CHAPTER XXVIII 



OUR JOURNEY UP THE UBANGUI 



At Kemmo the River Ubangui is 1200 yards wide ; the first 

 sight of the broad sheet of water, shining silver in the sun- 

 light, was very impressive, and to us coming out of the green 

 tunnel of the leafy Tomi seemed like an inland sea, for the 

 low line of the farther bank looked still more distant in the 

 heat-haze. 



Henceforward our course would always lie to the east- 

 ward till we should reach the Nile. Each morning as we set 

 our faces towards the sun, and the boats mounted the broad 

 river that flowed through an open land of prosperous villages, 

 there was joy in our hearts, for we felt we had won through 

 the intricate byways of woods and small rivers, and were 

 on the highway for home. 



On November 4, 1905, we commenced the ascent of the 

 great river. The pleasant sensations of the previous day, 

 when efEort had been relaxed and we glided swiftly down 

 stream, had been brief also, for now we once more turned the 

 heads of the boats against the current. The river was very 

 full and it was hard work and slow progress as we hugged 

 the right bank, creeping in and out of the shade to avoid the 

 branches of the trees which thickly lined the bank and shut 

 out our view of the open bush-country to the north. The 

 character of the left bank is different ; except for a fringe 



