Idaho semi-weekly world. [volume] (Idaho City, Idaho Territory) 1875-1908, 1890-05-20

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down to us, bringing flre-wood to sell
for beads and cowries, and big Jumps of
gum-copal, which make capital blaze
We were surrounded for hours by these
poor creatures, anxious to obtain few
of the much-coveted possessions of the
| white men; and thanks to the supplies
of wood they brought us, were enabled
next morning to resume our journey.
Day after day our journey led us be-
tween swampy, overfowed banks, every
now and then bringing us to villages
erected on piles standing in the water
similar to those we had passed
The inhabitants OF these wretched
riverdwellings were poor in the OK IRENE,
and led terrible, hunted existence, OK
posed on the forest side to the ferocious
attacks Of the Lufembi cannibals and
on the river suffering from the raiding
canoes of the more powerful villages
lower down. AS we journeyed higher
up the misery and wretchedness seemed
to increase, while the number Of vii
lagos we encountered grew less and less.
At last, after many days Of this, we
reached point beyond which the ma
tives of Mompono, the last village we
had seen, told us we should find no viii
lagos and no human beings. For three
days we steamed up the ever-narrowing
reaches of the river, its current increas-
ing In force as it grew smaller; round
sharp corners, whore our bows we're
driven into the opposite bank and the
funnel got entangled in tho branches of
the overhanging trees, and yet without
Inn apty, frln s.rsta tr1p rT htI-
man habitation.
Climbing tree one day which stood
on bluff whose river face was clothed
in Il clinglng mass of ferns and creepers,
! looked inland and away up river.
Every where spread broad, boundless
expanse of treeS-a wave of thick for
est extending from my feet to the fur
thest limits of the horizon. There was
no change in any direction-overhead
the clear Sky and the bright sunlight,
underneath and all around level with
the sky-line-the dark forest and its
still, impenetrable wall of foliage.
could not help feeling that this was in
deed the heart of Africa that here, far
far from the outer world, throbbed the
pulses of hidden continent. What
strange life might not lie concealed in
those silent woodland depths? Whence
came this mysterious river, yelling
silently up from the dim, swampy re-
cesses of the surrounding forest
through which, for ages and ages, the
elephant had roamed and savage man
through countless generations of barba-
rians had pursued the same daily,
monthly, yearly, round of bloodshed and
misery. laughter and death-cannibal
feasts and parental JOY when another
little savage had opened his baby eyes
on the theater of life, whose strange
scenes and stranger characters were to
develop before his gaze behind that
screen of forest barrier which the ge-
Mus of Africa has raised around her in
most shrine,
Several days were passed trayersing
the dreary solitudes without coming in
contact with single human being.
| On the fourth day we were surprised
to hear voice coming from the trees,
and to listen to native shout We sent
our canoe, and brought him on board
the Florida; but this was not done
/ without difficulty, for our men had a
{
/ caught. He was a very sullen fellow
/ and our interpreter had some trouble in
coaxing him to speak at all. We were
not very far from village. he told us.
At his request drum was handed him,
and he beat a signal to his village. We
/ heard the answering signal, borne ovel
the water, clear and distinct He told
us, too that they would know that il
/ meant strangers were here, and that We
should soon see plenty of his people,
! In the morning number of strange
looking men came down toward us il
I canoes, bringing fuel and presents
| We soon made friends. We learned that
/ their village was three or four miles off
/ These people were Balolo, and had the
same peculiar tribal marks | have al
ready mentioned. l went ovel
to ther village, and a terrible
tramp it was, over boys and morasse'
/ and roots of trees. | stumbled and fel
several times, smashing my watch anC
after all my pains, l found on arriving
/ there thar it was wretchedly poo
! place, with absolutely nothing to trade
and only one poor tusk of ivory in the
whole village So | uamped back agar
4 by the way came, first exacting prom
Use from the native we met the proceed
ing night at the river that he woul,
come to the Florida next morning ant
act as our guide. When morning came
and the Balolo failed tC turn up, Va
pushed ahead without him.
Leaving the poverty tricken settle
| ment behind MS, we started up streau
/ again, only to run almost immediatel.
into a snag at a sharp bend of the river
On getting safely afoat again we had t.
proceed with the utmost care, for WI
soon discovered that there was sue
eession of sharp turns and no end o
snags Immediately ahead. In avoiding
these we were constantly running int
the banks, for just at this point III
stream is narrower and more rapid thai
/ at any other Towards evening W
came to traces or an encampment on tn
left bank of the river, whore the Lu
fembi, the dreaded tribe of cannibals
were said 20 be. These were the frs
signs Of houses we had seen in fou
days; for the last three days had bee
spent in lodging the snags of the rive
and avoiding disaster to the Florida
There we're no signs of life about tn
eneampment 80 westopped aud sounde'
shrill blast from the steam
whistle; but there was no response saw
the echoes which seemed torepeat them
! Il l. \ n