Page:Travels in West Africa, Congo Français, Corisco and Cameroons (IA travelsinwestafr00kingrich).pdf/404

 The organisation of a service of transport was then proceeded with, a business of some difficulty owing to the jealousies of the tribes with regard to the profits of conveyance over different sections of the route. M. de Brazza then thought to surmount this difficulty by establishing a body of carriers of his own, but various obstacles intervened to prevent his accomplishing this forthwith, and in the meantime he had to send supplies to Brazzaville on the Congo. While thus engaged he was fortunately joined on the 27th of September by M. Mizon of the French navy, who had been sent from France in company with de Ballay. He brought de Brazza news that the latter was detained at Gaboon and that the steamer had been discovered to have defects in construction that would prevent her joining the expedition for a long time.

M. de Brazza then resolved to leave Franceville in charge of M. Mizon and go off on an entirely new bit of exploration. He was by now, after those three voyages up and down them, aware that the rapids of the Ogowé are not what you might call a safe and pleasant route to Franceville, particularly for heavy goods; and he reverted to his old idea, that he had had to abandon testing when leaving Brazzaville in 1880, namely that a safer route to the sea-coast than the Ogowé affords, existed down the Niari valley. He first went to Nhango on the route between the Ogowé and the Congo, near the M'paka country of the latter river. There he learnt that Mr. Stanley had been attempting to persuade the chiefs of the Bateke to withdraw from their engagements with France and endeavouring to win over Malamine, the chief of Ntamo (Brazzaville). But de Brazza did not surmise there was any danger of Mr. Stanley succeeding in either of these diplomatic ventures, so proceeded on his exploration.

He started at the end of January, 1882, passing over mountains by the sources of the Leketi and M'paka, and on the 8th of February he discovered one of the sources of the Ogowé at a point where it formed a mere rivulet of water. A month later he arrived on the banks of his desired Niari, which proved to be a beautiful river 270 feet broad and to enter the ocean under the name of Quilliou (Kouilou or