The Eastern Congo 



Almost every class of Belgian that I met on my travels 

 took an intelligent interest in my entomological work, a 

 great deal more so than could possibly have been the case 

 in an English colony ; for truly we are a " nation of shop- 

 keepers," intent mainly on our money-grabbing, and worse 

 still, giving little or no attention to the beauties of nature. 

 Thus it was that I received the generous assistance of both 

 individuals and the Government in the carrpng forward of 

 the expedition to that part of German East Africa occupied 

 by the Belgian forces — the Ruanda and Urundi. 



To travel through the heart of these districts, I con- 

 sidered that a good starting place would be the Ruchugi 

 River, which joins the Malagarasi River near the station and 

 salt mines of Gottorp ; some six hours' journey from Kigoma. 



Now, the real difficulties of all such expeditions as the 

 one I was making, are (i) the porters and {2) their food. 

 Without reliable carriers and headmen in a country such 

 as this, any expedition might well fail. Realising this, 

 I approached General Malfert, the Governor of the con- 

 quered territory. He was much interested in my under- 

 taking, and very kindly caused letters to be sent to the 

 different " Chefs de Territoire " to aid me in every possible 

 way, thus at once removing a great load from my shoulders. 

 At the same time, I was warned that there were certain 

 risks attendant upon travelling with my wife in a country 

 that was still in rather an unsettled state after the war ; 

 these of course had to be accepted. I may say here at once, 

 that, owing to this kind action on the part of the Governor, 

 I never experienced the slightest difficulty with any natives 

 during the whole time I travelled in this region, and it might 

 well have been otherwise ! 



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