In that forest whose terrors we already know from Stanley’s description he wrote his last letter to his sister. It is with mournful interest that we read the last utterances of a man who was so soon to be called from the scene of his activities. The letter begins: “It will sound strange, but it is the darkness of the forest alone that has prevented me from writing. At our various camping places we have had to cut down trees to find a place for our tents and then it was so dark one could scarcely see to read. We have all the joys, but at the same time all the discomforts of forest life in abundance. Our joys are restricted to those pleasures which sublime nature furnishes for everyone, while slime and water, slippery ascents and descents, uprooted and fallen trees, myriads of ants and small stinging flies, torment the men. Added to all this we have at times the pangs of hunger, for wide stretches of territory are unpopulated and the plundering Manjemas have left nothing edible in the country. If one depends upon hunting he may soon starve, for the monkeys and gray parrots rarely ever come in sight. The forest is a paradise for the collector and my bird collection has many treasures. Frogs and insects also are very numerous. There are also surprisingly beautiful specimens of plants. If one could remain longer in a given place he would find an abundance of new things. The villages of the forest people lie mostly upon little elevations, forming wood islands, and all inclosed by fences of felled trees, and scattered about are plantations in which maize, beans, tobacco and bananas are raised. As to animals I have not yet seen a goat, and meat is in such demand that after skinning my birds they beg for the bodies. Dwarfs live in these woods and we have been visited by them several times. They were all hungry and begged for food, which we gave them sparingly.” Their progress through the forest was more and more difficult as they were without provisions. Every day one or more of their number deserted, especially the Soudanese, whom Emin had induced with so much exertion to accompany him. It was particularly hard for Emin, who was in the rear, and the porters to urge on and encourage the sick and injured. There followed rainstorms which made the roads in this hilly country still more slippery. New terrors were added to the old ones. To prevent thievery about their plantations the natives had filled the ground full of sharp pointed pieces of cane, which pierced the feet of those stepping upon them. Six of the porters were so badly injured in this way that they could not carry their packs.