Letter 14

Abstract

Letters 14 and 15 describe the two successive journeys that Brasseur undertook in the spring and summer of 1897. The first one – to the south-western corner of Lake Mweru and the Lubule River – was prompted by the mistaken assumption that a resupply caravan was due to transit through the area. The journey was cut short by the news of the Force Publique’s mutiny on the upper Ituri River in February. The second journey, to the capital of the Kazembe of the Lualaba, was intended to create more soldier outposts and to repress an anti-Yeke rising by the Bena Mitumba. From the upper Lualaba River, Brasseur and his party proceeded to the Luapula River, which they reached at the beginning of September, making their way back to Lofoi after visiting Mambilima Falls and some Yeke settlements in the western half of the lower Luapula valley.