Homeward Bound 259 



initiated. Thanks to his shrewdness, a whole number of smaller 

 metal deposits have also been turned to advantage. The State 

 shows its gratitude by giving him a salary which should satisfy 

 the highest demands, as well as his full maintenance whilst in 

 Africa. As this is over and above adequate for the upkeep of 

 a whole family, a visit to Mr. Hannam is much prized, for no 

 one ever leaves his small island without having gifts bestowed 

 upon him. We, too, experienced his noted hospitality, and when 

 we reached Mupele, after another seven hours' journey, our 

 glasses, filled with Hannam's champagne, toasted the health of 

 the genial donor. 



Yet another incident heightened our pleasure in tasting the 

 exhilarating beverage we had not seen for months, and that 

 was our first meeting with a European lady for a twelvemonth! 

 We met five boats in the centre of the stream, which flowed along 

 almost imperceptibly. Under the awning of the first we saw the 

 fresh young face of the wife of the Chef de secteur, Madame 

 Milies, who for years has shared life and fate with her spouse 

 in the interior of Africa. Although the animated conversation 

 carried on from boat to boat was only of short duration, we were 

 strangely moved at the chance meeting. It was like a greeting 

 from far-off civilisation. 



The next day was very cool, and a dense mist obscured all 

 view. We had a trip of eight hours, during which the sun finally 

 conquered the fog and began to shoot down its scorching rays 

 in a fashion that made us welcome the sight of the Banalia en- 

 campment. On the journey we had come across several elephants 

 standing in the stream, and one of them swam the whole breadth 

 of the river in front of our boats. On a similar occasion I was 

 successful in killing an elephant from the boat. 



It was delightful to be able to stretch our stiff limbs again 

 after sitting so long on the inflexible seats. There are rapids 

 in front of the station, but they have not much volume of water, 

 and there are shell banks on the bed of the river. Plenty of 

 young women go in for fishing there ; they remain under water 

 for several minutes, scraping the shells from the banks. The 



