Through the Semliki Valley 229 



a sudden impulse, had decided to have a dredge sent out at a 

 great cost — a somewhat premature purchase. In any case, the 

 prospectors were not unanimous in their opinions regarding a 

 suitable spot for it, as in places the rivers rush along over rocky 

 ground, and sandy subsoil is rarely found. 



As the " champtiers " lie amidst beautiful forest scenery, an 

 hour or so distant from Kilo proper, which is also a military 

 post, the prospectors are lodged in camps. These consist of 

 cleanly, matete huts, and lie along the wooded, hilly ridges in 

 the neighbourhood of the workings. 



As is the case in every new undertaking, there were a great 

 many defects and blunders in the administration of Kilo, which 

 contributed to the trammelling of the workers ; these, however, 

 will disappear during the course of time, and I have reason to 

 believe that the industry is already being carried on in a con- 

 siderably more energetic and practical manner. In any case, 

 Kilo is a place capable of immense development. Undreamt-of 

 treasures lie hoarded up there by Mother Earth, which, if 

 experts can be believed, hold out the promise that the little place 

 will become some day one of the most important gold centres 

 in the world. 



We all had reason to be grateful for our interesting experi- 

 ence at Kilo. Foreign visitors had never before been received 

 there ; never had an outsider been privileged to obtain a glimpse 

 into the Kilo gold workings. We left with a feeling of great 

 satisfaction — Wiese, Boyton and I — and proceeded on our way 

 to Irumu, through the territory of the Baniari. Skirting the edge 

 of the forest, along a bad native path, and over the hill summits, 

 we pushed on until the path widened out into the barrabarra in 

 the vicinity of Salambongo. There we found a large Wambutti 

 camp, whose chief had sent the hunters into the interior of the 

 forest to kill a soli. In the hope that we might perhaps acquire 

 an antelope of such immense zoological value, we halted for a 

 day to await the results of the hunt. We made use of the leisure 

 thus afforded us to photograph and take measurements of the 



