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CHAPTER XV. 



HOMEWARD BOUND. FIKA TO LAGOS. 

 (MARCH 28-APRIL 18.) 



Two hundred miles lay between us and Kano, and 

 we looked forward to our journey there with despair. 

 We were all unwilling, however, to prolong our ab- 

 sence : the tornado season was now due, and once it 

 set in there was a risk that the banks of the newly 

 built railway would be washed away. In this case 

 our return would be delayed still further, for we should 

 have to trek from Kano instead of going by rail, as 

 we hoped to do. Had it been a straight - forward 

 march, Mr Talbot might have been carried in his 

 hammock with little risk, but unfortunately the 

 geographical position of the country had been fixed 

 only by route sketches, and he was determined to 

 complete his survey from Maifoni to Kano by theo- 

 dolite and plane-table. At present, as we learned to 

 our cost, the true position of a town was often miles 

 away from where it was marked on the published 

 maps ; and the disgusted traveller was tempted to 

 place credence in the tale that distances had been 

 determined by firing pistols in the air, and so judging 

 how far the sound would carry. 



