THE YELL ALA OF THE CONGO. 
127 
Central Africa. The heat of the lowlands had dis- 
appeared — 
" The scorching ray 
Here pierceth not, impregnate with disease.” 
The thermometer, it is true, did not sink below 67° (F.), 
whilst the “ Expedition” (p. 118) had found it 60° in 
August, even at Boma during the dewy nights. The 
lowest temperature of the water was 7 5°, and the highest 
79°, whereas at the mouth it is sometimes 83°; Tuckey 
gives 76°-7 7°; 74° in the upper river above the Falls, 
and 73° where there are limestone springs. The oxydi- 
zation of iron suddenly ceased ; after a single day’s 
drying, the plants were ready for a journey to England, 
and meat which will hardly keep one day in the lowlands 
is here eatable on the fifth. 
Whilst the important subject of “ dash ” was being 
discussed I set out in my hammock to visit a quitanda 
or market held hard by. As w r e started, the women 
sang — 
“Lungwa, u telemene ko Mwanza 
Ko Yell ala o kwenda.” 
“ The boat that arrives at the Mwanza {the Kiver) the 
same shall go up to the Yellala ” (rapids). It is part of 
a chant which the mothers of men now old taught them 
in childhood, and the sole reminiscence of the Congo 
Expedition, whose double boats, the Ajojos of the Brazil, 
struck their rude minds half a century ago. 
These quitandas are attended by people living a dozen 
miles off, and they give names to the days, which con- 
sequently everywhere vary. Thus at Boma Friday, 
Saturday, Sunday, and Monday are respectively called 
“ Nkenge,” “ Sona,” “ Kandu,” and “Konso.” This 
style of dividing time, which is common throughout 
Pagan West Africa, is commonly styled a week : thus 
the Abbe Proyart tells us that the Loango week consists 
of four days, and that on the fourth the men “rest” by 
hunting and going to market. Tuckey also recognizes 
the “ week of four days,” opposed to the seven days’ 
week of the Gold Coast. 
