n motor trucks and ox-drawn wagons
or conveyed on the heads of porters to Kabambaie. Some of it is
transshipped to whale-boats and paddled up to Tshikapa, and the
remainder continues in the wagons overland. During 1920 seven hundred
and fifty tons of freight were hauled from Djoko Punda in this laborious
way.

At the time of my visit there were twelve going mines in the Congo
field, and three new ones were in various stages of advancement. The
Forminiere engineers also operate the diamond concessions of the Kasai
Company and the Bas Congo Katanga Railway which will run from the
Katanga to Kinshassa.

More than twelve thousand natives are employed throughout the Congo area
alone and nowhere have I seen a more contented lot of blacks. The
Forminiere obtains this good-will by wisely keeping the price of trade
goods such as salt and calico at the pre-war rate. It is an admirable
investment. This merchandise is practically the legal tender of the
jungle. With a cup of salt a black man can start an endless chain of
trading that will net him a considerable assortment of articles in time.

The principal natives in the Upper Kasai are the Balubas, who bear the
same relation to this area as the Bangalas do to the Upper Congo. The
men are big, strong, and fairly intelligent. The principal tribal mark
is the absence of the two upper central incisor teeth. These are usually
knocked out in early boyhood. No Baluba can marry until he can show this
gaping space in his mouth. Although the natives abuse their teeth by
removing them or filing them down to points, they take excellent care of
the remaining ivories. Many polish the teeth with a stick and wash their
mouths several times a day. The same cannot be said of many civilized
persons.

I observed that the families in the Upper Kasai were much more numerous
than elsewhere in the Congo. A Bangala or Batetela woman usually has one
child and then goes out of the baby business. In the region dominated by
the Forminiere it is no infrequent thing to see three or four children
in a household. A woman who bears twins is not only hailed as a real
benefactress but the village looks upon the occasion as a good omen.
This is in direct contrast with the state of mind in East Africa, for
example, where one twin is invariably killed.

I encountered an interesting situation concerning twins when I visited
the Mabonda Mine. This is one of the largest in the Congo field.
Barclay, the big-boned Am