HOMEWARDS. 213 
was strangely illuminated by the great grass fires which 
covered the distant hills with sheets of vivid flame. 
Soon after leaving Ponta da Lenha the mangroves begin ~ 
to attest the commencement of brackish water, and the 
river widens till its opposite bank is well-nigh invisible, 
and many islands troop in long succession, often seeming 
to be the mainland on the other side. Then we pass 
Kisange rapidly, carried on by the current, and, lastly, a 
whiff of fresh breeze blows the sea smell into our nostrils, 
and in the far distance the white houses of Banana are © 
seen, and, beyond, the open horizon of the Atlantic Ocean. 
I spent three days at Banana, waiting for the Portuguese 
steamer, and passed my time in choosing presents for my 
three Zanzibaris out of the stores at the Dutch house. 
Each man received a blanket, a pipe, a roll of tobacco and 
a tobacco-pouch, a pocket-knife, a pair of scissors and a 
looking-glass ; and then I further bestowed a little gift of 
money, with strict injunctions that it was to be kept and 
spent only on their return journey to. Zanzibar. 
I received much kindness during these few days at 
Banana from my old acquaintances at the Dutch house ; 
nevertheless, the approaching return to civilized countries, 
and the slight foretaste of civilization to be got at Banana, 
did not strike me as being so enviable as I had hitherto 
supposed. I felt a positive regret for the quiet, simple 
life of Msuata and the Upper River, and grew saddened 
at the approaching separation from my three faithful 
followers, with whom my later African wanderings had 
been so inseparably and happily associated. Ever since 
the day when I first saw these men in the porch of 
Stanley’s house at Vivi, there had sprung up between us a 
real sympathy of feeling. These men were to me more 
than servants; they were friends and confidants, who 
shared in my mirth when I was gay, bore meekly my ill- 
humour when I was cross; nursed me when I was sick ; 
washed for me, cooked for me, mended my clothes; 
watched over my interests, never robbed me of a penny’s 
worth nor told me an untruth. If Faraji, Mafta, and 
Imbono may be taken as fair samples of the Semito- 
