Through the Semliki Valley 227 
able in fourteen days. The spirit of enterprise evinced in this 
great work is all the more admirable when the tremendous 
obstacles offered by the nature of the ground to be traversed are 
taken into consideration. The region between Kilo and Nsabe 
is an undulating country intersected by gullies, and its eleva¬ 
tions in the neighbourhood of Kilo attain a height of i,6oo 
metres, whilst the western ridges descend steeply to the banks 
of the lake. From the long mountain ridges one can see the 
thatched houses of the town, the environs of which abound with 
unalloyed gold. 
The discovery of this rich and unsuspected treasure is of 
comparatively recent date. The Congo State is indebted for 
the find to Hannam, a prospector, who discovered many other 
copper and gold veins, and who, in consequence, enjoys great 
popularity and esteem. The workings were taken up on Han- 
nam’s advice. Brisk activity soon developed itself, and in the 
brief space of one and a half years the silent valleys of the 
primeval forest became busy hives of industry. Engineers and 
prospectors flocked there, and made rich auriferous finds in the 
creeks and valleys around. A busy mining industry is now 
carried on, and in 1908 there were twenty-one engineers and 
prospectors hard at work near Kilo. The majority were Austra¬ 
lians, familiar with nearly all the important mines on the globe. 
Mr. Mertens, who bore the title “ Representant de la fondation 
de la couronne,” officiated as director, and had charge of all 
correspondence. At that time the pay-sheets showed a total of 
eight hundred workers. 
The chief wealth of the soil consists of alluvial gold, which 
is found all over the district at the very small depth of from 
1-50 metres on the bed of the creeks. This fact is of extreme 
value to the industry, as it saves the acquisition of costly 
machinery and permits the construction of sluices, which are 
worked by negro labour. These sluices consist of wooden 
troughs, similar to those in cottage mills, and are furnished with 
bottom boards. The auriferous soil is shovelled into these 
troughs, and a constant flow of water gradually washes away 
