THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES 
 
 EDWIN CHAPPLE 
 
 Printer S: Boc'<se!l
 
 THE NIGER SOURCES
 
 r
 
 THE NIGER SOURCES 
 
 AND THE BORDERS OF 
 
 THE NEW SIERRA LEONE 
 
 PROTECTORATE 
 
 BY 
 
 LIEUT.-COL. J. K. TROTTER, R.A. 
 
 WITH FOUR PULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS AND A MAP 
 
 METHUEN & CO. 
 
 36 ESSEX STREET, W.C. 
 
 LONDON 
 
 1898
 
 51 & 
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 PAGE 
 
 FROM LIVERPOOL TO FREETOWN i 
 
 CHAPTER II 
 THE JOURNEY TO THE NIGER SOURCES 19 
 
 CHAPTER III 
 THE WESTERN WATERSHED OF THE NIGER - - 60 
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 THROUGH SALIMA AND KAMUKE COUNTRY TO THE 
 
 KABA RIVER 95 
 
 CHAPTER V 
 FROM THE LITTLE TO THE GREAT SKARSIES - - 124 
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 RETURN TO THE COAST AND EMBARKATION FOR 
 
 ENGLAND - 146 
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 THE PEOPLE OF THE SIERRA LEONE PROTECTORATE 163 
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE INTERIOR, AND THE 
 
 INFLUENCE UPON IT OF THE HEALTH QUESTION 183 
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 THE GEOGRAPHY AND TOPOGRAPHY OF THE SIERRA 
 
 LEONE PROTECTORATE - - - 205 
 
 Al'I'KNDIX - 228 
 
 928016
 
 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 THE NIGER NEAR ITS SOURCE - - Frontispiece 
 
 KURANKO BOWMAN - 42 
 
 THE KING OF TAMISSO AND HIS SUITE - - 131 
 
 DANCE OF A BUNDI PRIEST ON OCCASION OF CEREMONY 182 
 MAP - - 238 
 
 NOTE 
 
 THE FOUR- ILLUSTRATIONS IN THIS BOOK ARE FROM PHOTOGRAPHS BV CAPTAIN 
 
 PASSAGA, THE PRESIDENT OF THE FRENCH DELiMirfNG COMMISSION.
 
 CHAPTER I 
 FROM LIVERPOOL TO FREETOWN 
 
 \ "^ H E expedition described in this work was 
 undertaken with the object of marking 
 out on the ground the boundary between 
 French Guinea and Sierra Leone, which had 
 been agreed upon between Great Britain and 
 France on January 2ist, 1895. The protocol 
 signed that day was the outcome of negotia- 
 tions which had lasted for many years, and 
 until the boundary question was settled, nothing 
 could be done towards developing the interior 
 of the country. Of the ground covered by 
 the agreement absolutely nothing was known 
 except at one or two points ; and it will be 
 remembered that in 1894 a British and French 
 force had come accidentally into collision at 
 Waima, owing partly to the unsettled state of
 
 2 THE NIGER SOURCES 
 
 the country and partly to the general un- 
 certainty concerning the frontiers. The region 
 of the Niger sources was visited by Laing in 
 the early part of the century, and the actual 
 source by Zweifel and Moustier in 1879, but 
 in the works of these travellers few topo- 
 graphical details are given, nor is it possible 
 to locate the position with reference to any 
 known point in the interior. French officers 
 have also passed through the country at the 
 head of the Niger in recent years, but they 
 have left no public record of their journeys. 
 It was, therefore, necessary that the boundary 
 as agreed upon should be marked out and 
 sketched by a joint Commission, and I was 
 appointed to act for the British Government 
 in this matter, being assisted by Lieutenant 
 (local Captain) Tyler, R.E., who was at the 
 time stationed at Sierra Leone. 
 
 The journey to Freetown occupies from 
 thirteen to sixteen days. Probably not many 
 people realize that, with the exception of the 
 imperial ports of Gibraltar and Malta, the 
 Gambia and Sierra Leone are the nearest
 
 LIVERPOOL TO FREETOWN 3 
 
 British possessions to the mother country. As 
 regards time, it is true, these settlements are 
 farther from our shores than British North 
 America, for hitherto English people have 
 discovered few good reasons for visiting West 
 Africa, and some very cogent ones for keep- 
 ing away from it. Liverpool alone has under- 
 taken the conquest of the land, and through 
 Liverpool all the trade between Great Britain 
 and this part of Africa passes. The passenger 
 traffic is so limited that the boats of the 
 African Steamship Company and the British 
 and African Line, which run in conjunction 
 with each other, are easily able to deal with 
 it. These boats rarely exceed 3000 tons 
 gross, and their highest speed under favour- 
 able circumstances is not more than 10 knots. 
 The direct boats call at Grand Canary, and 
 the intermediate ones at Madeira, Teneriffe, 
 and Dakar. It seems a special provision of 
 Providence that the Canary Group and Madeira, 
 probably the finest health resorts in the world, 
 lie so close to the deadly West African coast, 
 and are so easily accessible to invalids from
 
 4 THE NIGER SOURCES 
 
 Gambia, Sierra Leone, the Gold Coast, Lagos, 
 and the Niger. These islands are well worth 
 a visit. Madeira is well known to health 
 seekers, but of late years its monopoly in the 
 North Atlantic has been seriously threatened 
 by the Canary Group. At Grand Canary the 
 Spanish authorities are constructing a break- 
 water, and in a few years' time they will be 
 able to offer to ocean steamers a secure 
 harbour. The fruit trade has been largely 
 developed through the enterprise of Messrs. 
 Elder, Dempster & Co., the agents of the 
 African Steamship Co., and a large number 
 of visitors from the United Kingdom, as well 
 as from the West Coast, spend the winter and 
 spring in the island, the climate of which is 
 drier than that of Madeira. 
 
 From Grand Canary to Sierra Leone the 
 West African steamers take about six days. 
 As one approaches the coast the air becomes 
 humid and heavy, and the change from the 
 drier climate of the north-east trades is a little 
 depressing. Passing up the broad estuary of 
 the Sierra Leone river, the boats hug the
 
 LIVERPOOL TO FREETOWN 5 
 
 southern shore, and afford an excellent view 
 of the towns and country which make up the 
 little colony of Sierra Leone. Whatever may 
 be said against the country from other points 
 of view, the severest critic cannot find a word 
 to say against its beauty as viewed from the 
 deck of a steamer. Freetown, with its out- 
 lying villages, nestling amongst vegetation rich, 
 varied, and luxuriant, backed by the forest- 
 clad Lion mountains and faced by the distant 
 low, palm -fringed Bullom shore, makes a 
 charming picture, one difficult to reproduce, 
 but not easy to forget. The place does not 
 improve on closer acquaintance. The town 
 is poorly built, and not worthy of the position 
 a place of its importance should occupy. The 
 only respectable buildings are Government 
 House on Tower Hill, and just above it the 
 barracks of half a battalion of the West India 
 regiment, to which is attached a very good 
 swimming bath. The height of this position 
 is 300 feet above the sea. At a height of 
 800 feet are some new barracks on Mount 
 Auriol for the other half battalion, and still
 
 6 THE NIGER SOURCES 
 
 higher up, 1500 feet above sea level, is a 
 sanatorium. Fruit, vegetables, and fish are 
 plentiful in the town, but of cows in a public 
 capacity nothing is known, and I could hear 
 of but one horse in the place. The milkman 
 to the colony is Switzerland, and the butterman 
 Denmark. 
 
 Whether it is due to want of enterprise that 
 horses and cows are not to be found about 
 Freetown, or whether it is the case, as I have 
 heard stated, that they cannot exist in the 
 place, I am not in a position to decide. It 
 cannot, however, be due to want of forage, 
 for both grain and herbage are abundant, and 
 if it is due to climate, the conditions peculiar 
 to Freetown must be limited to the actual 
 coast line, for cows are to be met with a very 
 few miles inland in country which, as regards 
 climate, belongs to the coast region. 
 
 In and about Freetown no roads exist in 
 the meaning of the word as understood in 
 Europe. The streets are broad, but they are 
 merely unlevel green expanses, with foot-tracks 
 running across them. Road ballasting, road
 
 LIVERPOOL TO FREETOWN 7 
 
 drainage, and road levelling are expressions 
 unknown in a land where the wheel has not 
 yet been introduced in any form. 
 
 The shops of Freetown are less imposing 
 than those of European capitals, though they 
 follow the modern practice in that the small 
 tradesman is swamped by the big trading 
 company. They apparently do not seek to 
 entice the passer-by by a meretricious display 
 of their most captivating wares, and an adver- 
 tisement of their cheapest prices ; but the 
 would-be purchaser enters unsolicited a large 
 galvanized iron barn, where the obliging coun- 
 terman hands him anything he asks for, from 
 a pair of trousers to a tomahawk, whilst around 
 him crowds of natives, in every costume and 
 of every colour, are chattering, bargaining, and 
 laughing over their purchases. Singularly 
 enough the leading shop of Freetown is that 
 of a French Company (Compagnie Franpaise 
 de P Afrique Occidentale], which has trading 
 stations all along the West Coast, and which 
 is much patronized by British residents in 
 Sierra Leone. This establishment has been
 
 8 THE NIGER SOURCES 
 
 carried on with success whilst many British 
 companies have failed to do sufficient paying 
 business, and have disappeared one after an- 
 other. There are, however, still one or two 
 British companies in the place which combine 
 trading with other business, and being backed 
 by men of large capital and influence, continue 
 to make their way. 
 
 The buildings in the town of Freetown are 
 one and all bad, not only from the artistic but 
 even more from the sanitary point of view, 
 and they are singularly destitute of anything 
 which can contribute to comfort or conven- 
 ience. The town is very badly lighted with 
 oil lamps, which at best do no more than 
 illuminate the lamp post which supports them, 
 and a stranger visiting the town on a dark 
 night may consider himself fortunate if he 
 does not explore the bottom of many pitfalls. 
 But the town is now a municipality, and it 
 may be hoped that in a few years' time it will 
 see many improvements inaugurated. 
 
 What specially strikes the casual visitor to 
 Freetown is the complete absence of any form
 
 LIVERPOOL TO FREETOWN 9 
 
 of organized amusement or recreation amongst 
 the British residents, and of any common 
 meeting ground for the promotion of social 
 intercourse. This may be due to the ener- 
 vating effect of the climate, but one cannot 
 help speculating on the good which might be 
 done by anything which would promote activity 
 and raise the spirits. Lawn tennis is played 
 a little by a few of the more energetic, a little 
 shooting is attempted, and a little boating. 
 " At homes," etc., are given at Government 
 House, and occasionally the band of the West 
 India regiment plays, but beyond this I heard 
 of nothing in the way of recreation. 
 
 The climate of Sierra Leone has an evil 
 reputation, which is too deeply engraved on 
 the headstones of Kissi Cemetery to be open 
 to any qualification. Nevertheless I believe 
 it has seen its worst days, and if only the 
 assistance of modern science is called in, it 
 may yet become a moderately healthy place. 
 It possesses the enormous advantage of a pure 
 water supply, probably the only thoroughly 
 sound water on the West Coast. If this water
 
 io THE NIGER SOURCES 
 
 was laid on to the whole of the town, if the 
 population, both European and native, could 
 be induced to use it with the least possible 
 adulteration, and if, finally, a comprehensive 
 scheme of drainage were carried out, a marked 
 improvement in health would certainly result. 
 The position of Freetown is one of so great 
 importance as to justify the adoption of every 
 modern means of promoting the health of both 
 Europeans and natives. As the only good 
 harbour in West Africa, the terminus of the 
 railway line to the interior now being con- 
 structed, and the only imperial coaling station 
 in the North Atlantic, it has a great future 
 before it. It is on the direct line to the Cape, 
 and is most conveniently situated as a coaling 
 station, being about eight days' steaming, at 
 13 knots, from Southampton, and very much 
 the same distance from Cape Town. Yet, in 
 spite of the advantages of its position, vessels 
 are sent two or three hundred miles out of 
 their course to coal at St. Vincent in the Cape 
 Verde Islands, anchoring in an exposed road- 
 stead, off a barren coast, where the coaling
 
 LIVERPOOL TO FREETOWN n 
 
 arrangements are of the worst, and where no 
 fresh provisions are to be had. A little enter- 
 prise on the part of the Sierra Leone people 
 should make their harbour the port of call 
 for vessels bound both to South Africa and 
 to the Pacific, as well as for those homeward 
 bound from those parts. 
 
 The history of Sierra Leone is too well 
 known to need repetition here, but there are 
 probably many in England ignorant that the 
 small colony proper is inhabited by a popula- 
 tion whose only language is English, if indeed 
 a language can be called English, which, as 
 spoken by the lower classes, no dweller in our 
 islands could interpret. I speak only of the 
 Sierra Leonis, the inhabitants of Freetown and 
 the neighbouring villages, the descendants of 
 freed slaves. In addition to these there is a 
 large floating population of natives from the 
 interior, trading or seeking work, who speak 
 different languages and dialects. The Sierra 
 Leonis themselves, however, so far as I could 
 learn, have no knowledge of the interior or 
 sympathy with questions affecting a frontier
 
 12 THE NIGER SOURCES 
 
 policy, and it appears to be unfortunate that the 
 Protectorate which has recently been estab- 
 lished over the native tribes of the interior 
 should bear the name of Sierra Leone, which 
 must ever be associated with a peculiar and 
 most interesting chapter in the history of 
 Africa. 
 
 Amongst the Sierra Leone people are many 
 highly educated gentlemen, employed as law- 
 yers, doctors, merchants, clergymen, govern- 
 ment officials, and in other capacities, a great 
 part of whom have been educated in England, 
 and are quite able to hold their own with any 
 Europeans. I have stated that the Sierra 
 Leone people are not interested in questions 
 of the interior, but one conspicuous exception 
 should be mentioned in the person of Mr. 
 Parkes, the Superintendent of Native Affairs, a 
 gentleman of the highest attainments, educated 
 at Oxford, who has a thorough knowledge of 
 all matters connected with the interior, and 
 who is in constant communication with the 
 Chiefs in the Protectorate. Mr. Parkes has 
 accompanied the Governor on his expeditions
 
 LIVERPOOL TO FREETOWN 13 
 
 throughout the country, and his knowledge of 
 all frontier questions is second only to that of 
 His Excellency. Our expedition, as regards 
 transport and supply, was organized entirely by 
 him. The food for the Europeans had to be 
 carried with us, as nothing except rice, and occa- 
 sionally fowls and sheep, and possibly now and 
 again a bullock, could be obtained up country, 
 and arrangements had to be made for collecting 
 rice for the natives at various points. We had, 
 moreover, to carry tents, instruments, ammuni- 
 tion, and hammocks, so that a large number of 
 carriers was required, and depots had to be 
 formed at Falaba and at Sangbaia near Kuru- 
 bundo. A large force of carriers was engaged, 
 and the men were mustered in gangs of from 
 twenty to thirty, each under a head-man. We 
 had also from six to eight men to each 
 hammock, servants, two interpreters, and ten 
 Frontier Police, our entire force numbering, to 
 commence v.'ith in addition to the two Com- 
 missioners, Captain M'Kee of the Frontier 
 Police, and Dr. Paris, a colonial surgeon 4 
 sappers R.E., and 448 natives.
 
 i 4 THE NIGER SOURCES 
 
 Some twelve days after our arrival at Sierra 
 Leone the French Commissioners landed at 
 Freetown, and about the same time the Gov- 
 ernor, Colonel Cardew, returned from England. 
 A meeting was speedily arranged to discuss the 
 method of procedure, and it was thereat agreed 
 that the two Commissioners should proceed at 
 once to the Niger sources, there to begin their 
 boundary demarcation. The boundary in 
 Samu from the Atlantic coast to the Mola 
 river, an affluent of the Great Skarsies, was to 
 be demarcated by the junior French Commis- 
 sioners, of whom there were three, the British 
 being represented by an officer to be selected 
 by the Governor. 
 
 The President of the French Commission, 
 Captain Passaga of the Marine Infantry, is an 
 officer of great reputation as a topographer, 
 and has served in the topographical section of 
 the French War Office, and on the survey of 
 Algeria. He also took part in the Dahome 
 campaign. The second officer, Captain Cay- 
 rade, of the Marine Artillery, was specially 
 selected for astronomical work. He had served
 
 LIVERPOOL TO FREETOWN 15 
 
 in the French Sudan, and had been stationed 
 at Heremakono, close to the Anglo-French 
 frontier. The third officer, Captain Millot, had 
 seen much service in the Sudan, and had taken 
 part in several of the campaigns against the 
 Sofas. His knowledge of the country and the 
 natives specially fitted him foi the work of 
 delimiting the frontier. 
 
 On December i6th the joint Commission 
 embarked in the Governor's yacht, the "Count- 
 ess of Derby," the native followers being towed 
 astern in lighters. The French party consisted 
 of the two senior Commissioners, one European 
 under officer, ten Senegalese soldiers, ninety- 
 two carriers and servants, with four riding 
 mules. Having no hammocks, and having 
 arranged a service of supplies from their Sudan 
 stations, they were able to do with a much 
 smaller establishment than we required. The 
 third Commissioner, Captain Millot, with one 
 European under officer, proceeded from Kon- 
 akri, the capital of French Guinea, to the Niger 
 sources, and joined the Commission there some 
 days after we had reached Tembi Kunda, the
 
 16 THE NIGER SOURCES 
 
 first projected arrangement for delimiting the 
 Samu frontier having fallen through. We 
 steamed up the Sierra Leone river to the Port 
 Lokko creek, and on the morning of the I7th 
 reached Moferri, the highest point navigable by 
 the steam yacht. Here we cast off the lighters, 
 transferred ourselves into the " Countess of 
 Derby's" boats, and, after rowing hard for some 
 hours, reached Port Lokko, a large native town 
 on a tidal creek, where we disembarked and 
 arranged our loads. 
 
 Port Lokko is a town situated in Timmeni 
 country, and is part of the colony of Sierra 
 Leone. It contains a police barrack, a mission 
 station, a store, and a grog shop, the only 
 one we met with in British territory till our 
 return to Freetown. We were lodged in 
 the best house available in the place, a some- 
 what pretentious building, containing several 
 rooms and one or two pieces of European 
 furniture. 
 
 We had now reached the limits of British 
 territory as represented by the colony of Sierra 
 Leone. The country beyond this was at the
 
 LIVERPOOL TO FREETOWN 17 
 
 time we passed through it merely what is 
 known in diplomatic parlance as a British 
 'sphere of influence,' or, in other words, native 
 territory under native laws and jurisdiction, 
 which was recognized by the neighbouring 
 European powers as bound by treaty to Great 
 Britain. The Chiefs of this country, so far 
 as it had been explored, received occasional 
 messages from the Governor of Sierra Leone, 
 and exchanged greetings with him, and some 
 of them, whose people occupied country through 
 which trade routes passed, received small annual 
 subsidies for keeping the roads open. 
 
 The colony of Sierra Leone is limited to 
 the peninsula of Sierra Leone, to British 
 Kwaia, to Sherboro, and the country within 
 immediate reach of the coast line and the 
 navigable embouchures of the rivers. There 
 is, I believe, no very definite boundary on 
 the land side, but actual jurisdiction does 
 not extend farther inland than the immediate 
 neighbourhood of British posts and factories. 
 
 We had the usual palaver with the Chief of 
 Port Lokko, who is also Chief of a district
 
 i8 THE NIGER SOURCES 
 
 of Timmeni country bearing the same name. 
 At night a tom-tom procession was organized 
 by the natives, who kept up a great uproar 
 till early morning, to which a good day's work 
 happily rendered us insensible.
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 THE JOURNEY TO THE NIGER SOURCES 
 
 /^VUR instructions were to march via Bum- 
 ban to Kruto, and from thence to find 
 a route to Kurubundo and onwards to Tembi 
 Kunda, the head of the Tembi river, which is 
 the longest affluent of the Niger. Having 
 reached this point we were to fix a line running 
 due westward from it to the watershed between 
 the Niger and the rivers running westwards, 
 and we were then to follow the watershed, 
 which forms the boundary, in a northerly 
 direction, till it cut the tenth parallel of north 
 latitude, where the first section of the boundary 
 delimitation was to end. 
 
 As regards the march up country, the first 
 stage was from Port Lokko to Bumban. 
 Throughout this section we followed a well-
 
 20 THE NIGER SOURCES 
 
 known trade route, and it was therefore un- 
 necessary for us to survey it, but, in order 
 to check the position of our halting places, 
 we took daily observations for latitude, and 
 we used a perambulator to give the distances 
 accomplished on each march. 
 
 We left Port Lokko on December i8th, 
 and covering a distance, according to the 
 perambulator, of 77-^ miles, reached Bumban 
 on the 24th. The road, which resembles all 
 West African main lines of communication, is 
 a narrow winding track, not unlike a footpath 
 through a wood in England in summer time. 
 Swamps, creeks, and streams are frequently 
 crossed, and the country, without being so 
 densely covered with bush as the valleys 
 further inland, is yet so close and so flat that 
 nothing can be seen in any direction. The 
 winding path is invisible 20 or 30 yards ahead, 
 and though one has constantly the impression 
 that the next few yards will bring one to a 
 point from which a view can be obtained, 
 this point is never reached. We passed 
 through this country in as complete ignorance
 
 THE JOURNEY 21 
 
 of what lay to our right and left as if we 
 had been blindfolded ; the very villages we 
 entered were not recognizable till the banana 
 leaves, the unmistakable indication of native 
 habitations, were almost within reach. It is 
 curious to notice the influence of their sur- 
 roundings on the peoples of the interior. 
 There the natives live in single file. If you 
 watch them as they pass over the open spaces 
 occupied by villages or cultivation, you will 
 never see them in any other formation, and 
 if you endeavour, as we did, to form them in 
 line to beat patches of ground for game, in 
 two or three minutes at most you will find 
 them serpentining across country one behind 
 another. The roads are originally made wind- 
 ing in order to avoid the numerous obstacles 
 which cannot be cleared away, but whether 
 from the crooked nature of the tracks or from 
 some other cause, no native appears to be 
 able to walk straight. A caravan passing 
 through the bush moves as if it were following 
 the trail of a serpent, and on the one or two 
 occasions when we crossed perfectly open
 
 22 THE NIGER SOURCES 
 
 ground, the direction followed was precisely 
 the same ; instead of taking a bee line from 
 point to point, the long column executed a 
 series of windings and curves. There is, 
 perhaps, another explanation of the inability 
 of the natives to walk in a straight line, besides 
 the curved nature of the roads, though it is 
 connected with the same cause, and this is 
 that, as shoes are not worn, the feet are very 
 sensitive to anything likely to cut or bruise 
 them, and therefore the natives acquire a 
 habit of picking their way to avoid obstacles, 
 and of regularly deviating to right and left of 
 the general direction they are following. 
 
 During this march we crossed, near Madina, 
 the Mabole river, an affluent of the Little 
 Skarsies or Kaba. It is here a large river, 
 some 90 yards in width, and unfordable at 
 any season. We passed our loads across in 
 two dug-out canoes of poor construction and 
 very little buoyancy. During the operation 
 one of the canoes foundered and sank. It 
 was recovered, and the water was being baled 
 out with a large calabash, when I heard
 
 THE JOURNEY 23 
 
 piercing screams from the branches of a tree 
 behind me. The Chief of Madina was watch- 
 ing the crossing from this elevated position, 
 and I learned from the interpreter that the 
 calabash used for baling was his property, and 
 that the effect of dipping it in what he termed 
 "crocodile water" would be that he would be 
 eaten by a crocodile. We endeavoured to con- 
 sole him by pointing out the satisfaction he 
 ought to feel when the contingency arose at 
 being eaten in such a good cause, but his 
 mind evidently dwelt mainly on the personal 
 discomfort of the process, and it was only 
 by taking the law into our own hands that 
 we could continue to use the royal vessel. 
 
 The only other river crossed during this 
 stage was the Belia, an affluent of the Ma- 
 bole, which we passed near Rotata, and which 
 in the dry season is fordable. This river 
 separates the Safroko Timmeni from the 
 Sanda Lokko country, the Mabole at Madina 
 being the division between Sanda Lokko and 
 Biriwa Limba country. 
 
 The climate during this march was in all
 
 24 THE NIGER SOURCES 
 
 respects that of the coast region. The air 
 was heavy and somewhat depressing, and the 
 difference between day and night temperature 
 was small. In this country a very little exer- 
 tion produces a great deal of moisture, and a 
 few miles of marching effected a saturation of 
 one's wearing apparel which was a little un- 
 comfortable. This is no doubt due to the 
 air being charged with moisture, a condition 
 which made the temperature very much less 
 supportable than that accompanying a dry 
 heat. We did not use a maximum and mini- 
 mum thermometer, but registering the tempera- 
 ture in the early morning, and again after 
 reaching our halting-place, i.e. between 10 A.M. 
 and noon, we found the lowest temperature 
 noted to be 70, and the mean of the early 
 morning readings to be 72.5. The highest 
 reading was 84, and the lowest of the day 
 readings 81. Exertion at this stage was not 
 an unmixed delight. 
 
 After crossing the Mabole, as we approached 
 Bumban, we became aware of a change in our 
 surroundings. Hills were visible ahead of us,
 
 THE JOURNEY 25 
 
 and the road we followed led us past huge 
 boulders of granite. We found Bumban to be 
 a large town lying on low ground, some 300 
 feet above sea level, and shut in by hills on 
 all sides but the west. It contains a police 
 barracks, occupied by a detachment of Frontier 
 Police, and is the seat of the Chief of the 
 Biriwa Limba, a man who appears to be held 
 in the greatest dread by his subjects, although 
 he rules them without the assistance of any 
 executive. Even our own followers had a 
 superstitious dread of his power to hurt them 
 so long as we continued in his country, which 
 was of some value as a means of preventing 
 marauding. 
 
 Captain Tyler, our photographer, endeavoured 
 to obtain a photograph of the Chiefs wives, 
 but unfortunately his plates were not large 
 enough to include the whole establishment, 
 which is said to number 300, so he had to be 
 content with a small selection. The photo- 
 graph, however, failed ; but he succeeded in 
 developing one of the Chief feeding his pigeons, 
 which are even more numerous than his wives,
 
 26 THE NIGER SOURCES 
 
 and which he treats with more devotion so far 
 as we observed. 
 
