254 FEOM THE NIGER TO THE NILE 



he may have no powder to load it with he carries it wherever 

 he goes, or a slave boy often carries it for him. 



The Welle has a number of names which vary according 

 to the tribe of the country it flows through ; for instance, 

 from its mouth to Voro, it is known as the Linga, then as 

 Ungungu, and farther up as Nimba, and at Djabbir as the 

 Bonso. The word " werre," no doubt another form of 

 " Welle," is a general term applied to the country on the 

 right bank. 



On January 9 we left Voro for Djabbir, which is about 

 forty miles higher up the river. The going was very bad ; 

 the whole distance is cut up with rapids among small islands, 

 with the exception of a few short navigable reaches, two or 

 three miles in extent. Our second ■ day was the hardest, 

 for we had to make the passage of no less than seven 

 formidable rapids. 



The violent uses to which the boats had been put caused 

 more splits to appear and the old ones to re-open. Matters 

 looked serious, for all the solder was finished and we were at a 

 loss to find a wherewithal to mend them, until I luckily 

 remembered having seen a native woman mending her pots 

 with the wax of wild honey. It struck me at the time as so 

 interesting that I made a note of it. And now I tried it on 

 the boats with unexpected success ; wooden wedges were 

 driven into the cracks and then sealed over with the melted 

 honey. The restoration was complete and Sampson's riddle 

 reversed, for — out of sweetness came forth strength. 



This wax is made by a small bee no larger than a house- 

 fly, which makes its nest in holes in the trees of the forest. 

 The wax really forms the lining of the nest before the honey 



