Tremendous are the energies which the King’s example inspires, not only in the Belgium which his rule has beautified, and which he has made the least-taxed country in Europe, but also in the heart of blackest Africa. There are, in that vast territory, manifold monuments to the infectious spirit of endeavour which prevails in the palace at Laeken, at Brussels, and in the lofty châlet at Ostend. These monuments, by their nature, appear to confirm Belgian intention to occupy the future of the Congo State with structures of enduring substance, whether they be material, political, ethical, or social. The charge, sometimes uttered against King Leopold, that his interest in the Congo is merely what it can be made to yield him during his lifetime, dissolves into the mist of the slander it becomes in the presence of the physical improvement going on, with mighty strides, in Congoland. [Sidenote: Benefits of State Rule.] When the Congo Free State was founded, communication by water with Europe was infrequent and uncomfortable. Liverpool and Lisbon sent a few ships at irregular intervals. Later Germany and Holland followed their example at a time when Fuka-Fuka was the farthermost settlement on the Congo coast. No means of transport into the interior existed except by canoes, or by native carriers. To-day all this has been altered by Belgian capital, skill, and industry. The maritime development of the Congo began in 1891, when the State, joining the commercial companies of the region, concluded an agreement with certain German and English steamship lines to establish a monthly service between Antwerp and Matadi. These ships left Antwerp on the 6th of each month and arrived at Matadi in about fifteen days. In 1895, under the auspices of a syndicate composed of the masters of these ships, there was incorporated at Antwerp La Compagnie Belge Maritime du Congo, which provided a monthly service of steamers sailing under the Belgian flag. The success of this enterprise induced other companies to engage in the Congo trade, among them being L’Empresa Nacional de Navigaçao, of Lisbon; Les Chargeurs Réunis, of Bordeaux, related to Fraissinet et Cie., of Marseilles; The Woerman Line, of Hamburg; The African Steamship Company, combined with the British and African Steam Navigation Company. Extensive harbour works have been erected at Banana, Boma, and Matadi, and several signal lights have been placed at the mouth of the Congo to indicate the entrance to the channel. The Lower Congo, from Banana to Matadi, has been charted by buoys, and a pilot service has been organised at Banana. The river channel is being constantly improved by dredging, and Matebe, which in the dry season was inaccessible except to small craft, is now on the line of general navigation. A regular service of steamers plies the Lower Congo, and the State boats go regularly to Landana to meet the Portugese mail.