Geographical Notes

Abstract

THE latest news from Dr. Oscar Lenz is of much interest. Three letters have been received from him, the latest dated June last from Kasonge, a large Arab town, three days south-east from Nyangwe, on the Upper Congo. Dr. Lenz, it will be remembered, went out for the purpose of reaching Dr. Junker and Emin Bey. The latest rumours state that he has been compelled to abandon this object, and may therefore be soon heard of at Zanzibar. Dr. Lenz, in canoes furnished by the famous Tippoo Tip, journeyed up the Congo from Stanley Falls, taking fifty days by the way. This, however, included frequent stoppages. He found great changes had taken place since Mr. Stanley made his memorable voyage down the river ten years ago. Then there were few Arabs to be seen beyond Nyangwe, and the river over a great part of its length was peopled by natives, between whose villages the expedition had to run the gauntlet. Now Dr. Lenz finds the whole country practically in the hands of Arab and Zanzibari slavers and traders. The natives in many places have retired into the recesses of the forest, and large Arab settlements have taken their place at several points along the river. There is a constant traffic up and down the river between Nyangwe, or rather Kasonge, and Stanley Falls. Immense rice-fields occupy the swampy and unhealthy areas round these Arab settlements, and all round Nyangwe and Kasonge the country is covered with rice, and plantations of bananas and other fruits. Nyangwe is no longer the important centre it was in the days of Livingstone. It is an irregular collection of Arab settlements, covering a considerable area. Kasonge, three days' journey off further up the river, is, on the other hand, a large town, with broad streets and many well-built houses. This is the head-quarters of Tippoo Tip and other Arab traders, who have their agents for their ivory in Muscat and India. It is evident that we have here a great and increasing intrusion of a foreign element among the native population. In some cases the natives are on friendly terms with the Arabs, and in other cases hostile. At any rate the result will in the end be a very serious modification of the population over a great area of Central Africa, and a marked change in the face of the country by the introduction of rice and other exotic cultures.