 We halted at Bumban on Christmas day, 
 and entertained our French comrades. A halt 
 indeed involved as much labour as a day's 
 march, with the observations to be taken, 
 calculations to be worked out, despatches for 
 the mail to be prepared, and other work to 
 be undertaken. There was, in addition to 
 the routine tasks, the discipline and adminis- 
 tration of our native establishment to be seen 
 to, and their commissariat requirements to be 
 provided for. Even now these matters pressed 
 upon us, and as we advanced further into the 
 interior they became a source of daily anxiety. 
 
 A part of our daily work, both on marching 
 and on halting days, was the palaver with the 
 Chief of the place and his people. These in- 
 terviews differed from each other only in the 
 varying degree of importance attached to the 
 occasion, the Chief on some occasions being 
 the paramount ruler of a country or district, in 
 others merely the head-man of a town or village. 
 But in all cases the procedure was the same, and
 
 THE JOURNEY 27 
 
 the following description, which applies in the 
 first instance to our palaver with the Chief of 
 Biriwa Limba, will serve as an example of the 
 way these meetings are conducted in West Africa. 
 An hour would be agreed upon, and the Chief 
 would send round to every part of his dominions 
 within reach and collect his people by beat of tom- 
 tom. At the given time they would assemble, 
 generally in some open space near the town, under 
 a cotton tree or round a conspicuous object 
 occasionally the people assembled in front of 
 the hut which we occupied, but the important 
 palavers were more frequently held outside 
 the town. A semicircle would be formed, the 
 Chief and his most important followers being in 
 front. Opposite to them we took our places, 
 our chairs having been previously placed for us. 
 Beside us stood our escort of Frontier Police, 
 and the clerk attached to the Commission, an 
 official from the department of Native Affairs. 
 The Chief then made a long address, which, as 
 translated by the interpreter into Sierra Leone 
 English, and with the assistance of our doctor 
 rendered into English as comprehended by us,
 
 28 THE NIGER SOURCES 
 
 was boiled down through a few meaningless 
 platitudes into the information that he was very 
 glad to see us, repeated many times, and into 
 the prayer that we would accept the present 
 prepared for us, which was laid out before us. 
 This consisted in general of some bowls of rice, 
 perhaps a few kola nuts, which are of consider- 
 able value in this country, and are the emblem 
 of friendship and welcome, with the addition, 
 according to the wealth of the Chief, of a 
 couple of fowls, a sheep, or perhaps a bullock. 
 Whilst this performance was going on, the 
 clerk, who was a past master in the etiquette of 
 these proceedings, made a hurried estimate of 
 the value of the Chiefs present and disap- 
 peared. The proper course, I believe, is that 
 the receiver of the present, i.e. the visitor, 
 should always, to use a vulgarism, go one 
 better, but I am not sure that this principle is 
 rigidly adhered to in parts of the country where 
 the value of trade goods is little understood. 
 To pay for presents received we had with us a 
 large stock of wares, many being of no value 
 except at places near the coast. The principal
 
 THE JOURNEY 29 
 
 articles of trade were Manchester cottons, fancy 
 smoking caps, penny looking-glasses, tobacco 
 leaves, Florida water, much appreciated by the 
 natives when mixed with tobacco ; hair-oil, 
 used to anoint the face ; salt, beads, threepenny 
 pieces for making necklaces, and other small 
 things of a portable nature. Whilst our return 
 present was being prepared, I replied to the 
 Chiefs address. I was not master of the 
 elocution (and circumlocution) he employed, 
 but I merely said I was glad to see him, I 
 thanked him for his present, and I begged his 
 acceptance of ours. I explained also the 
 business we were engaged upon. Many of the 
 Chiefs would hardly believe that we were not, 
 to use the expressive phrase of the country, 
 bringing a war with us. In the boundary 
 districts I always explained the run of the 
 frontier, and dwelt on the enormity of inter- 
 fering with the landmarks we had set up. I 
 also impressed on the Chief that he was to 
 " clean " or " brush " his roads, as it is 
 expressed, and to increase his farm lands. 
 By the time these words had passed through
 
 30 THE NIGER SOURCES 
 
 the interpreter, our present had arrived, and it 
 was interesting, especially in the remoter parts 
 of the country, to observe the childish delight 
 with which the natives examined the cottons, 
 the looking-glasses, and the tobacco. Men 
 who had probably never before had an oppor- 
 tunity of studying their own personal attrac- 
 tions gazed solemnly for many minutes on 
 their features as reflected by a very inferior 
 glass. Tobacco is grown everywhere, but it 
 is of poor quality, and the trade article is 
 greatly appreciated. It is mixed with Florida 
 water, when this luxury is obtainable, and made 
 into snuff, which is carried in a small cylindrical 
 box, and administered to the expectant nostril, 
 by those of high rank, with an ivory spoon. 
 Cottons are also highly valued. Cotton is 
 grown everywhere, and the native women card 
 and weave it, producing a strong cloth, which 
 is generally dyed by being dipped in the 
 juice of the leaves of the indigo plant ; but the 
 process is very slow and costly, and I imagine 
 that for any one but the Chief to get a new suit 
 of clothes is a rare event.
 
 THE JOURNEY 31 
 
 Occasionally, especially in Kuranko country, 
 music was introduced on these occasions, the 
 instrument in common use being composed of 
 a series of strips of wood of graduated length, 
 fastened over gourds. The performer, who 
 wears iron bracelets to add to the sound, plays 
 this instrument with a stick shod with rubber. 
 The music consists of a chant of half a dozen 
 chords, repeated ad lid., and accompanying a 
 vocal performance of a monotonous description. 
 
 As soon as the palaver was over we were 
 able to bargain with the Chief for rice or fowls, 
 or whatever we required, but etiquette forbids 
 that any negotiations of a commercial nature 
 should be entered into until the presents have 
 been exchanged. 
 
 From Bumban our next objective was Kruto 
 (or Kru) in Kuranko country. This town lay, 
 so far as we knew, nearly due east of Bumban, 
 but the intervening country was densely 
 covered with bush and untracked. Every 
 inquiry was made, but we were informed that 
 no direct roads existed. The only known 
 route was that of the Falaba road to Lenge-
 
 32 THE NIGER SOURCES 
 
 koro, and thence to Koinadugu. This involved 
 an enormous circuit, and, as time was of the 
 greatest importance to us, I endeavoured to 
 find some way of shortening the distance. We 
 started on 26th December along the Falaba 
 road, and as we were now in less well-known 
 country, we commenced a regular road traverse, 
 using compass and plane table, taking our 
 distances by perambulator, and making nightly 
 observations for latitude. 
 
 As soon as we left Bumban we began to 
 ascend the hills, and before the day was over 
 we found ourselves in a country differing 
 entirely from the coast region. These hills are 
 formed of granite, and are covered with thick 
 bush except on their summits, which take 
 curious shapes, dome-like and columnar. The 
 road is difficult and narrow, and the gradients 
 are so steep that an unencumbered man can 
 only negotiate them by holding on to trees and 
 roots. How the laden carrier manages I 
 cannot understand. 
 
 At the end of the first day's march we 
 found ourselves at Kawana, 825 feet above
 
 THE JOURNEY 33 
 
 the sea. Continuing to ascend daily we found 
 ourselves, three days later, at Lengekoro, 
 1500 feet high. The difference in climate 
 now experienced was very noticeable. We 
 had a greater range of temperature ; the 
 nights were cooler, the air fresher, and the 
 labour of climbing the hills was more than 
 compensated for by the feeling of increased 
 ability to support fatigue. Within two days 
 of leaving Bumban we recorded an early 
 morning temperature of 66, and we began to 
 clamour for extra covering at night. 
 
 At Kafogo, a village north of Katimbo, 
 three marches from Bumban, we learned that 
 a route existed to Kruto, via Sandia and 
 Kundembaia, which would save us the circuit 
 to Koinadugu. The head-man of Kafogo, 
 however, said that the road thence to Sandia 
 had not been cleaned, and was impracticable, 
 so we marched on to Lengekoro. At this 
 place a guide offered to lead us to Kundem- 
 baia by another route which would save us 
 much, so, on the 3Oth December, we en- 
 trusted ourselves to him, and turned east-
 
 34 THE NIGER SOURCES 
 
 ward out of the Falaba road. We found 
 ourselves now passing out of the Limba 
 country into a hitherto untraversed part of 
 Kuranko territory. The road we followed 
 was barely tracked, and led us through almost 
 continuous swamp, and across an affluent of 
 the Seli spanned by a rough trestle bridge, 
 to Kundembaia, a new, clean, and well-built 
 town, where roads from Koinadugu, Lenge- 
 koro, Kruto, and Kafogo converge, some 
 of which, however, were not in a practicable 
 condition. The chief and people had never 
 seen white men before, and all the active 
 members of the community disappeared into 
 the bush, leaving the women and the decrepit 
 to face the unknown dangers. As soon as 
 they learned that no harm was done to 
 their belongings, they came in and became 
 very friendly. With little variation this pro- 
 gramme was carried out in every town of 
 Kuranko country, except in those near trade 
 routes, where white people had previously 
 been. But the Kuranko were highly de- 
 lighted with the trade goods we brought,
 
 THE JOURNEY 35 
 
 and much edified at the prospect of being pro- 
 tected from their enemies by the white people. 
 The road we were now following led us 
 into the basin of the Seli river. East of 
 Kundembaia it is in good condition, and fol- 
 lowing it we reached the river, a fine water, 
 about 60 yards wide and deep, with a rocky 
 bottom and swift current. A most ingenious 
 hammock bridge was constructed here, made 
 entirely of creepers. Three stout creepers, 
 attached to the trunk of a tree on either 
 bank, acted as roadway and handrails, and 
 the space between the handrail and roadway 
 on either side was enclosed by a network of 
 small creepers. The roadway was covered 
 with battens of dried grass, and the bridge 
 was suspended by creepers fastened to the 
 tops of trees. It bore four carriers with their 
 loads at a time. The existence of this very 
 civilized form of crossing at this point is very 
 remarkable, for, as far as we could learn, 
 little or no trade passes through the country, 
 and the towns are only now being rebuilt 
 since their destruction by the Sofas.
 
 36 THE NIGER SOURCES 
 
 From the village of Isala, near the east 
 bank of the Seli, we ascended the watershed 
 between that river and the Bagwe. The road 
 was bad and the marching very difficult, and 
 when we reached Yerembo, on New Year's 
 day, 1896, our carriers were lying about on 
 the road in varying stages of exhaustion. We 
 got them all in at last, but one was so over- 
 come that he lost his reason and disappeared 
 the next night. From Yerembo we descended 
 next day into the basin of the Bagwe, and 
 halted at Alkallia, a small village, the popu- 
 lation of which fled before our arrival, with 
 the exception of an old blind man, who was 
 physically incapable of following their example ; 
 but even he succeeded, when we sent for him 
 to question him on the country, in hiding 
 himself. Next day, a very difficult march 
 through more or less continuous swamp, 
 brought us to the Bagwe. The swamps met 
 with in this part of Africa are unlike anything 
 I have met with elsewhere. They consist of 
 heavy stagnant mud, produced, no doubt, by 
 the immense quantities of decaying vegetation,
 
 THE JOURNEY 37 
 
 and following the course of the drainage lines 
 which feed the streams and rivers. Where 
 there is a good flow of water, very little 
 swamp is found, and the rivers and large 
 streams had, we observed, almost universally 
 rocky bottoms. The worst swamps are found 
 where there is no water on the surface, and, 
 naturally, no drainage except after heavy rain. 
 The mud is from three to four feet deep, 
 sometimes more, and is often as offensive as 
 if it was the sewage of a city. A hammock- 
 boy carried us over the swampy ground, and 
 as it required great strength and skill to pilot 
 one safely through the heavy mud, each of 
 us selected the most able of his team. In 
 spite, however, of threats and encouragement, 
 we did not pass all the obstacles without some 
 amusing casualties, our doctor in particular, 
 who was no light weight, being on one or 
 two occasions landed by his bearer in a choice 
 position. As soon as the hammock-boy had 
 produced a casualty, he invariably fled to avoid 
 vengeance, and the extrication of the victim 
 was always the worst part of the disaster.
 
 38 THE NIGER SOURCES 
 
 Between Lengekoro and the Bagwe river 
 we experienced every morning a dew-fall so 
 intense, that after five minutes' marching we 
 were as saturated as if we had been exposed 
 to heavy rain. The air was so filled with 
 mist that nothing was visible more than a 
 few yards away. The dew lasted till the sun 
 had been up some time, and it was particularly 
 noticeable during this stage of our march, 
 though there was at all times a considerable 
 mist in the early morning. 
 
 We crossed the Bagwe partly in canoes 
 and partly by a ford. It is a fine river, the 
 foliage of the trees on the banks being very 
 beautiful. Its width opposite Kilela, our halting 
 place, is about seventy yards. Kilela is a 
 new town, under a brother of the Chief of 
 Kruto, lying a mile east of the river and a 
 mile or two west of the Falaba- Kruto road. 
 From this place we marched to Kruto, a 
 large town in a low position, with a bad water 
 supply. It is a comparatively civilized place, 
 and has a police barrack occupied by a small 
 detachment of Frontier Police from Falaba,
 
 THE JOURNEY 39 
 
 to which place there is a fair road by Koina- 
 dugu. The Chief received us with much 
 ceremony, and presented us with a bullock 
 and a considerable amount of rice. His 
 authority extends over a large district and 
 he brought in all his people to welcome us, 
 and executed a dance with them. As I was 
 working outside my hut, taking little notice 
 of the proceedings, I suddenly realized that 
 the mass of singers and dancers, led by the 
 Chief, was bearing down upon me. Retreat 
 was impossible, so I had to resign myself to 
 the situation. The Chief, continuing his song 
 and dance, seized me by the hand and waved 
 it backwards and forwards for some time. I 
 appreciated the honour, but was very glad 
 to escape from the ceremony, and not a little 
 thankful that Captain Tyler, being laid up 
 with fever, could not immortalize me in a 
 humiliating position. The ceremony being 
 over, the Chief sent to me asking for some 
 medicine. I offered him a selection of 
 Burroughes and Welcome's tabloids, but he 
 sent a messenger back to say that what he
 
 40 THE NIGER SOURCES 
 
 wanted was medicine out of a bottle, the 
 same as consumed by white people, or, in 
 other words, alchohol. It was evident that 
 this Chief was far in advance of his country- 
 men in civilization, but I thought it prudent 
 to check his aspirations in this direction. 
 This was the only occasion on which we 
 were asked for drink during our expedition, 
 from which it may be gathered that there is 
 either no trade with the part of the interior 
 visited by us, or that the craving for drink, 
 as it exists in other parts of West Africa, is 
 unknown in these regions. 
 
 We observed here first, and afterwards at 
 many other places in Kuranko country, a 
 custom corresponding to that of burying the 
 hatchet in North America. In the centre of 
 the village two guns were half buried in the 
 ground to signify that the war, i.e. the Sofa 
 war, was over, and on these various charms 
 were suspended. 
 
 The second stage of our march ended at 
 Kruto. The distance recorded by the peram- 
 bulator from Bumban was ninety-three miles,
 
 THE JOURNEY 41 
 
 but the route being very difficult and the 
 country hilly, it took us ten days to cover it. 
 I had intended to halt here one day, but the 
 deep swamp we had recently passed through 
 now began to tell its tale, and several of the 
 Europeans were down with fever. Out of the 
 seven with the British Commission five were 
 attacked within a day or two after we crossed 
 the Bagwe. We were, therefore, reluctantly 
 compelled to remain two days at Kruto, and 
 it was only on the morning of 7th January, 
 1896, that we were able to start on the last 
 section of our march to the Niger sources. 
 The country we now entered upon becomes 
 more distinctly mountainous than that west 
 of the Bagwe river ; the features are larger 
 and the ascents more continuous. In front 
 of us lay a high range terminating in the 
 Kintiballia Hill, on the top of which the Chief 
 of Kruto had his town till it was removed to 
 its present position by order of the Governor. 
 Our route brought us past this range, which 
 we skirted, passing to the south of it. We 
 were now once more off the known routes,
 
 42 THE NIGER SOURCES 
 
 but had no difficulty in finding our way to 
 Kurubundo, our next point. Halting at Nyedu 
 and Sogurella, we reached this place three 
 days after leaving Kruto. It is situated on 
 the upper slope of a densely wooded hill in 
 a very picturesque position. A narrow, steep 
 path leads to a war fence, consisting of two 
 massive timber gates, one behind the other, 
 with a very narrow difficult approach con- 
 necting them and forming the only way of 
 entering the town. The bush surrounding the 
 town is so dense as to be practically impene- 
 trable, except by this narrow path. The top 
 of the hill is covered with massive granite 
 boulders, and between these the huts are built. 
 The place is a good example of a mountain 
 fastness, where any one inclined to give trouble 
 could take refuge without fear of being dis- 
 lodged except by a well-organized expedition. 
 It has the reputation of being the only Kur- 
 anko town which was proof against the attacks 
 of the Sofas. 
 
 The influence of the place was very apparent 
 in the appearance and bearing of the people.
 
 THE JOURNEY 43 
 
 In physique they are decidedly superior to 
 the Kuranko we had met hitherto, whilst it 
 was very evident from their manners that 
 they never forgot the strength of their position. 
 We were met on arrival by the Chief with 
 his people, all of them armed with trade guns 
 and swords. I pointed out to the Chief that 
 his town was situated within the British sphere, 
 and later on I got the French Commissioner 
 to confirm my statement. A flag was given 
 to him and the usual presents were exchanged. 
 I then directed him to remove his war fence. 
 In the meantime one of our carriers had dis- 
 covered his sister, a Mendi woman, in the 
 town. She was a slave to one of the chief 
 men. I therefore arranged for her release, 
 giving the owner compensation in trade goods 
 to the value of about 2. The woman and 
 her brother were dispatched to Freetown at 
 the first opportunity. 
 
 The Chief of Kurubundo, about whom I 
 had some doubts at first, accepted his new 
 position loyally, and proved of great assistance 
 to us later on. We had now arrived at the
 
 44 THE NIGER SOURCES 
 
 end of our tether as regards the direction of 
 our further advance. We had no information 
 in which direction the Niger sources lay, or 
 how distant they were from us. We elicited 
 here that there was no road to Tembi Kunda, 
 but the Chief undertook to cut a road for us 
 to the town of Porpor, whence we should 
 probably be able to find a way. All night 
 long his men worked with knives and cut- 
 lasses, and in the morning we were able to 
 proceed, and to reach Porpor without any 
 serious difficulty. 
 
 As the country adjoining the Niger water- 
 shed was believed to be very scantily peopled, 
 it was urgently necessary to reduce our native 
 establishment, which had to live on the country, 
 within the narrowest possible limits. Taking 
 with us a month's supply for the Europeans, 
 and only the stores actually required, all re- 
 maining loads were directed on Falaba, to 
 which place also the depot which had been 
 established at a village near Kurubundo was 
 removed. Head-men and Frontier Police were 
 detailed to supervise these operations, on the
 
 THE JOURNEY 45 
 
 completion of which the natives were to 
 return to Freetown and to be paid off there. 
 By this means we reduced our native estab- 
 lishment to 270 men, but it was impossible to 
 get it lower than this, for the carriage of our 
 instruments, tents, and clothing, as well as 
 our food supplies, took up the services of a 
 large number of men, and the servants and 
 hammock-boys added to the number. 
 
 At Porpor, one of our natives, who had 
 been sent on to explore the country, returned 
 to us, having discovered a route to Tembi 
 Kunda. But the Chief of the place, who 
 appeared anxious to do his best for us, told 
 us he knew of a more direct way than that 
 which our man had followed, and provided 
 guides for us the next day. The people of 
 this country have a system of keeping secret 
 from strangers the most direct route between 
 towns, and of sending them round by a 
 circuitous road. Their object appears to be 
 to keep to themselves the most direct means 
 by which they can escape if attacked. To 
 assist them in doing this, the road is often
 
 46 THE NIGER SOURCES 
 
 not cut through to their towns, and they 
 reach it by passing through the bush for 
 some distance. We met with many instances 
 of this practice, and it was a sign of the 
 favourable disposition towards us of the 
 Kuranko that we were so often introduced to 
 their private roads. In this case a specially 
 selected head-man of carriers, noted for his 
 walking powers, had been sent to find a way 
 to Tembi Kunda, and the natives had guided 
 him by a road which made him cover twice 
 the distance necessary. Guided by the Chief's 
 men we marched by a different road, and 
 reached Buria on January nth, where we 
 found ourselves just above the valley of the 
 Bafin river. The Chief of Buria provided us 
 with guides, who next day led us across the 
 Bafin river, which here is a rapid mountain 
 stream about 30 feet wide, and forming no 
 obstacle. We then commenced a regular and 
 steep ascent to Kamindu, a little village, 
 where we halted. On the i3th we continued 
 our ascent, and gradually rose till we stood 
 on the crest of a long ridge running across
 
 THE JOURNEY 47 
 
 the track we were following, and having an 
 altitude, on the road, of 3300 feet. Our 
 guide now told us that the valley in front of 
 us was that of the Tembi, the longest 
 tributary of the Niger, and we knew then that 
 we were standing upon the boundary line 
 between British and French territory, the 
 watershed dividing the streams flowing into 
 the Niger from those running westwards into 
 Sierra Leone. Of the valley in front of us 
 little could be seen. The country was 
 clothed with the cane brake, which grows to 
 10 feet high, and which is such a complete 
 obstacle, both to movement and to observa- 
 tion. Still, we could discern the green foliage, 
 which indicated that a watercourse was there. 
 Our guides pointed out to us the valley, but 
 neither threats nor persuasion would induce 
 them to lead us to the head. Any attempt 
 to force them would only have ended in their 
 lying to us, leading us astray, and escaping 
 at the first opportunity. As a matter of fact, 
 they both disappeared before we reached the 
 valley. In such a country nothing is easier
 
 48 THE NIGER SOURCES 
 
 than to step aside into the bush when out 
 of observation for a moment, and to dis- 
 appear beyond all danger of pursuit. The 
 natives of this country have the greatest 
 dread of the Niger source. They regard 
 it as the seat of the devil, who is the only 
 supreme being they worship, and they believe 
 that to look upon it is to meet certain death 
 within the year. Our visit to the place was 
 regarded as very likely to provoke the evil 
 one into an undesirable form of activity in 
 the neighbourhood, and, in order to prevent 
 this, the inhabitants of the nearest village 
 sacrificed, some days later, a white fowl, and 
 sprinkled its blood on the trees near the 
 upper slope of the Tembi valley. 
 
 Deserted by our guides, we forced our 
 way through the cane brake which covered 
 the slope of the ridge. We were now in 
 the Tembi basin, but the actual valley in which 
 the stream ran lay still some way in front of 
 us. At length we reached the green foliage, 
 and, having done so, turned immediately south- 
 ward and followed the valley till we turned
 
 THE JOURNEY 49 
 
 its head. We knew then that we were close 
 to the object of our search. Accompanied 
 by Captain Cayrade of the French Commis- 
 sion, we struck into the valley on the eastern 
 side, and cut our way down to the bottom. 
 This valley, like almost every watercourse in 
 that part of the country, consists of a deep 
 ravine with steeply sloping sides covered with 
 trees, creepers, and bush, and very difficult 
 to penetrate. Cutting our way through the 
 undergrowth, we crept and clambered down 
 the slippery slopes till we reached the bottom, 
 and came to a moss-covered rock from which 
 a tiny spring issues and has made a pool 
 below. The foliage at this spot is green, 
 most luxuriant, and beautiful, and, as one 
 looks on the birthplace of the Niger, it is 
 easy to imagine oneself at a dripping well 
 in some wood in England. The spot is shady, 
 too shady indeed, for sun, light, and air are 
 in the one case altogether, and in the other 
 too much, excluded. The darkness is charac- 
 teristic of the valleys of this land. The foliage 
 is so dense, and the creepers are so abundant,
 
 50 THE NIGER SOURCES 
 
 that the sun cannot penetrate them, and it 
 is probably owing to this, and to the immense 
 quantity of decaying vegetation, that malaria 
 is to be found even in the higher regions of 
 the interior. 
 
 In the pool which receives the first waters 
 of the Niger we found a bottle with a note 
 inserted, announcing that Captain Brouet, a 
 French officer, had visited the place in 1895, 
 and on the rock his initials, G. B., were cut. 
 That the bottle was allowed to remain un- 
 touched is a proof that no native approaches 
 the place, for in this country a bottle is a 
 highly valued article of trade. A few days 
 later we found some natives with fruit, of 
 which there is very little in this particular 
 neighbourhood, and we brought out all our 
 trade goods to offer them a selection in ex- 
 change for their bananas and papaws. After 
 examining everything carefully, and after look- 
 ing with longing eyes on our cottons and 
 our beads, they eventually fixed their affections 
 on an empty pint champagne bottle, and for 
 this they gave us all the fruit they had. Our
 
 THE JOURNEY 51 
 
 personal attendants and hammock-boys made 
 no small profit out of the local demand for 
 empty bottles, which were their perquisites, 
 and which they quickly converted into rice, 
 cassava, fowls, or native tobacco. 
 
