Connecticut western news., 1889-05-08
A NEW CONGO WATERWAY. An Almost Unnoticed River Found to be One of the Largest Ailments.

The report of Mir Alexander Delcommune upon his exploration in January last of the Lomami tributary of the Congo has been re- ceived at Brussels. His discoveries have hardly been surpassed in importance and iu- terest since Stanley's first voyage down the Congo. It is proven at last that though the cataracts in the Congo interrupt n avigation at Stanley Falls, steamers from Leopoldville can enter the LOmami about 125 miles below the Falls and follow a magnificent waterway for many hundreds of miles south, keeping all the while within sixty to seventy miles of the Congo itself. 1t Is q new highw ay opened to the centre of the Continent.
 DelcOmmune on the Roi des Belges, the largest steamer yet placed on the Upper Congo, ascended the Lomami for seventeen days. With an average width of 800 feet and depth of12 to IS feet, the river cuts it's way through the great virgin forest that covers this part of the Congo basin. For about half the distance the explorer found the population exceedingly dense. The will lages were very numerous and behind them were large banana plantations. Then for a number of days he steamed through a region he calls superb, where there were hundreds of abandoned huts and many signs of former cultivation, but not single inhabitant could be found. Arab slave stealers from Nyangwe had completely depopulated the country.
 After ascending for 5S5 miles, the serious illness of his white comrade, Mr.. Haneuse,
 
 directly west of Nyangwe the famous Arab settlement on the Congo, and only three days march from it. Before hlm still stretched the Lomami, almost as deep and broad as ever. He had travelled from Leo- poldville, l ,45O miles, to within sixty miles of Nyangwe without meeting a single impedi- ment to navigation. In other words, he had journeyed from Stanley Pool toward Central Africa, distance greater than from New York City to Omaha, and an unimpeded ofsl l,r, hofo, @1,,- nifcance of the discovery lies not only in the fact that quick and easy route to Lake Tanganyika has been found, but also in the fact that the identity of this river with the Lemami crossed much further south by Cam eron and Wissmann is esta blished beyond a doubt.
 Wissmann crossed the river ninety-fivs miles above Delcommune's highest point, and reported that it was there over 300 feet wide, ten feet deep and perfectly navigable. A hundred miles further south Cameron found the river still navigable stream. It is be- lieved, therefore, that the flowing Lomami, now proven to be the third largest tributary of the Congo, is navigable waterway for about 700 or 800 miles, and that when the railroad is built around the lower Congo cat aracts, there will be direct steam communica- tion between the sea and the very threshold of famous katanga, the land of gold and cop per, which, from all reports, appears to be the richest and most salu brious district in the lake region.
 It was in this lofty region that Reichard found the temperature on one occasion only five degrees above the freezing point, and the natives told him that water often con- gealed there. This country is famous as far away as Tabora and Victoria Nyanza for it's copper, which is mined by the natives and sentthundreds of miles to scores of mar kets. BothCameron and Reichard say that gold exists there in considerable quantities, and 1vens, the Portuguese traveller, says it is the most promising region of inner Africa, and merits serious attention, because, in his opinion, white men can live there and keep their health.
 water route to Katanga was not dreamed ofuntil Delcommune discovered the unex pected importance of the Lomami River.