62 
IHOMAb J. COMBER. 
down, devoting himself to the work for which he had 
come to Africa. He was now anxious to ascertain 
the exact geographical situation of the place, and par- 
ticularly its relation to the mountain, hoping to dis- 
cover a route across it in the direction of Victoria. 
As he proceeded with his men along a canoe track — ■ 
caused by the wooden rollers on which the canoes 
made in the bush had been conveyed to the river — 
he observed a wide sheet of water. On coming to the 
shore he ascertained from some natives that it was 
surrounded by land, and that opposite there was a 
town, Balombi-ba-Kotta, as large as Bakundu, that it 
was on an island in the middle of the lake. The 
people invited him to enter their canoes, but his men 
were not willing ; and so, as he had found Bakundu, 
and was satisfied with the place as a probable mission 
station, he was not very desirous to visit Balombi-ba- 
Kotta. His efforts, however, to find a route to the 
mountain were unsuccessful, and eventually he 
returned to Victoria, mainly by the same way he 
had set out, resolving early next dry season to visit 
Bakundu again. 
In the letter to the Society, in which the details of 
this important journey were fully and graphically 
given, Mr. Comber made the following earnest appeal : — 
“ I do hope that, as there are likely to be many good 
openings such as there have never been before, the 
Society will accept every suitable offer to engage in 
the African service ; and that Christians at home will 
remember that they owe all to Him who came to 
redeem them, and that they will seek for that peculiar 
satisfaction which follows giving money for Christ's 
service. May ‘ the Lord of the harvest send forth 
many labourers unto His harvest.' As to the 
expenses of this journey, they will be about ;^i8, I 
think." 
As may be readily imagined, Mr. Comber was 
anxious for the wet season to come to an end, so 
that he might attempt his next journey to Bakundu. 
