The Eastern Congo 



settlements ; excepting sand-flies comparatively few noxious 

 flies are encountered and roofs of houses are no longer the 

 prey of the borer beetle. Regarding diseases in this forest 

 region, smallpox and dysentery are rare, yaws and elephan- 

 tiasis prevalent but not common. Leucoderma is one of 

 the commonest diseases that has come before my notice, 

 and may be easily mistaken for leprosy by reason of the 

 whitening of the affected parts. It appears to be a harmless 

 disease in its less severe forms, as it does not incapacitate 

 the sufferer in any way, and many of our porters, who were 

 carrying heavy loads, had it. All the natives in the number- 

 less villages we passed seemed an exceedingly healthy and 

 strong race of men, and we ourselves never experienced a 

 day's illness during our four months' sojourn within the forest. 

 The nights are often very oppressive but walking beneath 

 the forest shade on a fine day, without the glare of a tropical 

 sun to sap the strength, is a pleasure, and there is always the 

 ever-turning kaleidoscope of nature to watch as one passes 

 along. 



From the foregoing it may be gathered that travelling 

 through the Ituri forest is not as bad as it is often painted. 

 The trip from Irumu to Stanleyville is an education in itself 

 and may well be made by anybody in these days — taking 

 ordinary precautions — without any ill-effects to the health. 



From the first crossing of the Ituri River near Irumu, 

 the track carries one due west along the north side of the 

 valley to the Haulo or Epulu River which is reached after 

 six days' marching, and three days beyond the old Arab 

 town of " Mombasa." This river, with its coffee-coloured 

 water, is exceedingly picturesque, especially where we crossed 

 it one day above its junction with the Ituri. Here it is 



i88 