 The natives, amongst their other supersti- 
 tions, have a great dread of drinking the water 
 of the Niger. Not having any superstitions, 
 we drank it freely, when we visited the source, 
 and not long afterwards were fain to admit that 
 the natives were wiser than we. Indeed, judg- 
 ing from its effects, there is some ground for 
 believing that the river is indeed haunted. 
 Having quenched our thirst, and having at- 
 tempted to photograph the scene, in vain as 
 it turned out, the light being too bad for our 
 artist, Captain Tyler, we retraced our steps 
 and climbed the side of the ravine. We 
 pitched our camp outside the ravine and west 
 of it, the French being south of us, and the 
 Niger source approximately opposite to the 
 east of the interval between us. Our natives 
 built us a shelter, a square hut covered with 
 banana and other leaves, which was much
 
 52 THE NIGER SOURCES 
 
 cooler during the daytime than the tents. 
 They were very expert at this work, and in 
 such a country, where wood to form supports, 
 grass for string, and foliage for covering are so 
 abundant, it is easy to rig up a very decent hut 
 in an hour's time. These shelters, being made 
 with flat roofs, afford no protection against rain, 
 but they are useful against the sun and con- 
 venient for working purposes. In the West 
 African climate no one sleeps in the open air ; 
 the heavy dew-fall makes protection in some 
 shape necessary. The Europeans of our party 
 used tents, of which the colonial pattern, a 
 double-fly tent, was the most comfortable ; the 
 natives improvised shelters, or crept under the 
 low boughs of a shady tree, or slung hammocks 
 in the higher branches. When halting in 
 villages, we usually sent on a head-man to select 
 huts for ourselves, which the owners tempo- 
 rarily evacuated. The native huts are built 
 almost universally on one plan, the only differ- 
 ence being in size, finish, and comparative 
 cleanliness. They are circular in shape, the 
 wall of mud being built up till it reaches the
 
 THE JOURNEY 53 
 
 high pitched roof, which is supported by a 
 central pole. The roof is of grass, bound to a 
 framework of sticks, and it projects beyond the 
 wall so as to form a verandah, the ground of 
 which is raised about a foot above that of the 
 interior. There are two doorways to the hut, 
 opposite to each other, and they give the only 
 light to it. The inside therefore is very dark, 
 smoky from the smouldering 1 fire which is 
 always burning, and not too clean. We found 
 it best to quarter our servants in the hut, and 
 ourselves to occupy the verandah, where we 
 could sleep undisturbed even by the hornets 
 and rats which dwelt in the roofs. Later on, 
 when we had accustomed ourselves to our 
 tents, we much preferred them to the huts, and 
 seldom occupied a native dwelling again. 
 
 Our camp at Tembi Kunda was found to be 
 2800 feet above sea level. The highest alti- 
 tude we recorded was on the watershed just 
 west of the camp, which was 3300 feet above 
 the sea. This point was considerably lower 
 than the tops of the mountains in the neigh- 
 bourhood, but I think it is improbable that any
 
 54 THE NIGER SOURCES 
 
 of these are much more than 5000 feet high. 
 The country as seen from any of the eminences 
 about is decidedly mountainous, much more so 
 than that we had passed through. In every 
 direction masses of upturned granite are to be 
 seen in the form of peaks, columns, and ridges. 
 Toward the south a series of peaks are visible 
 at ranges of from eight to twelve miles ; in the 
 neighbourhood of Tembi Kunda, the Konkon- 
 ante mountain, and the Sulu peaks, two conical 
 mountains side by side, called the brother and 
 sister, are most conspicuous ; to the west lies 
 Mount Kenna, and to the north the Kolate 
 range, ending in the Kula peak, a massive 
 column of red granite. The tops, and occasion- 
 ally part of the slopes of the mountains are 
 bare, but these bare spots are patches amongst 
 the universal high, stiff cane brake aud bush 
 which clothes the whole country. The cane 
 brake and dry bush distinguish the spurs and 
 slopes from the valleys and waterlines, which 
 are easily recognized by the dense green 
 foliage and creepers. The valleys are all 
 deeply eroded, and have steep, rugged sides.
 
 THE JOURNEY 55 
 
 Near the Niger sources there are very few 
 inhabitants, and there is hardly a track or road 
 to be seen. The ruins of a village called 
 Tembi Kunda lie some little way north of 
 the source, and at Konkonante there is a 
 small village, but otherwise there is no sign 
 of human life. In this solitude, however, 
 nature is carrying out a great work. Three 
 tiny streams, all destined to become mighty 
 rivers, commence their journey within sight of 
 each other. Close to the head of the Tembi 
 ravine, and within a very few yards of the 
 spot where our first beacon was built, the 
 Mantili rises and runs away southwards. Its 
 evolution has not yet been traced, but there 
 is no doubt that it is the origin of one of 
 the great rivers which flow into the Atlantic 
 in the south-west corner of Sierra Leone. 
 Half a mile west of its source rises the 
 Bagwe, which we had crossed near Kruto, 
 where it is a fine river. Lower down, after 
 being joined by the Bafi, it becomes the Sewa, 
 a large river, which reaches the Atlantic in 
 the southern part of Sierra Leone.
 
 56 THE NIGER SOURCES 
 
 It was January i3th when we reached the 
 Niger source, and we spent six days in our 
 camp there, busied with observations and sur- 
 vey work. A triangulation was begun, and 
 a base line measured, not without much diffi- 
 culty, as flat ground does not exist, and the 
 chaining had to be done on broken, hilly, 
 bush-covered country. From the time of our 
 arrival at this place we said good-bye to 
 roads, and worked through the bush, defining 
 the boundary as we went. This was difficult 
 for ourselves, but even more so for the natives, 
 whose unprotected feet and legs suffered much 
 from the strong cane brake and thorny bush. 
 A way had to be cut through the under- 
 growth, and for this purpose a party of natives 
 was detailed each day to precede us with 
 large knives, or cutlasses as they are called, 
 and to cut or press down the bush to make a 
 way. Our progress in this way was terribly 
 slow, so slow, indeed, as to baffle all calcula- 
 tion. We would spend an hour in climbing 
 a small elevation, which appeared to be within 
 five minutes' distance, in order to view the
 
 THE JOURNEY 57 
 
 country ; and in surmounting the high ridges 
 and summits where we had observing stations 
 an entire day was taken up in doing what 
 was estimated as a couple of hours' task. 
 
 The climate, during the months of December, 
 January, and February, in the elevated country, 
 was by no means insupportable. The differ- 
 ence between the air of this country and that 
 of the coast is marked, and one is undoubtedly 
 able to undergo greater fatigue, and to do 
 more active work in the interior than on the 
 coast. The nights at this time were cold, 
 one blanket at least being necessary, and in 
 the early morning our thermometer several 
 times was as low as 58. But strangely 
 enough the weather was very inconsistent, 
 the coldest night being followed by a close, 
 hot one, and it frequently occurred that the 
 highest reading of the month was on the 
 day following that on which the lowest reading 
 had been recorded. This, I imagine, was 
 due to change of wind. The harmattan, a 
 hot dry wind from the Sudan, brought the 
 fresher air and cooler nights, whilst a westerly
 
 58 THE NIGER SOURCES 
 
 wind from the coast accompanied the close, 
 hot weather. The harmattan is disliked by 
 the natives, its effect being to dry up the skin 
 and congest the membranes, but to Europeans 
 it is much preferable to moist winds from 
 the coast. In the daytime the heat was 
 considerable, but not unbearable, and we found 
 it possible to work all day during these mid- 
 winter months. On the top of the mountains 
 we always found the air to be decidedly cool. 
 This sometimes produced a feeling of chilli- 
 ness, probably from the action of the dry 
 wind on the moist skin. In West Africa the 
 skin is always moist when the body is at 
 rest, except during fever. When one takes 
 violent exercise, the moisture is not limited 
 to the surface of the body but pervades one's 
 clothing from head to foot, and from inside 
 to outside, giving one the appearance of having 
 emerged from a bath. 
 
 Whether the interior is less malarious than 
 the coast is a vexed question. All our party 
 of Europeans suffered from fever at more or 
 less regular intervals, but whether the malaria
 
 THE JOURNEY 59 
 
 was absorbed during our passage through the 
 swampy coast region or in the higher country 
 I cannot pretend to say. Of swamp as under- 
 stood on the coast, i.e. three or four feet of 
 poisonous smelling mud, there is not much 
 in the high country ; but there is marshy 
 ground in abundance, and the valleys are 
 filled with decaying vegetation from which 
 sun and air are excluded. But I must not 
 be led astray into discussing here the always 
 absorbing question of the climate of the West 
 Coast. It will be sufficient to say that our 
 lowest early morning reading between Bumban 
 and Kruto was 58, the highest 73, and the 
 mean 68. The lowest day reading was 68, 
 and the highest 84. From Kruto to the end 
 of January the lowest early morning reading 
 was 58, and the highest 75, the mean being 
 69. The lowest day reading was 67, and 
 the highest 86.
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 had now been a month in the 
 interior, but our real work was only 
 just about to begin. We had reached the 
 point where the delimitation was to com- 
 mence, and we set up on the ground at the 
 head of the valley, directly south of the 
 Niger sources, our first beacon, made like 
 almost all those subsequently erected, of a 
 pile of stones in the shape of a sugar loaf. 
 The second beacon was raised on a high 
 ridge north-west of the sources, the ridge 
 forming the watershed, and the third on the 
 same ridge at the point from which we had 
 first looked down on the Niger valley. We 
 placed a beacon at every point where a 
 road or track crossed the frontier.
 
 THE WESTERN WATERSHED 61 
 
 After completing our preparations for sur- 
 veying the frontier country, we moved off 
 from our camp at Tembi Kunda on January 
 1 9th, following the watershed in a northerly 
 direction. But our progress was slow, and 
 we moved our camp only every alternate 
 day, and then but a few miles. The deserted 
 country lasted for several marches, and then 
 we entered a district fairly well populated, 
 and from that time were never far from 
 habitation as long as we followed the water- 
 shed. 
 
 Upon the difficulty of following a water- 
 shed I need not dwell here in detail ; it is 
 well known to those who have had such a 
 task in boundary delimitation to perform. 
 Our difficulty at this stage was not to find 
 the watershed, but to predict its course with 
 sufficient accuracy to judge where our next 
 halting place was to be. I can safely affirm 
 that we did not once succeed in fixing on a 
 good position for our next camp. It was a 
 matter of great importance to us to know 
 in what direction our next move would take
 
 62 THE NIGER SOURCES 
 
 us, for we could not naturally drag with us 
 to the top of mountains and to other places 
 which it was necessary to visit for survey 
 purposes, our whole army of carriers and 
 servants, and our whole camp equipage. The 
 wiser course appeared to be to select by 
 eye the position for the day's halting place, 
 to point this out carefully to the most intelli- 
 gent head-man, and to send on the natives 
 (except those required to cut roads, build 
 beacons, and carry instruments) to pitch our 
 camp and prepare for our reception. 
 
 This course had the merit that we were 
 sustained throughout our day's work by the 
 belief that we should find on our arrival 
 in camp our tents pitched, and food, rest, 
 and refreshment prepared for us. But we 
 calculated without allowing for two very im- 
 portant conditions the one, the vagaries of 
 the watershed; the other, the vagaries of the 
 native mind. The watershed was never 
 where it ought to have been according to 
 our finite judgment. If we expected to find 
 it leading us straight to the front, when
 
 THE WESTERN WATERSHED 63 
 
 we came to follow it, it doubled back and 
 brought us to the rear of our previous 
 position ; if it ought to have struck off to 
 the left, it, in fact, took an early opportunity 
 of running away to the right, and led us 
 miles in an unexpected direction. Thus, we 
 generally found ourselves at the end of our 
 day's work far away from the place which 
 we had selected for camping out, and we 
 had the additional task of going there in the 
 afternoon, and of returning next day to take 
 up the work where we had left off. No 
 doubt the proper course in such a case is 
 to examine the ground first before com- 
 mencing the survey and delimitation, but in 
 our case time was the important consideration, 
 and we could not count on finishing the 
 work before the rainy season set in, unless 
 we pushed on every day, and kept our whole 
 party at the delimitation and survey. 
 
 But when we arrived at our camping 
 ground, our dreams of rest and refreshment 
 were rudely shattered. Our eyes vainly 
 searched for tents, baths, clean clothes, food,
 
 64 THE NIGER SOURCES 
 
 and drink. Not a sign of them was visible. 
 And yet the spot had been pointed out with 
 great care to the most intelligent of head- 
 men. This happened not once, nor twice, 
 but systematically. We were slow to believe 
 at first that it was not a pure accident which 
 would not recur, but experience of a most 
 unpleasant nature taught us at length that 
 the causes lay beyond our control. It is, 
 perhaps, not to be wondered at that natives, 
 unprovided with shoe leather, find it pleasanter 
 to follow a beaten track than to march 
 through the bush, and it is still less remark- 
 able that they should prefer the shelter of 
 a village to a bivouac in the bush. But 
 whilst admitting these points, we took some 
 time to learn that, unless led by a European, 
 a body of natives moving across country, as 
 soon as they strike a track will follow it 
 utterly regardless of its direction with re- 
 ference to the line they are ordered to 
 follow, till they reach a village, where they 
 will settle. Ignorance of these principles 
 cost us our breakfast on many occasions.
 
 THE WESTERN WATERSHED 65 
 
 Starting early after light refreshment, we 
 frequently got no solid food till three, four, 
 or five o'clock in the afternoon. The French 
 officers, more experienced with the natives, 
 and having a smaller and handier following, 
 never let their carriers leave them. 
 
 Survey operations were rendered difficult 
 by the impossibility of seeing far in this 
 country. In the morning the dew-fall made 
 the air thick, and in the daytime the haze 
 was very great. Distances, we found, are 
 most deceiving in such an atmosphere. 
 Mountains which appeared to be fifty miles 
 away were barely a quarter of the distance, 
 and our trigonometrical points, which we 
 marked with flags, could not be seen at a 
 greater distance than three or four miles under 
 ordinary circumstances, and the utmost range 
 we ever fixed a point at through the 
 theodolite telescope was probably under seven 
 miles, and in the afternoon. The effect of 
 this haziness was to prevent us from bring- 
 ing into our survey distant points to our 
 right and left, and from connecting it with
 
 66 THE NIGER SOURCES 
 
 known positions in the interior of Sierra 
 Leone. 
 
 On January 24th, having made a more 
 than ordinarily false move in search of the 
 watershed, we found ourselves at Bali, a 
 fine town in an interesting hilly position. 
 This place is under the Chief of Kurubundo, 
 and we were pleased to recognize on the 
 lower limbs of the head-man some cotton 
 which had formed part of our present to 
 his master a fortnight earlier. From this 
 town we worked backwards to the watershed, 
 passing several native villages, and finding 
 ourselves in a populated district, of which the 
 principal towns are Kulakoia, Samaindu, and 
 Dandafarra. From Samaindu one day was 
 spent in ascending the high Kula peak, 
 where a cruel disappointment met us, for 
 the haze prevented us from picking up the 
 back station. Next day another mountain 
 was ascended with the same result. Opera- 
 tions at this time were also interfered with 
 by the swarms of locusts which had invaded 
 the country. When they were in flight, a
 
 THE WESTERN WATERSHED 67 
 
 dull red cloud, through which nothing could 
 be seen, obscured the view. When they 
 settled they covered everything, and the 
 ground took a reddish tint from them instead 
 of wearing the ordinary yellow and green 
 of cane brake and bush. We heard them 
 bringing down branches of trees with a 
 crash by their weight. Some scepticism was 
 at first betrayed by some of our party on 
 this point. It required some faith to believe 
 that the breaking of boughs, which often 
 was audible within a short distance of us, 
 was the work of these insects, but we all 
 came eventually to have no doubt about it. 
 Curiously enough, the natives appear to 
 have no great objection to the locusts in 
 this country. It may be that the amount of 
 cultivation is so very small in comparison 
 with the vast extent of bush, that the crops 
 escape comparatively cheaply. But they have 
 another reason ; for, if the locusts eat their 
 crops, they have their revenge by eating 
 the locusts. They catch and preserve as 
 many as they can, and the dried insects
 
 68 THE NIGER SOURCES 
 
 form the only meat diet the majority of them 
 enjoy from year to year. We met the locusts 
 from time to time, the last occasion being by 
 the Kita river, where they were being pur- 
 sued by a large flock of cranes which were 
 dealing with them very effectively, though 
 without reducing their apparent numbers. 
 
 The work throughout the delimitation of 
 the watershed boundary was very severe, and 
 during the first ten days its effects were 
 most apparent on our shoe leather. The 
 hard red granite of the mountains played 
 such havoc with our boots that we were 
 soon reduced to extremities, and had to face 
 the prospect of being reduced to go barefoot. 
 Special messages were sent to Freetown 
 for such boots as could be obtained there, 
 but our demands were not supplied till many 
 weeks later, and then the only boots of local 
 construction we obtained were reduced to 
 pulp in two days. 
 
 After leaving Bali some days of the 
 severest exertion we underwent during the 
 expedition brought us to Kulakoia, and
 
 THE WESTERN WATERSHED 69 
 
 thence to Samaindu, a place situated in very 
 difficult mountainous country, whence we 
 crossed the Kolate range to Dandafarra, 
 situated on the northern slope. From this 
 place we moved on January 3ist to Boria 
 (or Bogoria). As we were finishing a hard 
 morning's work and entering this place, 
 Captain M'Kee, our officer of the Frontier 
 Police, was attacked with heat apoplexy, and 
 in spite of everything that the skill and 
 devotion of Dr. Paris could do, he never 
 recovered consciousness, and died within half 
 an hour of the seizure. Captain M'Kee, 
 who was quite a young officer, only landed 
 in the country a few weeks before the 
 arrival of the expedition, and this was his first 
 trip up country. He was a man of magnifi- 
 cent physique and great personal strength, 
 but the climate seemed to poison him from 
 the first. He had suffered a good deal 
 from fever, and the severe work, in spite of 
 his brave efforts, was more than he could 
 support. We laid him to rest the same 
 evening beneath some cotton trees on the
 
 70 THE NIGER SOURCES 
 
 outskirts of the place, and we fenced in his 
 grave with stakes, and placed a cross at 
 the head rudely fashioned from two poles 
 covered with the tin from cases of preserved 
 meat. The French Commissioners, who were 
 at Dandafarra, heard of the sad event too 
 late to reach Boria in time for the funeral, 
 but they came over the moment the news 
 reached them, anxious to be present at the 
 last rites. Boria is situated on the French 
 side of the frontier, and the French officers 
 gave instructions to the Commandant at 
 Farana, in whose district it lies, to see 
 that the grave was respected. It is situated 
 in a spot probably never before visited by 
 white men, and not likely to be much fre- 
 quented in the future. 
 
 We were now on the northern side of the 
 Kolate range, in a country broken and difficult, 
 but less distinctly mountainous than that from 
 which we had just emerged. We marched 
 from Boria to Mussadugu, where Captain Tyler 
 took a lunar photograph, and thence we passed 
 by Kirimandugu and Konkekoro to Kiridugu,
 
 THE WESTERN WATERSHED 71 
 
 where we arrived on 7th January, 1896. This 
 part of the country is the most populated of any 
 on the watershed in Kuranko, and contains 
 many fair-sized towns. Kiridugu, the capital 
 of Mangalia, is the largest town we passed in 
 the interior. It is strange that a prosperous 
 looking place like this can have flourished 
 without any connection with the trade centres 
 on the coast. As far as I could learn it 
 had rarely been visited by traders, and its 
 existence was unknown in Sierra Leone. 
 
 The interest taken by the inhabitants of 
 these Kuranko towns in our cotton goods, 
 tobacco, and other wares was great, and the 
 sensation produced by the uncovering and 
 display of our present was quite as great as, 
 and not unlike, that of a party of children 
 at the sudden unveiling of a Christmas tree. 
 Indeed, to witness the delight and excitement 
 of the natives was one of the chief pleasures 
 we experienced on our expedition. The best 
 proof of their appreciation of what they re- 
 ceived was the practical use to which they 
 put their presents. At Mussadugu, for ex-
 
 72 THE NIGER SOURCES 
 
 ample, the Chief immediately after receiving 
 a present, set to work to pick out the threads 
 from a piece of cloth to make sewing cotton, 
 and then cut out and began to work at a suit 
 of clothes which would no doubt make the heart 
 of his nearest neighbour Chief burn with envy. 
 Every man in this land appears to be his 
 own tailor, and every man is more interested 
 in beautifying his own person than that of 
 his woman-kind. The ladies, if they hide in 
 their little-adorned breasts a taste for finery, 
 have few opportunities of gratifying it, for the 
 men invariably annexed and applied to their 
 own use the cottons, ornamented smoking 
 caps, looking glasses, etc., which we presented 
 to the Chiefs. With the exception of a few 
 beads, the women were clad in the plainest 
 way. This may be partly attributable to the 
 comparative poverty of the Kuranko, and I 
 certainly noticed that the women of other 
 people, in wealthier parts of the country, wore 
 more finery and brighter colours ; but I am 
 inclined to conclude from observation that the 
 adornment of the male is a necessity, that of
 
 THE WESTERN WATERSHED 73 
 
 the female a luxury. The women, however, 
 card and spin the raw cotton grown in the 
 village farms, and we often spent an hour, 
 when waiting for our breakfast, in watching 
 them. The cotton is carded by being worked 
 up with two roughly made brushes, and it is 
 spun with a clumsy hand-loom, a specimen 
 of which may be seen in any village. 
 
 From Kiridugu, which lies in a low position 
 on the upper waters of the Bafi, we passed 
 to Benekoro, and thence to Farama, a town 
 in French territory at the foot of the large 
 isolated hill, Mount Kerne. Our route led us 
 round the southern and western sides of this 
 mountain and brought us into Mongo country, 
 a region becoming still less mountainous 
 but no less difficult, covered as it is with 
 dense vegetation. We found ourselves on the 
 north-west of Mount Kerne in a camp at 
 some distance from habitations, and whilst laid 
 up with fever here, I was suddenly told by 
 the native clerk that the natives had eaten 
 up all the rice that remained to us and that 
 no more could be obtained in the neighbour-
 
 74 THE NIGER SOURCES 
 
 hood. Immediate measures were therefore 
 necessary. Every man we could do without 
 for the moment was sent off with his load 
 towards Falaba under the native clerk, whom 
 I instructed to collect and send food to us 
 at once. We had a depot at Falaba, and 
 rice had been collected there for us. Reduced 
 now to a small party we marched to old 
 Karafaia, a beautiful spot hedged round with 
 trees, whose varied and luxuriant foliage made 
 a most picturesque background to our camp, 
 which was pitched on the ruins of a destroyed 
 town. From there we marched to Morifinia 
 on the Bandolo river. The Chief showed 
 great sympathy with our difficulties and anxiety 
 to relieve them ; but he told us that the rice 
 crops in the country round had failed, and 
 that his own people had been brought face 
 to face with starvation. Yet such was his 
 anxiety to serve us, that he hastened to bring 
 forth two fowls and a handful of rice, vowing 
 that he would share with us his last meal 
 and cruse. Although we were now in serious 
 difficulties, we could not withhold our admir-
 
 THE WESTERN WATERSHED 75 
 
 ation for this generous act in giving away 
 almost all the food in the village. Next day 
 however, our doctor, when shooting for the pot 
 a few miles from this village, came suddenly 
 upon a rice farm, on which were stacks of rice 
 containing enough grain to feed a large force 
 for weeks. He inquired from the Chief of 
 Morifinia who the owner of this grain was, 
 and was told that it belonged to a Chief 
 living at some distance away. The doctor 
 retorted that under these circumstances he 
 should take the liberty of helping himself to 
 some of the rice and of compensating the dis- 
 tant Chief. He of Morifinia appeared to regard 
 this as an undesirable proceeding, and a little 
 argument elicited the information that the rice 
 was the property of himself and his starving 
 people. This being the case the doctor had 
 no compunction in annexing a quantity suffi- 
 cient to supply our expedition for a week, 
 and he set the carriers to work to beat it, 
 the rice being in the husk, and they set to 
 work on the most congenial task they had 
 to perform during the expedition. The Chief
 
 ;6 THE NIGER SOURCES 
 
 was informed that he would be paid, if he 
 came to me at the next camp, whither I had 
 preceded the remainder of the party. He 
 sent two of his men the following day, and 
 I told them that I would only pay the Chief 
 if he came in person. They said he feared 
 to come lest he should be made to suffer for 
 his sins, but I sent them back to tell the 
 Chief to come, and I would give him the 
 value of the rice. But with him the desire 
 of reward, which was not small, was less than 
 fear of the consequences of his deception ; 
 he never came, and we left his country with 
 a greatly modified belief in his generosity 
 and liberality. On several other occasions 
 we noticed similar attempts on the part of 
 the natives to conceal their grain stores from 
 us. Their attitude in this respect was a 
 little difficult to reconcile with their evident 
 desire to bargain with us, and to obtain our 
 articles of trade. It may be that they feared 
 we should seize their food supply without 
 payment ; it may be that they produce only 
 just enough to satisfy the requirements of
 
 THE WESTERN WATERSHED 77 
 
 their own people. I am. inclined, however, 
 to believe that life in constant dread of being 
 attacked by powerful enemies has produced 
 in them a preference for secrecy and for 
 devious ways. They are, so to speak, always 
 on the defensive, and always anxious to throw 
 inquirers off the scent. 
 
 Armed with the rice we had thus obtained, 
 we escaped a serious difficulty. Our main 
 body of carriers, which had been dispatched 
 to Falaba, and which had contributed nothing 
 to our support, was recalled, and we were 
 able to keep them supplied till we reached 
 a better populated region. 
 
 After leaving Morifinia, we passed through 
 a gap in a range of hills which crosses the 
 watershed, and halted at the little village of 
 Bonbonkoro. We now emerged on a country 
 which was very little accidented, and which 
 boasted of but a few isolated hills of any size. 
 Small elevations and gentle undulations are 
 the common features of this part, and the 
 watershed is most effectually concealed by a 
 sea of dense foliage. No more difficult
 
 78 THE NIGER SOURCES 
 
 country for our particular task of survey and 
 delimitation can be conceived. The absence 
 of conspicuous marks made it impossible to 
 recognize, when we reached their neighbour- 
 hood, points observed from a distance, and 
 time after time we had to face disappointment 
 and failure in this particular. Nor did we get 
 any help towards tracing the watershed line 
 by means either of an absence of vegetation 
 or of any peculiarity of the foliage, such as is 
 frequently to be observed in other districts. 
 The whole country was clothed in bush of 
 such a height that it was impossible to say a 
 few yards away whether the ground was 
 rising or falling, and we constantly crossed 
 waterlines without knowing it, and when at 
 last the false direction was discovered, we 
 had to try back and begin again from the 
 nearest point where we could recognize the 
 watershed. Hitherto we had prohibited the 
 native Chiefs from setting the bush on fire on 
 account of the effect on survey work of the 
 dense smoke, but now our only chance of 
 seeing the ground was to burn the bush,
 
 THE WESTERN WATERSHED 79 
 
 which we accordingly did as we advanced. 
 If the wind was in a favourable direction, 
 after a bush fire had been burning some time, 
 it was possible to get some idea of the 
 drainage of the country, but it was necessary 
 to wait for a day or more to get rid of the 
 intense heat and the heavy smoke occasioned 
 by the fire. 
 
