length. One or two men on each side of each piece then lifted it and the
whole eighty or hundred men marched the trunk along with ease at a jog
trot. It would indeed be impossible to use heavy trolleys in this part
of the Congo, for the roads are sandy and the wheels would at once sink
deeply into them.

A walk through the plantation, which extends over some square miles, is
very pleasant, as the palms spread their leaves across the avenues until
they nearly touch each other thus forming beautiful shady groves. Ferns
grow round the stems and the whole is extremely pretty and
cool-looking. Beyond the plantation is the cemetery for the whites. Each
grave is covered with bricks and has a wooden cross at the head on which
is inscribed the name and date of death. The age however, is omitted and
this is perhaps as well, for the Congo exacts a heavy toll of young
lives and new comers are often depressed already by the accounts of the
climate which have reached Europe.

Further on is a forest through which runs a narrow native tract. This
demonstrates well the extreme indolence of the native. If a small branch
of a tree falls across the path, he steps over it, if a large one, he
walks round it. Time is no object, so the length of the road is
immaterial. No attempt is made to form bridges, for the streams are not
deep and are easily fordable, nor even to break off the branches of
trees which obstruct the way. It is easier to stoop and pass beneath.
The forest paths have indeed been made simply by the pressure of bare
feet on the soil and undergrowth. A few monkeys and parrots chatter
overhead and an occasional pigeon coos, but the chief forms of animal
life here, are thousands of the most lovely butterflies. These are
coloured to suit the surroundings and are therefore usually of subdued
tints. Occasionally however, a great insect nearly as large as one's