1^ 

 90 RECENT EX FLORA TIONS IN EQ VA TORI A L A FRICA 



According to Stanley, there is a liigh peak, wliich he named Gordon Ben- 

 nett, to tlie north of this lake, but the travelers were unable to discover 

 it. IMount Ruwenzori is about 5,000 meters high, and at night numerous 

 lights were seen on its slopes. On April 11 the explorers were at Kasa- 

 gama, whence they started for Katone, to the north of Lake Albert Ed- 

 ward, and on the frontier between British territory and the Kongo Free 

 State. During tliis march they noticed that Lake Ruherou is not con- 

 nected with Lake Albert lildward by a large bay, as Stanley says, but by 

 a small stream. The two lakes are 40 kilometers apart and have a differ- 

 ence of 200 meters in elevation. 



On April 17 Katone was left behind, the thirtieth meridian was crossed, 

 and the caravan camped right under the equator for the third time since 

 leaving Mombasa. Continuing westward, they entered the Kongo Free 

 State and crossed the foothills of the Ruwenzori, visited by Captain Lu- 

 gard a few years ago, and entered the Semliki valley. The Semliki river 

 is about 200 meters wide and has a very swift current. The next halt 

 was made at the village of Mbene, where Stokes was captured. From 

 this place to Leopoldville the countr}^ is covered with an almost impene- 

 trable forest, on the edge of which is the Arab village of Kissangue, an 

 auxiliary post of the Kongo State. It is the duty of the chief of the vil- 

 lage to warn the Kongolese authorities of the presence of strangers on 

 their territory. After a ten days' march through the forest Kuamkubi 

 was reached. In this part of the country traces of Arab civilization are 

 everywhere apparent ; these Arabs speak the Zanzibar dialect. Leaving 

 this post, the Kongo basin was next entered. The march through the 

 forest was exceedingly difficult, compass and ax being alike indispensable. 

 Finally the Ibina, a branch of the Ituri river, was reached. Twenty days 

 more along the banks of the Ibina brought the travelers to the Ituri 

 itself, which they crossed in canoes, and then took a guide, who con- 

 ducted them to the Kongolese military post of Kilongalonga. They were 

 well received by the Belgian officers, the first Europeans they had met 

 for several weeks, and after a short rest and the laying in of supplies they 

 left for the next post. Recrossing the Ituri, they followed its left bank 

 as far as jMoussa, a small village opposite the mouth of the Ipulo. Here 

 the Ituri is swift and narrow. Eight days more through the forest 

 brought the travelers to Avakubi, where for the fourth time the Ituri 

 had to be crossed. Avakubi is a post and market of some importance. 

 Here the travelers saw a few specimens of the race of pygmies whose ex- 

 istence has by many writers been doubted. The stature of these pygmies 

 is about l' m. 20, they are absolutely naked, their noses are very flat, and 

 their looks somewhat ferocious. Their weapons are spears and ari-ows, 

 which are proportionate to their stature. They hunt a great deal and 

 attack even the elephant. They build no huts, but live scattered about 

 the forest, and their habitations are holes. Their suspicious nature ren- 

 ders them vei-y difficult to meet, and it is only once in a while that a 

 few of the least wild among them venture to go to the nearest post to ex- 

 change the products of their hunt for bananas or sweet potatoes. 



From Avakubi the travelers proceeded in canoes as far as Stanley Falls. 



