CHAPTER IX.

THE DISTRICT OF THE FALLS.

The Congo in the district of the Falls--Progress of European occupation--Proposed line of railway--The rock of Palaballa--Caravan route--Passage of the Luvu--A native market--Passage of the Kuilu--Mount Bidi--Station of Lukungu and adjacent settlements--The Bakongo--Service of porters--Mr. Ingham and Mr. Rose Troup--The River Inkissi--Arrival at Stanley Pool.

Parallel to the coast of Africa, and at no great distance from it, there lies a range of low mountains, formed on the edge of the plateaus, the uniformity of which is broken at intervals by some isolated peaks. Across this coast-chain the waters collected in the central plains have hollowed out for themselves channels along which they escape towards the sea, and these channels are shut in by rocky cliffs between which the streams roll on with an impetuous rush.

Of these watercourses none is so noted, nor at the same time so wild and romantic, as that along which pours the enormous volume of the waters of the Congo. Between Matadi and Leopoldville the stream is interrupted by no less than thirty-two falls or rapids, every one of which presents a spectacle of real magnificence.

[Illustration: THE CONGO AT THE STATION OF ISANGHILA.

(_From a Sketch by M. Manduan._)]

Imagination may well conceive of the river-bed as a gigantic staircase, some 200 miles in length, descending from an altitude of 800 feet, and divided by thirty-two steps all differing in width and height; it is enclosed on either hand by rocky banks, and ever and again obstructed by dark projecting reefs and blocks of stone of every size and shape. Such is the Cyclopean channel along which rushes the Congo. It is the monarch of the Old-World rivers, here in its infant course spreading out into an expanse of water some 2000 or 3000 yards wide, and here again contracting itself to a breadth of 300 yards, but continuously gaining in its depth and velocity what it loses in its superficial extent. At every angle of the channel through which it rolls it seems to assume a different character; in one place it appears to be possessed with a furious rage that is indomitable, as it precipitates itself into an amphitheatre of rocks where the waters whirl in tumultuous eddies and dashing themselves against the granite crags are mingled in terrific chaos; at another place, after having continued its wild career for some miles (as at the rapids of Nsongo and Lumba), the foaming billows of the river gradually subside and are lulled to rest, till they spread themselves out in the tranquillity of a placid lake.

The calm, however, is all a delusion; soon again the still waters are animated with redoubled fury; once more they dash forward with increased velocity, and finding a yet steeper slope, they hurl themselves into another of the romantic gorges, where they renew their ebullitions with an awful roar.

On either side of the river, as thus it tears along its impetuous course, are lines of hills, often rising into peaks with bare summits, broken either by sloping valleys or by deep ravines, the sides of which are clothed with tall rank grass, except in parts where they are marshy, or covered with dense forests.

Such is the region of the Falls; such is the giant barrier which Nature has erected almost adjacent to the mouth of the Congo, as though she desired to throw every impediment she could in the way of access to these regions of Africa, and to do her utmost to provide a bulwark to defend the wealth of the interior. For three centuries every effort of the intruder has been baffled; the barrier has been effectual to rebuff every expedition that has been taken in hand, and has defied each successive attempt to penetrate the secrets of the mysterious land.

It was reserved for Stanley to overcome the obstacle, but the achievement was accomplished at the cost of enormous labour and large sacrifice of life.

In 1877, when he was in command of the expedition that had been started under the joint auspices of the _New York Herald_ and the _Daily Telegraph_, he took no less than five months in descending the river from Stanley Pool to Boma, his progress being perpetually impeded both by the practical difficulties of the road and by the hostility of the natives. On the way he lost fifteen of his men, including Frank Pocock, the last of his European associates.

Two years later he again appeared upon the scene, this time under commission from the King of the Belgians, and at the head of an expedition for “the survey of the Upper Congo.” Carrying sections of steamers and buildings, as well as a variety of materials in his train, he spent a further two years in making his way up from Vivi to Stanley Pool. During this time six Europeans and fifty natives died, whilst fifteen other white men became so unwell that they were obliged to return. Such was the original balance-sheet of that memorable enterprise that bears so striking a testimony to the unwavering confidence, the rare courage, and the indomitable energy of its leader.

