72 FROM THE NIGER TO THE NILE 



queer lumbering gait of the Senegal hartebeest has its 

 fascination. 



While staying here, I heard one of the soldiers playing a 

 musical instrument which the Hausas call a gilau. This is 

 a stringed instrument made of about twenty reeds bound 

 together at each end in the form of a tiny raft. On both 

 upper and lower surfaces, at about an inch from the ends, 

 strips of the reeds have been loosened and raised from the 

 stems, from which they are separated by two transverse 

 reeds. Each of the five tones is composed of three strings, 

 bound round in the middle by grass blades. The body of 

 the instrument is covered by a neat bit of basket-work made 

 of the thin strips of reed already described, interlaced with 

 broad grass blades, and contains some hard seeds or small 

 stones, which rattle softly with the movement of the instru- 

 ment. The tone is liquid and beautiful, and in the hands 

 of a skilful player the sound of the little seeds can be made 

 to imitate the patter of falling rain-drops, the rustle of leaves 

 or the ripple of water. 



We were fortunate in having a beautiful clear starry 

 night for observations, and next morning started at 6.30, 

 on a five hours' march to the walled town of Yelua. It is 

 a straggling place, half to three-quarters of a mile from wall 

 to wall, and crops are grown inside between the various 

 compounds. From this town we could get a beautiful view 

 of the Range, which was only about twenty miles off as the 

 crow flies. We took angles to the principal points in hopes 

 of being able to observe back to Yelua. Unfortunately, a 

 heavy storm came on and put a stop to further observations. 



While here we persuaded the king to look through the 



