244 In the Heart of Africa 



The station is prettily situated on a hill above the banks 

 of the Ituri, which flows very broad and strong at this point, 

 but is not very deep ; and we could enjoy a beautiful view of 

 it from the barasa of the mess-hut. As we were able to see not 

 only across the river, but also had an uninterrupted view over a 

 considerable portion of the forest, we felt we could breathe 

 freely again. 



After a halt of three days at this pleasant little station, we 

 started off again for Avakubi, in a southerly direction from the 

 river. 



Animal life revealed itself more abundantly as we proceeded. 

 In the proximity of Mawambi there is a species of dwarf antelope 

 which appears to be very plentiful. They are caught in gins and 

 traps by the natives, and brought in to the station alive but 

 cruelly bound, where they make a valuable addition to the menu. 

 We hoped to hav^e been able to bring one or two of these charm- 

 ing creatures back to Europe with us alive. At first I let them 

 run about freely in my room at Mawambi, and they soon gained 

 such confidence that I could feed them. Unfortunately, these 

 exceedingly delicate beasties, of which we obtained five, 

 succumbed in spite of the most attentive care. Two baboons 

 bagged by Wiese formed a remarkable capture, remarkable on 

 account of their being met with at two hundred kilometres in the 

 interior, for it had always been assumed that the margins of the 

 forest, with the natives' fields, to the fruits of which they are 

 very partial, formed their particular reserves and hunting 

 grounds. At one camp we got a young long-tailed monkey from 

 the Wangwana, an attractive creature, with dark fur and a white 

 triangular spot on the nose. She was perfectly tame, but nothing 

 on the dining table was safe with her. Owing to her amazing 

 Semitic-like physiognomy she was called Rebecca. At Avakubi 

 we procured a husband for her, and we saw there a young chim- 

 panzee, who looked like a patriarch, and patiently permitted all 

 kinds of pranks to be played with him. 



The feathered inhabitants of the forest are far less in evidence 

 than one would be inclined to believe, as the height of the trees 



