HOMEWARD BOUND 285 



Mr Talbot first tested his powers by two days' labori- 

 ous surveying at Fika, and then we started. We sent 

 the boys on in the morning to pitch camp and have 

 everything in readiness for us, and, as the march was 

 to be a short one, started ourselves in the afternoon, 

 after a somewhat tiring day. The chief, his son, and 

 a large retinue escorted us. Behind this gay caval- 

 cade we rode, for the last time, down the little sandy 

 track, beneath a baobab, and across the sandy river- 

 bed, where women were drawing water from the wells. 

 Up to and past the town we went, and then we turned 

 to look once more at the mud-decorated houses ; the 

 date-palms, now bereft of almost all their fruit ; the 

 ash-heaps, where pots are baked ; the indigo pit by 

 the mountain gateway. It was our last sight of Fika 

 and its simple friendly inhabitants. In single file we 

 wound up a narrow valley, along the gentle slopes 

 of wooded hills, lit by brilliant sprays of golden- 

 flowered cassias. Presently a heavier mass loomed 

 high above us, it was the last of the mountain-ridge, 

 and now we drew beyond the neighbourhood of 

 habitation. Here the chief turned and left us, and 

 it was with real regret we said good-bye to him 

 and to the Mallam, for both had contributed their 

 utmost to make our stay in Fika a pleasant one. For 

 seven miles we rode, and then in the stillness of a 

 wooded brae Mrs Talbot and I dismounted and sat 

 upon a fallen tree-stem to wait for Mr Talbot, whose 

 progress in that hilly region was slow. The light was 

 waning, and when the hammock came up we found 

 Mr Talbot was tired. We pressed the guide as to 

 how much farther we had to go, but though his 

 answer was indefinite we were undismayed, and, think- 



