The Shade of the Virgin Forest 239 
pied for a considerable time have to be abandoned was still 
further increased by the breaking-in of two hundred unpractised 
Congolese auxiliary carriers. Then there was the rain! But the 
weather was in accordance with our general condition of depres¬ 
sion as we set out at last, accompanied by our escort, under 
Lieutenant Boyton. It cleared up before long, and after three 
and a half hours of marching through pleasant, hilly and un¬ 
dulating steppe land we reached the boundary of the dense West 
African forest, from which we were not to emerge for a period 
of two months. An hour later we reached the Ituri, a hundred 
and twenty metres broad at that spot. We crossed it in a dug- 
out, the transit of our riding animals causing a good deal of 
trouble, and went into camp at Kifuku, the old Irumu, and the 
first of the fixed camping quarters which have been erected 
throughout the whole Irumu-Stanleyville route at intervals of 
fifteen to thirty kilometres. They serve for the convenience of 
passing Europeans and the officials of the Congo State, who, 
coming from the Congo, wish to reach the upper Ituri district 
or Beni. 
The serai in these encampments nearly always presents the 
same appearance; a clay hut, usually thatched with phrynium 
leaves, and consisting of two almost cubiform “rooms,” divided 
in the middle by a broad corridor. A raised gallery, called the 
barasa, runs under the wide, projecting roof. The little brick 
houses, often very pretty ones, at the stations are for the most 
part built on the same pattern. In the serai the floor is usually 
formed of stamped clay, and a primitive form of table is often 
placed in the hall close to the barasa. I have been reckless enough 
to repose in these barasasy although aware that the roofs are by 
no means always watertight and fever relapses are sometimes 
brought on from resting in such places. As a protection from 
the rain, I used to draw a wrapping of balloon material over 
the roof, a stuff that has often rendered excellent service as 
a covering for the loads and as a rain-tent for the carriers; 
then I felt safe. These houses, however, are always pleasant 
to spend a halt in, especially the “hall,” which is used as a 