 From Bonbonkoro we forced our way with 
 great difficulty through the bush to the ruined 
 village of Boala Karafaia, which the natives 
 were just beginning to rebuild, and from there 
 we came on February 2oth to Dakolofe, a 
 good-sized town in Mongo country. The 
 Chief of the country, who lives at Kombili, 
 some distance north of Dakolofe, sent to ask 
 us if we were coming through his town. I 
 told him No, and asked him to come to see 
 us at Dakolofe. He arrived the next day, 
 February 2ist, and brought all his people 
 with him and three or four horses, an unusual 
 sight in this country. These animals, which 
 were about 14 hands high and of very poor 
 quality, with a view to creating an impression,
 
 8o THE NIGER SOURCES 
 
 he galloped round the hut where we were 
 working till they were all at death's door. 
 After this entertainment he performed a dance 
 in a ring surrounded by his women folk, who 
 clapped their hands, keeping time with his 
 movements. 
 
 At Dakolofe our party, which had been 
 reduced to six Europeans by the death of 
 Captain M'Kee, was further weakened by 
 the invaliding of the senior of the sappers, 
 who had suffered greatly from fever, and was 
 quite unequal to the exertions required for 
 survey work. I took the opportunity of 
 reaching the neighbourhood of Falaba to 
 send him with our doctor to that place, from 
 whence a main trade route leads to Free- 
 town. Dr. Paris took him off, and dispatched 
 him thence with a native dispenser, and he 
 reached Freetown, and eventually England, 
 without mishap. 
 
 We left Dakolofe on January 22nd. As 
 the three sappers, who passed through the 
 town some time after the rest of the party 
 had left it, were some distance clear of the
 
 THE WESTERN WATERSHED 81 
 
 place, they were followed by a woman, who 
 fell at their feet and implored them to rescue 
 her. She told them, through their interpreter, 
 that she was a Mendi woman, and had been 
 captured and enslaved by a Dakolofe man. 
 The position was a little embarrassing, for the 
 sappers had no precedent for dealing with 
 such a case, and the outraged owner was 
 following his lost property, and came soon on 
 the scene. The corporal in charge was, 
 however, equal to the occasion, and he 
 insisted on the woman and her master accom- 
 panying them to the next camp in order 
 that the case might be adjudicated on there. 
 The woman was eventually released and sent 
 to Freetown. It is rather remarkable that 
 the slaves whom we set free were all Mendis 
 from the south-west coast region of Sierra 
 Leone. How they were enslaved and how 
 they came into Kuranko or Susu country I 
 never could make out. When asked about 
 this, the invariable reply was that they were 
 taken during the war. The war referred to 
 always meant the Sofa and Konno invasions.
 
 82 THE NIGER SOURCES 
 
 These wars had nothing whatever to do with 
 the Mendis, who live quite out of the sphere 
 devastated by the Sofas. I can only imagine 
 that the Sofas, having carried off as slaves 
 all whom they did not kill, the Kuranko, by 
 way of making up their deficiencies, had taken 
 every opportunity of filling vacancies in their 
 establishments by carrying off, whenever they 
 had the chance, women of the Mendi tribe, 
 the least warlike of the Sierra Leone natives. 
 When we arrived at Salamaia, the next 
 halting place, our survey work received a 
 serious check from the simultaneous collapse 
 of all three sappers with fever. Hitherto, 
 we had each of us gone down by roster, 
 and not more than two at most had been 
 disabled at the same time. It was observed 
 that the period elapsing between the first 
 two attacks of fever generally represented 
 the time during which we could count on 
 immunity, so that if, for example, the second 
 attack came three weeks after the first, at 
 each recurrence of this period special pre- 
 cautions were needed.
 
 THE WESTERN WATERSHED 83 
 
 Being left to ourselves, Captain Tyler and 
 I marched on the 23rd February from 
 Salamaia to Songoia Tintarba, sketching the 
 road. From there on the 24th we followed 
 the boundary to the neighbourhood of Kam- 
 baia, where we rejoined our main body, 
 and found Captain Blakeney, the officer 
 commanding the Frontier Police at Falaba, 
 who remained with us so long as we con- 
 tinued in his district. 
 
 Kambaia is in Sulima territory, and we 
 now at last found ourselves out of Kuranko 
 country. This country has no paramount 
 Chief, but is broken up into many districts, 
 each of which has its own Chief. Some of 
 the districts along the watershed lie across 
 the frontier, and are now cut in two by 
 the delimitation ; the main part of them, 
 however, is on the British side. The 
 districts referred to are Mongo, of which 
 the Chief of Kombili is the ruler ; Mangalia, 
 under the Chief of Kiridugu ; Daldu, under 
 the Chief of Samaindu. 
 
 The Kuranko are rather a down-trodden
 
 84 THE NIGER SOURCES 
 
 race, in the main timid and not aggressively 
 truthful. Their character has been moulded 
 by the events of the past decade, in which 
 they have been interested but most un- 
 willing actors. The wave of the Sofa 
 invasion, the great Mohammedan crusade 
 of the Western Sudan, corresponding to the 
 Mahdi's crusade in the Eastern Sudan, has 
 swept their country from end to end, 
 sparing neither age nor sex, cattle nor 
 dwelling. Every one whom the Sofas con- 
 sidered to be suitable for their purposes was 
 carried off as a slave ; the remainder, so 
 many at least as could be captured, were 
 slaughtered. Hardly a town in the whole 
 country escaped destruction ; except Kuru- 
 bundo, every town we saw had been built 
 within the last year or two by Kuranko 
 who had escaped from the Sofas, hidden in 
 the bush, and returned when the country 
 was clear. The bones of those slaughtered 
 can be seen at the entry to the large 
 destroyed towns, and even now many natives 
 bear marks of the wounds they received,
 
 THE WESTERN WATERSHED 85 
 
 some having lost limbs, others showing the 
 traces of terrible gashes. But when the 
 Sofas had left the country, the unfortunate 
 Kuranko were not permitted to enjoy in 
 peace the little that they had succeeded in 
 hiding ; for the Konno, their neighbours on 
 the east, a people vastly inferior to the 
 Sofas, but a little more powerful than them- 
 selves, made night raids upon them, and 
 carried off their movable goods and their 
 women. Having been in this way the prey 
 to their more powerful neighbours for many 
 years past, it is not altogether surprising 
 that the Kuranko hear of the arrival of 
 strangers in their country with feelings of not 
 unmixed satisfaction, and that their first 
 welcome to us was conveyed through the 
 medium of the women and the aged, the men 
 meanwhile lying low in the bush to await 
 developments. When these perceived that 
 robbery and murder were not our trade, and 
 that we were not bringing a war against 
 them, they came forth, and tried to explain 
 their absence on business grounds. A great
 
 86 THE NIGER SOURCES 
 
 laugh was invariably raised against them when 
 they were at last compelled to admit that 
 they ran away because they were afraid we 
 should eat them up, and in this the runaways 
 always joined most heartily. 
 
 The energetic measures adopted by the 
 Sofas to proselytize the Western Sudan have 
 borne little fruit amongst the Kuranko, for 
 the great mass of the people remain pagans 
 and fetish worshippers of the lowest type. 
 So far as I could learn, their religion is one 
 of pessimism ; influenced, perhaps, by the life 
 they have led amongst enemies more powerful 
 than themselves, their highest aspirations are 
 limited to remaining in undisturbed possess- 
 ion of the little they produce for their own 
 use. They have no ideal beyond this, and 
 the object of fetish devices is to keep off 
 the devil from their persons and property. 
 The weapons with which they endeavour to 
 combat the evil one consist of necklaces of 
 beads, small white flags on their houses and 
 haystacks, and various hieroglyphics in their 
 huts, Some one or two of their towns,
 
 THE WESTERN WATERSHED 87 
 
 however, profess the Mohammedan faith, 
 amongst which are Kiridugu, Kurubundo, 
 and Bali. It is very remarkable how far 
 these places are in advance of the pagan 
 towns. Probably their Moslemism is of a 
 low type, yet each Mohammedan place has a 
 school, and all the trade and the prosperity 
 to be seen in the country is in the hands 
 of Mohammedans, who, in moral tone and 
 cohesion, are vastly superior to the pagans. 
 In this country missionary enterprise has 
 done little as yet. The Church Missionary 
 Society works only amongst the people of 
 Sierra Leone proper, but American mission- 
 aries have invaded the western part of 
 Kuranko country, and have established a 
 post at Tibabadugu on the Falaba-Kruto 
 road, where they are training the natives as 
 carpenters, masons, gardeners, etc. 
 
 The Kuranko are fond of music, and it 
 was seldom that our palavers were not 
 enlivened by some form of concert. The 
 instrument in general use is made of gradu- 
 ated bits of wood fastened by grass strings
 
 88 THE NIGER SOURCES 
 
 to gourds. The performer strikes the wood 
 with two drum sticks shod with rubber, and 
 he wears bracelets of iron, which act as 
 cymbals. A sort of chant made up of two 
 or three chords is played, accompanying one 
 or more singers, and is repeated until the 
 audience is more than satisfied. 
 
 We did not succeed in collecting many 
 articles of interest of native manufacture. A 
 few musical instruments, bows and arrows, 
 snuff boxes, daggers, and leather whips (used 
 for keeping the women in order), were the 
 principal curiosities we brought back. Other 
 things we saw more particularly in parts of 
 the country traversed by trade routes, but 
 experience taught us that it was cheaper not 
 to burden ourselves with them, but to pur- 
 chase them first-hand in Birmingham. 
 
 In Kuranko country there is very little 
 pastoral property. The Sofas cleared the 
 country of its live stock, and since their 
 departure little has been accumulated. We 
 found a few sheep, and here and there one 
 or two cows. Horses we very rarely saw,
 
 THE WESTERN WATERSHED 89 
 
 but the people told us everywhere that they 
 did not keep horses on account of their 
 poverty, and not because they would not 
 thrive in any part of the country. The 
 French mules never suffered in health, and 
 I believe that there is no reason why horses 
 and cattle should not do well everywhere. 
 There is no appearance of fly in any part 
 of the country we traversed. 
 
 The Kuranko are not an energetic people. 
 They cultivate very little, and produce only 
 what is sufficient, or little more than sufficient, 
 for their own requirements from season to 
 season. They have, however, no motive for 
 increasing their production, for traders have 
 hardly been amongst them, and they have 
 had no opportunity of learning what they 
 should turn their attention to in order to 
 obtain the trade goods which they undoubtedly 
 require. In their country the rubber vine is 
 found especially in the valleys of the water- 
 shed ; but the natives are ignorant of the 
 way of treating it, and do no business with 
 it. The ordinary articles of production are
 
 90 THE NIGER SOURCES 
 
 rice, which is the staple food throughout the 
 country, cassava, guinea-corn, tobacco, cotton, 
 and kola nuts. The last are of great value 
 for purposes of export, and there is a great 
 demand for them in the French Sudan. 
 Cultivation is carried on in the most primitive 
 form. A farm is commenced by cutting down 
 the trees and bush to a height of about three 
 feet. This is left to dry, and then set on 
 fire. Cassava is then planted in the ground, 
 the tree stumps and roots remaining undis- 
 turbed, and rice is sown over the top. Two 
 crops are produced annually in this way 
 without any irrigation being necessary. 
 
 The Kuranko wear their hair in a short 
 tightly twisted pig-tail on each side of the 
 face. Their dress is a form of toga, worn 
 quite loose, with a pocket in the middle, over 
 the stomach. It is generally of native cotton, 
 dyed blue with the juice of the indigo plant, 
 and short trousers of the same material 
 complete it. The weapons generally carried 
 are trade guns and Birmingham swords in 
 those parts where they can be obtained ; in
 
 THE WESTERN WATERSHED 91 
 
 other parts, bows and arrows. They seem to 
 make little use of fire-arms, possibly on 
 account of the expense of ammunition, and 
 we rarely heard them discharge their guns. 
 They have a lively fear of the white man's 
 weapons. When I offered to show them the 
 action of a revolver and gun on one occasion, 
 the whole village cleared out. 
 
 The people have now a reasonable prospect 
 of living in security from external foes. The 
 Sofas, who under Samory have given such 
 serious trouble to the French for so many 
 years past, and whom our troops under 
 Colonel Ellis met in 1894 to tne south of the 
 area of our delimitation, have been driven 
 from the country, and are now in the hinter- 
 land of the Gold Coast. The Konno will be 
 kept in order by the frontier troops. The 
 Kuranko, if instructed what to produce, will 
 have an opportunity of acquiring the trade 
 goods they want, and of enjoying them without 
 fear of molestation. 
 
 In February the weather was at first not 
 much hotter than that in January, but towards
 
 92 THE NIGER SOURCES 
 
 the latter part of the month the sun became 
 more powerful in the daytime. We had three 
 clinical thermometers with us, reading to 1 1 2, 
 and these, though carried inside boxes, and 
 protected as far as possible from the sun, 
 burst, one after the other, during the month 
 of February. Owing to our ordinary ther- 
 mometer being carried in a box, which was 
 exposed to the sun on the march, and having 
 round it no free circulation of air, the day 
 temperatures we read cannot be regarded as 
 recording the true height of the thermometer 
 in the shade. We noticed that the highest 
 readings were in the evening about 5 P.M. 
 This was due, no doubt, to the box in which 
 the thermometer was carried being exposed 
 to the sun, and to the inside of the box be- 
 coming hotter the longer it remained exposed. 
 We made an arbitrary reduction in all day 
 temperatures in recording them, and they are 
 therefore of no great value. Our lowest 
 early morning reading this month was 58, the 
 highest 74, and the mean 68. The highest 
 day reading was 96, and the lowest 70.
 
 THE WESTERN WATERSHED 93 
 
 It is a little remarkable that our highest 
 and lowest early morning readings were almost 
 always recorded on consecutive days. This 
 is probably merely a coincidence, but if the 
 itinerary be examined, it will be seen that in 
 almost every instance a very low early reading 
 was followed or preceded by a comparatively 
 high one. During the months of January and 
 February we had rain on six occasions, generally 
 at night, and in the form of tornadoes, with 
 thunder. We did not ourselves suffer any 
 serious inconvenience from this rain, which 
 our tents withstood well, but our natives 
 were in a much worse case. Their shelters 
 of leaves and branches were useless against 
 the wet, and after a stormy night they pre- 
 sented a miserable appearance in the morning. 
 A few days of rain in the bush would probably 
 have occasioned us serious loss. As it was, 
 bronchitis was prevalent amongst them, and, 
 in the first day or two of camping in the 
 open, we lost a man from this disease. It 
 is hardly to be wondered at that in their 
 thin cotton clothing they were so susceptible
 
 94 THE NIGER SOURCES 
 
 to cold and wet. When in a village, crowded 
 into the huts with a wood fire burning and 
 smoking in the middle, they were in the lap 
 of luxury, but in the bush their case was very 
 different. Being naturally predisposed to pul- 
 monary diseases, a life in the bush, with 
 changeable weather, is always likely to occasion 
 sickness amongst West Africans.
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 THROUGH SALIMA AND KAMUKE COUNTRY 
 TO THE KABA RIVER 
 
 A T Kambaia, where we arrived on February 
 24th, we found ourselves in a compara- 
 tively populous and cultivated district lying 
 between the two great frontier stations of 
 Falaba and Heremakono. A great trade route, 
 running via Berea Futambu, connects these 
 two towns ; a second trade route runs from 
 Falaba to Simitia, and good roads, as the term 
 is understood in this country, connect Falaba 
 with Kalieri, Berea Futambu with Kalieri, 
 Heremakono with Kalieri, and Simitia with 
 Parana and the French posts on the Middle 
 Niger. A good road also runs from Falaba 
 by Berea Timbako and Kombili, passing just 
 south of Salamaia, to Songoia Tintarba.
 
 96 THE NIGER SOURCES 
 
 Heremakono is a large town, the main gate 
 of entry from Sierra Leone to the French 
 Sudan, and large caravans pass through the 
 place, trading between Freetown and the 
 Middle Niger. It contains a customs post, 
 and a French garrison under a white under- 
 officer. Formerly a French officer was 
 stationed here, but now the only officer in 
 the district is the Circle Commandant, a lieu- 
 tenant stationed at Farana. 
 
 Simitia has also been a point of entry into 
 the French Sudan, and was garrisoned by 
 French native soldiers ; but these have now 
 been withdrawn in accordance with the agree- 
 ment between the Commissioners which I 
 shall refer to later. 
 
 Falaba is a large town, the headquarters of 
 a division of the Sierra Leone Frontier Police 
 under a British officer. It is situated in a 
 position unusually bare for West Africa, and 
 about 1600 feet above the sea, and has the 
 reputation of being, for West Africa, a healthy 
 place. Almost all British trade with the 
 French Sudan passes through Falaba, entering
 
 TO THE KABA RIVER 97 
 
 by Heremakono or Simitia. On the road 
 joining Falaba and Heremakono we met cara- 
 vans with ivory, gold, rubber, and calabashes, 
 and on our march up country, in December 
 1895, we met daily, west of Bumban, numbers 
 of natives from the Middle Niger travelling 
 to Freetown with their produce. 
 
 From Kambaia we passed along the water- 
 shed, which was very difficult to trace in this 
 part, to Berea Futambu, a large town just 
 within British territory, where we arrived on 
 the 26th February. The 27th saw us at 
 Kalieri, a fairly large town on an affluent of 
 the Koka, with a terribly tainted water supply, 
 from which we suffered during our stay of six 
 days. There is a police barrack here, occupied 
 by a detachment from Falaba. The road from 
 Heremakono to Simitia skirts the eastern and 
 northern sides of the town. 
 
 We spent some days at Kalieri making 
 arrangements for the second section of the 
 boundary delimitation, which started on the 
 loth parallel, a couple of miles north of the 
 
 place. Having fixed the latitude, we knew 
 
 G
 
 98 THE NIGER SOURCES 
 
 that we were close to the termination of the 
 watershed section, and that a short march 
 would bring us to the point where we must 
 turn our faces westwards. Having, therefore, 
 examined the country and roads around, and 
 beaconed the boundary, we dispatched the 
 depot of supplies, which had been originally 
 fixed at Falaba, and which we had drawn to 
 us at Kalieri, to Kondita, near to which place 
 we expected to be in a month. As it was 
 reported that the country along the zoth 
 parallel was uninhabited, we reduced our 
 establishment to the smallest number we could 
 do with. It was necessary to take a certain 
 number of men to carry rice for the followers, 
 but as it took more than three men to carry 
 a full day's ration for the party, we could not 
 bring with us more than seven days' full rations. 
 To secure us from starvation I dispatched a 
 police non-commissioned officer to collect rice 
 in the towns west of Falaba, and to meet us 
 on the Mongo river. 
 
 Before leaving Kalieri a large assembly of 
 all the Chiefs in the country round, from
 
 TO THE KABA RIVER 99 
 
 Falaba, Kalieri, Berea Futambu, Berea Tim- 
 bako, Mussaia, Singunia, Kamba, Sogaria, 
 Kalia, and Sumbaia, came to pay their respects 
 to us, and we held a great palaver under a 
 large cotton tree outside the town. The 
 speeches were of the usual inflated style, and 
 presents were made to us of a ring of gold, 
 one or two cows, sheep, fowls, and rice, which 
 greatly assisted us in the difficult matter of 
 supply. The gold ring was a piece of the 
 ordinary trade gold, which is always beaten 
 into the form of a ring. Twice during our 
 expedition we received a similar present of a 
 gold ring. These Chiefs, living so near to 
 the great trade routes and frontier stations, 
 were used to white faces, and had no dread 
 of us. They looked on our return offering 
 with less of the childish delight of the Kuranko, 
 and more of the trading spirit of the merchant, 
 and I have no doubt made a pretty shrewd 
 guess of the proportionate value of our gift 
 to theirs. 
 
 Our observations at Kalieri showed us that 
 we were in latitude 9 58' north, and therefore
 
 ioo THE NIGER SOURCES 
 
 little more than two miles from the loth 
 parallel, where our first section of delimitation 
 ended. On 3rd March we encamped as near 
 as we could to the spot where we judged the 
 loth parallel met the watershed, and com- 
 menced to observe the latitude. The French 
 Commission arrived on the 6th, and we spent 
 several days in observing, calculating, and 
 working out independently each other's ob- 
 servations, before we could agree upon the 
 exact spot where we were to turn to the west. 
 The point eventually agreed upon is in a low 
 position covered with bush, and the beacon 
 erected there being difficult to find, we put up 
 an auxiliary mark on the top of the nearest hill 
 to direct attention to this hidden mark. 
 
 We were now in a country differing entirely 
 from that south of Kalieri, where the ground 
 is little broken and covered everywhere with 
 thick bush. From south of Dakolofe to 
 Kalieri the watershed follows hardly perceptible 
 undulations, and the ground east of it descends 
 very gently to the valley of the Tintarba, 
 which passes east of Heremakono, running
 
 TO THE KARA RIVER 101 
 
 nearly due north. Some ten miles or so west 
 of the watershed a line of hills is visible, with a 
 generally north and south direction. But as 
 soon as one ascends any of the hills which 
 rise directly north of Kalieri, and within a mile 
 of the town, a different country is seen. As far 
 as the eye can reach in any direction north of a 
 due east and west line, nothing can be seen but 
 hills, rounded and saddle-backed, having an 
 elevation of not more than from 500 to 800 feet 
 above the intervening valleys, and all covered 
 with vegetation, and showing no bare rock. 
 The hills are small and close together, and as 
 one looks at them, they appear innumerable, 
 and quite unconnected with each other. Their 
 sides are steep and slippery, and beneath the 
 vegetation is a rich friable loam. Bush fires 
 had been lighted before our arrival, and the 
 cane brake had been burned down, so that 
 a good view of the surrounding country could 
 be obtained from the summits. During our 
 passage through this country we saw many 
 such fires, the effect of which was very fine, 
 the whole surrounding country being illumin-
 
 102 THE NIGER SOURCES 
 
 ated at night, and the roar and crackle being 
 audible for miles. It was interesting to watch 
 a fire surround a fine tree, to see the leaves 
 shiver and tremble as the flames penetrated its 
 heart, and to note its shrivelled, miserable 
 appearance when the fire passed on, leaving 
 a smouldering ash in the core of the tree, 
 which continued to burn for days, eventually 
 reducing it to tinder, and leaving nothing but a 
 short, blackened stump, the upper part of the 
 stem being traceable only by the shape and 
 colour of the ash left on the ground. 
 
 There is little danger about these fires, as 
 although the heat and the fierceness of the 
 flames are great, their rate of progress is not 
 sufficient to make it difficult to avoid them. 
 On one occasion, however, a tent in which 
 we were breakfasting narrowly escaped being 
 consumed, and we only got it down just in 
 time, the only casualty being a hole in the 
 lining. 
 
 The natives require no matches in the 
 interior of West Africa, as the amount of 
 wood available for burning being without limit,
 
 TO THE KABA RIVER 103 
 
 some is always kept smouldering, and can be 
 fanned into flame at any time. 
 
 So far we had met with little game, and our 
 daily work, from which we could afford to take 
 no relaxation, gave us no opportunity for seek- 
 ing it. In the cultivated country bush fowl 
 were plentiful, but difficult to get on the wing 
 unless one set oneself regularly to work to 
 surround and beat them. Pigeons were also 
 fairly numerous in the fields, and antelope were 
 now and then put up. On the mountains of 
 the watershed line we saw and heard large 
 apes, but they were timid and would not let us 
 approach them. Monkeys were numerous 
 around the villages. It is quite possible that 
 other kinds of animal life are to be found in 
 this country, for in such dense bush one might 
 pass close to anything without disturbing it. 
 
 The second section of our delimitation was 
 to take us westward along the loth parallel 
 of north latitude to the point where it cuts 
 the Kaba or Little Skarsies river, a distance 
 of about forty-five miles. Time was now 
 becoming a matter of great importance to us.
 
 104 THE NIGER SOURCES 
 
 We could not calculate upon more than six 
 weeks of fine weather, and we had still a 
 large piece of work to be done. Our numbers 
 had been reduced from seven to five Euro- 
 peans, though we were temporarily reinforced 
 by Captain Blakeney, and sickness might at 
 any moment still further weaken us, or for 
 the time stop our work. The French also 
 had suffered, and their European sergeant had 
 to be dispatched to the coast. In addition 
 to the boundary line, which ended near Wellia 
 on the Great Skarsies, there remained also 
 the Samu frontier, from Kiragba on the 
 Atlantic coast to the Mola river, to demarcate, 
 and on the Qth March Captain Millot left 
 the French camp near Kalieri to meet Captain 
 Sharpe of the Frontier Police at Kiragba on 
 ist April, and to carry out with him the 
 beaconing of this section of the frontier. 
 
 On the 1 2th of March, having beaconed 
 the starting point of the second section of 
 our boundary line, and having observed a 
 true east and west line, we set off to follow 
 this line in a westerly direction. The advan-
 
 TO THE KABA RIVER 105 
 
 tage of demarcating a boundary along a parallel 
 is that every step you take carries you in 
 the direction of your terminal point, and that 
 there is no doubling back or breaking away 
 to right or left, as in the case of following 
 a watershed. But, on the other hand, the 
 drawback is that you must follow the boundary 
 very closely, and that being a purely arbitrary 
 line, having no relation to natural features, it 
 is certain to take you over some very difficult 
 ground, and you can count on no assistance 
 from roads. Every step we took we had to 
 cut or force our way, and at the elevated 
 positions, where we had to fix and verify our 
 line, much clearing and cutting had to be 
 done. Our advance was always preceded by 
 a party of natives with axes and cutlasses ; 
 and when a road was crossed, all our carriers 
 had to lay down their loads and help to build 
 a beacon. Our progress was thus exceedingly 
 slow, the distance covered in the day being 
 from two and a half to four miles. We worked 
 from daylight till dark, only halting for break- 
 fast in the middle of the day. The water in
 
 io6 THE NIGER SOURCES 
 
 the country we now were passing through 
 flows generally north and south, and cuts our 
 route at right angles. The hills follow more 
 or less the same direction, and we crossed 
 them at their narrowest parts, so our progress 
 was one constant climbing up and down steep 
 slopes. 
 
