THE NIGER AND BENUE 7 



in the dark, and we always tied up for the night. 

 The question then arose of how to deal with the 

 prisoner, who turned out to be the local policeman. 

 It was finally decided to drop him overboard when 

 we were opposite the village, so that he might swim 

 ashore. This was done, but our approach was re- 

 ceived with a fresh storm of missiles, and both 

 parties yelled imprecations at each other till the 

 policeman had landed and we were out of sight. 



So we proceeded, each day bringing with it some 

 fresh thing to see : long - limbed natives, wonderful 

 insects, or a distant mountain-range ; and it was all 

 too soon that we reached Lokoja. It is a pretty, 

 spreading town, situated beneath a wooded hill, and 

 looks out across the river to where the Benue adds 

 its large volume to the Niger. At the quay Mr 

 Elliot of the Marine Department, and Mr Byfield, 

 the resident Magistrate, kindly met us, and took 

 us up to Government House, which the Governor 

 had been good enough to put at our disposal, and 

 which Mr Byfield had made gay with cut flowers. 

 Its accommodation consists of two large bedrooms, 

 one on either side of a living room, all opening on 

 to a verandah that encircles the whole. From it a 

 sandy road led past the white men's bungalows, 

 lawn-tennis courts, golf-course, and polo-ground to the 

 native town beyond. Above this rises Mount Patti, 

 and from its slopes we heard the barking of baboon, 

 the howl of hyenas, and the haunting cry of the chro- 

 matic bird, which sings its song in descending semi- 

 quavers from dawn to sunset. I longed to climb 

 the hill and see the beasts, and each fresh person 

 that we met added to my desire, for he said that 



