six or seven feet high, dotted here and there with palms. No vestige of
animal life is visible and only a few natives who are engaged on the
railway. These inhabit villages near at hand, formed of huts built of
reeds or bamboo and thatched with grass. The men wear a loin cloth only,
but the women are wrapped in a plain piece of richly coloured cloth
which reaches from the neck to the ankle leaving the arms and feet bare.
This is evidently a simple length of stuff some three or four feet wide
and, to the masculine eye at least, its method of support remains a
mystery, for no trace of button, hook or pin is apparent. Their faces
are of the negroid type with broad noses and thick lips and the figures
of the women approach the shape of an S reversed thus [backwards S] and
are similar to those which our American cousins have so largely
developed. The men are as a rule thin and tall with very long legs and
all appear to have only small arches to their feet. On the lower Congo
however, there are many foreigners and several other types are visible.
As far as one can judge by the railway cuttings, the soil on the plateau
is coarse sand and gravel containing iron and quite unsuitable for
agricultural purposes under such a hot sun. The air however, as we
approach Tumba, about 2000 feet above sea level, is dry and fresh and at
4 p.m. we halt there for the night.

We are met by Commandant Delhaz, the Commissaire of the Cataracts
District, who kindly places a bungalow at our disposal for the night and
shows us round the settlement. There is only a small native village
here, but large barracks consisting of lines of clean, clay huts
constructed by the soldiers. Tumba is indeed an important military
centre and here again the appearance of the troops is very fine as they
march to the strains of the band which renders snatches from _Faust_,
_Carmen_ and other well known airs with a few native variations. A farm
has been established in the neighbourhood to feed the garrison and an