 Our first day's march brought us to Simitia, 
 where, though it took us much out of our 
 road, we halted to find shelter for one of our 
 sappers who was overcome with the sun and 
 a long fast. It is a fair-sized, clean, and 
 well-built town, lying to the south of the 
 loth parallel. The town and a small piece 
 of country round it were declared neutral for 
 the present, the French having raised a claim 
 to them under former agreements. We spent 
 a day in beaconing off the reserved area, and 
 one or two days in camp at Bibia, to the 
 north of Simitia, where we again observed 
 the latitude and corrected our line. Through 
 Bibia a very good road runs to Sankaran on 
 the east and to Tagania on the north-west. 
 This road is part of the main trade route from
 
 TO THE KABA RIVER 107 
 
 Konakri on the Atlantic, the main port in 
 French Guinea, to the Middle Niger. It is 
 a broad road, and is kept in good condition. 
 We moved on again on the i7th March, 
 passing through a country which is partly 
 under the Chief of Tagania and partly under 
 the Chief of Simitia. We crossed the Koka 
 river this day, a water of no consequence as 
 an obstacle, which runs northward to join the 
 Mongo. West of this stream the boundary 
 passes through a nest of villages dependent 
 on Tagania or Simitia, cutting them into 
 French or English territory with complete 
 impartiality. Leaving these villages on the 
 2oth, we found ourselves in a country deserted 
 by human beings and given up to large game. 
 
 We took with us, according to our ordinary 
 plan, guides from the last villages we had 
 passed, but they deserted during the first day's 
 march, possibly from conscientious motives, 
 as their ignorance of the country was unsur- 
 passable, and we had no rice to spare for 
 useless mouths. 
 
 We found ourselves now, as we approached
 
 io8 THE NIGER SOURCES 
 
 the valley of the Mongo, in a country swarming 
 with game. The tracks of buffalo were every- 
 where, and their lairs were frequently passed 
 in the bush of the valleys. Elephant tracks 
 were also numerous and unmistakable, and 
 they and the buffalo, which evidently travel 
 like the natives in single file, had made roads 
 at least as good as those made by human 
 beings. In many instances it was impossible 
 to say whether the roads we crossed were 
 game tracks, hunters' paths, or possibly native 
 roads from and to distant towns. The experts 
 amongst our own native followers could not 
 decide this question, so, when in doubt, we 
 beaconed the roads in order to be on the 
 safe side. 
 
 The elephant tracks we found generally 
 following the course of the rivers and large 
 streams. These animals move southwards 
 into Sierra Leone country in the rainy season, 
 about May, and return northward when the 
 dry weather sets in in November. At the 
 time we passed through this district they had 
 gone into French territory. From the foot-
 
 TO THE KABA RIVER 109 
 
 prints we saw they must traverse the country 
 in large numbers. Traces of antelope also 
 are to be seen everywhere, and we remarked 
 also those of panther, and, in one case, of a 
 lion. But in the dense bush it is not often 
 that one gets a fair view of any game. We 
 often heard the crashing of branches, but only 
 now and again were able to see what was in 
 front of us. The first time we viewed a herd 
 of buffalo was from a ridge overlooking the 
 valley of the Mongo. The herd had been dis- 
 turbed by our natives, and Captain Tyler 
 was able to get a distant shot at them, after 
 which they broke away and disappeared, 
 some of them charging through the camp 
 where our breakfast was being prepared, and 
 putting to flight our followers. 
 
 The Mongo is a river of about 30 yards' 
 width, deep, but fordable, with a clear rocky 
 bottom, running in an open valley. By the 
 side of this river elephant and buffalo tracks 
 are most numerous, and the bush and cane 
 brake are broken down and cut up with 
 wallowing places and lairs of these huge
 
 no THE NIGER SOURCES 
 
 beasts. This river seems a favourite haunt 
 of large game. It is an affluent of the Kaba 
 or Little Skarsies, which it joins in Limba 
 country. 
 
 We crossed the Mongo and encamped on 
 a knoll on the right bank. We had hoped 
 to have met here the police corporal who 
 had been sent south-west from Falaba to 
 collect rice for the followers, but no signs of 
 him were visible. Our position was becoming 
 somewhat critical ; the halts at Bibia had 
 resulted in our arriving at the Mongo later 
 than I had anticipated, and with much less 
 food in hand. Nothing could be looked for 
 from local sources till we reached the Kaba 
 river ; our sole hope lay in our meeting the 
 policeman and his supplies. It was out of 
 the question to wait on the Mongo ; every 
 day's delay made our situation worse. We 
 therefore pushed on, giving the men half a 
 pound of rice daily. It would have given us 
 great relief if we could have killed a buffalo, 
 but, although we had an occasional shot at 
 longish ranges, we did not succeed in bringing
 
 TO THE KABA RIVER in 
 
 one down. Had time been available for 
 shooting purposes, we could hardly have failed 
 to secure some game ; but all shooting had to 
 be done whilst delimiting, and we could not 
 attempt to follow the herds we met with, 
 when they left the line we had to follow. 
 The effect of the severe exertion in the heat 
 of the day began to tell on us, and our corporal 
 of Engineers was attacked with sun fever on 
 the Mongo river, and partially paralyzed for 
 some days. 
 
 Our day's work was now of a rather mono- 
 tonous kind ; the only change we experienced 
 was that of uphill work succeeding downhill, 
 and downhill uphill. We saw no human beings 
 but our own party, and met with no traces of 
 houses or cultivation. Our expectations were, 
 however, frequently excited by seeing, from 
 the crest of one hill, on another distant crest 
 in front of us, a number of black figures in 
 every conceivable attitude, some standing, 
 some sitting down or crouching, some pointing 
 with outstretched arm, some apparently 
 beckoning to us. As we approached the hill
 
 ii2 THE NIGER SOURCES 
 
 where they were, the attitudes continued 
 always the same, the outstretched arms, the 
 beckoning hands remained just as we had 
 first observed them. The effect was curious 
 and weird ; we seemed to be looking upon a 
 dead city, the population of which had been 
 petrified in attitudes which they had once 
 taken up. The explanation of this phenomenon 
 was, however, not long delayed, and was of 
 a much less romantic kind than that supplied 
 by the imagination : the figures were the 
 blackened and blasted stumps of trees which 
 had been burned by bush fires. These fires 
 seem to have travelled far, and we met their 
 traces when at the greatest distance from 
 native dwellings. 
 
 A day or two after leaving the Mongo I 
 dispatched a party of three selected natives to 
 push on to Yomaia on the Kaba, to seek for 
 our missing provisions, and to send food to us 
 as soon as possible. They were supplied with 
 rations for three days, and struck off through 
 the bush towards the Kaba. I hoped that 
 they would be able to cover the distance in
 
 TO THE KABA RIVER 113 
 
 a couple of days, especially as, not being tied 
 to the boundary, they could use any tracks they 
 might find, and that they would rejoin us in 
 four or five days' time. We kept pushing on 
 daily, but we could now only afford a small 
 cupful of rice to each man. But though receiv- 
 ing merely enough to keep life in them, the 
 carriers behaved very well. They struggled 
 on under their heavy loads, till they could 
 stand up no longer. Many lay down with 
 their burdens beside them, and got through 
 the day's march, resting and walking alter- 
 nately. Our column under these circumstances 
 was a very straggling one, but it was death 
 to any man to halt too long, or to stray from 
 the track, and so all came on during the day. 
 They suffered much from cuts and ulcers on the 
 feet, but they were far more manageable at this 
 time than when receiving full rations and doing 
 less work. 
 
 We continued our monotonous march in this 
 way for a day or two, and at last, after a long 
 day's march, we were cheered by the appear- 
 ance of mail runners from Freetown. They
 
 ii4 THE NIGER SOURCES 
 
 had been wandering about for some time, had 
 passed through Yomaia, and had struck north- 
 wards into French territory, and had travelled 
 in a north-easterly direction till they struck a 
 route crossing the frontier, which by great good 
 fortune brought them close to our camp shortly 
 after it was pitched. Our connection with the 
 inhabited world was now re-established, and we 
 knew we could not be far from native dwell- 
 ings, and must be approaching Yomaia, about 
 the exact position of which we had been 
 doubtful. 
 
 The mail carriers also brought us informa- 
 tion that our lost supplies were at Yomaia, 
 where the corporal of Frontier Police was 
 awaiting our arrival. As we had hardly any 
 food left, I sent off two men to order him to 
 meet us at once. 
 
 Two more marches completely exhausted 
 our supplies, and on the second day we had 
 nothing to give the natives. Fortunately 
 locust beans were found growing on our route, 
 and with these hunger was staved off. A 
 beautifully marked boa constrictor was killed
 
 TO THE KABA RIVER 115 
 
 this day, and was eaten by the carriers after 
 being cooked. Some other snakes, together 
 with a few rats and squirrels, formed an appe- 
 tizing addition to their menu. Wild honey also 
 was found almost daily during our passage 
 through this country, and was eaten greedily. 
 It seemed to have the almost inevitable effect 
 of giving the natives toothache, as we always 
 had a large number of them with heads tied up 
 and groaning with pain, and our doctor had an 
 active time with extractions. It also caused 
 other forms of aches for which castor oil was 
 the remedy, a medicine which the natives 
 regarded with quite a civilized distaste. 
 
 We now were coming into a country which 
 showed signs of being inhabited, and we had 
 passed a farm village and one or two routes 
 crossing the boundary. A long march the day 
 after our direst necessity brought us at last on 
 28th March close to Yomaia, where we found 
 our supplies, and were once more in the midst 
 of comparative plenty. The native corporal, it 
 appeared, had so little confidence in his ability 
 to find us in the bush, that he preferred to
 
 ii6 THE NIGER SOURCES 
 
 sit still with his provisions in a safe place, 
 and to wait there in peace for those who should 
 survive the march through the bush, rather 
 than to risk himself in a rescue expedition. 
 Fortunately we got through this section of our 
 work without losing a man, which is more than 
 might have been expected. The party I had 
 sent on to seek for our supplies got lost in the 
 bush, and the men strayed in different direc- 
 tions, and were nearly starved. All, however, 
 eventually rejoined us. 
 
 Yomaia is a good-sized town, made up of 
 three separate villages. It lies about half a 
 mile on the French side of the boundary, and 
 about two miles east of the Kaba river, which 
 we struck the next day, March 29th. We 
 fixed our camp on the high ground overlooking 
 the river valley, and spent a day or two in 
 astronomical observations, and in preparations 
 for our next move. Our police officer, Captain 
 Blakeney, left us here and returned to his 
 station at Falaba. 
 
 This second stage of our delimitation had 
 brought us through the Sulima and Kamuke
 
 TO THE KABA RIVER 117 
 
 countries, which are now cut in two by the 
 boundary. We also just touched a small 
 piece of Hure country, near the little village 
 of Herako, where a few fields are cut into 
 British territory. The exact division of these 
 countries in the part we passed through it is 
 impossible to define, for we had no guides for 
 the greater part of our march, and when we 
 obtained natives to show us the way, their 
 ignorance of the country was complete. The 
 district is traversed by hunters, it seems, but by 
 no one else. What the hunters get it is difficult 
 to learn. To tackle elephants with trade guns 
 must require considerable courage and great 
 faith, and we could not hear of any ivory 
 passing to Sierra Leone from this neighbour- 
 hood. But there is no doubt that hunters go 
 there, and I imagine that they limit their sport 
 to the buffalo and the antelope. We saw in 
 places traps set for the latter, consisting of a 
 loop formed by bending down a strong creeper, 
 which was made into a running noose, and 
 was intended to catch antelope by the neck. 
 Another form of trap in occasional use is a
 
 n8 THE NIGER SOURCES 
 
 pit covered with light foliage, and made at a 
 place where antelope are likely to go. Our 
 own natives more than once caught antelope, 
 which had been disturbed by our camp, and, 
 becoming confused by the number of people 
 about, were easily captured. These antelope, 
 which are of a red colour, and rather less 
 in size than the black buck of India or the 
 spring-bok of South Africa, are very common 
 in this part of West Africa, and make excellent 
 eating. 
 
 The Kaba river, or Little Skarsies, as it 
 is called in Sierra Leone, must be a splendid 
 water in the rainy season. It runs in a valley 
 about a mile broad, with banks from 900 to 
 1000 feet high, as measured by aneroid, and 
 so steep and broken that they can only be 
 climbed here and there. In the dry season 
 the river is about 100 yards wide near Yomaia, 
 fordable with difficulty, and it runs in a rocky, 
 sandy bed, the water being clear, though the 
 current is very slight. Fish are plentiful in 
 the river, and our half-starved carriers, as soon 
 as they could find a way to the water, which
 
 TO THE KABA RIVER 119 
 
 was by no means easy, set to work to replenish 
 their larder. They used, in the first instance, 
 a leaf which drugs the fish and renders them 
 an easy prey, but later they found a much 
 more successful method was to fish at night 
 with a lantern and a cutlass. The lantern 
 caused the fish to rise and with the cutlass it 
 was decapitated. 
 
 Guinea-fowl were also plentiful in the river 
 valley, and we heard them daily, but never 
 succeeded in getting them up. 
 
 Our next task was to follow the river south- 
 wards till we found a point on the western 
 bank four miles south of the loth parallel. 
 Owing to the broken ground this was not 
 an easy task. We accomplished it by making 
 a small triangulation down the eastern bank, 
 and on April 2nd we fixed a point on the 
 western bank by this means, and camped on 
 ground very little above the river bed, having 
 a height of 750 feet above sea level, the height 
 of the banks of the river at our last camp 
 being 1550 feet. 
 
 As we crossed the river and moved along
 
 120 THE NIGER SOURCES 
 
 its valley we found many traces of elephant 
 and hippopotami, and we had not been long 
 in the valley before the appearance of a 
 hippopotamus in the water caused considerable 
 excitement and brought out our five Europeans 
 armed with Martini-Metford carbines, and the 
 native police with their Sniders. A fusilade 
 followed as intense as that of a modern battle- 
 field, and as resultless. The hippo came to 
 the surface about once every five minutes with 
 a snort which made all the natives take several 
 steps in the direction of the camp, and exposed 
 his head for half a minute. During this time 
 a terrible fire was poured into him, but down 
 he went, and up he came again when his five 
 minutes had expired, with unwearying regu- 
 larity and apparently without being influenced 
 in the least by the shooting. Once, indeed, 
 he attempted to go ashore on the opposite 
 bank, but thought better of it when his whole 
 carcase was exposed to fire, and returned to 
 the water to continue his regular five minutely 
 rise. When the sun set this programme was 
 still being carried out. It was confidently
 
 TO THE KABA RIVER 121 
 
 expected, however, that in the morning we 
 should meet with the carcase of the hippo- 
 potamus, but whether he had taken in so 
 much lead as to have lost his buoyancy, 
 whether the result shows the defects of the 
 Lee-Metford bullet, or whether it was due to 
 other causes which did not at the time appear 
 to us to have any weight, it is impossible to 
 say, but we certainly never saw anything of 
 the animal again. Two days later the native 
 police sergeant, who certainly shone more as 
 a shot and sportsman generally than in any 
 other role, killed an enormous hippopotamus a 
 little higher up the river. The carriers set to 
 work with a will to haul the carcase out, and 
 we soon had an unlimited quantity of meat 
 available. For three days the men gorged 
 at the rate of 4 or 5 Ibs. a day, till all was 
 finished, or till they had as much as they 
 could stand. Our camp was meanwhile ren- 
 dered unpleasantly fragrant with the smell of 
 hippopotamus meat, which was hung up every- 
 where. This meat has the credit, according 
 to some people, of being very palatable. None
 
 122 THE NIGER SOURCES 
 
 of our party, however, had the courage to 
 taste it, but we inquired of those of our boys 
 who had eaten an enormous amount, if it was 
 good. They told us they didn't like it. It 
 may be, however, that they had not given it 
 a fair trial, or that, after their recent fast, 
 they were not in a condition to appreciate 
 delicacies; anyhow, though prejudiced in favour 
 of their view, we could not but regard them 
 as tainted witnesses. 
 
 In addition to the hippopotamus and fish 
 we got here also one or two flintambo or 
 waterbuck, a small animal not much bigger 
 than a hare. 
 
 During this time we managed to collect a 
 little rice in the neighbourhood of Mandea, 
 and of Kondita. Our depot was at the latter 
 place, and we now took steps to remove it 
 to Yana. Mr. Parkes had also, before we 
 left Freetown, formed another depot of supplies 
 at Kukuna, and we brought up the rice from 
 there to meet us on the next section of the 
 delimitation. 
 
 During the month of March the weather
 
 TO THE KABA RIVER 123 
 
 had become decidedly warmer, and we found 
 it told on us during each day's work. Our 
 lowest early morning reading was 63, and 
 the highest 76, the mean being 72. The 
 highest day reading was 95 (a deduction 
 having been made on account of the method 
 of carrying the thermometer), and the lowest 
 was 73. 
 
 The air this month was more charged with 
 moisture than in the previous months, and at 
 the beginning of the month, when near Kalieri, 
 we had some rain and cloudy skies for several 
 days. The rainy season in the interior begins 
 earlier than on the coast, and it was probably 
 near in March. As we travelled westward 
 the skies cleared and the symptoms of rain 
 disappeared. We had in all four days of 
 rain during the month. The exertion was 
 now beginning to tell on all ranks, and it was 
 evident that our party were getting a little 
 stale. The natives, too, broke down in num- 
 bers, and we had to part with many of them. 
 Although they had behaved beyond our expec- 
 tations during the period of starvation and
 
 i2 4 THE NIGER SOURCES 
 
 extra work, when the strain ended, many 
 were glad to get home, and all showed much 
 anxiety to bring the expedition to an end. 
 It was now the 3rd of April, and though the 
 rainy season does not set in generally till May, 
 we might expect tornadoes at night with more 
 or less regularity throughout the month. In 
 these parts the rainy season is always ushered 
 in and out by these nightly storms, which last 
 for about a month before and after the regular 
 rains. The natives dread this weather in 
 the bush, and we had, on that account, some 
 anxiety about completing the work, without 
 causing them serious suffering.
 
 CHAPTER V 
 FROM THE LITTLE TO THE GREAT SKARSIES 
 
 next section of boundary work in- 
 volved a task of considerable difficulty. 
 We had to delimit a straight line between 
 the point on the western bank of the Kaba or 
 Little Skarsies, which we had just fixed, and 
 the junction of Kita and Lolo rivers. The 
 position of this junction was known only in 
 a very general way, and it was not possible 
 to tell what the exact direction in azimuth 
 of the line would be. We had hoped to 
 have been able to align flags between the two 
 points, which were some eighteen miles apart, 
 but we at once recognized the impossibility 
 of this on seeing the country. It was very 
 similar to that we had just passed through,
 
 126 THE NIGER SOURCES 
 
 very broken, densely covered with bush, and, 
 though very hilly, it contained no command- 
 ing ridges from which the ends of the line 
 could be seen. We agreed with our French 
 comrades, therefore, that the best course was 
 to send on two officers to delimit a line 
 taken from the map we had, to see where 
 this line struck a meridian through the 
 Kita-Lolo junction, and from these data to 
 work out a corrected bearing which we could 
 then delimit. Accordingly, Captains Cayrade 
 and Tyler left the Kaba on April the 4th, 
 following a bearing we had taken from the 
 map. We sent our sappers round by road, 
 via Kondita, at the same time, to push on 
 to the junction of the two rivers, and to erect 
 a beacon there. The doctor and I were left 
 on the banks of the Kaba for six days, and 
 we spent there the dullest time of any during 
 our expedition, for it was possible neither 
 to work nor to leave the place for purposes 
 of sport. Every moment we expected news 
 from Captain Tyler, and our available time 
 was now so short that not a day could be
 
 THE GREAT SKARSIES 127 
 
 spared ; we must move the moment we 
 received his report. 
 
 It arrived on the Qth, and we learned 
 from Captain Tyler that he and Captain 
 Cayrade, following the bearing given, had 
 struck the Lolo about a mile and a half 
 south of its junction with the Kita. The 
 exact difference in longitude had been de- 
 termined by triangulation, and a corrected 
 bearing worked out. Captain Passaga and I 
 set out on the loth of April to follow this. 
 The country we found very similar to that 
 we had just traversed ; it is very broken 
 and hilly, and covered with very difficult 
 bush. The heat was now very trying, and the 
 labour of fighting through the bush to reach 
 the crests of the hills crossed will not soon 
 be forgotten. This country, like that along 
 the loth parallel, is covered with soil and 
 vegetation, but detached pieces of the red 
 laterite, so common at Freetown, are to be 
 seen everywhere. The hills, though not high, 
 are less rounded than those we had noticed 
 along the parallel, and the ground is more
 
 128 THE NIGER SOURCES 
 
 irregular. The highest point we reached was 
 about 1500 feet above sea level, the valley 
 of the Kaba being about 500 feet high. 
 The country is very sparsely populated. We 
 passed near one or two small villages, and 
 there are one or two larger towns in the 
 district, but they lie at some distance from 
 the boundary. 
 
 At the end of the third march we came 
 to the edge of a plateau, and descended a 
 very steep slope to a comparatively flat 
 region about 800 feet above sea level. On 
 the 1 3th April we moved through a flat, 
 bushy country, and crossing the Numelo, a 
 river about 50 yards in breadth which joins 
 the Lolo some miles below its junction with 
 the Kita, we reached the Kita-Lolo junction 
 in the afternoon, and found we were then not 
 more than 600 feet above the sea. Both 
 the Lolo and Numelo run in open flat 
 country, and have low banks. The Lolo 
 is about 75 yards wide, and is fordable at 
 places in the dry season. It has a rocky 
 bottom, and fish are plentiful in it. The
 
 THE GREAT SKARSIES 129 
 
 Kita is quite a small stream, not more than 
 10 yards wide. 
 
 Our bearing, as corrected by Captains Tyler 
 and Cayrade, brought us accurately to the 
 junction of the two rivers, where the next 
 stage of our delimitation ended, and we put 
 up a large beacon on the eastern bank of 
 the Lolo opposite to this point. 
 
 Throughout the march from the Kaba to 
 the Lolo river we continued to find plenty 
 of traces of large game, and on the I2th 
 of April a piece of ivory, the end of an 
 elephant's tusk, was picked up. Antelope 
 were numerous, and we saw buffalo several 
 times. 
 
 Our next task was to find a point on the 
 western bank of the Kita, 1500 metres above 
 the village of Lakhata. From the Kita- 
 Lolo junction to this point the river Kita 
 forms the boundary, and therefore no de- 
 limitation is required. We set off on the 
 1 5th April for Lakhata. Crossing the Lolo 
 and Kita we cut through the bush along the 
 right bank of the Kita, till we struck a
 
 130 THE NIGER SOURCES 
 
 road which we followed to Lakhata. We 
 passed several small villages on the way 
 before reaching this place, which is a poor 
 badly built village in a flat country near the 
 right bank of the river. It was under the 
 Chief of Yumboya, but is now severed from 
 that place, which is on the French side of the 
 frontier. The country between the Kita-Lolo 
 junction and Lakhata is almost quite flat, and 
 covered with bush. 
 
 Our sappers had preceded us to Lakhata, 
 and had measured with a chain 1500 metres 
 along the river, north of the town. We 
 moved our camp to the place so fixed on 
 the 1 6th, and set up a beacon there. 
 
 The country here once more changes en- 
 tirely. At Lakhata we were in a flat, low 
 region, covered with a tall dry bush, and 
 between 650 and 700 feet above sea level. 
 North of the village, on both sides of the 
 Kita, the mountains of Tamisso push out 
 towards the south some high, bold spurs, 
 with very steep sides, which terminate abruptly, 
 and tower over the flat country south of
 
 THE GREAT SKARSIES 131 
 
 Lakhata. Though following the bed of the 
 river, and therefore the most gradual ascent, 
 we rose 600 feet in the 1500 metres. The 
 river at this point is still falling rapidly, 
 and it descends by a series of cascades a 
 height of 600 feet in about half a mile. We 
 attempted to get a good view of the falls, 
 but they were very difficult to get at, and the 
 view was so much obscured with creepers 
 that the water was almost concealed. There 
 is no single fall of any very great height, 
 but the river descends by successive leaps of 
 30 or 40 feet, and, where visible, the white 
 spray makes a pretty background to the 
 trailers and foliage. 
 
 From the point we had now fixed our next 
 move led us directly across a number of the 
 spurs of mountains of Tamisso. We had 
 hoped that our difficulties were ending, but 
 the outlook was now less promising than at 
 any time. The line had to be directed on to 
 the centre of a gap in the westernmost spur, 
 and the first business was to find this point. 
 Captain Cayrade had been sent to the front
 
 132 THE NIGER SOURCES 
 
 to seek for the gap, and, after some days' 
 absence, he reported that the only place like 
 it lay in a direction within five degrees of 
 magnetic west from our beacon. We there- 
 fore settled to follow this bearing to see 
 where it would bring us, and made our 
 preparations accordingly. 
 
 During our journey, with the exception of 
 the hippopotamus meat, our carriers had 
 seldom tasted flesh. We had but seldom 
 seen cattle, and then only one or perhaps two 
 head at a time. But now great excitement 
 was created in our camp by the appearance, 
 some miles off, of large herds of cattle being 
 pastured on the mountain slopes. 
 
 The cattle, we learned afterwards, are the 
 property of the Fulas, a race of shepherds and 
 cattle owners from Futa Jallon in the French 
 Sudan. A party of Fulas were staying at 
 Yumboya, which lies on one of the Tamisso 
 mountain spurs, and were pasturing their 
 herds in our neighbourhood. 
 
