TRANSACTIONS OF SECTION E. 593 
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 22. 
The Section did not meet. 
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 24. 
The following Papers and Report were read :— 
1. A Visit to Mr. Stanley’s Stations on the Congo. By H. H. Jonnston. 
Towards the end of December 1882 the author visited Mr. H. M. Stanley at 
Vivi Station, which he describes as about 860 feet above sea-level, and rising 270 
feet clear above the Congo. The projecting mass of cliffon which it is placed 
becomes higher as it nears the river, and is almost unapproachable except from the 
inland side. On the summit and the riverward edge of the cliff is a flat and level 
platform, nearly artificial and about 80 feet square, on which the most important 
houses are built. 
On January 7 he left Vivi for Isangila and Stanley Pool, accompanied by three 
picked Zanzibaris as personal servants. The journey to Isangila, the next station 
to Vivi, occupied three days and a half. The road was nothing more than a native 
path, in many places lost in marsh or invisible and untraceable in the high grass, 
The scenery between Vivi and Isangila is very beautiful in parts, an alternation of 
green hills and thickly forested ravines, with many tumultuous streams. Isangila 
Station, like most of Stanley’s establishments, is placed on a high hill above the 
river. The great rapids or falls of the Congo opposite the station are very grand. 
Between Isangila and Manyanga is a distance of eighty miles, which it took four 
days to accomplish in a little river-steamer. The current is terribly strong, and 
the scenery here poor and uninteresting. Manyanga is a fine station and very well 
provided with native food. Five hundred eggs may sometimes be bought in one 
day at the neighbouring market. From Manyanga to Lutété, on the south bank 
of the Congo, is about twenty miles. Lutété is a bright and pretty little station 
near a very large native village, from which it takes its name. From Lutété to 
Stanley Pool, about eighty miles, the scenery is beautiful and the country well 
populated. All along this great ivory route, the pine-apple, introduced by the 
native traders from the coast, grows abundantly. Ngoma is the next of Stanley’s 
‘stations, and fifteen miles beyond is Leopoldville, situated at the opening to 
Stanley Pool. It is placed on a commanding height looking down on the opposite 
shore, where Mfwa, or ‘ Brazzaville, is prospectively situated. Here there were 
only six or seven native huts, and the inhabitants retained little, if any, remem- 
brance of the hasty passage of De Brazza. The scenery on Stanley Pool, with its 
many wooded islands, high cliffs, and distant mountains, is described as enchanting. 
At the further entrance to the pool is Kimpoko, a pretty little station embowered 
in Borassus palms. The journey up stream to Msuata, near the mouth of the great 
Ibhbuma-Quango river, occupied six days in a rowing boat. At Msuata Station 
Mr. Johnston passed six weeks, the scenery and natural history of the district 
being most interesting. From Msuata to B6léb6, another week’s journey, the 
‘scenery became increasingly beautiful—Bdlobo itself, with the splendid broadening 
of the Congo and the matchless forest scenery on its banks, being difficult to 
describe adequately. Life is rendered miserable at this station by the incessant 
Plague of mosquitoes. The author's explorations terminated with a day’s journey 
eyond this station. 
The principal races on the Congo between Béléb6é and Stanley Pool are the 
Batéké, the Bayansi, and the Wabuma. All these peoples are comparatively 
recent settlers on the river. The Batéké are what might he called resident 
‘colonists from the north-west between the Ogowé and Congo. The Bayansi have 
‘come down the river from the Equator and the north-east, and are the great 
he and traders of the Upper Congo. The Wabuma are the people inhabiting 
. QQ 
