GEOGRAPHICAL PROGRESS AND DISCOVERY. 



291 



tions which indicate that the entire fall of the 

 river between Djen and Ribago, the highest 

 point reached, was not over six hundred and 

 twenty-four feet, and that the descent from the 

 embouchure of the Mayo Kebbi to the conflu- 

 ence of the Benue with the Niger does not ex- 

 ceed fifteen inches a mile. The discovery of 

 the Benue by Barth in 1851, who crossed it at 

 the mouth of the Faro, led to the fitting out of 

 an expedition under Dr. Blaikie in 1854. He 

 ascended the river in the steamer Pleiade as 

 far as Djen. Beyond that point the river had 

 never been explored until the travelers on the 

 Henry Venn ascended beyond the town of Ri- 

 bago to 9 20' north latitude and 13 36' east 

 longitude. The town of Djen, which lies in 

 11 25' east longitude, numbers about 2,000 

 inhabitants. It is governed by a head-chief 

 and an under-chief. Fan-palms grow thickly 

 at the foot of the mountains, and groves of 

 them here stud the plain around the village. 

 The village consists of six groups of houses, 

 from seventy-five to one hundred in each, 

 which are shaded by fine trees and surrounded 

 by fences of plaited grass. Huts surrounded 

 by cultivated patches form a semicircle around 

 the place. Well-shaped water-jugs covered 

 with painted ornaments are made by the 

 women. The men wear a clout of calico or a 

 strip of skin about the loins, and are armed 

 with spears and daggers, carrying these in a 

 sheath strapped to their forearm. They are 

 frequently seen with whips having two or three 

 lashes of the skin of the aju (Manatus Vogelii). 

 Their ornaments are iron, or more rarely ivory, 

 hairpins and armlets, leopard-claws, tips of 

 antelope-horns, pockets containing texts from 

 the Koran, or little bags of musk, suspended 

 from their necks by leathern cords. The wo- 

 men go naked, wearing for ornament a braid 

 of colored straw around their arm or their 

 waist. They do not follow the barbaric prac- 

 tices of defacing their persons for the purposes 

 of ornament, except to bore holes in their ears 

 for the insertion of bright objects. The ex- 

 pedition, composed of Ashcroft, Kirk, another 

 agent of the mission, and Flegel, sailed from 

 Lokoja on July 8, 1879, and reached Djen Au- 

 gust 20th. The unexplored countries beyond 

 this place are among the most populous in this 

 part of Africa. The voyage led through the 

 territories of the Bassamas and Bulas, tribes 

 still able to repel the Fulahs, who are gradually 

 absorbing the whole of the Benue Valley, and 

 then into lands occupied by the eastern branch 

 of the Fulah invaders or under their dominion. 

 They first passed through the kingdom of the 

 Bassamas. They are a warlike race, strong and 

 healthy. The plain here and in the Bula king- 

 dom above was much of it under water. The 

 floods spread to the very foot of some of the 

 mountains, which, as elsewhere in equatorial 

 Africa, raise their round, solitary forms direct- 

 ly from the plain, the process of erosion, that 

 has been going on probably longer here than 

 anywhere else on the globe, having eaten 



away all but these remnants of the central 

 masses. The Bassamas are a great deal upon 

 the water. The river was thick with their ca- 

 noes, which are made to hold three or four 

 men, who manage them standing, as is the 

 manner of all the tribes on the Benue. Their 

 paddles are made by binding with thongs a 

 spoon-shaped blade two to three feet long and 

 seven or eight inches broad to an elastic staff 

 about six feet in length. The paddles and the 

 boats are covered with branded and carved 

 ornaments. The men wear a breech-clout of 

 skin or stuff, and have an elaborate and pecul- 

 iar fashion of arranging their hair. The wo- 

 men wear an apron five or six inches square. 

 The large village of Habe was seen from the 

 river lying at the foot of the mountains. The 

 chief town of the country, which is called Bas- 

 sama, is said to be a very large place. The 

 son of the king came to exchange courtesies 

 with the travelers. He affected the Mohamme- 

 dan costume partly, but the horsemen who ac- 

 companied him wore the national head-dress, 

 weapons, etc. They carry a curious short 

 sword with a broad end. hung at their hip in a 

 scabbard adorned with leathern openwork or 

 tassels, on which were often suspended finger- 

 rings of copper or iron, and invariably a pair 

 of tweezers used for extracting thorns. The 

 Bassamas brought lion and leopard skins and 

 ivory to sell the next day, but upon the refu- 

 sal of the missionary agents to trade these 

 because it was Sunday, and because they did 

 not pay a visit to the king, the savages became 

 hostile and threatening in their manner. Sail- 

 ing farther, the explorers passed large villages 

 and fields of luxuriant grain. Umburu and Nu- 

 mun, on opposite banks of the river, contained, 

 the first some five hundred, and the latter from 

 three hundred and fifty to four hundred huts. 

 Messengers from the King of Demsa, a large 

 town in the south, brought presents, though it 

 is not customary for African chiefs to take the 

 initiative in giving presents. Their town is said 

 to be a large place south of Numun. The mes- 

 sengers, dressed in scarlet clothes, remained on 

 shore, as they are forbidden by the law of their 

 land to cross the river. They were admirable 

 horsemen and rode fine horses. Entering the 

 territory of the Bula people between Numun 

 and Umburu, the margins of the river were more 

 marshy, and still more thickly populated. The 

 people were exceedingly shy as they ascended 

 the river, but on their return they were saucy 

 and importunate. Wherever there was a dry 

 spot and a grove of trees they planted their vil- 

 lages, and every fertile space was cultivated. 

 Within a dozen miles five towns with five hun- 

 dred to six hundred huts each were passed. The 

 river swarmed with their canoes. This Bula peo- 

 ple and their Bassama neighbors seem to be the 

 last original occupants of these regions who have 

 not yet passed under the yoke of the Fulahs. 

 The Bulas are a fine-looking, robust, warlike 

 people, possessing an abundance of horses, 

 sheep, and cattle. They are always on the 



