234 FROM THE NIGER TO THE NILE 



cut open. It was now time to interfere ; so calling the corporal 

 and two other men who were on guard by the boat, I followed 

 quickly and with Jose's help made a prisoner of the ring- 

 leader, who turned out to be the chief of the village. He 

 was quickly bound, with hands tied behind his back, and 

 placed in charge of the corporal for the night, for I intended 

 to take him on to Mobbai. The Hausa method of tying is a 

 brutal one and no mercy is shown to the victim, the cords are 

 so tightly drawn together that they cut deep into the flesh. 

 I took pity on the man's plight and ordered the corporal to 

 loosen the cords, much against the latter's will, who said his 

 prisoner would escape. And sure enough late in the night 

 a splash was heard and the guard jumped up only to see our 

 prisoner swimming away into the darkness. A little later 

 the drums of a distant village started playing to signal back 

 the news of the chief's escape, and the music of the drums, 

 accompanied by shouts, was kept up throughout the night. 

 The next morning there was not a soul to witness our pre- 

 parations for a start, but just as the boat was pushed off 

 from the bank a spear struck her side, and the next instant 

 out from the reeds jumped our friend with two other men 

 naked and armed with shields and spears to speed our parting 

 with derisive cries and gesticulations. 



The passage of the river was now rendered very intricate 

 owing to the number of islands, and without knowing it I 

 passed Gosling, so I stopped at a village a day short of 

 Mobbai, where he caught me up, and we then continued our 

 journey together to Mobbai which we reached on December 8. 



At Mobbai the traveller cannot fail to be struck by the 

 very great difference in the character of the country on either 



