OUR JOURNEY UP THE NIGER AND BENUE 43 



attacked him. That evening he returned to his camp very 

 tired, and ate his dinner under difficulties owing to the clouds 

 of moths and insects which swarmed round his lamp, darken- 

 ing the flame. Presently an old man crept up and sitting on 



KING OF LAFAN GISSERI 



the ground just within the ring of light, brought out from 

 under his bernouse a little banjo, made of a gourd and stick 

 with two strings, which he thrummed, producing notes of most 

 sweet and musical tone. He was a wandering minstrel and had 

 lived by the music of this same instrument for twenty years. 

 At Gisseri Gosling took an interesting photo of a native 

 doctor cupping a patient for blood-letting. He describes 

 the process as follows. " The skin was wetted and the 

 ends (5 in. long) of five cow-horns with holes bored in 

 their ends were applied. The doctor then sucked the ends 

 and plugged the holes quickly with some cotton which he had 



