THE DONGU RIVER. 451 At last I ordered a halt, and went forward myself in quest of huts and guides, when, as luck would have it, I came upon some dwellings, the occupants of which, being subjects of Ikwa (Wando’s son, and a friend of mine), gave me a guide, who conducted us to Bongeré’s village, where we arrived towards three o’clock in the morning.

I shall go on again to-morrow morning, if the few porters I have asked for arrive. We are now in the middle of the -Zandé country, a “ gallery ” wood still reminding us occasionally that we are yet far to the south. Hunting being the chief occupation of the people, their dwellings are scattered singly over the country, and enormous tracts of land are purposely left uncultivated, partly as a protection against the attacks of enemies, but still more as refuges for all kinds of game, for the Zande like meat above all things, and human flesh, though it is preferred, cannot always be easily obtained.

The Dongu les about an hour’s journey to the south of this place, and has flooded the country far and wide; in the dry season, it can easily be forded even here. I believe I have now determined its lower course almost completely, having seen it at four different points. Its abundance of water may easily be accounted for by its draining the numberless swamps and marshy hollows which intersect the country between here and the highlands of Makraka, and contain an ample supply of water all the year round. It is still an undecided question whence the Dongu comes, but most probably it descends from the mountains round Janda and Korobé. If I return from the north with a whole skin, one of my first tasks shall be to visit the western slopes of the Kalika mountains, and then to hunt up the source of the Kibali more to the south. All our maps are incorrect, and I am inclined to believe that the position of Monbuttu must be slightly altered. Dr. Junker is the most competent authority on this point, and I will not forestall him.

Junker was still in the west when I last heard from Lupton Bey, though he intended to go shortly to Dem Soliman on his way home. But, as Lupton told me in the same letter that _ the road to Meshra-er-Rek was blocked by the Dinka, and could be traversed only with an escort of a couple of hundred