[Illustration: WOODEN SIGNAL DRUM OF THE WENYA OR WAGENYA AND THE TRIBES ON THE LIVINGSTONE.] [Illustration: DRUMSTICKS, KNOBS BEING OF INDIA-RUBBER.] _Jan. 28._—On the morning of the 28th we resumed our labours with greater energy, and by 10 A.M. we were clear of the last of the Stanley Falls, thus closing a series of desperate labours, which had occupied us from the 6th of January, a period of twenty-two days, during the nights and days of which we had been beset by the perverse cannibals and insensate savages who have made the islands amid the cataracts their fastnesses, and now— “Our troubled thoughts to distant prospects leap, Desirous still what flies us to o’ertake; For hope is but the dream of those that wake. But looking back we see the dreadful train Of woes anew, which, were we to sustain, We should refuse to tread the path again.” CHAPTER IX. Again in open water—Frank Pocock feels the position—The Mburra or Yaryembi—A running fight—“Ya-Mariwa! Ya-Mariwa!”—Our tactics of capture—Monster spears—Growing weary of fighting for life—The power of laughter—Fish creeks—A wasp swarm of canoes—Another invincible armada—A village of ivory—Relics of cannibal feasts—The Wellé of Schweinfurth—Hunted to despair—Their meat escapes the cannibals—Wild nature—Among friendly natives—The Congo! _Jan. 28._—We hastened away down river in a hurry, to escape the noise of the cataracts which, for many days and nights, had almost stunned us with their deafening sound. The Livingstone now deflected to the west-north-west, between hilly banks— “Where highest woods, impenetrable To star, or sunlight, spread their umbrage broad And brown as evening.” We are once again afloat upon a magnificent stream, whose broad and grey-brown waters woo us with its mystery. We are not a whit dejected after our terrible experiences; we find our reward in being alive to look upon wild nature, and a strange elasticity comes over us. The boat- boys amuse me by singing their most animating song, to which every member of our Expedition responds with enthusiasm. The men, women, and children are roused to maintain that reckless, exuberant spirit which assisted me to drive through the cannibal region of the Stanley Falls, for otherwise they might lose that dash and vigour on which depends our success. They are apt, if permitted thinking-time, to brood upon our situation, to become disquieted and melancholy, to reflect on the fate of those who have already been lost, and to anticipate a like dolorous ending to their own lives.