132 FROM THE NIGER TO THE NILE 



reserve stock of provisions was. He found it necessary 

 therefore to return thither to arrange about the transport 

 of the main body of the baggage to the River Yo, and pro- 

 mised to send me^^out some^provisions as soon as he got 

 there. I told him the general direction which I expected 

 to follow and he said he would meet me again as soon as 

 possible. He was not feeling at all well and was looking 

 wretchedly worn, so, after great persuasion, he agreed to 

 have one day's rest at Burutohai, though he absolutely 

 refused to let me stay and look after him as I should have 

 liked to do. Before leaving him, he told me that after he 

 had left Ashaka he had caught a " boy " looting a village. 

 This turned out to be one who had been dismissed by Gosling. 

 His method of procedure was as follows : He had somehow 

 or other got possession of a letter, and this he showed to the 

 chiefs of the towns he came across as his warrant- from the 

 white men. He then demanded four or five goats which he 

 said he was ordered to take to his masters. So successful 

 had been this ruse, that he was driving quite a large flock of 

 animals before him, when Alexander caught him and put a 

 sudden stop to the fortune which he had been in the way of 

 making by this nefarious practice. There is no doubt that 

 this sort of thing is carried on to a large extent, especially 

 by interpreters when away from supervision. 



On September 3 we entered BulabuU, the first Marragi 

 town, and at length arrived at Auma, which like all Marragi 

 towns was a collection of small hamlets without any walls. 

 It now turned out that what I had taken for hills at Mount 

 Taunza were merely low plateaux covered with trees, through 

 which the only way of getting would have been by a rigorous 