At present no less than twelve European settlements mark out the new route, and more than 5000 native porters are at the service of the white men, making a journey in perfect safety from Matadi to Leopoldville in twenty days, conveying European merchandise to the Pool, and bringing back large cargoes of ivory from the upper districts to the steamers on the river below.

[Illustration: THE BELGIANS ON THE CONGO.--DEPARTURE OF A CARAVAN.

(_From a Photograph by Dr. Allart._)]

Considerable, however, as is the progress made within the last six years, it does not yet satisfy the requirements of the pioneers of civilisation. Looking to the fertile lands of the interior, and taking account of the vast regions, alike wealthy and populous, that are drained by the immense navigable network of the Upper Congo, they cannot fail to realise that so long as these districts are unconnected with the sea by some quick and easy means of communication, they must necessarily continue, in spite of their rich promise, to be comparatively uncultivated and unproductive.

It was in view of this that Captain Van de Velde took upon himself to say: “Even for the organisation of a transport service either of horses and mules or of waggons drawn by oxen, it would be necessary to make a wide and substantial roadway, as well as to throw permanent bridges over the ravines and torrents, a system entailing large importations of draught cattle, which would further involve the establishment of farms, studs, and places of pasturage. But the time for all this is over! The day of vans and waggons is gone; it is only steam that can be adopted as an economical method of traction. Locomotives do not suffer from the climate; they require no veterinary skill, a native smith can suffice; meanwhile for fodder all they want is wood, of which the district of the Congo supplies ample store; and even this may be dispensed with when they are worked by electricity generated by the motive power of the cataracts.”

It has been resolved accordingly that a railroad should be constructed. Already a party of French and Belgian engineers, under the direction of Messrs. Cambier and Charmanne, is engaged in the survey of the land between Matadi and the Pool, with the design of ascertaining the best route and of estimating the cost. If Stanley could have had these locomotives of the future at his disposal a few days would have sufficed for the transport of his 800 men with their 1500 packages to Stanley Pool without fatigue, an undertaking which on foot, along the rough tracks of the caravans, could only be accomplished by a month’s hard marching.

Beyond Matadi, after the passage of the Mpozo, the first obstacle on the way is the rock-wall of Palaballa. This is crossed by a steep path bordered by blocks of white quartz. At its summit, which is about 2000 feet above sea-level, is a flourishing settlement founded by the English Baptist Mission; and the vast mountain panorama viewed from thence opens before the traveller some idea of the country he has to cross, and indicates the difficulties he must have to encounter.

[Illustration: THE EXPEDITION ON ITS WAY PAST THE FALLS.]

The caravan road is a mere footpath, rarely more than thirty inches wide, winding through a stifling labyrinth of grass several yards high. Long and toilsome ascents under the glare of the African sun are succeeded by descents equally wearisome leading to the marshes in the hollow of the deep ravines. At intervals along the slopes there are extensive groves of palm-trees or bananas, baobabs also being not uncommon. On the lower ground the way proceeds through fine forests, thick with trees of various species, connected one with another by wreaths of creepers that form verdant arches overhead, and are the resort of the widow-bird, with its black plumage and long tail, as well as of countless smaller birds resembling bengalis, which rise in swarms as their solitude is disturbed. Only in single file is it possible for any caravan to make advance, so that the expedition with its 750 men would be extended for a length little short of half a mile.

On the 29th of March Stanley reached the Luvu, one of the affluents of the Congo on its southern bank. Across this river the agents of the Free State have formed a suspension-bridge of iron rods attached to baobabs on either bank, a structure of which white men and Zanzibaris avail themselves, but so frail that the natives, as a rule, hesitate to trust their feet upon it, as it oscillates so suspiciously under their weight.

