4 I. HOW I CAME TO BE A DOCTOR IN THE FOREST 
Now for a word about the country which was the 
scene of our labours. The Ogowe district belongs to 
the Colony of Gaboon, and the Ogowe itself is a river, 
700 to 800 miles long, north of, and roughly parallel to, 
the Congo. Although smaller than the latter, it is yet 
a magnificent river, and in the lower part of its course 
its width is from 1,200 to 2,200 yards. For the last 
120 miles it divides into a number of arms which enter 
the Atlantic near Cape Lopez, but it is navigable for 
fairly large river steamers as far as N’Djole, about 250 
miles up stream. At that point begins the region of 
hills and mountains which leads up to the great plateau 
of Central Africa. Here also begins a series of rapids 
which alternate with stretches of ordinary open river, 
and these rapids can only be surmounted by small 
screw steamers, built for the purpose, and by native 
canoes. 
While along the middle and upper course of the 
Ogowe the country is a mixture of prairie and wood, 
there is along the lower part of the river, from N’Djole 
downwards, nothing but water and virgin forest. This 
damp, low-lying ground is admirably suited for the 
cultivation of coffee, pepper, cinnamon, vanilla, and 
cocoa ; the oil palm also grows well in it. But the 
chief business of Europeans is neither the cultivation 
of these things, nor the collection of rubber in the 
forest, but the timber trade. Now on the west coast 
of Africa, which is very poor in harbours, especially in 
such as have rivers discharging into them, conditions 
are very seldom favourable for the loading of timber 
cargoes. But the Ogowe has the great advantage of 
discharging into an excellent roadstead without any 
bar ; the huge rafts can lie alongside the steamers 
