THE NIGER TO THE NILE—ALEXANDER. 387 
which for about 50 feet mounts by huge steps or terraces straight as 
the walls of a house. In the first terrace a series of deep narrow 
wells have been dug; these completely encircle the peaks at a distance 
of 10 yards or so from one another. From the top of the peak a most 
wonderful sight presents itself. One looks down on to the plateau 
and sees clusters of hamlets, each surrounded by a little wall of mat- 
ting. Among them, and particularly along the edge of the cliff, are 
curious mud granaries. They are raised above the ground like hay- 
ricks or cornstacks in England, and their height varies from 20 to 
30 feet. 
The Kerri-Kerri are a tall, slim race, and have little negro strain 
in them. They wear fine clothes made from native cloth, are very 
good metal workers, and their sword blades, of peculiar shapes, are 
finely engraved. From their own account they have lived on these 
strange strongholds from time immemorial, and no tradition of an 
older race, dispossessed by them, has been handed down. Their crops 
are cultivated on the plains below, but a six months’ supply of food 
is always kept in the granaries already described. 
From the Kerri-Kerri country the survey party eventually reached 
Ashaka, the new base, where the boats and supplies had been brought 
by way of the Gongola River with considerable difficulties owing to 
famine and the strong currents of the river. 
From Ashaka the survey party entered the Barburr country, and 
the work there was particularly arduous. At Dallwa it necessitated 
standing at times waist deep in swamp, and my brother, only recently 
recovered from fever, collapsed, and in the grip of the illness for the 
last time he was carried into Maifoni, where, in spite of the untiring 
efforts of Doctor Parsons and Talbot, who, as physician and nurse, 
showed a splendid devotion, he died on November 13, after a fight of 
six weeks, conscious and cheerful to the end. 
The result of the survey, which we afterwards carried up to 
Kukawa, has been embodied in the map already published, and this 
work was not accomplished without much hardship, for there was 
illness to be overcome, and the hostility of natives met, and large num- 
bers of carriers led and fed through famine-stricken countries. 
By Christmas the expedition concentrated at Kaddai, on Lake 
Chad, whither, in the meantime, Gosling had brought the boats and 
stores by way of the Yo River. 
From here Talbot and I carried out our first survey of the lake. 
With the exception of a few island stretches of reed with no firm 
ground, there is good open water between the Yo mouth and Kaddai. 
The shore is quite open, with rough grass frequented by kob, gazelle, 
and large herds of hartebeest. It has an average width of 14 miles, 
and beyond that there are thick woods of mimosa. There are gentle 
bay formations all along the shore, and the slope of the land to the 
