to think in broad terms. Henceforth the business
man of all countries must regard the universe as his field. As a
practical commercial proposition it pays, both with nations as with
individuals. We have found that the possession of the Congo, huge as it
is, and difficult for a country like ours to develop, is a stimulating
thing. It is quickening our enterprise and widening our world view."

It would be difficult to find a more practical or comprehensive colonial
program. It eliminates that bane of over-seas administration, red tape,
and it puts the task of empire-building squarely up to the business man
who is the best qualified for the work. I am quite certain that the
advent of Monsieur Franck into office, and particularly his trip to the
Congo, mean the beginning of an epoch of real and permanent exploitation
in the Congo.

[Illustration: THE MASSIVE BANGALAS]

[Illustration: CONGO WOMEN IN STATE DRESS]

CHAPTER V--ON THE CONGO RIVER

I

Two days more of travelling on the Lower Lualaba brought us to
Ponthierville, a jewel of a post with a setting of almost bewildering
tropical beauty. Here we spent the night on the boat and early the
following morning boarded a special train for Stanleyville, which is
only six hours distant by rail. Midway we crossed the Equator.

Thirty miles south of Stanleyville is the State Experimental Coffee Farm
of three hundred acres, which produces fifteen different species of the
bean. This institution is one evidence of a comprehensive agricultural
development inaugurated by the Belgian Government. The State has about
10,000 acres of test plantations, mostly Para rubber, cotton, and cacao,
in various parts of the Colony.

One commendable object of this work is to instill the idea of
crop-growing among the natives. Under ordinary circumstances the man of
colour in the tropics will only raise enough maize, manioc, or tobacco
for his own needs. The Belgian idea is to encourage co-operative farming
in the villages. In the region immediately adjacent to Stanleyville the
natives have begun to plant cotton over a considerable area. At Kongolo
I saw hundreds of acres of this fleecy plant under the sole supervision
of the indigenes.

Stanleyville marked one of the real mileposts of my journey. Here came
Stanley on his first historic expedition across Central Africa and
discovered the falls nearby that bear his name; here he set up the
Station that marked the Farthest East of th