Congo: one man is being carried in a litter and another on a seat suspended from sticks. Engraving by Taylor after S. Wale.

"When the great men travel, they are carried in hammocks made either of network or strong stuffs, the manner of which is thus: the hammock is fastened to a long pole about a foot from each end; and when the person has got into the hammock, two men, one before and the other behind, take up the pole, and lay it on their shoulders, carrying the person in this manner a considerable way without resting. When they go long journies they have four men, who relieve each other, in the doing of which they are so expert that they never stop, but shift as they walk, at the same time keeping their usual pace. This is a very easy method of travelling, the person sitting or lying in the hammock as he thinks proper; and they have sometimes a piece of callico thrown over the pole to shelter them from the heat of the sun. Another method of travelling used here is thus: instead of a hammock, they fasten two ropes to the pole, one of which is much shorter than the other; they are each tied in two parts, and hang like swings; in the former the person sits, and at the bottom of the latter is a square piece of board, on which he rests his feet. The person carried generally holds an umbrella in his hand to shelter him from the heat of the sun, or the inclemency of the weather. The reason of their travelling in this manner is from their want of horses, there not being any of those animals in the whole kingdom."--Middleton, loc. cit.