 We halted four days in this neighbourhood 
 awaiting the reconnaissance of our next ob-
 
 THE GREAT SKARSIES 133 
 
 jective, and moved off to cross the spurs on 
 April 2ist. Our first day's march led us into 
 ground lower than that above the banks of 
 the Kita, and only 1250 feet above the sea. 
 We had at this place some little difficulty 
 with our carriers, who were now getting, 
 relatively speaking, a luxurious diet. Beacons 
 had to be erected, but, this duty interfering 
 with cooking, the boys became somewhat 
 mutinous, and refused to work. When the 
 chief culprits were led forth to be punished, 
 the other natives refused to assist when ordered, 
 and we were in danger of experiencing a 
 strike in the bush. But our doctor, who, in 
 addition to his other duties, managed the 
 transport, nipped this spirit in the bud by 
 the adoption of vigorous measures, and the 
 men were at once obedient and submissive. 
 
 On the 22nd April a long climb brought 
 us to the top of the highest spur, and at the 
 village of Kunsi, which lies just within French 
 territory, we found ourselves 2800 feet above 
 the sea, on a broad flat spur in an open 
 country covered with short herbage. This
 
 134 THE NIGER SOURCES 
 
 is one of the finest, and certainly one of the 
 pleasantest spots we met with in the interior. 
 The sight of open, flat, level ground, clear 
 of undergrowth and easy to walk on, was 
 very comforting after the eternal bush and 
 the cramped view. The top of each spur is 
 a plateau of many hundred acres of hard, 
 level grazing ground. The formation is a 
 brittle schist, lying horizontally ; good water 
 is abundant and clear, and the country is 
 evidently well suited for cattle. Around Kunsi 
 large herds were being pastured, and we 
 obtained, in the village, bowls of excellent 
 milk, a luxury met with here for the first 
 time. Antelope are very plentiful; the French 
 officers, who went out shooting in the after- 
 noon, bagged several with shot-guns. The air 
 was noticeably fresher here than in the lower 
 country, although the sun was now hot and 
 the skies were charged with the moisture of 
 the coming rains. For an interior station this 
 part is probably the best that could be found 
 within the Protectorate from the point of view 
 of health and comfort. Kunsi stands high ;
 
 THE GREAT SKARSIES 135 
 
 it is free from swamp, decaying vegetation, 
 and bush ; it commands a good view, good 
 water, and fresh air. The part of the spur 
 south of the village which falls into British 
 territory is very extensive, and from the 
 southern edge of it the towns of Dumbaia 
 and Saionia are overlooked. 
 
 On the next day we moved on across this 
 spur, and having reached the western side, 
 descended by a steep track into a deep valley 
 clad with forest. We crossed this valley, 
 and climbed the next and last spur, finding 
 ourselves at the village of Kankuya, 2350 
 feet above sea level, and some 450 feet below 
 the spur we had just quitted. This spur is 
 generally similar in character to that on which 
 the village of Kunsi is situated, but not so 
 flat. From its western edge, which is exceed- 
 ingly steep and in most places precipitous, 
 we could see the plain country beneath us, 
 and the many villages, whose names we 
 identified with the assistance of guides. We 
 could also trace the outline and extent of 
 the spur we had camped on the previous
 
 136 THE NIGER SOURCES 
 
 day. These hills are very remarkable features 
 in a country which is otherwise as flat as a 
 billiard table, and they are specially remark- 
 able on account of the steepness of their 
 sides and the abruptness with which they 
 terminate. 
 
 Our azimuth line, which we had followed 
 from the Kita, led us to a very peculiar 
 rock, like a perpendicular column, standing 
 at the western edge of the spur, and known 
 as the "rock of Kankuya." This Captain 
 Cayrade had taken for the gap described in 
 the Treaty, which was the point on which our 
 line was to be directed, having failed to find 
 any other form of gap, and not unnaturally 
 taking the word, which was represented in 
 French as breche, to signify a geological fault. 
 But it was clear that this was not the place 
 which the Agreement referred to, though it 
 was not possible from the top of the spur to 
 say whether the gap existed or not. We 
 therefore proceeded the next day, and de- 
 scended the western face by a very precipitous 
 path, arriving in the plain near the village of
 
 THE GREAT SKARSIES 137 
 
 Dantumaia. We then examined the face of 
 the spur, and soon discovered that it was 
 unbroken ; no gap existed in it. We had, 
 therefore, to make an arrangement with the 
 French, and to select another point, as nearly 
 as possible in the position referred to in the 
 Agreement, to take the place of the missing 
 gap. We adopted the rock of Kankuya as 
 the terminus of the line from the Kita, and 
 from thence drew the line to another point 
 arbitrarily selected on the westernmost spur. 
 
 We had now from this last selected point 
 to draw a line towards a point on the Kora 
 river till it met the great French road from 
 Wellia to Ula. This was comparatively easy 
 to do, the country, though flat, being not so 
 densely covered with bush as in other parts. 
 
 We were now in a comparatively well 
 cultivated and populous region ; there are here 
 many villages and some largish towns. Our 
 height above sea level was 580 feet ; we had 
 dropped 1770 feet during the day's march, 
 and 2 2 20 feet since leaving Kunsi. Before 
 us lay the valleys of the Kora and Kolinte
 
 138 THE NIGER SOURCES 
 
 or Great Skarsies rivers, which unite west of 
 Ula ; south of us was a plain which extended 
 to the sea. We were once more in the coast 
 region, and the air made us unpleasantly 
 aware of this circumstance. It was heavy, 
 and charged with the moisture of the rains, 
 which were now very soon to break. 
 
 We encamped near the village of Balifilli, 
 and found ourselves there on the great French 
 road to the interior, which, starting from 
 Konakri on the coast, crosses the Great 
 Skarsies near Wellia, and passing through Ula, 
 Fodea, Balifilli, Dunia, Wossu, approaches 
 the boundary again at Tagania and Bibia, 
 near Simitia, and runs thence to the Middle 
 Niger. 
 
 On the following day we continued our 
 delimitation to Ula, near to which place the 
 line is intercepted by the great road. Ula, 
 which lies in French territory, is a large, 
 important, well-built town, with a customs 
 station, superintended by a white official, and 
 barracks with native soldiers. It is a port 
 of entry for goods passing from Sierra Leone
 
 THE GREAT SKARSIES 139 
 
 to French territory. The huts are larger, 
 better, more elaborately, and more preten- 
 tiously built than any we had hitherto seen ; 
 the people are evidently prosperous, and we 
 were fairly struck with wonder to find both 
 a carpenter's shop and a store. 
 
 As luxury and refinement of this description 
 was likely to prove a dangerous snare for our 
 carriers, we pushed on in the afternoon. 
 From the point where the boundary approaches 
 the main road near Ula, it is drawn parallel 
 to this road and 500 metres east of it as far 
 as the Great Skarsies river. We therefore 
 followed the road and reached the river, and 
 with it the terminus of our demarcation work 
 in the evening. 
 
 Our camp was pitched on the eastern bank 
 of the Great Skarsies, which is here about 
 100 yards wide, deep and unfordable at any 
 time. It runs in an open, flat country, and 
 has low banks. Hippopotami are found in it 
 in numbers ; Captain Passaga succeeded in 
 killing one during our stay on the banks. 
 The river is crossed by a dug-out canoe, by
 
 140 THE NIGER SOURCES 
 
 means of which travellers are ferried over. 
 West of the river, in French territory, the 
 ground rises, and hills are visible a few miles 
 away. 
 
 From this place we could clearly see the 
 hills of Tamisso, which we had lately crossed, 
 and could trace the appearance which evi- 
 dently gave rise to the impression that a gap 
 existed. Seen from this distance there is 
 apparently a passage through the face of the 
 hills. This appearance is due, as we saw by 
 examining the spurs, to the projection of one 
 spur beyond another. 
 
 On the 26th April the French Commission 
 reached the river, and we now set ourselves 
 to draft the proces verbaux of the delimitation, 
 and to complete our knowledge of the neigh- 
 bouring country. A beacon was erected on 
 the east bank of the Great Skarsies, 500 
 metres south of the point where the road 
 meets the river, and a similar beacon was 
 placed on the west bank, as south of this 
 point, although the river forms the boundary, 
 it is altogether British.
 
 THE GREAT SKARSIES 141 
 
 Shortly after our arrival at the Great 
 Skarsies we were delighted to hear that the 
 party which had been sent to delimit the 
 boundary in Samu had completed its task, 
 and was on the march northward to join us. 
 This was highly satisfactory news, as we now 
 could complete all the proces verbaux, and the 
 description of the boundary and beacons, 
 before leaving our camp. On the 28th the 
 party, consisting of Captain Sharpe, of the 
 Frontier Police, and Captain Millot, the 
 French Commissioner, arrived, having tra- 
 velled north by the western bank of the 
 Great Skarsies. They had been at work 
 since April ist, and had had a very difficult 
 task in tracing the watershed between the 
 Great Skarsies and Melakore rivers through 
 a low, bush-covered country. Their work 
 commenced on the Atlantic coast at Kiragba, 
 and ended at the source of the Little Mola 
 river. This river joins the Mola, which 
 empties itself into the Great Skarsies, and 
 the boundary, after following these streams to 
 the junction of the Mola with the Great
 
 142 THE NIGER SOURCES 
 
 Skarsies, runs up the right bank of this river 
 as far as the point where we were erecting 
 a beacon. The delimitation was, therefore, 
 now complete along the entire Anglo-French 
 frontier, for it was naturally unnecessary to 
 take any steps to mark the boundary along 
 the river, where the river itself was the 
 boundary. We had only to complete and 
 sign our documents before breaking up for 
 the coast. 
 
 I was greatly astonished, when the Samu 
 party joined us, to observe with them the 
 French sergeant, who had been sent from 
 Heremakono to the coast in order to take 
 passage for France. This man, who had 
 served in the French Congo, had been some 
 years abroad, and had suffered severely from 
 the climate. He had more than once been 
 attacked by a form of sunstroke, and seemed 
 to be in such a serious condition that the 
 only chance of his recovery appeared to lie 
 in getting him on board ship without delay, 
 and he was, in fact, sent to the coast with 
 this object. Yet here he was back again,
 
 THE GREAT SKARSIES 143 
 
 looking quite recovered, and doing his work 
 as usual. I expressed my surprise at his 
 return as he came up to salute me. He told 
 me that it was entirely due to the sea ; he 
 regarded his last expedition as a visit to the 
 sea-side. Kiragba is, however, not exactly an 
 ideal watering-place ; it is a low-lying, man- 
 grove-fringed spot, and has the reputation of 
 being as choice a locality as any on the West 
 Coast for swamp. The party had spent 
 several days in wading through its muddy 
 rice lands, and it was undoubtedly a pleasing 
 novelty to hear it spoken of as a health 
 resort. 
 
 On the banks of the Great Skarsies game 
 is as plentiful as anywhere in the country. 
 The smaller antelope were numerous and very 
 tame ; they would stand watching us at a 
 distance of thirty or forty yards. Our police 
 sergeant shot a splendid specimen of the kudu 
 with a magnificent head. The second night 
 after our arrival in the camp a troop of five 
 elephants, travelling southwards into Sierra 
 Leone, the rains being about to commence,
 
 i 4 4 THE NIGER SOURCES 
 
 came into our camp, and passed through in 
 the early morning. Our boys watched them, 
 and afterwards described to us in a state of 
 frenzied excitement the length of the tusks of 
 the principal male, and the way he reclined 
 against a palm tree. We followed them our- 
 selves, Captain Tyler with his camera ; but 
 they had been alarmed, and travelled fast 
 down the river, leaving enormous foot-marks 
 in the soft ground. 
 
 The rains were now beginning to threaten, 
 and on the night of the 2 7th we had a heavy 
 fall. Next day this was repeated, and rain 
 fell in torrents all the afternoon and night. 
 Our camp was converted into a swamp, and 
 we thought it advisable the next day to move 
 into the village of Wellia, which is about a 
 mile west of the river and about 200 feet 
 above it. Here we completed our documentary 
 work, signed the proces verbaux, and, after 
 having been hospitably entertained by our 
 French comrades, we left on May ist, the 
 French officers accompanying us to the bank 
 of the river, which we crossed in a canoe.
 
 THE GREAT SKARSIES 145 
 
 Our followers were all eager to get back to 
 the coast and to receive their pay, which on 
 these occasions is always retained till they are 
 discharged, and they stepped out with a will, 
 and we soon had placed a considerable dis- 
 tance between ourselves and the last scene of 
 our labours. 
 
 During the month of April the climate was 
 increasingly trying, and the air full of moisture. 
 Our lowest early morning reading was 70 
 and the highest 84, the mean being 77^. 
 The highest day reading was 100 and the 
 lowest 86. Rain fell on eight days, the fall 
 on two occasions being very heavy. Still we 
 were fortunate in avoiding the tornadoes we 
 had expected this month, and our followers 
 did very well on the whole. During the 
 worst rain they managed to shelter in a small 
 village near the camp.
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 RETURN TO THE COAST AND EMBARKATION 
 FOR ENGLAND 
 
 /^\UR objective was now Kambia on the 
 Great Skarsies river, where we had 
 arranged to meet a boat from the Governor's 
 yacht, the "Countess of Derby." The dis- 
 tance to this place was about seventy-five 
 miles, and it was important that we should 
 cover it as soon as possible, lest we should 
 be caught by the rain. We marched along 
 the road to Ula as far as the ruined village 
 of Lusenia, and turned off there for Saionia, 
 where we arrived in the morning. Saionia 
 is a good-sized Mussulman town of about 55 
 houses, well kept, and looking fairly pros- 
 perous. After halting for breakfast, we pushed 
 on in the afternoon, and halted at Fodea, a
 
 RETURN TO THE COAST 147 
 
 small village in bad repair, the total distance 
 covered being twenty miles. We found no 
 difficulty now in getting our carriers along ; 
 they were all so eager to reach the coast that 
 no distance was too great for them. 
 
 Next day we marched to Kufuna, a distance 
 of about ten miles, and halted at a poorly- 
 built village. We met here messengers from 
 the Governor announcing that the yacht was 
 awaiting us at the mouth of the Great Skarsies, 
 and asking for information of our whereabouts. 
 We received also a most welcome present of 
 bread, a luxury we had not seen for months, 
 and fruit. 
 
 On the next day, May 3rd, we marched 
 in the morning to Berikuri, a large Mussul- 
 man town, and in the afternoon to Kukuna, 
 a town of considerable size, covering a large 
 space of ground. We now found ourselves 
 in a very populous country, and on our next 
 day's march to Pettifu, a distance of twenty- 
 four miles, we passed a large number of towns 
 of a good size, the inhabitants of which are 
 all Mussulmans. The country is much culti-
 
 148 THE NIGER SOURCES 
 
 vated, and really good service has been done 
 by converting a large extent of mangrove 
 swamp into rice fields. At Pettifu, where our 
 last night ashore was spent, the carriers, in 
 spite of their long march, spent half the night 
 singing and dancing to the music of tom- 
 toms. I addressed them through the chief 
 head-man, and informed them that, on account 
 of the good work they had done, all fines, of 
 which a large number had been registered, 
 were cancelled, and I thanked them for their 
 services. Their gratitude was boundless; many 
 of them crept up to me on their hands and 
 knees and embraced my boots, and songs and 
 dances of an uproarious nature followed. 
 
 On the 5th May we marched on, passing 
 towns every mile or so, to Kambia, a large 
 place on the river where a considerable trade 
 is done, canoes passing between it and Free- 
 town. We had an interview with the Chief, 
 who was anxious that we should stop, but 
 we had to embark before the tide turned, 
 and so continued our march to Massama, where 
 we met the " Countess of Derby's " gig, which
 
 RETURN TO THE COAST 149 
 
 rowed us to Robat, the highest navigable point. 
 Here we were met by Captain Compton, the 
 commander of the yacht, and embarked. Our 
 carriers had started early from Pettifu and 
 marched to Robat, and the loads were all on 
 board when we arrived. One of our party, 
 Captain Sharpe, was now missing. He had 
 remained at Kambia, which was in his police 
 district, to transact some business, intending 
 to follow us. After waiting some time, he 
 sent word to say that he was laid up with 
 fever, and could not come. The tide was 
 now beginning to ebb, and just at this time 
 one of the sappers was prostrated with sun- 
 stroke, so we decided to push on, leaving the 
 apothecary to look after Captain Sharpe, with 
 instructions to bring him on next day. 
 
 The country we had passed through after 
 leaving Wellia is perfectly flat, there being 
 only one small rise, between Saionia and 
 Fodea, of not more than 100 feet. From 
 the Great Skarsies near Wellia to the same 
 river at Massama, a distance by march of 
 nearly eighty miles, the difference of height
 
 150 THE NIGER SOURCES 
 
 as recorded by aneroid is not more than from 
 no to 1 20 feet. The ground is hard, flat, 
 and in many places covered with short herbage, 
 and suitable for grazing. There is hardly 
 any indication of swamp, except on the creeks 
 and inlets of the river, the banks of which 
 are covered with a deep, rich mud. The road 
 is good, hard, very easy, and much straighter 
 than in the more thickly bushed country. 
 There is no appearance of hills on the east 
 of the Great Skarsies, and no indication of 
 a well-marked watershed between the two great 
 rivers, the Great and Little Skarsies. These 
 two large waterways must run through a level 
 plain at a distance of not more than twenty 
 miles apart, separated by no obstacle, and a 
 very little effort would divert the water of 
 the one into the channel of the other. 
 
 Before leaving Wellia, the depot of supplies 
 which had been established at Yana, to which 
 place it had been moved from Kondita, was 
 brought down to Kambia by natives supplied 
 by the Chief of Yana, and was embarked 
 before our arrival. We thus found ourselves
 
 RETURN TO THE COAST 151 
 
 complete on the " Countess of Derby," and 
 brought back with us everything that remained 
 of our supplies and stores. We reached Free- 
 town late on the night of May 5th, and dis- 
 embarked on the 6th, when our natives were 
 paid off and discharged. 
 
 Two days later I went to stay with the 
 Governor, Col. Cardew, C.M.G., who with 
 Mrs. Cardew was occupying a country resi- 
 dence at the extreme point of the Cape, 
 formed by the Atlantic coast where it is 
 joined by the southern bank of the Sierra 
 Leone river, some seven miles west of Free- 
 town. I remained there till the I2th May, 
 the day before we embarked for England. 
 
 Whilst our boundary delimitation was going 
 on, Col. Cardew, who has devoted much time 
 to exploring the interior of the colony, and 
 to questions connected with the politics of 
 the different tribes, made a most important 
 expedition. Accompanied by Major Grant of 
 the Royal Engineers, an officer of a high 
 reputation as an astronomical observer, he 
 followed the Anglo-Liberian frontier from
 
 152 THE NIGER SOURCES 
 
 Tembi Kunda to the point where it cuts the 
 Mano river. This frontier joins the Anglo- 
 French frontier at Tembi Kunda, and starting 
 from the first beacon we had set up at the 
 head of the Tembi ravine, runs along a 
 parallel of latitude drawn through the position 
 of the beacon till it meets the i3th meridian 
 west of Paris (longitude 10 40' west of 
 Greenwich). It then follows this meridian 
 southwards till it cuts the Mano river, which 
 forms the boundary thence to the sea. The 
 Governor followed this boundary as far as 
 the Mano river, and explored the very im- 
 portant territory which falls within the British 
 sphere. He fixed in passing the position of 
 Waima, where the unfortunate collision with 
 the French troops occurred in 1894, and 
 which is now proved to be in British territory. 
 The work done during this exploration has 
 contributed a great deal to completing the 
 knowledge of a most important part of the 
 interior, and one which promises to become 
 very valuable to the colony in the future. 
 The Governor's expedition suffered the same
 
 RETURN TO THE COAST 153 
 
 fatality as ours : Captain Boileau, the police 
 officer attached to it, whose headquarters 
 are at Panguma, was taken ill on the re- 
 turn of the expedition, and died after an 
 attack of fever lasting a few days. This 
 frontier police force work is evidently very 
 trying, and the rate of mortality is very high. 
 Out of seven officers, in a period covered by 
 less than a year, three died and two were 
 invalided to England. The causes of this 
 serious state of affairs are, I imagine, not 
 only and not even mainly the unhealthiness 
 of the climate, but more particularly the diffi- 
 culty of obtaining the common necessaries and 
 the common comforts of life in the interior. 
 Except rice, fowls, a little fruit, and occasion- 
 ally a sheep, everything must be transported 
 from the coast, and the cost of bringing up 
 luxuries is so great that they are quite beyond 
 the reach of those living in the interior under 
 present conditions. But I shall revert to this 
 matter in a later chapter. 
 
 During my stay with the Governor I had 
 an opportunity of observing some of the
 
 154 THE NIGER SOURCES 
 
 industries of the Sierra Leone population of 
 some of the outlying- towns. Aberdeen is 
 the nearest town to the Cape point, the 
 population of which is mainly occupied with 
 fishing. On one occasion we saw the nets 
 brought to land on the Atlantic coast. They 
 had evidently been fixed at a short distance 
 only from the shore, as the fish, of which 
 enormous numbers were landed, did not ex- 
 ceed from i to 4 Ibs. each in weight. Fish of 
 many descriptions, including some of excellent 
 quality, are very plentiful on the coast, and 
 it only requires an increased demand to make 
 this industry a very thriving one. Oysters 
 of large size and excellent quality are found 
 in abundance on some rocks near Cape point, 
 and on the Bullom shore mangrove oysters 
 are very plentiful ; but though these latter are 
 declared by many to be perfectly good, there 
 is a considerable suspicion attaching to them 
 in the eyes of the prudent. 
 
 A certain amount of cultivation is done in 
 these outlying villages, principally of rice, 
 cassava, and guinea-corn. Fruit is also
 
 RETURN TO THE COAST 155 
 
 grown, the most common kinds being bananas, 
 oranges of a sweet but inferior flavour, papaws 
 (a fruit in appearance like a melon, which 
 grows on a tree), mangoes, and pines. Of 
 these also it may be said, that if the quality 
 is not all that it might be, it is probable that 
 the number of those who possess a discrimi- 
 nating taste is too small to exercise any 
 influence on the market. Throughout the 
 interior the only fruit met with everywhere 
 are bananas and papaws ; hardly a village is 
 to be found without these. Plantains are 
 cultivated in the larger places only, and are 
 too coarse to be eaten, except cooked as a 
 vegetable. 
 
 The railway now being constructed from 
 Freetown will, no doubt, have a great in- 
 fluence on the trade and prosperity of the 
 colony. Considerable progress has been made 
 with the line, in spite of the serious mortality 
 amongst the engineers superintending the 
 construction. There is something terribly 
 dangerous about turning up the soil in West 
 Africa ; any work which involves doing this
 
 156 THE NIGER SOURCES 
 
 seems to set free malarial poison in its most 
 deadly form. But in the face of these draw- 
 backs the railway construction has made great 
 progress, and it is hoped that in 1898 the 
 first section, which ends at Songo Town, a 
 distance from Freetown of about thirty miles, 
 will be open for traffic. The line is to be 
 continued in a south-easterly direction, towards 
 the upper waters of the Sulima river, to tap 
 a country which is rich in rubber, and com- 
 paratively well populated. 
 
 The effect of the railway construction is 
 already being felt in Freetown ; it has caused 
 the most enterprising of its inhabitants to see 
 that the time has come for modernizing their 
 surroundings. The town is now ill lighted 
 by oil lamps ; some more suitable method is 
 required. With a terminal station and rail- 
 way works in progress, and with an important 
 harbour, custom house, landing stage, coal 
 wharves, and warehouses, the application of 
 gas or electricity is a necessity. 
 
 A company has recently been formed to 
 make soda water and ice for the West Coast
 
 RETURN TO THE COAST 157 
 
 generally, as well as for Sierra Leone in 
 particular. Considering that the only good 
 water to be found on the West Coast is at 
 Freetown, and considering the demand for 
 soda water and ice in a climate like that of 
 the West Coast, it is a matter of surprise that 
 this business has not been taken up earlier. 
 The Company has secured the monopoly 
 of a stream of excellent water, and should 
 prove of much benefit to the Sierra Leone 
 people. 
 
 Some attempts have been made by one of 
 the leading men of Freetown to cultivate 
 coffee in the neighbourhood of the place, and 
 to export some of the fine timber growing on 
 the hillsides, and I was informed that con- 
 siderable profit had already been made from 
 these sources. 
 
 On the 1 2th May the mail steamer "Benin" 
 was signalled as arriving from the Gold 
 Coast, and on the same afternoon I left the 
 hospitable roof of the Governor, where I had 
 spent a very pleasant four days, and returned 
 by boat to Freetown, from which place our
 
 158 THE NIGER SOURCES 
 
 party embarked the next. day, May i3th, on 
 the " Benin," and left the same afternoon, 
 arriving at Liverpool on the 2 9th May. 
 
 The French Commission left Wellia the 
 day after our departure, and proceeded down 
 the west bank to Konakri, where they em- 
 barked for France, arriving on the 2ist of 
 June. 
 
 The delimitation thus ended will, it may be 
 hoped, put an end to the very unsatisfactory 
 condition of affairs which has prevailed in the 
 border country for years past. The exact 
 frontier being unknown and the rights of each 
 nation being undefined, the natives have been 
 ignorant of their position with regard to Great 
 Britain and France, and in some cases they 
 have taken advantage of the opposing claims 
 of both sides to further their own ends. In 
 many places there are rival claimants to the 
 position of Chieftainship of a district or Head- 
 manship of a town. If the reigning party 
 was of British sympathies, his rival was 
 naturally French, and vice versa ; and the 
 opposing parties did their part in keeping up
 
 RETURN TO THE COAST 159 
 
 friction, and in circulating reports of frontier 
 violations, etc. Moreover, police patrols from 
 British and French border stations traversed 
 the doubtful zone, and occasionally came into 
 collision with each other, both supposing 
 themselves to be within their own territory. 
 The boundary was only definitely settled by 
 treaty in January 1895, and before this, more 
 especially in the northern part of the Pro- 
 tectorate, it was impossible to say in any 
 disputed case which party was in the right 
 and which in the wrong. But even after the 
 treaty had been signed, the position was little 
 better, for frontier parties unprovided with 
 instruments of precision could not lay down 
 the law regarding a boundary dependent on 
 a parallel of latitude or a line joining distant 
 points in a country altogether unsurveyed. 
 
