The Eastern Congo 



for the 150-ton paddle steamers that ply between here and 

 Kongolo, the Katanga Railway authorities are contemplating 

 extending the line to Kiabo, on the eastern side of Lake 

 Kissale. Why this was not done in the first place remains a 

 mystery, to be accounted for, no doubt, by the very cursory 

 construction and surveying methods which show themselves 

 elsewhere along this line. 



The rainy season having been an unusually poor one and 

 the river very low in consequence, we were lucky to catch, 

 in the first week in June, the last steamer to reach Bukama 

 for that season. As we had been " eating our heads off " 

 at this beastly place for four days, without fresh food of 

 any kind, we hailed with the greatest delight the little stern- 

 wheeler the Baron Janssen, and as she was to sail the following 

 day we were soon aboard. The food supplied proved to be 

 excellent, but the lower deck, where our cabin was situated, 

 like so many of the Belgian river steamers, left a good deal 

 to be desired in the way of cleanliness. It was littered with 

 the ordure of negro men, women, and children, being crowded 

 with these noisy people themselves, together with their 

 accompanying livestock. The African traveller, however, 

 soon becomes inured to sights, sounds, and smells that are 

 only dreamt of in nightmares by ordinary mortals, so we 

 gave the lower deck a wide berth after stowing away our 

 baggage, and were soon taking the fresh air above and 

 interesting ourselves in the passing scenery. 



Shortly after leaving Bukama the Lualaba flows into a 

 chain of small lakes named respectively Kabele, Upemba, 

 Kissale, Lusambo, and Kalamba, the biggest of which is 

 Kissale. When about to enter the first of these lakes we 

 passed another steamer stuck fast on a sand bank in mid- 



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