22 FROM THE NIGER TO THE NILE 



a great part of the baggage in five large canoes. I liave 

 forgotten to say that five others preceded us with the bulk of 

 the stores. The native dug-outs play an important part on 

 the River Benue, which owing to its navigability is the chief 

 trade-route of the country round. They are sometimes 30 ft. 

 long, and are manned by eight polers. We spent the time, 

 while the boats were being put together and the required 

 number of carriers collected, in getting the survey instru- 

 ments into working order. 



We left Lokoja station at 4 p.m. on March 31, passing the 

 native town an hour later. Owing to their being overloaded, 

 the boats seemed very unwieldy at first and made slow 

 progress. At 6*30 we anchored on a sand-bank about a mile 

 up the Benue, beyond the point where it flows into the Niger. 

 Here we pitched camp in heavy rain, and supped off tinned 

 rations, as it was impossible to light a fire. Next morning 

 we made up for the lack with a good breakfast of porridge, 

 bacon and eggs, and then proceeded to repack the boats, 

 that had been overloaded the day before. 



For the first few days progress was slow, for the polers 

 took some Httle time to get used to the handling of the boats, 

 and, moreover, they and the carriers required a few lessons 

 in discipline ; also they had to be taught that we were not 

 altogether ignorant of their ways. A sharp look-out had to 

 be kept on their dealings with the natives along the river, 

 whom they took every opportunity to plunder under pretext 

 of being emissaries of the white man. But, by making one or 

 two salutary examples, we soon got them well in hand. Then 

 our pace improved and we made on an average about fifteen 

 miles a day. It was our practice to start moving about half- 



