Up the Sankuru we found ourselves always expected, the steamer having been signalled two or three days in advance. When we arrived at our destination we found that the whole native population at Lusambo had known that we were coming, a couple of days before our arrival. Here, as elsewhere in Africa, the natives have such a perfect system of telegraphing, or signalling, by means of their drums that they are able to make any communications as far as a drum can be heard, which is often several miles. As the information is usually repeated by all the drummers who hear it, a whole district knows of an event a very few minutes, or hours, after it has occurred.

This system of telegraphing is most interesting. Though different tribes and parts of tribes have their own codes, there seems to be some method running through all the