120 CHIEFS & CITIES OF CENTRAL AFRICA 



One night we had been tempted to hunt till dark, 

 and the village in the vicinity of which we found 

 ourselves proved to be a mere hamlet perched on a 

 narrow ridge above the swamp, so we arranged to 

 pass another night on board. In this remote spot 

 our surprise was great to see another steel canoe 

 approaching and inside it a white man — a German 

 in charge of the carrier-pigeon department. A year 

 before he had brought the birds from Germany, 

 and was training them to make the flight between 

 Kusseri and Garua, a distance of some 200 miles as 

 the crow flies. They travel at the rate of about 

 30-40 miles an hour, and are so fast that they can 

 out-distance any bird of prey ; and throughout the 

 year there have only been three casualties, and these 

 from other causes. By the use of the pigeons the 

 Germans hope to avoid the necessity of the tele- 

 graph. Four pigeons were sent to Kusseri to warn 

 the Resident of our approach. Messages on thin 

 paper were tightly rolled and placed in tiny clips 

 fastened round the birds' legs. When they were 

 freed, the birds rose in the air, circled round two or 

 three times to get their bearings, and flew quickly 

 away. As they went a hawk darted in pursuit, but 

 the pigeons eluded it with ease, giving us a remark- 

 able illustration of their supreme rapidity of flight. 



We had entered Kotoko country almost directly 

 after leaving Musgum, and the difierence was very 

 striking, for here we were among fully clothed 

 Mahommedans living in two-storeyed houses. They 

 are an industrious people, and their handicraft has 

 reached a high level. They have long been famous 

 for the texture of the cloth they weave ; and the 