 Now, however, there can be no doubt 
 about the frontier, and no one can cross it 
 without knowing that he is doing so. In this 
 country every one is confined to the roads, 
 and every road is marked with a beacon 
 at the place where it crosses the frontier.
 
 160 THE NIGER SOURCES 
 
 Every village and town, therefore, near to the 
 border knows on which territory it stands, 
 and how its farm lands are divided. To 
 make this doubly sure the border villages are 
 all named in the proces verbal, and it is there 
 stated on which side of the boundary they fall. 
 The Chiefs and the Frontier Police have all 
 had these matters explained to them, and if 
 difficulties occur they can hardly be ascribed 
 to ignorance except in very minor particulars. 
 As regards the general effect of the bound- 
 ary, we found that the watershed line in the 
 mountainous country made a very good natural 
 frontier, and divided town from town in a 
 very clear and unmistakable way. People 
 belonging to the same district of Kuranko 
 country are found living on both sides of the 
 watershed in parts, but they are very well 
 separated, and no difficulty should result from 
 their being on one or the other side of the 
 frontier. Further north, where the mountains 
 disappear, the separation is not so clear, and 
 the line occasionally cuts some farm land into 
 one side, and other land belonging to the
 
 RETURN TO THE COAST 161 
 
 same town into the other side. In no case, 
 however, on the watershed does the line cut 
 through a village ; every village is definitely 
 on one side or the other. 
 
 In Samu, which is a country of many 
 roads, the watershed boundary cuts the farms 
 about, but the villages are all clearly on one 
 or the other side. 
 
 Where the boundary is a parallel of latitude 
 or a line joining two points, the division, as 
 may naturally be expected, is not so satis- 
 factory ; but, fortunately, a great part of the 
 country being uninhabited, no villages or 
 farm lands are touched by the line, and no 
 difficulties can occur. 
 
 It is to be hoped that, before many years 
 are over, we may have every part of our 
 African possessions and spheres, where they 
 join those of other European powers, regularly 
 demarcated and beaconed. The sooner this 
 is done the better, as where the boundary is 
 not a natural feature, difficulties of demarca- 
 tion are increased if towns are built close to 
 the border, or if farms or grazing lands are 
 
 L
 
 162 THE NIGER SOURCES 
 
 taken up. The fixing of a frontier line on 
 the ground, no doubt, is a necessary step to 
 promote the development of a country, and 
 until it is carried out little can be done where 
 boundaries are undefined.
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 THE PEOPLE OF THE SIERRA LEONE 
 PROTECTORATE 
 
 r I ^HE remarks made here on the people of 
 the Protectorate with whom I came in 
 contact during the expedition described in this 
 work must not be taken as having the same 
 value as those of an observer who has spent 
 years in the country, and has had special oppor- 
 tunities of studying the native character. To lay 
 down the law after an experience of not more 
 than six months of a country, and to generalize 
 from the small number of natives with whom 
 one is brought into contact in a short time, 
 are, I am well aware, very likely to lead one 
 from mistaken premises to wrong conclusions. 
 I can only speak of the native character as
 
 1 64 THE NIGER SOURCES 
 
 it showed itself to me, and reproduce the im- 
 pressions fixed on my mind. 
 
 The people with whom I came in contact 
 in greater or less numbers are the Sierra 
 Leonis, the Timmeni, the Mendi, the Limba, 
 the Kuranko, and the Susu. All these people 
 speak different languages, although there is 
 a considerable similarity between some of 
 them, and all the languages are of Arabic 
 origin, excepting, of course, the pigeon-English 
 spoken by the Sierra Leonis. 
 
 Of the Sierra Leonis I have spoken already. 
 They possess a civilization of their own ; some 
 of them indeed, as I have remarked before, 
 are highly educated and accomplished. The 
 children are trained and educated under the 
 direction of the Church Missionary Society, 
 and the whole population is nominally Chris- 
 tian. Every village has its church, generally 
 a bare white-washed building, and the people 
 are very regular in their attendance at the 
 services. Any one who has been inside one 
 of their churches, and has heard the crowded 
 congregation singing in every conceivable key,
 
 PEOPLE OF SIERRA LEONE 165 
 
 not as English people sing, but each member 
 devoting his or her full lung power to the 
 work, will not readily forget the effect. 
 
 The Sierra Leonis are affable to a fault. 
 As you meet them in the street, you are 
 greeted with a broad grin, and a " Good 
 morning, sah." They are absolutely free from 
 the reserve of northern races, and are only too 
 anxious to open their souls to any passer-by. 
 Their cheerfulness, too, is beyond all praise, 
 and rises superior to the enervating effect of 
 the climate. Indeed the more nearly the 
 conditions which depress the Europeans are 
 attained in their highest degree, the more 
 cheerful and the more affable does the Sierra 
 Leone become. Their faults are those com- 
 mon to all natives of the West Coast, and 
 probably are the result in some cases of a low 
 order of civilization, and in others of a want of 
 the sense of responsibility. The most striking 
 are untruthfulness and dishonesty, and, especi- 
 ally in the lower classes, these faults are 
 common. At the same time, they are not 
 universal, and amongst the natives with whom
 
 1 66 THE NIGER SOURCES 
 
 I was brought in contact were some whose 
 character in these matters was beyond re- 
 proach. The Sierra Leonis are distinctly 
 not a warlike people. Many of them are 
 men of fine physique, but fighting is not their 
 strong point, and no one can fail to observe 
 in them the absence of those qualities which 
 go to make a nation of warriors. Though 
 the physique of the men is fine, they are not, 
 as a rule, capable of sustaining great hardships, 
 and constitutionally, I imagine, they are not 
 as strong as their appearance suggests. They 
 are specially subject to chest diseases ; indeed, 
 all the natives of the West Coast seem to suffer 
 from bronchitis and other kindred ailments 
 in chronic form. 
 
 Of the Timmeni people we saw very little, 
 and amongst our followers we had only one or 
 two representatives of that race, so I am not in 
 a position to give any account of their special 
 characteristics. This applies also to the Limba, 
 of whom we only came in contact with a small 
 body. The Limba appear, however, so far as 
 my observation extended, to be in advance of
 
 PEOPLE OF SIERRA LEONE 167 
 
 other tribes in comparative civilization. A 
 great many of the traders who travel into the 
 interior are Limba, Mohammedans of a superior 
 kind. As a race the Limba appear also to 
 be more self-reliant and more warlike than 
 other West Africans. 
 
 The Mendi form the bulk of the population 
 which affords recruits for expeditions. The 
 main body of our carriers were Mendi boys. 
 They come from the Sherboro country, situated 
 In the southern part of Sierra Leone. They 
 are all pagans, intensely ignorant and super- 
 stitious, and very low in the scale of civilization. 
 They are strong, powerful men, hard workers, 
 willing, and capable of severe exertion under 
 great privations. Their good qualities are 
 most apparent when their circumstances are 
 most adverse ; prosperity only brings out their 
 vices. When half starved they will work 
 without complaint till they drop, and they 
 have no notion of giving in. I should be loth 
 to recommend that a Mendi boy should be 
 flogged daily and half starved ; yet I cannot 
 doubt, from my experience of him, that such
 
 168 THE NIGER SOURCES 
 
 a treatment would bring out the best side of 
 his nature and keep down his vices. 
 
 At the same time, though valuable and 
 courageous workers, the Mendi are collectively 
 of no value for fighting purposes, nor are they 
 to be dreaded as enemies. There is amongst 
 them no discipline, cohesion, or binding motive 
 to give them the power of carrying out a 
 common purpose. They have the greatest 
 dread of white men, and are ready to obey 
 them like slaves do their masters. 
 
 All the other races of West Africa treat the 
 Mendi with scorn and abuse. It is the greatest 
 insult possible to call a Susu a " Mendi boy," 
 and I sometimes found this term a useful way 
 of reproving the Susu servant and hammock- 
 boys. Even the Kuranko, timid as they are, 
 never failed to attack the Mendi boys when 
 circumstances were sufficiently favourable to 
 them. At Kruto, one of our carriers was 
 seriously assaulted by the people. I endea- 
 voured to fathom the reason of the hostility 
 of the Kuranko, supposing that the Mendi 
 must have committed some offence. The
 
 PEOPLE OF SIERRA LEONE 169 
 
 Chief at first made one excuse after another, 
 but, on being pressed, said at last that the 
 truth was the carrier was a Mendi, and that 
 when his people found a Mendi alone, they 
 could not help attacking him ; it was in their 
 blood. 
 
 The Mendi appear to be above the weak- 
 ness of .personal vanity ; they take no pains 
 to adorn themselves. Their clothing is of 
 the lightest order, and generally in a frag- 
 mentary condition. 
 
 The extraordinary superstitiousness of this 
 people has recently been practically demon- 
 strated by what are called the leopard murders 
 in the Imperri district. These murders, of 
 which many cases have been reported, are 
 committed by men dressed up in leopard 
 skins, and armed with a sharp-pointed knife 
 attached by a ring to each wrist. The wearer 
 of the leopard skin watches in the bush any 
 unwary person who passes near him, and, 
 coming behind his victim, he brings his two 
 knives together in the unsuspecting man's 
 throat. The object of these murders is to
 
 170 THE NIGER SOURCES 
 
 obtain parts of the murdered man's body, 
 which are supposed to confer great advantages 
 on the murderer. 
 
 Of the Kuranko I have spoken before, 
 and need only say here that, though supersti- 
 tious and ignorant, and though they have not 
 been brought into contact with the white 
 people and their civilization, as have the 
 Mendi, they are yet somewhat in advance 
 of the latter. Perhaps the Mohammedan 
 element, of which there is a sprinkling in 
 Kuranko country, has something to do with 
 their superiority. 
 
 The Susu, who occupy the country along 
 the Great Skarsies river, and the northern 
 boundary of the Protectorate, are a very 
 different people from either Kuranko or 
 Mendi. They are to be found generally as 
 hammock-boys and servants, and in superior 
 positions. They are Mohammedans, and, as 
 such, greatly in advance of the pagans and 
 fetish worshippers. They are intelligent, self- 
 reliant, and brave, often of great strength and 
 activity, and able to undergo great fatigues.
 
 PEOPLE OF SIERRA LEONE 171 
 
 Morally, they are enormously superior to the 
 Mendi, whom they regard with great con- 
 tempt. They are not, however, gifted with 
 the dumb endurance of the Mendi, and if 
 they suffer, it is not in silence. They are 
 generally vain and very fond of show ; they 
 will travel through the bush with hardly a rag 
 on, but when they enter a town will dress 
 themselves in flowing robes and bright colours. 
 Some of our boys seemed to buy a different 
 change of apparel at every place of importance 
 they entered. 
 
 The Susu generally are excellent marchers 
 and mountaineers. They were of great service 
 in helping us to climb rocks, gorges, and deep 
 places, and to get over swamps and rivers. 
 I was always accompanied by a powerful 
 Susu hammock-boy, who brought me sucess- 
 fully through every difficulty. These boys 
 are very attentive and very faithful, and make 
 good servants and attendants, and are often 
 of great use in dealing with the natives of 
 villages passed through when anything is 
 required.
 
 i;2 THE NIGER SOURCES 
 
 As the Susu are more advanced than the 
 Kuranko and Mendi, so their requirements 
 are higher. They expect better feeding and 
 better treatment, and they are more ready 
 to complain than the others when they have 
 to put up with hard work and starvation diet. 
 They are not by any means as submissive 
 as the Mendi, and are apt to resent the 
 discipline imposed on them in camp and on 
 the march. Like the Limba, they are much 
 more warlike than the Kuranko and Mendi, 
 and might be made into good soldiers. 
 
 But, although the natives of the Protectorate 
 differ in degree as regards their fighting 
 capacities, none of the people are, in any 
 but a comparative sense, warlike, nor is it 
 likely that they will ever be difficult to keep 
 under control. Favoured by local circum- 
 stances, such as, for instance, a position like 
 Kurubundo, a native Chief may give trouble 
 for a few weeks, but no more serious difficulty 
 is to be anticipated. The country is no doubt 
 well suited for those who seek to resist auth- 
 ority, but the people possess neither initiative,
 
 PEOPLE OF SIERRA LEONE 173 
 
 cohesion, nor strength of purpose sufficient to 
 give serious trouble. 
 
 The real fighting races of this part of West 
 Africa hail from the French side of the border. 
 The men we saw with caravans of trade from 
 the Middle Niger, or travelling with their 
 slaves to Freetown, are splendidly built, of 
 great stature, and with the bearing, dignity, 
 and manner of gentlemen. It is easy to see 
 that the people of which these men are repre- 
 sentatives must be independent, patriotic, and 
 imbued with strong religious feelings. To 
 subdue such a race must be a work of great 
 difficulty, requiring much judgment, but when 
 the task has been done, a grand field for re- 
 cruiting soldiers and officials will be opened up. 
 
 Again, the Senegalese and the people of 
 Futa Jallon are fine, hardy fellows, fighting 
 men by birth, and, under the leading of white 
 officers, no better troops can be found. Their 
 value has been proved in the many campaigns 
 which the French have waged against the 
 Sofas, and in their expedition against Dahome. 
 They are splendid marchers, full of self-reliance,
 
 174 THE NIGER SOURCES 
 
 and can be trusted alone to carry out any 
 task confided to them. 
 
 The strong point common to all the natives 
 of the British Protectorate is their light- 
 heartedness. No one who has not met these 
 West Africans knows what laughing means. 
 Nor is there any limit to the occasions on 
 which they indulge in merriment. They laugh 
 when most men are inclined to take a very 
 opposite course. Their very sins are pro- 
 ductive of merriment. When they are con- 
 victed of theft they laugh, when caught in a 
 lie they roar, and if, during the time that 
 they are expiating their crimes, their merriment 
 ceases, I am convinced that this is rather 
 from motives of policy than because they do 
 not thoroughly appreciate the humour of the 
 situation. Indeed the highest form of amuse- 
 ment possible for a native is to see his 
 brother or dearest friend undergoing the 
 penalty of the law. In dealing with these 
 people one is at first led to plume oneself 
 with the belief that there is something pecul- 
 iarly humorous about one's expressions and
 
 PEOPLE OF SIERRA LEONE 175 
 
 remarks, but when one hears the remarks of 
 a friend, which strike one as singularly 
 commonplace, greeted with the same roars of 
 laughter, this flattering imagination is speedily 
 dissipated. In civilized lands few men can 
 pose as humorists with success ; in West 
 Africa, do what he will, no one can escape 
 from having this honour thrust upon him. 
 
 It is impossible to give any even very rough 
 estimate of the population of the Protectorate. 
 About certain parts the villages are numerous 
 and close together. This is especially the 
 case along the Great Skarsies, south of Ku- 
 kuna. The villages here are not only very 
 numerous, but of a good size. The largest 
 towns we saw contained not more than a 
 hundred huts, which would place the popula- 
 tion at not more than 1000 souls, as nearly 
 as I can judge. But there were few towns 
 as big as this ; Kambia and Kukuna alone, 
 I should say, had as many as a hundred huts. 
 In the second rank, with between fifty and a 
 hundred huts, come Kiridugu, Bumban, Port 
 Lokko, Kruto, Berea Futambu, Saionia, and
 
 i;6 THE NIGER SOURCES 
 
 Berekuri. Kuranko country, generally, is 
 sparsely populated, but it is impossible to 
 say how many of the people are still hiding 
 in the bush, and may return to towns when 
 they realize that they are under protection. 
 But under any circumstances the population 
 cannot be large, and it will need some years 
 of settled government before cultivation can 
 cover more than a very small percentage of 
 the area of the country. 
 
 In the southern part of the Protectorate the 
 population is greater than in the north, and 
 there are many fair-sized towns extending right 
 up to the Liberian frontier. From a very 
 rough estimate, based partly upon observation 
 and partly upon hearsay, I should say that 
 the total number of natives in the Protectorate 
 does not exceed 500,000, but it must be under- 
 stood that no sufficient data are forthcoming 
 to give any real value to these figures. The 
 country has not yet been by any means 
 thoroughly explored, and it is possible that 
 many towns may be found whose existence is 
 at present unknown to the civilized world.
 
 PEOPLE OF SIERRA LEONE 177 
 
 The people of these countries are remarkably 
 amenable to the native administration in force. 
 The government is of the patriarchal order : a 
 country is ruled by a Chief, under whom are 
 sub-chiefs, who again exercise authority over 
 the head-men of villages. The Chief appears 
 to be obeyed without hesitation, although the 
 only executive he possesses consists of the 
 people themselves. As far as I could learn 
 crimes against property and person are rare ; 
 at any rate, any action of the executive is un- 
 common. Political intrigue and faction are 
 not unknown, especially with regard to the 
 position of Chief of a district, or to the posses- 
 sion of certain lands by one tribe or another, 
 but I saw or heard very little of the crimes 
 of the individual. The Chiefs told me that for 
 stealing or violence they order the offender's 
 hand to be cut off, but they said that this 
 punishment was in practice very rarely resorted 
 to, and I never met with an instance of a man 
 who had been so treated. At Bumban, indeed, 
 the Chief with his own hands flogged one of 
 his people, and had him marched through the
 
 i;8 THE NIGER SOURCES 
 
 town in chains, the nominal charge being that 
 he had stolen something from our people ; but 
 I believe this was done mainly as a sort of 
 compliment to the British Commission, and, 
 perhaps, also to exemplify how sternly the law 
 was administered in his dominions. But, 
 except in this case, I never heard of the law 
 being put in motion against any native, and 
 I am bound to believe that the people are, as a 
 rule, a law-abiding race. I do not desire to 
 imply that thefts are unknown with them ; far 
 from it ; but I conclude that the interchange of 
 property rarely takes such unnatural propor- 
 tions as to call for the interposition of the law, 
 and I quite believe that crimes of individual 
 violence are very rare. 
 
 All property belongs to the Chief, who dis- 
 tributes it as he pleases. Our presents were 
 always made to the Chief, but he was either 
 generous or polite enough to give his followers 
 a fair share of what he received. 
 
 The Protectorate is, I believe, being admin- 
 istered by the native law as it stands, all 
 barbarous punishments and methods being,
 
 PEOPLE OF SIERRA LEONE 179 
 
 of course, excluded. I have no doubt that 
 little difficulty will be experienced in ruling 
 the country in this way, and that the people 
 will prove amenable to the management 
 of the white man so long as their customs 
 and mode of life are not seriously interfered 
 with. 
 
 The West African natives are not long lived. 
 They are not, indeed, subject to the diseases 
 which are specially fatal to Europeans dwelling 
 in their country, and, as regards malaria, their 
 constitutions appear to have become inoculated 
 with the germs of the poison, and they enjoy 
 immunity more or less complete from fevers. 
 But they suffer from their own ailments, of 
 which chest diseases and smallpox are the chief. 
 For working purposes a man over thirty-five is 
 of very little value, and a man of forty is 
 regarded as an old man. Our oldest carrier 
 was about forty, and he, though relieved from 
 carrying a load, broke down at Tembi Kunda, 
 and died of bronchitis. One rarely meets a 
 man of the apparent age of sixty in the 
 interior. It is, of course, not possible to
 
 i8o THE NIGER SOURCES 
 
 ascertain exact ages; one can only judge from 
 appearances, but old men are certainly not 
 very plentiful. 
 
 As regards the female sex, the views pre- 
 valent in Europe and America seem to have 
 made little way in West Africa ; the woman 
 is little better than a slave and a beast of 
 burden. The hard work falls mainly on the 
 women ; the privileges are confined to the 
 male sex. The women cultivate the fields, 
 card and spin cotton, beat the husk rice, and 
 prepare the food. The men work also in the 
 fields, cut roads, and build huts, so that all 
 the heavy manual labour is not, as in some 
 parts of Africa, laid upon the women. In all 
 ceremonials, processions, palavers, and dances, 
 the men only take part, but occasionally the 
 women act as a sort of chorus to applaud the 
 dancing of a Chief. 
 
 Polygamy is prevalent everywhere in the 
 interior, but it is the privilege of the select 
 few. The rank and file of a West African 
 village have rarely more than one wife, whilst 
 the Chief, according to his status, numbers
 
 PEOPLE OF SIERRA LEONE 181 
 
 his wives and female slaves by tens or even 
 hundreds. I understand that many of the 
 Chiefs consider the entire womankind of their 
 country to be their property, and they tell 
 off those whom they do not consider good 
 enough to keep themselves to their relatives, 
 friends, and subjects. 
 
 We were shown in Kuranko country whips 
 with thongs of strips of leather, which we 
 were informed were used for beating the 
 women. On being told that in our country 
 no one ever struck a woman, great astonish- 
 ment was expressed, and we were asked how 
 we got our chop (food) without resorting to 
 the whip. I am bound to say, however, that 
 although we spent many hours, day after day, 
 in native villages, and had daily opportunities 
 for observing the native ways, no single in- 
 stance of harshness towards a woman came 
 under our notice. 
 
 In certain parts of the interior, especially 
 in the coast region, the custom of bundi, or 
 the performance of a degrading operation on 
 young girls approaching the age of puberty,
 
 i82 THE NIGER SOURCES 
 
 is carried out with great ceremony. The 
 girls are kept in a separate house and dis- 
 tinguished by a special dress for a month 
 before the date, and the day is observed with 
 dancing and festivities.
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 
 THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE INTERIOR, AND 
 
 THE INFLUENCE UPON IT OF THE 
 
 HEALTH QUESTION 
 
 T N the last chapter on several occasions I 
 have made use of the word "Protectorate." 
 It should have been mentioned earlier that 
 the territory lying within the Anglo-French 
 boundary, as recently demarcated, and the 
 Anglo- Liberian boundary, and outside of the 
 colony of Sierra Leone proper, which till 1896 
 was merely a British sphere of influence, was 
 last year declared a Protectorate. Deputy- 
 Commissioners have been appointed to look 
 after the administration of this country, one to 
 each Frontier Police district, and the number 
 of white men permanently quartered in the 
 interior is thus doubled.
 
 1 84 THE NIGER SOURCES 
 
 It has become a matter of considerable im- 
 portance to consider what is to be done with 
 regard to developing this country, containing, 
 as it does, from 15,000 to 20,000 square miles 
 of territory. The exact area of the British 
 Protectorate cannot be ascertained till the 
 course of the Mano river has been mapped. 
 From the data now in our possession I make 
 it out to be something over 18,000 square 
 miles. That a serious effort must be made 
 to win this large extent of ground to commerce 
 and to civilization is, I think, a postulate which 
 no one will be inclined to question. The many 
 valuable lives which have been sacrificed in 
 opening up the country are all pledges of our 
 intention to complete the task, pledges which 
 still remain to be redeemed. It is a very 
 remarkable thing that, though this land lies 
 so near to our shores, not a penny has been 
 spent in developing it. The interior trade has, 
 indeed, been sought for, and promoted, but 
 the country of the Protectorate is to-day un- 
 touched. On its fifteen or twenty thousand 
 square miles nothing is produced but the little
 
 THE HEALTH QUESTION 185 
 
 the natives require for their daily wants, and 
 what nature, unaided, puts forth. What the 
 ground is capable of, experience alone can 
 decide. The soil is undoubtedly fertile, water 
 is abundant everywhere, and cultivation can 
 be carried on without artificial irrigation. The 
 rice grown in the country is of the best quality 
 as regards flavour and size, though it is said 
 that the English merchants will not touch it 
 on account of a slight reddish tinge it has 
 after being cleaned. Tobacco of an inferior 
 quality is grown in abundance, but I believe 
 there is no reason why a leaf of the best 
 quality should not be just as easily cultivated. 
 Coffee of a marketable kind is now produced 
 in the colony of Sierra Leone and in Liberia, 
 and the interior should be able at least 
 to do what the coast can do. Many parts 
 of the hilly country are well suited for coffee 
 growing. Fruit and vegetables of every species 
 suited to tropical climates grow readily in 
 Freetown, and could undoubtedly be produced 
 anywhere in the interior. But the country 
 included in the Protectorate now supplies to
 
 i86 THE NIGER SOURCES 
 
 the markets of Europe nothing but palm 
 oil, palm kernels, ground nuts, kola nuts, 
 and rubber. The palm oil and kernels are 
 obtained mainly from the Sherboro country, the 
 rubber and kola from the interior, especially 
 the south-eastern part. Kola nuts grow every- 
 where in the highlands and are very valuable. 
 A considerable trade in this product is carried 
 on with the French Sudan. Rubber is found 
 in all the valleys along the eastern and northern 
 boundaries, as well as in the south-eastern 
 districts, where it is still more abundant. It 
 is obtained either from the rubber tree, or 
 from the rubber vine, a creeper which twines 
 round the stems of the large trees. But in 
 Kuranko country nothing is understood con- 
 cerning the value of rubber, and, as I was 
 often told by the Chief, the people have never 
 been taught how to extract it from the tree. 
 In the Sulima country I am told that the 
 natives are destroying the trees in order to 
 extract the rubber. It comes forth in the form 
 of a white gum wherever an incision is made, 
 and some knowledge is necessary to make
 
 THE HEALTH QUESTION 187 
 
 the incision in such a way as not to injure 
 the tree or creeper. The destruction of the 
 trees is a serious matter for the prospects of 
 the country. Well-instructed natives would, 
 no doubt, make considerable profits if they 
 were taught how the maximum of rubber might 
 be secured without injury to the plants, and 
 it is to be hoped that steps may be taken to 
 protect this very important industry. 
 
