224 FROM THE NIGER TO THE NILE 



selves. Besides this they make wine from the paw-paw, or 

 guava fruit, and brew a good light beer, cure hams and make 

 butter and cheese. They seldom, if ever, return home ; 

 Father Moreau had been at his post for seven years. Occupy- 

 ing their strenuous lives with so much useful work, needless 

 to say, they appear very happy. 



After four days of collecting, and an unsuccessful attempt 

 of Gosling's to find the Bongo antelope, which is said to 

 inhabit this part, we bade good-bye with grateful hearts to 

 kind Father Moreau and his brothers, to one of whom we were 

 much indebted for his clever mending of our dilapidated 

 rudders. 



A little way above the Mission the river takes a wide bend 

 to the north, broadening out to a mile. About two days 

 from the Mission, or fifty miles from Kemmo, a rapid gave us 

 trouble, but as the river was full we made the passage more 

 easily than we otherwise would have done ; at low water a 

 reef of rocks must be visible right across the river. The 

 Belgian, or south bank, is the best by which to pass this 

 rapid. Above this barrier the river is intersected by groups 

 of narrow islands covered with large trees. On the left 

 bank a chain of hills, not more than 180 ft. in height and 

 sparsely clothed in trees, lies close to the river. We were now 

 in the country inhabited by the Banziri tribe, and found no 

 difficulty in reaching a village near which to camp each 

 night ; this was an advantage, as it gave the men dry places 

 to sleep in ; the last four days there had been heavy rain, 

 which came on towards evening and lasted throughout the 

 night. 



The Banziri villages lie close to the river ; the huts are 



