Bolobo is situated on the River Congo, some 200 miles farther from the coast than Léopoldville, the capital. At the time of Stanley's exploratory voyage the inhabitants consisted of two main tribes: the Bobangi, who had migrated from the peninsula formed by the confluence of the Mobangi River with the main stream, and the BaMoie, who are an off-shoot of the BaMongo tribe of Coquilhatville Province. The original owners of hunting rights in this place were not residents, and there is every ground for believing that these hunters, the BaTende tribe, mixed freely with the new-comers before their tribal limits were fixed some five miles inland from the river. At present the Bobangi are very few in number and are fast disappearing. The Moie, Tende, and Sengele elements predominate, with smaller numbers of a dozen other tribes, who have come here since that time for purposes of trade or employment, completing the 7,000 residents.