26 o 
In the Heart of Africa 
shells are made into ornaments ; the fish are similar to oysters, 
and form a favourite article of food. 
We reached Yambuya by way of Bakanga and the Bogbodet 
rapids on the afternoon of the 8th of May, and were at the 
end of our “ romantic ” journey by native boat. There we learnt 
that an early steamer was coming to pick us up and carry us 
to Basoko. 
But our last day in the canoes was not destined to pass without 
accident. The boat occupied by my servant Weidemann (our 
general factotum in every sense of the word) filled with water 
in consequence of the stern striking a submerged rock, and lay 
on its beam ends. The occupants were thrown into the rushing 
stream, and as this boat happened to be the last of the proces¬ 
sion the catastrophe remained unobserved, and it was a long time 
before the natives of the neighbouring village decided to as¬ 
sist the unfortunates, who were shouting and wildly signalling 
for help. The canoe was got to the bank, fortunately un¬ 
damaged, but, sad to say, a number of stores, cartridges 
and letters, as well as a thousand photographic plates, were 
irrevocably lost. 
* it * * * 
Yambuya, as well as Basoko, played an important part as 
a base on Stanley’s memorable expedition to Emin Pasha’s relief, 
and the boundaries of the old encampment are still recognisable. 
Directly opposite was the anchorage berth of the DeUvrancCy 
which we were anxiously expecting. When her shrill whistle at 
length broke the stillness of the river valley, we all rushed to 
the shore in eager excitement to feast our eyes on the sight of 
a regular steamer. 
The Delivrance belongs to the smallest type of Congo 
steamer. She is furnished with a large stern-wheel, a deck lying 
almost level with the surface of the water, and an upper deck. 
The latter would be a splendid domicile were it not for the 
wood ashes which escape from the funnel and rain down to 
burn holes in your clothes. So we joined our Danish captain 
and made ourselves comfortable on the bridge, which was one 
