Observers' Field Reports 133 



first 3 days from Yoko are very hilly, but except for the steep descents into the stream 

 bottoms, the road is good. The small rivers are heavily wooded, but otherwise the 

 country is covered only with low timber and bushes, of no use commercially. Though 

 the country is peopled by the Mbum tribe, one finds that the village chiefs are usually 

 Fulbe or of that stock, the descendants of the warlike race wh ; ch oppressed the pagan 

 tribes during the stormy times before the European occupation of Africa. Tibati is a 

 large native town of several thousand inhabitants, and is ruled by a sultan of some 

 importance, who lives in a palace of round huts surrounded by high mud walls. The 

 post is situated on a hill overlooking a large lake, but at present it is not occupied by 

 a European. 



From Tibati a march of 7 days puts the traveler at Ngaoundere. The road is 

 undulating or hilly, and swampy where it leads over flats of bare laterite rock, lightly 

 covered with short sweet-smelling grass. The country is not populous, and for several 

 days no villages were seen on the road. The rest camps, however, are placed near vil- 

 lages in the bush which supply food for the white man and his carriers. After leaving 

 Tibati fruit is unobtainable, but milk and butter can be obtained at some camps. 



Ngaoundere was entered on the morning of July 25, and observations were made 

 the same day and also on July 26 at the French government post, wh'ch is being built 

 on a hillside overlooking the native town. This town has a population of 15,000, of 

 which 4,000 are men; thus it ranks second in the Cameroun, being surpassed only by 

 Maroua in the Lake Tchad region. It is surrounded by a dilapidated mud wall of about 

 6 miles, and consists of a series of compounds of huts surrounded by walls of mud or 

 matting. To cross from one part of the town to the other it is necessary, except on the 

 main streets, to follow the narrow winding alleys between these compounds. The rest- 

 house for travelers is a large mud structure opposite the market, where it is besieged by 

 the swarms of flies and numerous crows and vultures that infest the busy spot. A daily 

 market is held and the European can obtain a fine variety of food, including chickens, 

 eggs, beef, mutton, milk, butter, honey, rice, maize, potatoes, onion, etc., but no fruit. 

 Before leaving, a visit was paid to the sultan, who lives in a round mud hut inside a 

 high mud-walled inclosure. He is a man of some importance, and during the interview 

 the natives acting as interpreters remained crouched upon the ground, speaking in low 

 humble tones, and not daring to look at the "Great Chief." On Sunday the sultan rode 

 out in state, surrounded by his archers and spearmen. The streets were filled with yell- 

 ing horsemen, galloping up and down in their colored and picturesque garments and 

 brandishing their quaint weapons. Ngaoundere is approximately the central town of 

 the Cameroun, and one finds roads and native tracks leading in all directions. It is noted 

 for its cattle, which are exported to the coast and even as far south as Ouesso on the Sanga 

 River. The elevation is approximately 3,800 feet. 



From Ngaoundere to Garoua the party traveled by way of Rei Bouba, a large 

 native town 8 days' march to the northeast. The first day's march led over open grass 

 steppes, and crossed the Wina, the headwaters of the Western Logone River, by a 

 peculiar hanging bridge of vines and creepers. The following 5 days led through moun- 

 tainous country clothed in thick bush, with very few villages on the road. The night 

 of August 2 was spent at a small rest camp in the mountains at an elevation of 4,000 feet, 

 but from that point the road gradually descends to the plain of the Rei River, which is 

 but 700 feet above sea-level. 



Two days before reaching Rei Bouba the party met one of the sultan's head men 

 bringing ten carriers with presents of food, including several loads of rice, pots of native 

 honey, food for the carriers, and a supply of butter. The town was reached August 6. 

 The sultan's body-guard of ten archers and ten mounted spearmen, clad in multi-colored 

 uniforms, were waiting outside the city gate to salute the party and to escort them to 