Beyond Palaballa the country is almost reduced to the condition of a desert, mainly in consequence of the withdrawal of the natives from the neighbourhood of the caravan routes. This they have done not from any fear of the white man, whom they are disposed to trust entirely, but through the depredations of the negro porters, who have no sense of any rights of property save the rights of the strongest. With the recent increase of the caravan traffic between Matadi and Leopoldville the damage done to the plantations adjacent to the line of route became more and more intolerable; while in addition to this, the soldiers, Haoussa, Zanzibari, or Bangala, who were engaged for escort, would perpetually commit outrages which the European was powerless to repress. The natives, therefore, recognised the expediency of retiring further off; they removed their huts, and re-erected them at such a distance from the line of thoroughfare as they concluded would render their homesteads safe from the attacks of such marauders. It followed, as a consequence of this migration, that on entering the district Stanley’s 750 men had nothing to depend on from the products of the place. They found themselves without the opportunity of providing their requisite supplies, because there were no longer any of the accustomed markets to which the inhabitants of the villages within reach of the route had hitherto been sending the produce of their fields, their hunting-grounds, and their fisheries. Even in the interior of the country when the report was circulated that the notorious Boula Matari was advancing with 1000 men, all armed with guns, the alarm was so great that for a week the ordinary market-places were quite deserted.

[Illustration: YOUNG CHIAÏKA GIRL.

(_From a Photograph by Mr. Spencer Burns._)]

Very notable are these markets as demonstrating the commercial capabilities of the natives, which are quite surprising. A visit to one of them, that of Kuzo-Kienzi, is described by Captain Thys: “Here,” he says, “is a gathering of between 200 and 300 salespeople of both sexes, with their variety of goods displayed either in baskets or spread out on banana leaves, a throng of purchasers meanwhile moving to and fro and inspecting the commodities. The women, who are more numerous than the men, squat down in front of their goods and exhibit a peculiar aptitude for their occupation; they solicit the attention of the passer-by, they eulogise the quality of what they offer to sell, they exclaim indignantly when a price is tendered below the proper value, and with insinuating smile beguile their customers to make a purchase. The sale of vegetables is entirely committed to the women.

“The enumeration of the articles exhibited for sale comprises a long list. At Kuzo-Kienzi I have myself seen goats, pigs, fowls, fish (both fresh and smoke-dried), hippopotamus-meat and hides, rows of spitted rats, locusts, shrimps, sweet potatoes, maize, haricot beans, green peas, yams, bananas, earth-nuts, eggs, manioc (cooked as well as raw), manioc-bread, made up both into rolls and long loaves, pine-apples, sugar-cane, palm-nuts, tobacco-leaves in considerable quantity, palm-wine supplied either in jars procured from the coast or in their own native calebashes, cabbages, sorrel, spinach, pimento, and punnets of mixed salad arranged very much as in our European market-gardens. In addition to these I noticed a few small lots of ivory, strong ropes of native manufacture, mats, European stuffs in considerable variety, powder, glass, pottery, beads--in short, almost every conceivable kind of ware.

[Illustration: NATIVES OF THE REGION OF THE FALLS.]

“Avenues run through the market-place, which is divided into sections each appropriated to its own kind of merchandise; in one place is the ivory-mart, in another the tobacco-mart, by far the greater allotments being assigned to the vegetable department.

“There are three kinds of currency in use--the handkerchief, the mitaku, which is brass-wire, and the blue bead known as ‘matare.’ A class of men who may be described as a sort of money-changers have their own proper quarters, effecting such exchanges as the business of the market may require.

“As an ordinary rule traffic would commence about ten in the morning and be continued till nearly four in the afternoon; and the close of the market I must reluctantly report is characterised by those scenes of disorder which not unfrequently are witnessed in the like circumstances at home. Immoderate drinking as ever provokes angry disputes, the intoxicating palm-wine being here the substitute for beer and gin.”

To fall in with such a bustling market as this would have been an inestimable boon to the caravan which, with the exception of a few porters who had succumbed to illness or fatigue, safely reached the Lukunga, in good order, on the 8th of April.

A pleasing exception is the Lukunga to the general aspect of the Congo-banks in the region of the Falls. Its valley is fertile, and the soil well adapted to the cultivation of any kind of tropical produce, so that attempts have been already made to promote the growth of mountain-rice, coffee, eucalyptus, and other crops.

Stretched across the landscape on the far side of the Lukunga lies the Ndunga range, the loftiest in the entire district, from the middle of which, rearing itself some 800 feet above the surrounding eminences, is a quartzose projection, known as Mount Bidi. The summit of this commands an extensive view. At the base of the mountain, between the Congo on the north and the village of Lutete on the east, are valleys rich in vegetation and abounding in plantations, from which the requirements of many villages are supplied. Further off is a succession of extensive plains, on which dark green tracts indicate the position of other villages nestling in the shelter of their venerable “safos.”

