CHAPTER IX. 
UP THE CONGO TO BANZA NOKKI. 
OR a wonder the canoes came in time, 
and, despite their mat-sails, we could 
not complain of them. There were 
twelve paddlers two for the stem, and 
two for the stern of each craft, under a couple of 
interpreters, Jotakwassi and Nchama-Chamvu, 
who were habited in European frock-coats of 
broadcloth, and in native terminations mostly 
“ buff.” Our excellent host bade us a kindly adieu, 
with many auguries of success—during the last 
night the frogs had made a noise in the house. 
Briefly, we set out on September 6th. 
In the forty-five miles between Boma, where we 
enter the true trough of the Congo, and the land¬ 
ing-place of Banza Nokki below the cataracts, 
there are half-a-dozen reaches, the shortest of 
three, the longest of fifteen miles. They are 
not straight, as upon the chart; the windings of 
