The Kimball graphic. (Kimball, Brule County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1905, 1883-10-12
Brazzaville and Stanley Pool.

Almost opposite to Calina Point,
which might from its commanding situ-
alton be called the Gibralter ofthe Pool,
is Mfwa, u little native village, SO insig-
nificant in size and situation that it
would be passed over without remark,
were it not that it has been noisily
christened before all Europe as "Braz-
zaville." 1t is here that De Brazza
claims to have secured II cession Of terri
tory tothe French republic, nine milesin
length. "Brazzaville" consists of a very
few native huts, half buried in bananas,
and backed by thick forests. On the
left-hand side, facing the Pool, there is
q small creek, which might be devel
oped into q tiny harbor, and there is a
fine and ferti g island, as yet uninhabit-
ed save by chance fishermen, which
might be successfully developed by the
French; blu save these two advantages,
not rare anywhere in Stanley Pool, it is
difficult to discover any favorable point
IN this situation. or even to avoid the
conclusion that it Is a badly chosen site
for a station. About this l%ow-lying part
of the Pool agne IL prevalent, and in the
rainy season l should say Mfwa would
become a rheumatic swamp. Had De
Brazza fixed his intended station any
where on the high and breezy
Dover Cliffs" he would have
done well, and. remember. the whole
basin of tie pool was open to him when
he first arrived, for he reached it long
before MIR Stanley had been able to
transport his goods and his men hitherto
found a station, 80 that the F%ranco-Ital-
ian, as it were, had the first choice of a
site. l can only suppose either that, in
spite OF the excessive affection of the n...
ives pore him, they did not place much
ground at his disposal, and that De Braz.
"a liked on Mfwa because he could get
nothing better. He may also have
to secure that some day, and then be
able to shut up the mouth of the pool if
necessary. However, fortunately Cali
ma Point is not likely to come into the
hands of the French, as l believe a pre-
vinus contract now exists between the
native chiefs in the vicinity and Mr..
Stanley.
Before I proceed to a further descrip-
ton of Stanley Pool and it's inhabitants,
| might mention, for those who like
statistics, that this great ex panse On the
Congo is about twenty five miles long
by sixteen broad, and that its depth va.
ries from Two or three feet to thirty
fathoms. There are about seventeen
Islands OF note, the largest being tiir-
teen miles long, Many sid ebanks also
trew the waters of the Pool and f,oat.
ing lslets are offer seen, masses of re e
papyrns, and aquatic vegetation, which
have become SO solidly knit together
that a man may stand on them. These
are often of some extent. and
may be taken for real is lands until their
motion with the cure mt is observed,
White egrets and many birds FREQUENT
the m, and the hippopotami plav round
their edges. On the large islands are
many elephants and %buffaloes, which
creatures swim backward and forward
from the mainland with ease. Innumcr.
able water birds, storks, pelicans, cor
morants, herons, egrets, sacred ib::ses.
pur-Wlnged and Egyptian geese, terms,
and "scissorbills," frequent the thick
tangles of high grass and the mapys sand
banks where they form strange sronns
with the %crocodilcs, who are wont to lie
oasking in the sun with a fixed grin
playing about their closed jaws. The
birds are in no fear of them, but stand
ABOUT amidst these sleeping monsters,
plnining themselves, and meditatiny.
perhaps, on the contrast between their
delicate forms and the hideous, uncouth.
creatures which lie around. 1t is a en-.
rlous picture, the grotesque and the grace.
tul size by side. The people inhabitinn
the shores af Stanley Pool belong to the
bateke race, but they would seem to be
recent arrivals, and to have d~ispossessed
the older inhabitants and driven them
into the interior. Where the Bateke
nave settled, on the south or eastern
bank of the Congo, they form merely
riverine colonies, and never extend
their settlements many miles from its
banks.