It is here at the Lukunga that the second portion of the Falls district is reached. Here, too, seems to be the boundary beyond which the grasping, idle native, brutalised by alcohol, is no longer to be seen as he is on the lower river; he is replaced by the negro, sturdy and industrious, who for centuries has maintained business relations both with the Pool and with the Portuguese colony of Angola.

There are six European settlements in the district. One station belonging to the State is at Lukungu, and another at Manyanga-South; at Lukungu, too, there is an American mission; an English Baptist mission has been settled at Lutete; a Rotterdam firm has a store at Ndunga; and the Belgian Society for trade with the Upper Congo, of which the headquarters are at Brussels, maintains a station at Manyanga-South.

The country generally is well-populated. Neither caravans nor negro porters are objects of terror to the natives, who, living as they do in such near proximity to the white men, feel themselves assured of adequate protection.

The indigenous population mainly belong to the Bakongo tribe. They occupy the southern bank of the river from the Congo-Portuguese frontier near Nokki as far as Stanley Pool. Chiefly agriculturists, they, however, do a considerable trade in ivory, palm-oil, caoutchouc, and earth-nuts. To procure their ivory they make long journeys eastward, and thus become intermediate agents between the tribes of the interior and the factories that have been planted on the lower river and on the coast. Although their own country abounds in elephants, they rarely hunt them, apparently not having weapons sufficiently strong to attack such pachydermata.

Distinct communities are formed by the various agglomerations of huts. In the districts near the river the hamlets are somewhat scattered and small; but in the interior where the population is more dense, villages of considerable magnitude exist; for instance, Mwala, in the Inkissi basin, visited by Lieut. Hackinson of the Congo State in 1886, might without impropriety be called a town, as it reckons 2000 inhabitants.

[Illustration: A NATIVE CHIEF OF THE LOWER CONGO, WITH HIS MINISTERS AND BOYS.

(_From a Photograph by R. P. Kraft._)]

Throughout the region there are very few chiefs possessing anything like absolute power or authority, either on account of their wealth or of any terror they can inspire. Formerly there were some leaders with pretensions to be potentates who succeeded more or less in establishing a kind of sovereignty and in exacting tribute, but these have now disappeared. As matter of fact the title of “prince” which is now given to the ostensible village chief on the Lower Congo is quite inaccurate. Sovereignty, as we in Europe understand it, does not exist among the Bakongo. The recognised chief is generally the oldest freeman; the others consult him, respect his opinion and yield him homage, but they pay him no tribute and are under no obligation to obey him. It might almost be said that with certain limitations every Bakongo is his own chief.

This peculiar political organisation, and, combined with it, the singular aptitude for trade exhibited by the natives, constitute two highly important factors in the future of the new State; and it was these considerations that led Colonel de Winton, the former Administrator-General, to maintain that he did not believe that throughout the uncivilised world there existed a territory which for security to Europeans and for commercial prospects offered such advantages as the basin of the Congo. It is noteworthy that during the ten years or more in which Europeans have been exploring the country, neither in French Congo nor in Free State Congo has _one single white man_ lost his life by any assault on the part of the natives.

Agriculture amongst the Bakongo is on a somewhat advanced line; and they have a large variety of crops, such as maize, manioc, yams, sweet potatoes, earth-nuts, egg-plants, cabbages, and beans. They also grow palms, sugar-canes, cotton, and tobacco, as well as many kinds of fruit-trees, including bananas, guavas, and citrons. Each village is surrounded by its own plantation, and the inhabitants never suffer from deficiency of food.

Cotton is used for sewing purposes; and a kind of grass, as well as the fibre of the pine-apple, which grows very abundantly, furnishes material for the manufacture of some serviceable fabrics.

A strong, industrious race are the Bakongo, thoroughly alive to the conviction that they must work if they would live. They are very keen in their desire to obtain goods of European make; and it is for the sake of procuring them that the young men are ready to be hired as porters, an occupation in itself far more toilsome than field labour. Already the people are beginning to develop a certain amount of taste approaching to luxury in the construction and internal arrangements of their dwellings, so that a chief will replace his hut by a house of plaster or of wood. More than in other districts the women are in a subordinate position, for as the men themselves do the field-work, they are more exacting of their wives in other duties. All the valleys being under cultivation, there are comparatively few of the wooded gorges that are frequent in other parts of the country.

