descended in a solid mass upon me in bed. We eventually became so accustomed to them that they ceased to disturb us, unless they were of the musk variety — a grey long-nosed animal about the size of our own drain rat, with the abominable peculiarity that wherever it goes or whatever it touches is infected with the stench of musk for days afterwards. One only of these rats in a hut, if I did not succeed in catching it, was sufficient to necessitate a change of dwelling.

The extraordinary numbers of rats found in these districts led me to suppose that the natives, unlike those of other parts of the Congo Basin, do not make use of them as food. Once free of the Waginias our daily worries increased — and with reason, for we were outside the sphere of Arab influence. I have always found that peoples and tribes who