300 FROM THE NIGER TO THE NILE 



literally in heaven and with the sextant obtained some 

 good observations. 



But the world got .out of the wrong side of her bed the 

 next morning. I never saw such a contrast. The memory of 

 the serene night of peace and beauty, shut off by only a few 

 hours of sleep, was with us when we awakened to the 

 sight of a desolate, dust-coloured world ; unpeopled, for the 

 natives are crouching inside their huts, while without, town, 

 trees and hills, all are smudged in one grey blur. How eyes 

 smart and lips crack ! Little wonder ! when the boots are 

 doing the same. Even the books are getting their backs up, 

 and the lids of the wooden boxes show a decided hump. It 

 is the harmattan that is causing all this upset ; the north- 

 east wind that prevails here from November to March. This 

 was our first taste of it and we had our mouthful that morning ! 

 Our porridge and eggs were full of grit, and the fresh-cut 

 shces of bread became hard like toast in less than half an 

 hour, and we were as cold in our bones as on a bleak 

 November day in England. It was " speeding the parting 

 guest " with a vengeance, and we were glad to be up and on 

 the move again. 



So we took the road to Kowa which was to be our next 

 halting-place. Four oxen, lent by the Shehu, the carriers 

 with their loads, and the escort went half an hour ahead 

 of us ; then came Quasso in charge of the " chop " box, 

 and Talbot and I, attended by Adamu, the guide, followed 

 at our leisure. Not a soul was abroad in the town, save the 

 soldiers on guard at the palace gates which we passed on 

 our way ; they wore an aspect in keeping with the bleakness 

 of the morning ; silent and sullen, with the hoods of their 



