422 AFRICA SPEAKS 



these doleful tales lessen my enthusiasm to complete 

 the journey by truck. I had found that no matter 

 what questions you asked the black man in Africa, he 

 gave you the answers which he hoped would please 

 you. The Europeans we had met in the Congos had 

 seemingly adopted this same custom, the result being 

 that many of their flattering but incorrect reports led 

 us into difficulties which could have been avoided. 

 However, our subsequent experiences in Nigeria proved 

 that when an Englishman gave you information, it was 

 usually accurate. 



Jones had repaired the trucks as best he could under 

 the circumstances. We had added a new supply of 

 steel cable and blocks and tackle to oiu* equipment, and 

 early on the morning of June thirtieth left for Ra- 

 hamma. It had been raining practically all the time 

 of our stay in Jos, but we had hoped to reach this 

 place before nightfall, as our information indicated it 

 was only forty miles distant. We covered the first 

 ten miles easily, but then the fun commenced. The 

 floods had demohshed all the bush bridges, and every 

 mile or so it was necessary to erect a new one. About 

 noontime I stopped at a small stream through which 

 we would have to build a bridge of stones. As this 

 would require several hours, I ordered pishi to prepare 

 lunch and then Joe and I started construction work 

 while waiting for the other truck to catch up. When 

 more than an hour passed without it putting in its 

 appearance, we went back to see what was wrong. 

 Upon approaching it, we found Jones and Austin 

 crouched under the rear end with the differential 

 housing open. In reply to my query, Jones said that 

 the wheels refused to revolve, for the simple reason 



