arms and every evening at sunset it is lowered with like ceremony.
Indeed, the whole system is military, for everyone rises, works, eats
and sleeps at the command of the clarion. It is a custom at most
official and private parties in the Congo, to hand round port wine and
cigars before sitting down to table. At first this seemed a strange kind
of _aperative_., but soon the glass of port became very agreeable after
the morning's work.

Ten or twelve guests were assembled on the verandah when we arrived, and
soon Mr. Armarni joined the group. He is an Italian, an ex-naval officer
of distinction and now Commissaire du Roi of the Congo, a position which
ranks with, but after, that of Governor General. By a simple and
practical device, the relative rank of all the Administrative and
Military officials can be determined at a glance. Each wears a blue
gauntlet on each wrist and forearm over the white sleeve of his coat and
affixed on this are a number of gold bands. A captain of a river
steamer, perhaps has three or four bands, a Chef de Poste, four or five,
a Commissaire of a Zone or District, seven or eight, an Inspecteur
d'Etat, nine or ten, and the Governor General, eleven. In order however,
to economise space and perhaps to facilitate counting, when more than
three stripes are worn, a broad strip is substituted which corresponds
to the original three. Thus an official with five stripes wears one
broad and two narrow ones, while the Governor General wears three broad
stripes and two narrow ones. The chief decoration, the order of the
Lion, can only be gained by Belgians, but the Congo Star is given to all
after a certain term of service. Those who hold purely civil
appointments such at Judges, Secretaries and Directors of Transport,
wear no stripes at all.

At 2.30 p.m. a bugle sounded and a chattering throng of natives hurried