246 
In the Heart of Africa 
the ants is a fairly big, very slender and perfectly black ant, 
which inhabits the hollow, horizontally projecting branches of a 
small tree, Barteria fistulosa; they present everyone who, through 
ignorance or carelessness, touches their tree with a very memor¬ 
able souvenir, as their bite is so painful that one feels it for 
twenty-four hours at least. 
It rained somewhat less now and it was considerably warmer 
(31-32 degrees Celsius, atmospheric temperature). When we 
stepped into a clearing after a march we were forced to recoil 
from the glowing heat and the blinding glare. We also learned 
the full significance of tropical storms. They had a more 
thrilling and terrifying effect here than in the open plains. It 
made an overpowering impression upon one to watch the tornado 
seize the giants of the forest in its mighty grasp, bending and 
tossing them hither and thither, while the green sea of tree-tops 
surged and roared like the wild waves of the ocean. I never 
saw this forest look so beautiful as when lashed up to conflict 
from its habitual calm serenity. 
On arriving at the third station after Mawambi we found 
Commandant Engh, Chef of the Ituri district, awaiting us. As 
he was to escort us from this point. Lieutenant Boyton returned 
to Irumu. We were all very sorry to part from him. A very 
agreeable companion and an excellent adviser, he had been of 
inestimable service to us during the six weeks of his escort. 
On the 22nd of April we entered Avakubi by a broad, well- 
kept road, and came on an enormous open space of ground, 
where the Congo flag was waving from a tall mast. The garrison 
and all the station hands were paraded, no fewer than seven 
Europeans being on the right flank. Avakubi is a large station, 
with splendid avenues of oil palms, straight roads, with pretty 
brick-built houses, and shady mango trees. A large Wangwana 
settlement lies at a little distance from the station, in which a 
few Arabs have established themselves as dealers. An official 
dinner took place on the evening of our arrival; the “ official ” 
part of it, so far as I was concerned, consisting in the fact that 
I wore a starched shirt and a black tie, for the first time since 
