OUR JOURNEY UP THE WELLE 279 



about three miles below the post. It is about thirty yards 

 wide at its mouth. Along its banks, the trees, which at this 

 time were all in the fresh green of Spring, stretch gnarled 

 stems and boughs across the water, in places meeting over- 

 head ; and where the banks are steep the sides are clothed 

 in a wealth of ferns. Its course is very serpentine, and once, 

 after taking a quarter of an hour to round a loop, we found 

 ourselves only a few yards from the point where we had 

 commenced to diverge. 



Another large loop is cut through by a remarkable canal. 

 It is forty yards long and must have cost a great deal of 

 labour. Our Bakango guide told us that it was made a very 

 long time ago, and I believe it is the work of people who no 

 longer exist in the land. The present inhabitants make no 

 use of the river which, with the exception of two small villages 

 near the mouth, is quite deserted. But on a gently rising 

 slope on the right bank there is evidence that a large village 

 existed some long time ago. 



We spent ten days in the ascent of the river and succeeded 

 in getting a distance ol thirty miles ; towards the end the 

 passage was very slow, for the stream had narrowed down 

 to ten yards, and there were many trees fallen across it, 

 some of which we cut through while we pulled the boats 

 over others. 



Our last night on the River Guruba was marked by a 

 strange event. Jagoba fell into a fit caused by his having 

 been sharply spoken to. He was always very sensitive and 

 had had a similar attack, which I did not witness, a year 

 before when Agoma happened to play on his banjo an air that 

 recalled to Jagoba a master whom he had served in days gone 



