306 Return to the Congo Mouth. 
The only step left was to apply for a canoe, and, 
after a kindly farewell to my excellent host, I left 
Boma on the evening of Sept. 25. 
With a view of “ doing” the mosquitoes, we ran 
down the Nshibul or central arm of the Nzadi, 
and found none of the whirlpools mentioned by the 
“ Expedition” near Fetish Rock. The bright clear 
night showed us silhouettes of dark holms, high 
and wooded to the north, and southwards banks 
of papyrus outlying long straggling lines of thin 
islands like a huge caterpillar. The canoe-men 
attempted to land at one place, declaring that some 
king wanted “ dash/’ but we were now too strong 
for them: these fellows, if allowed, will halt to 
speak every boat on the river. The wind fell to 
a dead calm, and five hours and a half sufficed to 
cover the thirty miles between Boma and Porto 
da Lenha. Here Mr. Scott supplied me with a 
fine canoe and a fresh crew of seven paddles. 
The noon was grey and still as we left the 
Whydah of the south, but at 2 p.m. the sea-breeze 
came up stiff and sudden, the tide also began to 
flow; the river roared ; the meeting of wind and 
water produced what the Indus boatmen call a 
“ lahar” (tide rip), and the Thalweg became almost 
as rough as the Yellala. Our canoe was literally 
“ Laying her whole side on the sea, 
As a leaping fish does.” 
Unwilling to risk swamping my instruments, I 
