Up the Ogun 
latter course, and hired a native canoe with two 
canoemen and a young man to act as both in¬ 
terpreter and messenger. The canoe had been 
dug and burned out of a tree of immense size 
and length and the middle part of it was wide 
enough to receive our mattress spread out. Over 
this we built a tent of mats made of strong sea 
grass. (At this time strangers could travel from 
the coast to the Niger with as much security as 
they could in civilized lands. Slave wars had 
ceased and the wild beasts of the country were 
not feared on the roadways in the daytime.) 
Early one morning, about a week after landing 
in Lagos, we placed all our earthly possessions 
in our canoe and, bidding adieu to the last ves¬ 
tige of civilization, crossed the beautiful lagoon 
and began our journey up the Ogun river. For 
some time our daily experiences were much 
alike. When night overtook us, we fastened our 
canoe to the bank in some open place and then 
waited until daylight returned before proceeding 
on our way. On account of the heat, the mos¬ 
quitoes and the novelty of our position, we did 
not sleep very well. Furthermore we were sere¬ 
naded by weird sounds coming from the dense 
forests on the bank to which our canoe was tied, 
although we heard nothing which made us think 
vr 
