100 FROM THE NIGER TO THE NILE 



containing two officers, a sergeant, and a company of Sene- 

 galese. Here I got news of Gosling, who was still at Fort 

 Lamy, where anxiety was felt on account of my non-appear- 



A CANOE CARRYING POTASH 



ance, fears being entertained that I had lost my way or been 

 killed by the Budumas. It was at Bui that the practical 

 methods of the French were demonstrated to me in a number 

 of Buduma canoes, which were fitted with grass awnings so 

 that they could be used by white men for the exploration of 

 the Lake. From Bui, after skirting the Kanem coast for a 

 distance of twenty-five miles, we struck in a south-westerly 

 direction. Our course was now complicated by extensive 

 belts of maria and islands that frequently encroached making 

 the waterway winding and narrow. In these channels we 

 found 9 ft. to 12 ft. of water. On one occasion the boats 

 got separated in the mazy windings, but by retracing my 



