CHAPTER XXIX 



HUNTING THE OKAPI 



The next day, December 26, found us moving forward once 

 more, both very fit and suffering no ill-effects from keeping 

 Christmas on palm wine. Two days later we passed the 

 mouth of the Kotto, which, like all the tributaries of the 

 big river, is called bangui ; the derivation of Ubangui 

 being from " ngou " to drink and bangui — small rivers — 

 the drinker up of little rivers. 



On New Year's Day, 1906, we arrived at Yakoma, a 

 large Belgian post at the mouth of the Welle, and left the 

 next day to ascend the river which has a width of 800 to 

 1000 yards studded with rocks. It flows through an iron-stone 

 country, where the natives work mines. On our way we 

 went to look at one of these which was situated on a small hill. 

 It had been worked to a depth of 90 ft. and the heat below 

 was considerable ; there were galleries in the mines, and the 

 rock which contained iron in great quantities was picked 

 out by a heavy-pointed bit of iron on a short wooden handle. 

 It was then hauled up by means of the coils of a creeper, 

 fastened together to serve as a rope. 



The Welle between Yakoma and Djabbir is not navigable, 

 and ours were the first boats on the river. The people who 

 are the M'bira tribe, a section of the Yakomas, swarmed out 

 of the villages to look at the boats ; they greeted us with 



