Through the Semliki Valley 229 
a sudden impulse, had decided to have a dredge sent out at a 
great cost—^a somewhat premature purchase. In any case, the 
prospectors were not unanimous in their opinions regarding a 
suitable spot for it, as in places the rivers rush along over rocky 
ground, and sandy subsoil is rarely found. 
As the “ champtiers ” lie amidst beautiful forest scenery, an 
hour or so distant from Kilo proper, which is also a military 
post, the prospectors are lodged in camps. These consist of 
cleanly, matete huts, and lie along the wooded, hilly ridges in 
the neighbourhood of the workings. 
As is the case in every new undertaking, there were a great 
many defects and blunders in the administration of Kilo, which 
contributed to the trammelling of the workers; these, however, 
will disappear during the course of time, and I have reason to 
believe that the industry is already being carried on in a con¬ 
siderably more energetic and practical manner. In any case, 
Kilo is a place capable of immense development. Undreamt-of 
treasures lie hoarded up there by Mother Earth, which, if 
experts can be believed, hold out the promise that the little place 
will become some day one of the most important gold centres 
in the world. 
We all had reason to be grateful for our interesting experi¬ 
ence at Kilo. Foreign visitors had never before been received 
there; never had an outsider been privileged to obtain a glimpse 
into the Kilo gold workings. We left with a feeling of great 
satisfaction—Wiese, Boy ton and I—and proceeded on our way 
to Irumu, through the territory of the Baniari. Skirting the edge 
of the forest, along a bad native path, and over the hill summits, 
we pushed on until the path widened out into the barrabarra in 
the vicinity of Salambongo. There we found a large Wambutti 
camp, whose chief had sent the hunters into the interior of the 
forest to kill a soli. In the hope that we might perhaps acquire 
an antelope of such immense zoological value, we halted for a 
day to await the results of the hunt. We made use of the leisure 
thus afforded us to photograph and take measurements of the 
