ges. Unarmed, he sank to the ground overcome with weariness. A big
native stood over him with his spear poised for the fatal thrust. A
moment later the Englishman was surprised to see his enemy lower the
weapon and grasp him by the hand. He had succored this savage two years
before and had not been forgotten. Deane and his companions were
convoyed under an escort to Herbert Ward's camp and he was nursed back
to health.

Deane's death illustrates the irony that entered into the passing of so
many African adventurers. Twelve months after he was snatched from the
jaws of death on the banks of the Congo in the manner just described, he
was killed while hunting elephants. A wounded beast impaled him on a
tusk and then mauled him almost beyond recognition.

II

Since Stanleyville is the head of navigation on the Congo there is
ordinarily no lack of boats. I was fortunate to be able to embark on the
"Comte de Flandre," the Mauretania of those inland seas and the most
imposing vessel on the river for she displaced five hundred tons. She
flew the flag of the Huileries du Congo Belge, the palm oil concern
founded by Lord Leverhulme and the most important all-British commercial
interest in the Congo. She was one of a fleet of ten boats that operate
on the Congo, the Kasai, the Kwilu and other rivers. I not only had a
comfortable cabin but the rarest of luxuries in Central Africa, a
regulation bathtub, was available. The "Comte de Flandre" had cabin
accommodations for fourteen whites. The Captain was an Englishman and
the Chief Engineer a Scotchman.

On this, as on most of the other Congo boats, the food is provided by
the Captain, to whom the passengers pay a stipulated sum for meals. On
the "Comte de Flandre," however, the food privilege was owned jointly by
the Captain and the Chief Engineer. The latter did all the buying and it
was almost excruciatingly funny to watch him driving real Scotch
bargains with the natives who came aboard at the various stops to sell
chickens, goats, and fruit. The engineer could scarcely speak a word of
any of the native languages, but he invariably got over the fact that
the price demanded was too high.

The passenger list of the "Comte de Flandre" included Englishmen,
Belgians, Italians, and Portuguese. I was the only American. The
steerage, firemen, and wood-boys were all blacks. With this
international congress over which beamed the broad smile of Nelson, I
started on the thousand-mile t