158 FROM THE NIGER TO THE NILE 



hair closely woven into plaits which are trained horizontally 

 round the head. The children usually have their heads 

 shaved except for two narrow fluffy strips crosswise from back 

 to front and from side to side. 



The Baghirmi are farmers, owning goats and sheep. 

 They also make cloth and pottery, and do a little fishing, 

 using nets only occasionally and preferring a square trap of 

 wickerwork which they build in the river and bait with ground 

 millet. Their " dug-outs " are small and leaky. Gosling 

 who crossed the river in one, describes his experience as not 

 being very comfortable. He says, " the small dug-out put 

 my heart in my mouth for the safety of my rifles ; a decimal 

 of an inch to spare and occasionally shipping water over the 

 sides — besides leaking elsewhere. The man stands up to pole 

 and paddle, doing both with the same little pole, which has a 

 blade about 4 in. wide attached for paddling." 



The Baghirmi give the impression that they have seen 

 better days. They are still suffering from the ruin of 

 Rabeh's raids and are affected by the occupation of their 

 country by the white man which has checked their slave 

 raiding. The Baghirmi in their time have been great slave - 

 dealers, preying upon the neighbouring Sara tribes. 



June 22, 1905, is marked as a day of mourning in the 

 annals of the Expedition. We made an early start at 6 a.m. 

 from Mand Jaffa and all went as well as usual until the mid- 

 day halt for " chop." We were sitting in the broad shade of 

 a fine tree on the left bank waiting for John to serve up our 

 food, and the word " pass chop " had just been given when a 

 groan came from under Gosling's chair and there lay Wuka 

 dead ! Poor little Wuka ! His death was a great loss to his 



