Some months ago a woman was shot dead near my camp. I immediately sent for the chief, and told him I wanted the murderer arrested and brought in. Three hours later he returned with him and also two accessories to the crime, together with all the stuffs they had stolen from the woman. The principal actor in the crime was tried and hanged, while the others received long terms of punishment. This incident is merely cited to show that when the natives are living in a contented way, and are satisfied with their surroundings, they will assist the Europeans wherever possible. I could enumerate a dozen cases where natives have themselves arrested and brought to justice thieves, ravishers, &c., of their own accord. They never received a present for these services. In the Manyema, which is very thickly populated, a great market has been established at Vieux Kasongo, and this serves as a meeting-place for thousands twice a week. Caravans come from Ujiji nearly every month, and the natives journey there by a 15 or 20 days’ march. I never saw a disturbance at the market, either going or returning. By common consent guns, knives, spears, and knobkerries are excluded from articles of exchange, and the men only carry thin walking-sticks. There are no soldiers guarding the market, but immunity from thieves is guaranteed by some ten or twelve native policemen, who receive no pay, and are highly pleased to have an opportunity of showing their authority. I have been astonished in coming down river from Kasongo to the coast to see what extraordinary changes have taken place. First, the administration is now established on a good, firm basis, and all the officials take an intelligent interest in their work, with the result that scandals are quite a thing of the past. The stations are all splendidly and solidly built in brick, and the grounds are laid out in a very pleasing way. The transport service by canoe between Kasongo and Stanley Falls goes without a hitch, and thousands of loads go up river every year, absolutely unguarded, and the loss by theft is almost _nil_. The steamer service between the Falls and Pool is good, and an enormous improvement over the old days, especially in the matter of messing. The large steamers _Hainaut_ and _Brabant_ are most imposing-looking craft, and comfortably fitted up. They carry 200 tons of cargo and 600 troops, in addition to 40 white passengers. The new steamer _La Flandre_, of 250 tons, is on the slip at Leo, and I think will make her first trip in February next year (1904). She is to be lighted by electricity. So far as I know, the whole country is tranquil, with the exception of a small portion of the Bangala district north of Bumba.