EXPLORATION OF THE KIBALI 323 



from tte boat on to a rock and getting hold of the chain of 

 the other boat, which he just managed to throw within mv 

 reach. 



At length with the efforts of a dozen men, who stood on 

 the rocks above the rapid, the boat was hauled into the calm 

 water. 



We had, however, to abandon the sunken chain, for no one 

 could have hved in the water under which it was imbedded. 



The banks of the Kibali are sparsely populated. As far 

 as the Gaima range there are scattered Azandi and Bakango 

 villages, and then the still-unconquered tribes of the Momvas 

 and Mombuttus are to be found in the hills beyond the left 

 bank and to the east along the left bank of the River Ira. 

 Owing to the mountainous nature of their country, these 

 tribes have up till now defied the white man, and whenever 

 an expedition is sent out against them they bolt like rabbits 

 into the caves of the hills. Like all the hill-tribes of Africa 

 they are much less civilised than their neighbours of the 

 plains. 



The physique of the Mombuttus is strong ; they have 

 broad faces with high cheek-bones, blunt and splayed noses 

 and thick lips, and they show considerable development in 

 the cranium, both in the forehead and back. Their upper 

 teeth are filed. They build their frail huts of mud on the 

 great slabs of rock, frequently using the caverns themselves 

 as dwelling-places in time of war, and wherever there is 

 enough earth they grow their maize among the rocks. They 

 use arrows poisoned by the juice of a plant called Urri, which 

 has leaves much like those of a pine-apple and grows on the 

 hills. To make the poison the plant is boiled and then 



