mattress. There are many cases of Sleeping Sickness in the
hospital exhibiting various symptoms. In the early stages the patient
has many fits of emotional excitement and these alternate with periods
of physical and mental languor. Afterwards he lies for weeks or months
as if dead and can only be persuaded to eat with great difficulty.
Ultimately complete coma supervenes. A motile bacillus has been
discovered which is supposed to cause the disease and there is evidence
that this may be carried by a mosquito or fly, but until the discoveries
of the doctors, sent out by the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine,
are published, it is premature to give an opinion. Up to the present
many remedies have been prescribed without success. There is no small
pox and little phthisis, and it is interesting to learn that
appendicitis is unknown in Africa. Rupture is very common among the
natives and venereal diseases are frequent.

As I was destined to become well acquainted with the _Croix rouge_, the
hospital for Europeans, I will describe this institution later. On the
reverse slope of the central hill of Boma are the quarters of the army,
the Force Publique. The soldiers are fine looking fellows with a very
pretty uniform; blue wide cut breeches to the knee, the legs and feet
being bare, blue shirt with red facings and belt, and a red fez. They
are armed with Albini rifles, a very strong weapon which will stand any
amount of rough usage. Everything is scrupulously clean and the married
quarters especially look very comfortable. Each couple has a room fitted
with bed, table and chairs. They are recruited from all over the country
and the service is so popular that in many parts far more men volunteer
to serve than are required. The force does not exceed 13,600 in number
and is recruited for long or short service.

The prison is situated on the plateau in an open, airy place. The
building is constructed of iron plates and the separate cells and rooms
are lofty and clean. There are one or two Europeans here who have been
sentenced for theft or for cruelty to natives, for the State is
determined that all its subjects should be well treated. These are of
course kept entirely separate from the natives. Only the natives who
have been sentenced to more than one year are sent here and then after a
time they are forwarded to the penal settlements. Some are cannibals,
but most are thieves, and all wear light chains. It is somewhat warm
wal