FROM SAO PAULO DE LOANDA TO THE CONGO. 15 
are Ashirongo,* a degraded tribe, with dull black skins 
and poor physical development, that extends to the Lower 
Congo as far as Boma, but principally inhabits the marshy 
country along its southern bank near the sea. 
Some time before we reach the Congo the red cliffs, 
which are such a constant feature in the South-West 
African coast, sink lower and lower, and give place at 
length to mighty mangrove swamps of considerable ex- 
tent. Then the sea becomes coloured by the sediment of 
the river, and the contrast is sharply marked where the 
cloudy river water meets the clear sea. The colour of 
the Congo water is dark-brownish red, and that of the sea 
transparent green; the temperature of the two waters is 
also different—that of the Congo registering 83° Fahrenheit, 
and the sea water 74°, a difference ‘of nine “degrees, 
The mouth of the’ Congo 1S comparatively simple and 
undivided when compared with the great deltas of the 
Nile, the Niger, and the Zambezi. In fact, this is one of 
the first impressions which gives an air of “newness” to 
the river, and suggests that its present outlet into the 
Atlantic Ocean may not be of very ancient date. That 
the Congo in many directions 1s trying to force its way to 
the sea by means of smaller branches I am inclined 
to believe, as many of its so-called “creeks” between 
Boma and the sea, though at present remaining blind 
alleys, yet have gained in lengthin the memory of the 
European settlers on the Lower Congo, and it is the 
opinion of some who know the country that the river may 
ultimately force a way to the sea at Kabinda by means of 
a branch outlet from Boma (the present “Crocodile” river 
behind the settlement). The aspect of the mouth of the 
Congo with its two opposite points of Padrao and Banana 
is rather curious. ‘They seem like the last fragments of 
the ancient coast-line through which the river has broken. 
Point Padraio is a spit of marshy land covered with 
splendid forest and fringed with breakwaters of mangrove 
and clumps of beautiful Fan palms.t Banana Point Is a 
* Possibly a corruption of Ashikongo. — 
 Hyphene Guineénsis, 