It is especially in the district between Manyanga, Lukungu, and Lutete that the natives are recruited as porters for the transport service which has now regularly established itself, and is in active operation between the Lower and Upper Congo.

For the service between Matadi and Manyanga, Lukungu is the chief hiring centre. The “Capitas,” or conductors of caravans, are engaged there. These agents, having first received their “Mokande” by way of license or permit, present themselves with their men to the Controller at Matadi. Here the loads are given out, an average weight of seventy pounds being assigned to each porter. The Capita takes charge of the whole, superintends the transport all the way to Manyanga, where upon due delivery of the goods he receives a form of acknowledgment, which he carries back to Lukungu, where he obtains his payment for the transaction.

Manyanga itself is the centre for engaging porters to proceed to the Pool. They come chiefly from the environs of Lutete and the neighbourhood of the river Inkissi, and do not fail in numbers. At present there are several thousand young men from eighteen to twenty-five years of age who are not unwilling to be hired by the month, and this in a country where seven years ago the representatives of the Congo Association were almost baffled in their efforts to get any help whatever. The explanation of the altered condition of things is found in the fact that during the interval children have not only grown to be young men, but have had such peaceable associations with Europeans, learning the value of their commodities, that in order to procure them for themselves they are anxious to engage themselves in their service. Thus it has been brought about that Lukungu, Lutete, and Manyanga all contribute towards the supply of porters, so that for some time to come there is no likelihood of any deficiency of labour of this kind. Every day the “wants” of the native population are increasing; clothing is becoming general, the use of sandals is getting more and more common, and in this region, where the nights and early mornings are chilly, there is nothing more prized than a rug or blanket of some kind. To become the owner of such novelties the native is ready to undertake almost any task upon which the white man may employ him: at present he is only a porter; but there is nothing in the way of his becoming a navvy or an artisan.

[Illustration: GROUP OF KROOBOY SERVANTS.

(_From a Photograph by Dr. Allart._)]

Lieutenant Franqui, who for two years had been in charge of the station of Lukungu, has demonstrated the extraordinary impulse given to the transport service between Matadi and Leopoldville in 1887, which was just the date of the passage of the expedition. His figures speak for themselves.

“Some internecine wars,” he says, “and more especially the discontent of the natives, who had misgivings about the competition which would arise from rival commercial establishments being settled at Leopoldville, caused a temporary check in the supply of porters.

“At the beginning of 1887 loads were accumulating on the lower river, and the condition of things was becoming more serious because further large transports were known to be on the way. Already the storehouses at Matadi contained upwards of 4000 packages, representing over 100 tons weight, whilst the arrival had been notified of the steamers _Ville de Bruxelles_ and _Roi des Belges_ bringing 6000 loads more; and besides this there were 1800 loads of supplies for the Congo Company. Meanwhile there was a standing contract for the transport of 400 loads a month; and now, to crown it all, came the announcement of the approach of Stanley’s Expedition for the relief of Emin Pasha, which would necessitate the conveyance of 1200 loads more, and which demanded the utmost despatch.

“At that time the entire direction of the transport service was in my hands. First appealing to the zeal of my European staff, I endeavoured to make the natives understand that it would be for their own interest that they should work for the Government, and in a month the State was informed that 7000 men had been engaged. During March I had the satisfaction of despatching over 5000 porters with their loads.

“The business firms who managed transport on their own account suffered considerably from the recruiting thus effected on behalf of the State, as in addition to the 5000 porters there were at least 5000 natives employed in the various stores. So that, during a single month, more than 8000 men were engaged for carrying on the caravan traffic between Matadi and Leopoldville.

“All through the ensuing months recruiting went on briskly, and porters flocked in, with the result that by the end of October nearly every one of the loads had been forwarded from Matadi. I am thus in the position to testify that within an interval of eight months more than 30,000 loads were transported, and, reckoning the porters who undertook the work as far as Lukungu, not less than 60,000 men were employed.”

