THE CONGO IN 1863. 
87 
purity of outline took the place of meridian reek and 
blur ; trees, rocks, and chalets were picked out with an 
utter disregard to the perspective of distance, and the 
lowest sounds were distinctly heard in the hard, clear 
atmosphere. The damp and fetid vegetation of the 
Coast wholly disappeared. By the benefit of purest air 
and water, with long walks and abundant palm wine 
from the trees hung with calabashes, the traces of 
“ Nanny Po ” soon vanished ; appetite and sleep re- 
turned, nightly cramps were things unknown, and a 
CONGO, LOOKING NORTH. 
healthy glow overspread the clammy, corpse-like skin. 
When the Lower Congo shall become the emporium of 
lawful trade, the white face will find a sanatorium in 
these portals of the Sierra del Crystal, — the vine will 
flourish, the soil will produce the cereals as well as the 
fruits and vegetables of Europe, and this region will 
become one of the “ Paradises of Africa.” 
The banzas of Congo-land show the constitution of 
native society, which, as in Syria, and indeed in most 
barbarous and semi-barbarous places, is drawn together 
less by reciprocal wants than by the ties of blood. Plere 
families cannot disperse, and thus each hamlet is a 
