Northern Nigeria 



Eegiment, who was called upon one dark, rainy 

 night to do a forced march with his company 

 in a case of need. They found their way harred 

 by a tributary of the Niger, which he swam in 

 the dark, and finding canoes on the further 

 bank brought them over, and soon had the men 

 across. He was one of the last, if not the last, 

 to fall in South Africa, and had, I believe, ridden 

 over to a party of Boers to tell them peace was 

 signed when he was shot. 



On the 5th day we had hills on each side of us, 

 and the country was really beautiful and full of 

 interest. The hills took on a purple hue in the 

 evening, and the broad river wound so amongst 

 them, that sometimes you could quite imagine 

 you were steaming up a Highland loch. The 

 temperature, too, was surprisingly agreeable quite 

 cool, except just in the middle of the day. 



On the 6th day, at 4 p.m., we reached Lokoja, 

 the headquarters of the Eoyal Niger Company, 

 and where the Waffs were already in process 

 of formation. 



Lokoja, at the confluence of the Niger and 

 Benoui rivers, is situated at the foot of hills 

 some 2000 feet high, and has extensive views. A 

 long chain of hills form the northern or right 

 bank of the Benoui, and everywhere the country 

 is hilly, and looks more open than it really is. 



The nucleus of the Waffs were some way from 



185 



