CHAPTER IV 



WITH THE SURVEY PARTY TO THE MURCHISON RANGE 



{Writtc/i hij Mr. P. A. Talbot) 



[I AM indebted to Mr. P. A. Talbot for the record in the 

 following three chapters of the survey work from Ibi to 

 Maifoni.] 



The Survey party consisted of its leader, Captain Claud 

 Alexander, myself, about seventy carriers and an escort of 

 fifteen soldiers belonging to the 2nd Btn. Northern Nigerian 

 Regiment. We had with us two theodohtes, Cary's 6 in., 

 and Troughton and Simms' 5 in. micrometers, two boiling- 

 point thermometers, three aneroids, a plane-table, a maxi- 

 mum and minimum thermometer, and a 3 -in. astronomical 

 telescope for occultations, and were in general very well 

 equipped for the projected work. 



On May 3 the party bade good-bye to Boyd Alexander. 

 Gosling had already gone off hunting to Lafan Gisseri in 

 the neighbourhood of Ibi. 



After the carriers and impedimenta had been ferried 

 across, a start was made from the further bank of the Benue, 

 which is here about 1000 yards wide. For the first mile or 

 two the bush was very thick, and for part of the way we 

 marched along one of the dry channel-beds of the River 

 Simanka. After the glare at Ibi, it was very pleasant to go 

 through the woods which lay on either side of our route. 



