Observers' Field Reports 135 



and it was with much apprehension that the first and least important load (a box of 

 food) was sent over. However, a man is heavier with a load on his head, and can keep 

 his feet, even when neck deep in the current. Special men are needed for this work, 

 and the escort calls them from the nearest village. They are big, strong men, at least 

 6 feet tall, who know the river and probably have had considerable experience in crossing 

 it with loads. A crossing is a lengthy proceeding. The river men, after carrying over the 

 load, return and swim across with the carriers and the horses. I was taken over either 

 on the heads of 6 men who, in deep water, held me up at arm length, or else on a native 

 bed under which struggled a crowd of natives. This latter is sometimes an exciting 

 experience, the bed wobbling at all angles as man after man is washed from underneath 

 but usually it is quite safe. Several rivers were crossed in this manner without any 

 box getting wet. 



On the fifth day from Garoua the important town of Moubi was reached, and a 

 fresh gang of carriers and a fresh horse were hired from the sultan. Another 4 days 

 beyond is the important native town of Madagali, where the carriers were again changed. 

 The road now enters a plain of hard sandy clay with numerous swamps and thorn scrub. 

 During the dry season, however, water is very scarce and there is then no vegeta- 

 tion except the mimosa and other thorn bushes. For the next 3 days villages are few and 

 far between. There is no direct road in the wet season, and devious paths are followed 

 by the local guides in order to avoid the worst swamps. 



Bama on the Yadseram River at the frontier of Bornu Province in northern Nigeria 

 was reached on the afternoon of August 31. The escort of 10 horses sent by the Sultan 

 of Madagali returned from this point. The carriers, however, had been engaged for the 

 journey through to Dikoa, and though they tried to desert in a body, they were held to 

 their contract by stern measures. The road crossed the river a few miles from Bama and 

 then generally followed the left bank of the Yadseram. The natives have no canoes, 

 though the river is quite large, being 100 to 150 yards wide and waist-deep in places. 

 Villages were numerous beyond Bama, fields and grassland alternating with thorn bush. 

 The road, however, was flooded in places. A march of 2J^ days from Bama placed the 

 party at Dikoa, a town of some importance, having a daily market and a population of 

 several thousand people. It is on the main road from Fort Lamy to Kano, and is 3 days' 

 march from Maidugari, the nearest government post. The government rest-house is 

 at the former German post, which was previously the palace of the famous chief Rabba, 

 a large mud-walled compound containing many stables. The palace is built entirely of 

 mud, with flat roofs and heavy mud pillars which resemble cloisters of a cathedral. 



For the 6-day march from Dikoa to Fort Lamy, another caravan of carriers was 

 procured from the sultan. The road, in avoiding the swamps of the Yadseram River, 

 runs first northeast to Ngala, then east, and finally southeast through the villages of 

 Kuda and Afade. The country is flat, and covered chiefly with low thorn scrub, but here 

 and there are large grassy places which are swampy at this season. The villages are 

 generally found on slightly elevated ground, and most of them are surrounded by the 

 remains of mud walls, which now inclose fields and ruins, indications of a former pros- 

 perity. 



At Kusseri, which the party reached September 9, the tall masts of the wireless 

 telegraph station at Fort Lamy first came into view, soon followed by the red-tiled roof 

 of the governor's residence, shimmering in the heat. It was here that Commandant 

 Lamy gave battle to the Arab raider Rabba about 20 years ago, when the power of that 

 oppressor was finally broken and his horsemen routed. For years he had terrorized the 

 districts around by his slave raids, until the natives in despair appealed to the French 

 on the Congo, for protection. At the battle of Kusseri both Commandant Lamy and 

 Rabba were killed. Fort Lamy, which is named after the gallant commandant, is the 



