110 FROM THE NIGER TO THE NILE 



slave had risen to be the sultan of one of the most powerful 

 States in the Sudan. 



On each cheek the girl, who we afterwards found was 

 called Fatuma, bore the three Uttle cuts which he caused to 

 be made as a sign of ownership on every prisoner whom he 

 captured, besides the five or six longer marks down the side 

 of each cheek, parallel with the ear, the distinguishing sign 

 of most Beri-Beri as the Hausa call them, or Kanuri as they 

 call themselves. After her there rushed a huge brute, who 

 claimed her as his property and threatened her with dire 

 punishment for having tried to escape from him. The girl's 

 terror was so evident that Alexander felt he could not leave 

 her to the mercy of such a man, so he bought her for five 

 pieces of cloth and gave her permission to travel with the 

 carriers' wives to her own country to which we were going. 

 The reason that so many women accompanied the expedition 

 was a practical rather than a sentimental one. While the 

 husbands carried our baggage, the wives carried theirs and 

 also prepared their food. Fatuma afterwards told us that 

 there were ten other Kanuri girls, gagged and bound at this 

 town, but she was the only one who managed to escape 

 to us. 



After an eight hours' waterless march, mostly through bush, 

 we reached some most extraordinary country belonging to 

 the pagan Kerri-Kerri. It is only necessary to describe one 

 bit of this, as it will be found typical of aU the rest. 



Amid an alluvial plain one sees a huge circular mass of 

 chalk with precipitous cUfis stretching sheer up on every 

 side. At the top, 100 to 500 ft. above the plain, the mass 

 forms an absolutely level plateau crowded with villages. 



