In one of these traps, which measured over eight feet in diameter, I found a kind of carp about twenty-five pounds weight. This carp is of a golden brown colour, and is the most delicious fish I have tasted from Congo waters. The rocks in these rapids were a very dark brown — almost black — streaked with red, and apparently exceedingly rich in iron. As a consequence, we had great difficulty in mapping this part of the river, our compasses being practically useless, and always pointing towards the nearest rock. Game was very plentiful, especially in the rapids. Herons, of various colours and sizes, abounded, from flocks of snowy egrets to enormous solitary birds.

One of these latter, which I shot, measured eight feet six inches from wing-tip to wing-tip, and six feet nine inches from the point of his bill to