one engineers and 

 prospectors hard at work near Kilo. The majority were Austra- 

 lians, familiar with nearly all the important mines on the globe. 

 Mr. Mertens, who bore the title " Representant de la fondation 

 de la couronne," officiated as director, and had charge of all 

 correspondence. At that time the pay-sheets showed a total of 

 eight hundred workers. 



The chief wealth of the soil consists of alluvial gold, which 

 is found all over the district at the very small depth of from 

 1-50 metres on the bed of the creeks. This fact is of extreme 

 value to the industry, as it saves the acquisition of costly 

 machinery and permits the construction of sluices, which are 

 worked by negro labour. These sluices consist of wooden 

 troughs, similar to those in cottage mills, and are furnished with 

 bottom boards. The auriferous soil is shovelled into these 

 troughs, and a constant flow of water gradually washes away 



