THE NIGER AND BENUE 



15 



good fellow, brought his wife with him, — a cheerful, 

 kindly woman, who contributed greatly to the boys' 

 comfort. 



To all this party Mr Drewitt, of the Pagenstecher 

 trading firm, very kindly gave a passage to Garua. 

 He was himself making the trip on the Company's 

 steamboat, the Nigeria, the fastest on the river ; and it 

 was the last of the year, for tornados had begun, and 

 preluded the approach of the dry season. We were 

 more than grateful to Mr Drewitt and to his comrade, 

 Mr Hendrich, for their kindness and hospitality, as 

 without their assistance we should have found it 

 difiicult to proceed. 



We embarked early one morning and steamed quickly 

 up the rapidly narrowing Benue, where the banks were 

 60 close that we could see dog-faced baboons and long- 

 tailed monkeys on both sides at once. The margins 

 were swampy, and we saw but few habitations, while, 

 throughout the whole morning, only one canoe passed 

 us. In twenty-five hours we reached our destination. 



NuPE Hoe. 



