Little Falls herald. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1889-1950, 1922-06-30
BUTLER WRITES
FROM BELGIAN CONGO
FORMER LITTLE FALLS BOY
TELLS OF COUNTRY HE HAS
BEEN EXPLORING

| victor Butler, son of w. A. Butler.
former county auditor, who grew to
manhood in Little Falls. has written
letter to the editor from the BELGIAN
| congo, where he has been exploring for
diamonds and other precious stones and
metals. The article will be of interest
to MS old friends and readers Of the
Herald generally and is produced be-
! low:
- Amadi, Belgian Congo
nrr Do+ u March 10th, 1922.
- Editor Little Falls Herald,
u,, h Little Falls, Minnesota.
| Father has written me several times
SAYING that you wished me to write a
letter for the Herald telling something
to do.
hoatn Ihere Hf are r three Belgian passenger
hundred tons each, running between
60 port on one arriving about every three
weeks. These boats touch at several
points along the west coast of Africa
before arriving in the Congo. They
Islands; Dakar and some times at Free
town: These places are very interesting
and the passengers are allowed to 60
ashore while the vessel is being coaled.
very near to Monrovia, the capital of
the American Negro Republic, Liberia
although the boat did not stop there
IT It was s possible to get good view Of
the city from where we were
| Two or three days before one arrives
at the mouth of the Congo River the
water Of the ocean becomes very mud
dy looking and black. The city of
| inc
enter the mouth of the Congo River
Here little pilot boat meets the ves-
SCI SCI to TO- gulde it to Bona, the capital of
and Bona there is a large rock known
as Fetish Rock. Some times there is
not sufficient water in the river at this
point to allow the steam boat to pass
i small boats take off part of the cargo
and as the boat does not draw so much
water then, is able to pass Fetish Rock
the boat makes a stay, of thirtysix
hours in order that the new state
agents who have arrived may, visit the
officials of the country. receive their
leaves Bona at six o'clock in the
morning and owing to the strong ad.
thu does not % reach
At Matadi all the passengers leave the
vessel and the cargo is unloaded as it
is impossible to go farther up the river
between Matadi and Kinshasa, the riv-
er port above the rapids. Matadi,
which is the native word for rock, is
a very busy little city. Matadi is not
only the port for the Congo on the
west coast but is also one of the ter
minals of the railroad between Matadi
and kinshasa.
row gauge railroad to Kinshasa, a dis
tance Of about four hundred kilometers.
The country between Matadi and Kin
shasa is very hilly and mountainous
ing skill to. build the little. railroad
that connects these two important
little cities of the Western Congoo: Il
is impossible to go from Matadi to
as stated before. Before the railroad
was built all supplies arriving at Ma
tadi for the interior were carried by
nsdpe S5ns to TO to
carried by natives in hammocks, chairs
or other contrivances. This is a sandy
region practically devoid Of trees, as
we'll as hilly. Many white people died
making this trip from malaria and kim
dred tropical diseases. The Eelgians
saw that it was necessary to build
Mata hess net dnS tS to etsS
lives but in order to handle the. incom-
, ing cargo destined for the interior
To build this railroad Chinese labor
is said that fer every kilrmeter Of rail
, road built one white man died. al
though I imagine this is an exaegera-
ton. Many Of the Chinese laborers lost
, laria. and the like. Sleeping sickness
once ravaged this section of the coun-
try also, but has been almost stamped
out in this particular section Of the
Congo. One boards one Of thee little
trains in the morning at alb. ut 81,
o'clock and if the engine works we'll
WI which does not not always you arrive e. a,
between Matadi and Kinshasa. 1t i:
I necessary to sleep in hotel at Thys-
sleepers nor does it travel at night i
not absolutely necessary. These little
) trains are made up Of two first elias:
2 passenger coaches. one second and ont
ture box car for the baggage of the
: passengers and the engine. Each coacf
e holds twelve passengers and it i:
!, necessary that you bring. lunch with
ner .enroute., You must also bring
! drinking water with you as none i!
! furnished on the train. The engineer
is a1wayS voays nsgro fr9m rem some Engisi
4 wood fuel and the train is continually
= stopping to get more wood. At Thys
; Vile are the railroad shops, two hotel:
:. at good altitude and is supposed t
y :, be very healthy There are no mos
quitoes at Thysville and the nights are
+. cool. The next morning after arriving
! in Thysville one boards the train fol
, kinshasa, usually arriving in time TO:
the evening meal at the A. B. c.. Hotel
Ninshasa is a thriving little city O.
: some five or six hundred whites ant
o probably fifteen thousand natives.
One wishing to go into the interior
takes one of the little river boats a
kinshasa for whatever point he in
: tends to go. In 1915. made. the tril
Basoka after being on the river sixteei
| days. The Congo River is said to b.
p 40 kilometers wide in some places
= During the dry season the water get!
e very low and at this time it is not un
S common or one of these little rive
: several days. The water of the Cong,
is very muddy and sluggish looking
l due to the great amount of vegetation
that it carries along to the sea. TIL
e banks of the Congo River are heavil,
= forested and one can not see into tn
d small villages of natives who are con
D tinually fishing with nets, hook an,
lines and various kinds of fish traps
The river abounds in many species O.
fish. some of an enormous size. TIL
natives travel on the water with Canoe
siderable skill in following out tree
S to be used as boats Some of thes,
dugouts are as much as so and 60 fee
, long and 8 to 4 feet wide Some O
these particular natives live in thei
x dug-out with their family and have n,
Z other home: They construct a cove
!. over part Of the dug-out with leaves 6
i of the dug-out on which they cool
. their food. Mud is first put on the foo