UP THE GONGOLA RIVER TO ASHAKA 153 



getting food, only managing to buy four gallons of Indian 

 corn from some Fulani traders, which cost four yards of 

 caUco. 



On the next day he commenced the journey up the Gon- 

 gola. There was such a strong current in the river that it 

 was impossible to get along by means of poles, so he had to 

 get natives to tow the flotilla from the banks. At a small 

 village, three days up the river, the inhabitants brought 

 him girls and boys to sell for food. He told them that he 

 not only had none, but wanted to buy some himself. At 

 another place he found a lot of slaves, fastened to stocks. 

 Jose released them, which very much upset the king, who 

 feigned ignorance of the illegality of his possessions. All 

 the way up the river Jose had enormous difficulties to feed 

 his men, for there was famine in all the villages. 



One night there came on a violent storm, and one of the 

 canoes was sunk with forty loads in 6 ft. of water. By 

 diving, he and some of his men succeeded in recovering all 

 except one box, which contained 1000 cartridges. Another 

 time, while the crews were towing the boats up some rapids, 

 the rope attached to the one he was in broke, and the boat 

 was swiftly carried towards the rough water among the rocks 

 below. Jose immediately jumped overboard, caught the 

 rope and swam with it to the bank, where he managed to 

 fling it round a tree just in time to save the boat from the 

 rocks. 



The journey up the Gongola occupied about eighteen days 

 to Ashaka, where the Expedition was to concentrate again, 

 and three days after Jose's arrival my brother and Talbot 

 came in from the survey in the Kerri-Kerri country. My 



