44 FROM THE NIGER TO THE NILE 



boxes " of the bottle of salad oil that each, contained, as 

 the supply of oil for the survey lamps had given out. 



On arriving at Kukawa, Jose found that he was unable 

 to get the " gero " (unground millet), which he had bought, 

 .^ground as usual by the women of the market. The " queen " 

 reluctantly confessed that she had been told not to help me in 

 any way. Whereupon Jose, much astonished, went to the 

 ^Shehu for an explanation. The latter said that he was very 

 sorry, but that he had been obliged to obey orders. He 

 added that he had been told that I was " no good " and no 

 Englishman into the bargain. However, his own good heart 

 had not been poisoned, and he surreptitiously gave Jose 

 food and lodged him in a house near the palace. In Gosling's 

 diary under date February 13, he writes : " Arrived at Kowa 

 at sunset and found instructions had been sent to the king 

 that we were to have nothing. However, the Shehu has sent 

 a man gratuitously to give orders that we arc to have every- 

 thing, so have managed to get enough." 



I mention these incidents to show that such an Expedi- 

 tion as ours had not only the usual difficulties that beset 

 explorers to contend with. 



After Gosling's and Jose's departures, Kaddai was a very 

 lonely place. The carriers' quarters were deserted, and at 

 night a solitary camp-fire or two only seemed to shed light 

 upon the desolation. In surroundings such as these, the old 

 sorrow that had been checked bycompanionship and deadened 

 by the daily work returned and my days and nights became 

 •once more a fight against despair. Ten minutes was enough 

 for the lonely evening meal and pipe, and by six o'clock the 

 mosquitoes had launched their attack and driven me to 



