246 In the Heart of Africa 



the ants is a fairly big, very slender and perfectly black ant, 

 which inhabits the hollow, horizontally projecting branches of a 

 small tree, Barteria fistulosa; they present everyone who, through 

 ignorance or carelessness, touches their tree with a very memor- 

 able souvenir, as their bite is so painful that one feels it for 

 twenty-four hours at least. 



It rained somewhat less now and it was considerably warmer 

 (31-32 degrees Celsius, atmospheric temperature). When we 

 stepped into a clearing after a march we were forced to recoil 

 from the glowing heat and the blinding glare. We also learned 

 the full significance of tropical storms. They had a more 

 thrilling and terrifying effect here than in the open plains. It 

 made an overpowering impression upon one to watch the tornado 

 seize the giants of the forest in its mighty grasp, bending and 

 tossing them hither and thither, while the green sea of tree-tops 

 surged and roared like the wild waves of the ocean. I never 

 saw this forest look so beautiful as when lashed up to conflict 

 from its habitual calm serenity. 



On arriving at the third station after Mawambi we found 

 Commandant Engh, Chef of the Ituri district, awaiting us. As 

 he was to escort us from this point. Lieutenant Boy ton returned 

 to Irumu. We were all very sorry to part from him. A very 

 agreeable companion and an excellent adviser, he had been of 

 inestimable service to us during the six weeks of his escort. 



On the 22nd of April we entered Avakubi by a broad, well- 

 kept road, and came on an enormous open space of ground, 

 where the Congo flag was waving from a tall mast. The garrison 

 and all the station hands were paraded, no fewer than seven 

 Europeans being on the right flank. Avakubi is a large station, 

 with splendid avenues of oil palms, straight roads, with pretty 

 brick-built houses, and shady mango trees. A large Wangwana 

 settlement lies at a little distance from the station, in which a 

 few Arabs have established themselves as dealers. An official 

 dinner took place on the evening of our arrival ; the " official " 

 part of it, so far as I was concerned, consisting in the fact that 

 I wore a starched shirt and a black tie, for the first time since 



