inuous trickle. The air was close and sultry, and
heavy with the odour of plants and mould. It was deadly still, and
seldom was the slightest breeze perceptible; storms might rage above
the tree-tops, but no wind reached the ground, sheltered in the dimness
of the undergrowth.

The men struggle along over the slippery ground. Balancing their loads
on their heads with their hands, they stoop under boughs, push saplings
aside with their elbows, thrust their feet firmly into the mud in order
not to slip. Those who are clothed have their clothes torn, while the
naked black men graze their skins. Very slowly the caravan forces its
way through the forest, and a passage has frequently to be cut for those
who carry the sections of the boats.

All who, after Stanley, have travelled through the great primeval forest
in the heart of Africa have likewise described its suffocating hot-house
air, the peaceful silence, only broken by the cries of monkeys and
parrots, its deep, depressing gloom. If the journey is of long duration
men get wearied, experiencing a feeling of confinement, and long for
air, freedom, sun, and wind. It is like going through a tunnel, no
country being visible on either side. The illumination is uniform,
without shadows, without gleams, and the perpetual gloom, only
interrupted by pitch-dark night, is exceedingly wearisome. Like polar
explorers in the long winter night, the traveller longs for the sun and
the return of light.

The party travelled northwards at some distance east of the Lualaba.
Stanley climbed up a tree which grew somewhat apart on a hillock. Here
he found himself above the tree-tops, and saw the sunlit surface of the
primeval forest of closely growing trees below him. A continuous sea of
boughs and foliage fell like a swell down to the bank of the Lualaba. Up
here there was a breeze and the leaves fluttered in the wind; but down
below reigned darkness and silence and the exuberant life of the
tropics.

Even for such a man as Stanley this primeval forest was a hard nut to
crack. Sickness, weariness, and insubordination prevailed in his troop.
The great Tippu Tib considered it impossible to advance through such a
country, and wished to turn back with all his black rabble, but after
much hesitation he was at last persuaded to accompany Stanley for twenty
days longer. So on they went once more, and after innumerable
difficulties came again to the bank of the Lualaba.

The huge volumes of wat