R4 A JOURNEY UP THE RIVER CONGO. 
little far-off bays of quiet water where it seems to dally 
and rest amid the wooded islets, pausing to collect itself 
for another rush towards the ocean. At this opportune 
spot the river Lifi, come from a great distance south- 
wards, ventures timidly to join itself to the great Congo 
stream, and fortunately finds it in a placid mood, smiling — 
FIRST ISANGILA FALL. 
at the sky, and gently lapping the shores of its verdant 
archipelago. 
Isangila station is on a well chosen and healthy site, and 
the beautiful views around it alone render it a pleasant 
sojourn; but hitherto it has suffered some disadvantage 
from being a long way off the native villages and markets, 
which are situated at some little distance from the 
river, and along the native roads in the interior. The fact 
is, that from Stanley Pool to the coast the native trade— 
or ivory—routes do not closely follow the river Congo 
but rather diverge from it right and left, taking a more 
