tropical forests, one may say that there are three only — the Amazon, the Malay Archipelago, and the Congo. From the coast to Stanley Pool, a distance of about two hundred and eighty miles, the Congo lies between great cliffs, and forms a series of rapids and cataracts which render the communication by water with the interior absolutely impossible. Once arrived at Stanley Pool, communication with the interior is easy. Stanley Falls, a thousand miles up the river, can be reached by steamer, since between it and Stanley Pool there are no rapids.

Nearly all the tributaries of the Congo are navigable, and some of them for hundreds of miles. As may be easily imagined, the country in the immediate neighbourhood of any of these tributaries is now fairly well known, though at a very short distance away from a river bank it