GARUA AND THE NORTH KAMERUN 33 



to become very stupid and fail to understand any- 

 thing. He, a soldier who had fought under Rabeh, 

 the African Napoleon, to be subject to a woman ! 

 To know was to sympathise, and I soon persuaded 

 Mr Talbot to restore him to his former dignity. He 

 was a little fellow, and brave, and always amusing 

 to watch. Later on he was promoted to be gun-boy, 

 and marked his appreciation of this rise on the very 

 first day by turning Mahommedan. 



The country through which we passed was lovely. 

 Sharp outlined hills lay to the north and west, from 

 which streams ran down and crossed our road at 

 no infrequent intervals. They were no longer the 

 tempestuous torrents of the rainy season, but in 

 appearance somewhat resembled our Scottish burns. 

 Foliage trees with brilliant blossoms grew by their 

 banks, but the soil was sandy and, in general, the 

 vegetation thin. Big - girthed baobab, their squat 

 grey trunks shadowed with purple, dominated the 

 landscape, and thickets of golden - flowered mimosa 

 skirted the road. Gaily coloured convolvulus romped 

 over everything, and there were many varieties of 

 flowers and grasses. Some of these attained to a 

 height of twenty feet, and a soft fluffy one that 

 shaded from white to delicate pinks and reds lent 

 grace and colour to the scene. 



As we turned off the main road we left the civil- 

 isation of an occasional sign-post and of milestones 

 every five kilometres, and debouched into a path 

 so overgrown that it was little more than a track. 

 Here Mr Talbot had a severe fall from his horse, 

 which, in the course of a headlong gallop, slipped 

 in a half-hidden ditch and threw him on his head 



c 