Nor again could any one better attest the remarkable progress that had been made in the facility of securing porters than Messrs. Ingham and Rose Troup, who were sent direct from Liverpool to provide for the transport of Stanley’s baggage. The state of things had become altogether different since the time when they were first in the service of the Congo Association. They had now no difficulty in finding 1500 men to carry out the required task. Mr. Ingham took charge of the transport between Matadi and Manyanga, Mr. Troup undertaking the arrangements between Manyanga and Leopoldville. Both of them accomplished their mission with complete success. On the way to the Pool one gang of porters met other gangs returning to Matadi to bring up the baggage that had been left behind; but everything was well ordered, and in a month all was safely deposited at Leopoldville.

On the 8th of April, at 11 A.M., the first to arrive at Lukungu was Tippoo Tib, with his troop. He made himself known to Lieutenant Franqui, who invited him to his verandah and offered him coffee. Tippoo Tib mentioned Boma, saying that it had appeared to him to be a place of some importance, and regretting that lack of time had prevented him from landing to inspect it. He likewise spoke highly of the caravan route beyond Banza-Manteka, and pronounced it well adapted for the transport of ivory. He then exhibited the contract that had been signed by himself and Stanley at Zanzibar, and had been deposited in a box containing various documents and photographs of Van Gele, Wissmann, Wester, Gleerup, and others.

[Illustration: THE CONGO IN THE DISTRICT OF THE FALLS.

(_From a Sketch by M. Manduan._)]

Stanley, with the main contingent of the party, arrived about two hours later, and mounted on their fine white donkeys, all the Europeans made their entry. Out of the flock of fifteen merino sheep which had been brought from the Cape only one was missing, which had yielded to fatigue on the previous day. As chief of the expedition, Stanley, for himself and his staff, accepted an invitation to dine at the station, where he spoke in high spirits, and declared that he was full of confidence in the ultimate success of his enterprise.

Next morning the whole force mustered for an inspection of their arms and equipment. There were four companies, each numbering about 200 men. The Zanzibaris were under the charge of Messrs. Nelson, Stairs, and Rose Troup, the Soudanese and Somalis being assigned to the control of Major Barttelot. The companies were again subdivided into three groups, each under the supervision of a nyampara, and provided with a red banner.

On a square of about one hundred yards Stanley had the entire force drawn out in double file, and proceeded with the utmost care to investigate every detail, making the inspection with a calmness that betokened the presence of a competent, conscientious, and far-seeing leader.

In the evening the whole camp was _en fête_. All the Europeans, those attached to the station as well as those belonging to the expedition, joined in the merriment, Stanley himself at first leading off one of the national dances of the Zanzibaris, and afterwards beating time for their movements. The enthusiasm was great, and Stanley was borne along in a frenzy of delight.

Trifling as it may seem, this is an instance of the adroitness with which Stanley attracts to himself the devotion of his men. Those who speak of him as unpopular with his followers must speak without warrant: he is strict, but he is kind; and, what is more, while he knows how to make the negroes submissive to his authority, he succeeds in securing their attachment to himself.

When, at 10.30 A.M. on the following morning, the expedition, in good order, made a start, it was only requisite to leave seven men behind as invalids. Of these one died, two returned to Matadi, the remaining four being able to rejoin the force before reaching Leopoldville. Two months afterwards, several European newspapers, professing to have trustworthy information, actually announced that the expedition had been decimated by famine and that its line of march was strewn with bodies of the dead!

[Illustration: A WATER-PASSAGE NEAR LOOTETE.

(_From a Sketch by M. Manduan._)]

Two whole days were occupied in the passage of the river Inkissi; the whale-boat was launched, and had to go backward and forward, from bank to bank, no less than eighty times. At the village of Nsello, near the point of confluence, the river is 160 yards wide, and enclosed by wooded cliffs varying from 50 to 100 yards in height. A few miles higher up it is much broken by rapids, but further on, beyond the village of Kilemfi, its course is perfectly free, and runs through plains pleasing in aspect and populous with agricultural communities. The country on the right bank is occupied by the Wambundu, a tribe mainly engaged in the cultivation of the soil, and dependent on the Matoko of Wazanzi, whose authority extends from the Inkissi to the Pool. It is through this region that the projected railway would pass.

When, on the 27th of April, the expedition crossed the wooded rock of Yombi, it was with no small feeling of relief that the announcement was hailed that Stanley Pool could be distinguished in the distance, its placid waters glistening between the trees.