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HOMEWARDS. 205 
ran a risk of encountering whirpools, but by a little skilful 
-steering these were easily avoided, and it was fun to see 
one of the pursuing hippopotami caught in a foam-flecked ~ 
vortex, wherein he went whirling round until he was 
thoroughly giddy, no doubt. Hippopotami are so bold 
and undisturbed on the Congo that they are a real source 
of danger to the canoes. One never knows whether to 
shoot or not. Ifyou hit and do not kill the beast outright, 
he will come for you with a vengeance; but, at the same 
time, if you do not shoot, he may wreck you from a spirit | 
of pure mischievousness. 
We rowed long and far to-day. The weather was so 
fine, the water so smooth, and the scenery so lovely, that 
as I lay back on my grass cushion in the prow of the 
canoe, and watched the groups of Hyphcene palms and the 
hanging woods deploy before me, a beautiful, if somewhat 
monotonous panorama, the disquietudes and risks of 
canoe travelling seemed very trifling and the pleasure 
ereat. I was also able to observe. no less than three 
separate storms, north, east, and south, going on at once, 
and to watch their creat curtains of rain deluging the sky 
and literally streaming themselves out, becoming at last 
a thin veil, through which the distant landscapes might 
be observed as a picture that is seen through a veil of 
double gauze. We fortunately escaped without a wetting, 
which was exceptionally lucky. 
Towards five o'clock that afternoon we stopped and 
disembarked on a strip of sandy beach, surrounded by | 
high grass and stunted trees, with the fine hills on the 
opposite shore rising above the water, thickly wooded, as 
on the borders of some Scotch lake. The river narrows 
strangely here, and seems shut in with hills. I sat down 
on the beach to sketch, when I heard the men calling out 
that “Juma” was coming. Juma was a Zanzibari whom 
Janssen had recently sent to Léopoldville with letters to 
Mr. Stanley, and was now returning to Msuata.: I had 
but little hope of news, having been so often disappointed, 
so 1 was proportionately pleased when Juma came and 
placed a large packet in my hand which contained such, 
