OVER SAND-REEFS.

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overlooking the river. One grave already marked the spot-being that of Mr Keys, a State official, who had been killed by a buffalo three years before. And there, in the silence of the deep jungle-disturbed only by a prowling bush-cat or jackal, or by the chattering of the monkeys and screaming of the parrots in the lofty trees overhead-we raised a cairn of stones to mark where his mortal remains had been laid to rest. Having still another sick man to consider, we left the Mission the same evening, and having taken in fuel at the lower end of the village, where there was plenty of dry wood, started off once more. The river was very low, and we had much trouble from sand-banks,— especially at Two Palm Point, a few miles above Bolobo-so called from two tall Hyphane palms growing close together, which form a well-known landmark. Having vainly tried to find a channel among the sand-banks at the end of this point, where there were barely three feet of water, we let out a long chain, and all the Zanzibaris, jumping overboard, seized it and dragged the A.I.A. bodily over-probably at the expense of the paint on her keel. A tame elephant would have been very useful under the circumstances.

We reached Léopoldville on the 30th of January, without any further incident, except a two hours' halt in the hospitable tents of the two Nimrods of the Congo, Messrs Deane and Bayley, whom

we found encamped in a picturesque situation opposite Pururu Island. From them we heard that Baron Rothkirch, who had for some time been ill with abscess of the liver, had died at Nshassa on December 6th, 1887. The invalid having been handed over to the doctor, and the A.I.A. made fast alongside the Stanley, I was free to discuss the news and a cocktail with the captain and engineers of the latter. The cocktail, however, turned out to be a snare and a delusion; for Captain Shagerstrom, having no spice, surreptitiously introduced into the mixture a few grains of quinine, with the result that we all vowed never to intrust that perfidious Scandinavian with the compounding of another, and that notwithstanding his assurances that he had done it to keep off the fever.

I found that part of the expedition for Stanley Falls was still at Léopoldville, consisting of some officers sent up by the State to assist Tippoo Tip, who had come round from Zanzibar with Stanley and the Emin Pasha Expedition, and gone straight on to his post as governor at the Falls, where he had now been some six months. Captain Van de Velde, in charge of the expedition, was down with fever; and some of his loads not having arrived from Matadi, the Stanley was awaiting their arrival and the chief's recovery, to take them all up to Kinsi Katini.

We left again, with stores for Bangala, on Feb