G A JOURNEY UP THE RIVER CONGO. 
Kinsembo is a flourishing place as regards trade, and 
has doubtless. diverted much of the coffee, ivory, and 
india-rubber. which should have come to Ambriz, for it 
was formed by the settlement of many trading houses who 
left Ambriz and Portuguese Africa in order to be free 
from import and export ‘duties, 
The different buildings of Kinsembo all ee on the 
summit of a range of high red_ cliffs, which end at the 
mouth of a little river in a long rocky point. This river, 
of course, has a sand bar, otherwise its mouth would form 
the harbour so sadly needed. . As-it is, both the landing 
and embarking of cargo is attended with considerable 
risk, as the breakers are almost more to be dreaded here 
than any where on the south-west. coast. In the time of 
“calemma ” (the Portuguese give this name to the great 
roll which every now and then comes across the Atlantic) 
the beach cf Kinsembo is a grand sight to see—from the 
cliffs above. Wave after wave comes in like a race-horse, 
dashes itself on the beach, gathers itself up, and rolls back 
again to meet the one that follows. Sometimes these 
waves will come in one on top of the other, but generally 
it is every. third wave which is the worst, and, after this 
ciant billow has expended its force, there is an interval of 
comparative calm, in which the anxious boatmen strive 
to put off. Landing in a “calemma” is, I believe, less — 
dangerous than putting out to sea. It 18, however, a 
mauvais quart dheure, full of suppressed excitement and 
anxiety. The great surf-boat, with. neither bow nor stern 
so that it can go backwards or forwards at will, highly 
recurved at both ends, and like the crescent moon in shape, 
is steered by a man standing upright in the seaward end 
of the boat, and using as his rudder a long paddle. He 
approaches to within a certain distance from the shore, 
and then, after cautiously waiting his time, selects a big 
roller and rides in with irresistible speed on to the beach, 
where the boat. is immediately seized by the rowers, who 
have jumped out, and hauled up out of reach ere the 
retreating wave can roll it back to destruction. 
Kinsembo is not quite so barren as the Ambriz coast, 
