Abstract
LIEUT. WISSMAIN, who was on his way back to Europe from his last great journey in the Congo district, stopped at Madeira for the benefit of his health, and has now returned to Africa for further explorations. Lieut. von Francois, who took part in Lieut. Wissmann's expedition on the Kassai River, has returned to Brussels. He reports that on June 16, 1884, he started with Wissmann from Malange to the Lulua River; thence Wissmann turned northwards and founded the station of Luluaburg, while Franois investigated the Mukenge district. As he wished to regain Wissmann he built five large boats, in which he reached Luluaburg on the Lulua. He also met Tchingenge, the chief of the Bainbas tribe, and Mutenda, one of the first chiefs of the Camokas, who received him kindly. After consulting Wissmann he travelled to the Kassai, which they ascended; then, descending the Congo, they eventually reached Leopoldville, after fifty days' journey. Afterwards Franois accompanied the missionary, Mr. Grenfell, to the tributaries of the Upper Congo. They first ascended the Lulongo (on the right bank of the Congo), and then the Shuapa, which Stanley names the Uranki. The Shuapa retains its name for the whole length of its course, a circumstance which does not often occur in the Congo lands. It is a large river, navigable everywhere, with extremely fertile banks, which for objects of navigation even surpasses the Kassai. The inhabitants of Batua, on the middle Congo, are a real race of dwarfs. The men have an average height of I.30 metres, the women of I.1O metres; but they are well developed and very warlike. When the travellers ascended the river they were attacked by the inhabitants, while on the return journey they were very well received. They also discovered the Bussera, a tributary of the Shuapa. Further on they examined the mouth of the Mobangi, a large tributary of the Congo on its right bank. Grenfell is of opinion that the Mobangi and the Welle River, which has its sources in the Southern Soudan, are one and the same river; Fran§ois, however, believes that the Mobangi is the continuation of the Nana River, situated further to the north. Fran§ois states that the land of the Balubas is extremely fertile, no less than three harvests annually being the rule. When exploring the Kassai, Fran§ois and Grenfell found that this river, instead of joining the Uranki (Shuapa), as Stanley supposed, flows into the Congo near Kwamouth. The Leopold Lake flows into the Kassai at a distance of about I1/2° from the Congo. The Lulongo runs parallel to the Congo for a considerable distance on its northern side. The two travellers discovered numerous other smaller tributaries.
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Geographical Notes . Nature 33, 377–378 (1886). https://doi.org/10.1038/033377b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/033377b0