CONGO EXPEDITION. 
skins, to tread once on which, for a subject of the 
highest rank, is a crime punished with slavery. 
Nothing could exceed the care with which, in 
crossing the floor, the chiefs avoided any fatal 
step which could plunge them into such a disas- 
ter. The Chenoo was dressed in a laced red 
cloak, and wore a high cap ornamented with the 
feathers of the heron. He was less inquisitive, 
but at the same time less courteous, than the king 
of Embomma ; and the party obtained guides, 
but no information as to the river above the cata- 
racts. After their return, a princess of the blood, 
with three of the Chenoo's daughters, came down 
to the boat to sell eggs ; when, after having ob- 
tained double the value of the whole, her High- 
ness graciously proffered herself, and her three 
companions, to any one w^ho should be desirous 
of their company on board of the boats 5 a propo- 
sal, the rejection of which produced deep and 
visible dissatisfaction. 
The party now embarked, and the boats were 
with difficulty moved up the river. One great 
obstacle arose from whirlpools, formed in an in- 
stant, ^nd subsiding as rapidly, which, for a mo- 
ment, whirled the sloop round and round in spite 
of her oars and sails. At length they reached 
the Casan Yellala, or Yellala's Wife, a species of 
cataract formed by a ledge of rocks extending 
across about two-thirds of the breadth of the river^ 