 But granting the productive power of the 
 country, and the value of what it can supply 
 for export, the cost of carriage to the coast 
 is so great as to eat up all profits which 
 the producer can make by the sale of his 
 goods. Bulky articles can, indeed, hardly 
 be transported at all. Roughly speaking, the 
 cost of carriage at Sierra Leone prices would 
 add 2^d. per Ib. for every 100 miles to the 
 price at which an article must be disposed of 
 to secure a profit. This is entirely due to the 
 carrier system in force in West Africa. It 
 cannot be doubted that this system can never 
 be applied with success to matters of commerce 
 where a civilized government exists ; it is
 
 i88 THE NIGER SOURCES 
 
 possible only where slavery is in force. The 
 caravans from the Middle Niger which come 
 to Freetown in the dry season consist of 
 gangs of slaves bearing loads, with their 
 masters. But this system is impossible for 
 British subjects, and the whole question of 
 the development of the country is in the first 
 place a matter of the opening up of com- 
 munications, and the substitution of some 
 more profitable means of transport for the 
 native carrier. The railway line now being 
 constructed to Songo Town, and eventually to 
 reach the upper Sulima river country, will 
 form the main trunk line for the trade of the 
 most productive part of the Protectorate, but 
 it will tap but a small part of the country, 
 and much more is required. Good roads, 
 wide enough for wheel traffic, with arrange- 
 ments for crossing the unfordable rivers, are 
 the first requirement. In the northern half 
 of the Protectorate roads are required (i) from 
 Kambia and Kukuna to Saionia, Yana, and 
 Dumbaia, and to the plateaux formed by the 
 spurs north of the last-named place, as well
 
 THE HEALTH QUESTION 189 
 
 as to the French frontier at Ula ; (2) from 
 Port Lokko to Bumban and Falaba, and 
 thence to Simitia, to Kalieri, to Berea Fut- 
 ambu and Heremakono, and to Berea Tim- 
 bako and Songoia Tintarba ; (3) from Port 
 Lokko or Rokell to Kruto, and thence to 
 Kurubundo, Bali, and Samaindu. As to the 
 roads required in the southern part of the 
 Protectorate, it is impossible to speak without 
 a knowledge of the country, but it seems 
 probable that at least two main roads ter- 
 minating at Senahu and Sulima, and con- 
 verging towards Kaure Lahun, are necessary. 
 No great difficulty is to be faced in the 
 construction of these roads. It would be 
 sufficient in the coast region to indicate the 
 direction, and in the mountainous country 
 to mark out the lines, to be followed ; the 
 local Chiefs would naturally be responsible 
 for clearing and keeping clear the track to 
 the required width, and once it began to be 
 used, the wheels would keep down the vege- 
 tation. The swamps are a difficulty, but 
 elephant grass and wood are so plentiful
 
 190 THE NIGER SOURCES 
 
 everywhere, that it would be possible without 
 much labour to corduroy them. An arrange- 
 ment, such as the pontoon in use in South 
 Africa, would serve to ferry carts across the 
 larger rivers, and could be worked by means 
 of the creepers which are so abundant on 
 the river banks. 
 
 It has been supposed that cattle and horses 
 cannot exist in the interior. Whatever may 
 be the case in Freetown itself and the im- 
 mediate neighbourhood, it is certainly not so 
 up country. That cattle and horses are not 
 numerous in Kuranko country is due entirely 
 to the poverty of the people and to the Sofa 
 raids. What animals are to be found are in 
 a flourishing condition, and the Chiefs all 
 told me they thrive well. In the hill country 
 of Tamisso, the large herds of cattle we 
 saw were all in the best possible state. As 
 regards transport animals, the experience fur- 
 nished by the French riding mules is of 
 great value. These animals, four in number, 
 were obtained from the transport company 
 at Dakar; they accompanied the expedition
 
 THE HEALTH QUESTION 191 
 
 everywhere, and were ridden daily through 
 every description of country. They swam the 
 unfordable rivers ; crossed the worst swamps 
 with the aid of bundles of elephant grass 
 thrown down on the spongy ground ; climbed 
 every mountain with the footmen, and were 
 never defeated. They were fed with grain 
 (rice or guinea-corn), when grain was avail- 
 able, and when not available they grazed the 
 herbage to be found. They were never sick, 
 and at the end of the work were all in the 
 best condition. The advantages of mules, 
 as opposed to hammocks, are very great, 
 especially when working off the main roads ; 
 a hammock cannot be used except on a road 
 which has been cleared of bush ; if it is 
 attempted, the occupant experiences many 
 pleasing surprises by finding himself projected, 
 in sitting attitude, with great violence against 
 a stump of a tree, or a strong shrub. After a 
 few such surprises only the most reckless will 
 attempt to ride in the West African carriage 
 again, except on the best of roads. The 
 mule, on the other hand, goes everywhere,
 
 192 THE NIGER SOURCES 
 
 and rarely makes a mistake. Again, the five 
 or six hammock-boys allowed to each ham- 
 mock are a serious strain on commissariat 
 resources and a great expense ; the mule 
 requires but one attendant, and where there 
 are a number of mules, one attendant between 
 two or three is enough. 
 
 The French have very justly a great faith 
 in mules ; they have used them in all their 
 West African possessions, and in the Dahome 
 campaign they found them very valuable. It 
 is strange that no attempt has been made in 
 British colonies to use even pack, transport, 
 or riding mules. Considering the costliness 
 of carriers, the difficulty of feeding them and 
 of maintaining discipline amongst them, the 
 advantages of the substitution of mules would 
 be very great. 
 
 There is no tsetse fly in any part of the 
 country our expedition passed through, and I 
 think it is very unlikely that any conditions 
 exist unfavourable to the life of horse or 
 mule anywhere within the Protectorate, except 
 perhaps near the coast in the low country.
 
 THE HEALTH QUESTION 193 
 
 The Sofas brought large numbers of horses 
 into the northern and eastern parts of the 
 country when they invaded it, and for a long 
 time had a considerable establishment at and 
 about Heremakono. They have for years 
 marched, countermarched, and fought in the 
 parts of the Western Sudan which join the 
 Sierra Leone Protectorate, and have always 
 been accompanied by a large proportion of 
 mounted men. 
 
 As far as the interior trade goes, the diffi- 
 culty of revolutionizing the system of transport 
 lies herein, that the trade is entirely in the 
 hands of the natives. The British trader has 
 nothing to do with it ; he buys at the coast 
 and sells at the coast, and there his interest 
 ceases. Small native traders from places 
 within the Protectorate occasionally take up 
 portable articles into the interior, with which 
 they buy rubber, kola, and gold, but of the 
 British trade goods sold in the year the 
 principal part is handed across the counter in 
 the factories at Freetown and other coast 
 towns to pay for the articles of export brought
 
 194 THE NIGER SOURCES 
 
 down from the interior. These articles are 
 carried after a system more or less directly 
 allied to slavery, and to abolish such a system 
 on economical grounds is no easy task. But 
 the merchant has much to gain by bringing 
 his wares to the consumer, or as near to him 
 as he can conveniently get. He is able then 
 not only to deal directly with the consumer, 
 but also to watch over the production of the 
 articles of export with which his goods are 
 paid for. What is required, in short, is the 
 establishment in the interior of stations and 
 factories, where the natives under the super- 
 vision of experts can cultivate coffee, tobacco, 
 indigo, kola, grain, rubber trees, and every- 
 thing which can be grown at a profit, and 
 where at the same time British trade goods 
 can be sold. 
 
 But the question then arises, Can the 
 European exist in the interior of West Africa, 
 or can life there be rendered endurable both 
 as regards the prospect of health and the 
 surroundings ? Upon the answer to this 
 question the development of our West African
 
 THE HEALTH QUESTION 195 
 
 possessions entirely depends. It is from be- 
 ginning to end a matter of health. Indeed, 
 everything connected with the West Coast 
 must be considered first and foremost from 
 the health point of view. The climate has 
 an evil reputation, which those most interested 
 in the development of the country cannot 
 gainsay, and I certainly should be the last to 
 recommend Sierra Leone as the most suitable 
 place for a young man to settle in. Still, the 
 devil is not so black as he is painted, and 
 the climate of Sierra Leone is not responsible 
 for all the fatalities which have been attri- 
 buted to it. As regards the interior, I desire 
 to speak with caution. The casual visitor has 
 no right to constitute himself a judge of a 
 country which he has not seen at all seasons 
 and under all circumstances, and the layman 
 has no right to lay down the law on matters 
 which lie within the province of the medical 
 expert. I confine myself, therefore, to saying 
 that outside of the coast region, i.e. at an 
 elevation of from 1500 to 3000 feet above sea 
 level, the air is perceptibly much fresher, the
 
 196 THE NIGER SOURCES 
 
 capacity for work is undoubtedly greater, and 
 the night temperature, as recorded by the 
 thermometer, is, in the dry season at least, 
 much lower than in the low country. It is 
 an undisputable fact that the Frontier Police 
 officers quartered in the interior have suffered 
 greatly from fever, and that the mortality 
 amongst them has been exceptionally great. 
 But, on the other hand, it must be borne in 
 mind that these officers have lived beyond 
 the reach of the comforts and necessaries 
 which, as every dweller on the West Coast 
 admits, are essential to the maintenance of 
 health. In such a climate, to rough it on 
 what the country affords is to court fever. 
 Every man should live well, at any rate in the 
 sense that his menu should include first-class 
 groceries and articles of a high food value ; 
 but this is impossible to any one dependent 
 on carrier transport. Where good communi- 
 cations exist, the difficulty passes away. But 
 the Frontier Police officers in the interior have 
 hitherto been quartered at places which, with 
 one exception, that of Falaba. may be said to
 
 THE HEALTH QUESTION 197 
 
 belong to the coast region, and not to the 
 high lands. At Falaba the officers have 
 suffered very little from fever, and I learned 
 from one, who left Falaba before our expedi- 
 tion got to Tembi Kunda, that during fifteen 
 months' stay at that place he had never once 
 suffered from fever. We learned also from 
 the French officers that their Sudan stations, 
 which join our frontier posts, have been very 
 unhealthy for some years, but that by adopting 
 sanitary measures, and by making the places 
 as comfortable as circumstances admitted, the 
 rate of invaliding has been greatly reduced, 
 and that the sickness recently has been trifling. 
 There can be no doubt that in making an 
 European settlement care should be taken to 
 adopt the strictest sanitary precautions, and 
 particularly to protect from contamination the 
 water supply. The natives themselves are 
 very careless on this matter, and on many 
 occasions we found them using for drinking 
 purposes water which had already done duty 
 for flushing sewage. Again, it is very neces- 
 sary that the ground should be trenched in
 
 198 THE NIGER SOURCES 
 
 making a station, both for building purposes, 
 and also for the cultivation of vegetables ; but 
 in doing this care must be taken, for to turn 
 up the ground has always been found to be 
 an unfailing cause of fever. 
 
 There are several places in the northern 
 half of the Protectorate where posts might be 
 established for Europeans. The high ground 
 of the watershed on the eastern frontier is 
 well suited to such a purpose, as is also the 
 country between Kruto and Falaba. Further 
 west the plateaux above Dumbaia would make 
 a place, if difficult to reach, at any rate very 
 pleasant to live in, and here a cattle industry 
 might be carried on with profit. 
 
 In any of the higher parts of the country 
 posts may be established with little difficulty. 
 Whatever may be the disadvantages of the 
 Sierra Leone Protectorate, one is always cer- 
 tain of finding water and fuel within easy 
 distance of any place selected as a station. 
 The water is not always of the best quality, 
 although I believe the water in this part is, 
 generally speaking, better than in the other
 
 THE HEALTH QUESTION 199 
 
 British Colonies and Dependencies of West 
 Africa ; but water of fairly good quality can 
 generally be met with near all stations, and 
 it would be a very easy matter to arrange 
 stations in good positions near a good water 
 supply and at the same time within easy reach 
 of the main trade routes. In order that a 
 station should have the greatest prospect of 
 being healthy for Europeans it should have a 
 height above sea level of not less than 1500 
 feet, and it should be on the highest ground 
 in the neighbourhood, which should be, as far 
 as possible, open and free from swamp. The 
 worst swamps are found in the low ground of 
 the coast region, but bad swamps are also 
 met with in country of a relative height of 
 1500 feet. Above this level swamp is found 
 in the valleys, but not of so deep and foul a 
 kind as in the lower countries. 
 
 There are plenty of places within the Pro- 
 tectorate which satisfy all these conditions, and 
 granted that good communication is made from 
 the places selected to the coast, so that European 
 supplies can be sent up cheaply, I am convinced
 
 200 THE NIGER SOURCES 
 
 that these stations will be found healthier than 
 those on the coast, and much pleasanter to 
 live in. Indeed, if any towns could once be 
 established in the best parts of the interior, 
 I believe that, after they had undergone a 
 period of probation of a year or two, the 
 climate of West Africa would obtain a better 
 reputation. One of the worst features of Free- 
 town is the complete absence of any form of 
 occupation or recreation for the European 
 population during their spare time. In the 
 interior they would at least find some inter- 
 esting sport, and they would have energy for 
 some of the recreations which the climate of 
 the coast excludes. 
 
 One of the most necessary steps to the 
 development of the country is the encourage- 
 ment of the native population to settle in 
 their own countries, and to devote themselves 
 to cultivating the soil. Hitherto the people 
 of the eastern frontier have been driven to 
 seek shelter in the bush in various parts of 
 the country, whilst their lands have gone 
 out of cultivation, and their towns have been
 
 THE HEALTH QUESTION 201 
 
 destroyed ; and the peoples of other parts 
 have been drawn away from their villages to 
 the coast to seek work as carriers, servants, 
 and hammock-boys. A large trade has always 
 been done in Freetown in organizing carrier 
 transport, and the work has a singular attrac- 
 tion for the native, not because he receives 
 more than when paid by the day in Freetown, 
 but because, not being paid till the expedition 
 with which he serves returns to the coast, 
 he comes in for an accumulation which re- 
 presents a small fortune to him. Carriers have 
 been collected at Freetown for the various 
 wars on the West Coast in the Gambia, 
 Gold Coast, Lagos, and Niger territories, and 
 large numbers have been seduced by promises 
 of high pay to go and serve in the Congo 
 Free State as labourers on the railway or as 
 soldiers. The country has to some extent 
 suffered depopulation by the large drafts en- 
 listed for the Congo Free State, and this 
 matter has become so serious that the Gov- 
 ernor of Sierra Leone has now put a stop 
 to it. If the carrier transport system is to
 
 202 THE NIGER SOURCES 
 
 meet with the death which it certainly deserves, 
 and is to be succeeded by some more modern 
 and less expensive method, the large floating 
 population of Freetown will have to seek for 
 work in some other direction, and it may be 
 hoped they will return to their villages and 
 increase the production of the country. 
 
 The future of the country is, I imagine, 
 entirely dependent on the cultivation of the 
 products of the soil. Of mineral wealth, I 
 believe, there is little indication. The geolo- 
 gical formation, as far as we could trace it, 
 appears to vary little throughout the country. 
 What exposed rock surfaces we saw were of 
 volcanic origin, and consisted of granite, and 
 quartzose rock or laterite, except only in 
 the country of the Tamisso hills, which are 
 composed of schistose stratified rock. It may 
 be that in the future prospectors will discover 
 something of value hidden beneath the surface 
 of the ground, but, according to our present 
 information, the Sierra Leone interior does 
 not- possess the hidden wealth which is be- 
 lieved to exist in the Gold Coast colony.
 
 THE HEALTH QUESTION 203 
 
 To recapitulate: the main steps to be taken 
 in developing the country are to open up a 
 regular system of communication for wheel 
 transport, and to establish posts on the high 
 ground of the interior. Traders might be 
 induced to settle in the interior, representing 
 companies with concessions to work certain 
 districts, and they could promote the cultiva- 
 tion of such products as might be grown 
 most profitably. The natives should be en- 
 couraged to settle in their own countries and 
 to cultivate the soil. 
 
 As an additional reason for settling in the 
 interior, it should be mentioned that the coast 
 region is subject to very fatal forms of fevers, 
 at intervals of two or three years, which carry 
 off many lives. During the present year, 
 1897, Sierra Leone has suffered severely. 
 Some valuable lives have been lost ; amongst 
 others Dr. Paris, the native surgeon who 
 accompanied our expedition, the Governor's 
 aide-de-camp, and the Chief Justice have 
 fallen victims to the prevailing unhealthiness. 
 I imagine that the virulent form of fever,
 
 204 THE NIGER SOURCES 
 
 which does such havoc at intervals at Sierra 
 Leone and on the coast, would not be found 
 in the most favourably situated positions in 
 the interior, and that selected stations would 
 thus escape the serious mortality which pre- 
 vails on the coast in unhealthy seasons. I 
 speak in this matter entirely without book, 
 but so far as general information goes, the 
 bad type of fever is limited to the coast 
 region in epidemic form.
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 
 THE GEOGRAPHY AND TOPOGRAPHY OF 
 THE SIERRA LEONE PROTECTORATE 
 
 ^HE geography of the country lying behind 
 the coast line of Sierra Leone has been 
 exceedingly difficult to evolve. It has taken 
 many years of exploration to arrive at the 
 knowledge we now possess, and many valuable 
 lives have been sacrificed in contributing to 
 the work. Even now our knowledge of the 
 country included within the new Protectorate 
 is far from complete, and a wide field is still 
 open for explorers to fill up the many gaps 
 which exist. Yet this very country has been 
 scored by the routes of travellers, soldiers, 
 and explorers, and during the present century 
 a perfect army of Europeans has marched 
 through it at different times and in different
 
 2o6 THE NIGER SOURCES 
 
 directions, many of whom bear names that are 
 famous in the history of African exploration. 
 
 It has been traversed first by Major Gordon 
 Laing, who in 1822 passed near to the sources 
 of the Niger, obtaining a distant view of the 
 Loma Mountain, which was believed to overlook 
 the head waters of the river. Different parts of 
 the interior were visited in 1827 by R. Caillie, 
 in 1842 by W. C. Thompson, in 1851 by H. 
 Hecquard, in 1860 by Lambert, in 1863 by 
 Benjamin Anderson, and in 1869 and 1873 by 
 Winwood Reade. In 1872 Dr. Blyden travelled 
 from the coast by Bafodeya to Falaba, and in 
 1879 Zweifel and Moustier reached the Niger 
 sources from Falaba, and gave to the world a 
 description of them, placing the Tembi source 
 in 8 36' N. latitude and 12 53' W. longitude 
 (Paris), or thirty-one geographical miles north 
 and fourteen miles east of the position as fixed 
 by our Commission, and the sources of the 
 Faliko in 8 45' N. latitude and 12" 45' W. 
 longitude (Paris), or 25! geographical miles 
 north of the position as fixed by the French 
 Commissioners.
 
 GEOGRAPHY AND TOPOGRAPHY 207 
 
 In 1882 Herr Ernst Vohsen, afterwards 
 Administrator of German East Africa, and 
 now, as the head of the famous Berlin firm 
 of Dietrich Reimer & Co., one of the most 
 consistent supporters of geographical explora- 
 tion, visited Timmeni country, accompanied 
 by Dr. W. Hume Hart and E. Keller. And 
 amongst the more recent explorers are Major 
 Festing, who visited Samory's country, and 
 afterwards sacrificed his life to the effects of 
 the climate; Lieut. Dumbleton, R.E., who, with 
 Mr. Gouldsbury, marched from the Gambia to 
 Sierra Leone ; Mr. Garrett, who also fell a 
 victim to the climate after rendering valuable 
 services to geography; Major Kenney, R.E., 
 who explored the northern frontier as far as 
 Parana on the Niger in 1891 ; Colonel Ellis' 
 expedition, which traversed the south-east part 
 of the Protectorate in 1893-94, with the object 
 of driving out the Sofas ; and the present 
 Governor, Sir F. Cardew, who has made 
 systematic explorations of the interior every 
 dry season since he first came out, and has 
 secured some valuable information, especially
 
 208 THE NIGER SOURCES 
 
 in 1895, when accompanied by Captain Comp- 
 ton, R.N., and in 1896 when Major Grant, R.E., 
 was his assistant. 
 
 For years the drainage system, that infallible 
 guide to the topography of a country, was 
 altogether misunderstood, and the credit of 
 first clearing up the course of the Melakore 
 and the Great and Small Skarsies rivers 
 belongs to Mr. Garrett, who contributed, before 
 his untimely death, a great deal of most 
 valuable information on the geography and 
 topography of the interior, proving how a 
 painstaking, self-instructed colonial official can 
 utilize to the greatest advantage the oppor- 
 tunities which are put in his way, when his 
 official duties lead him to unknown parts of 
 the country. But the drainage system of the 
 east and south part of the Protectorate still 
 remains to be defined by future explorers, and 
 the courses of the Seli, Bagwe, Bafi, Bafin, 
 Ngeyi, Mantili, Mano, Kittam, Sulima, and 
 many other large rivers, are still very vaguely 
 known and probably very incorrectly described 
 by cartographers.
 
 GEOGRAPHY AND TOPOGRAPHY 209 
 
 The country, as this narrative has explained, 
 is one particularly difficult to explore, from its 
 dense covering of bush, from the want of con- 
 spicuous and easily recognizable landmarks, 
 and from the difficulty of seeing long distances 
 through the hazy, moist atmosphere ; and it 
 is little to be wondered at that individual 
 travellers, making routes through the interior, 
 without accurate instruments, and having no 
 fixed points to close on, should have _led carto- 
 graphers from one mistake to another. But 
 little by little information of a more or less 
 exact description has been collected, till we are 
 at last in possession of so many points fixed 
 with such reasonable claims to accuracy that 
 almost any route made in the future can be 
 referred to one or more of them. From time 
 to time different observers have contributed 
 a number of latitudes, and in some cases many 
 observations at different times and by different 
 hands have been made of the same place. 
 Many longitudes depending upon chronometer 
 ratings have also been observed, and, as 
 naturally might be expected, widely divergent
 
 210 THE NIGER SOURCES 
 
 results have been worked out from the obser- 
 vations of different explorers for the same 
 position. Still, in some cases, so many obser- 
 vations have been taken, that, eliminating the 
 most discordant results, the mean should give 
 a very fair value for the longitude. Thus we 
 have places like Kambia, Bumban, Kukuna, 
 Bafodeya, Falaba, and Wellia, fixed with con- 
 siderable accuracy as regards latitude, and 
 within a probable error of two or three miles 
 in longitude. In addition to these places 
 many towns have been fixed in latitude, and 
 single observations for time have been made at 
 them. Very valuable results were obtained by 
 Major Kenney, C.M.G., in 1891, who worked 
 from the mouth of the Great Skarsies to Wellia 
 and thence to Falaba and Sulimania, observing 
 the latitude and times. The longitudes ob- 
 tained on this occasion require only the 
 confirmation of later observers. 
 
 So much was known before the commence- 
 ment of the work described in this book, and 
 on the data already obtained our work was in a 
 great part based. In marching from Port
 
 GEOGRAPHY AND TOPOGRAPHY 211 
 
 Lokko to Bumban no route traverse was made, 
 but the daily distance marched was checked by 
 using a perambulator, and observations for 
 latitude were made at every halt. The dis- 
 tances of each day's march, as recorded, are 
 given in the itinerary. The perambulator, I 
 may remark, is an instrument whose value 
 cannot be exaggerated for work in a difficult 
 country. Whatever the ground was like, 
 whether rocky or bush covered, the peram- 
 bulator always worked well, and the distances 
 recorded were fully confirmed by the results 
 obtained by astronomical observations. We 
 had, indeed, some little difficulty to contend 
 with at first. The carrier who was told off to 
 wheel the perambulator had been brought up, 
 like every West African, in the belief that his 
 head was given to him to serve the purpose of 
 a saddle on which to rest the 50 or 60 Ibs. 
 which it was his trade to carry daily, and that 
 to lend himself to any other form of transport 
 was to fly in the face of nature. Therefore, 
 whenever he escaped from observation, he 
 would pick up the wheel and carry it on his
 
 212 THE NIGER SOURCES 
 
 head. But we succeeded in curing him of this 
 inherited prejudice before long, and in con- 
 vincing him that he was most valuable when 
 his head was used for no purpose save as an 
 ornament. The perambulator survived the 
 roughest roads and the most difficult trackless 
 country. It was used for our route traverse 
 from Port Lokko to Tembi Kunda ; it then 
 rested while we were working from trigono- 
 metrical points, till we reached the difficult 
 country at the northern end of the watershed 
 boundary. We used it to run a traverse from 
 Salamaia to Songoia Tintarba, and to work 
 from thence to Kalieri, to traverse all the 
 roads about Kalieri, and to take us to the 
 loth parallel. Along the loth parallel it was 
 used to the Kaba river, and thence to the 
 Kita-Lolo junction, and it finally broke down 
 within a day's march of this point. From 
 thence onward distances were paced to Ku- 
 kuna, every member of the British mission 
 recording his pacing, and a mean of results 
 being adopted. The pedometer we found 
 useless ; it recorded fairly well on a road, but
 
 GEOGRAPHY AND TOPOGRAPHY 213 
 
 in crossing country was altogether untrust- 
 worthy. 
 
 The map attached to this work has been 
 constructed in the following way : Port Lokko 
 has been placed in the position assigned to 
 it in previous maps, which is based on 
 Admiralty charts. Bumban has been fixed in 
 the latitude obtained by the British Commis- 
 sion, 9 7' 15" (previous observations giving it 
 as 9 7' 19", c/ 7' 13", 9 7' 7", 9 7' 13"), and in 
 longitude 11 55' 32", the mean of two observa- 
 tions taken by Mr. Garrett and Captain 
 Compton, our meridian distance giving it as 
 11 56' 8". The places between Port Lokko 
 and Bumban have been adjusted by the 
 observations for latitude and the perambulator 
 distances between the two terminal points as 
 fixed above. 
 
 From Bumban a route traverse was made 
 by the British Commission to the Niger 
 sources. This was divided into two stages, 
 the first of which closed at Kruto. The 
 Governor, who explored the country from 
 the Niger sources southwards, was accom-
 
 2i 4 THE NIGER SOURCES 
 
 panied by Major Grant, R. E., an observer 
 of the highest qualifications, who had surveyed 
 the Anglo- Portuguese frontier in South-East 
 Africa with the British delimitation Commis- 
 sion in 1893. Major Grant was specially 
 charged with the duty of fixing the longitude 
 of the Niger sources. He proceeded to Kruto 
 after the British Commission had left Tembi 
 Kunda, travelling up from the coast by a 
 different route from that we had followed. 
 Finding that the moon would be too far 
 advanced by the time he reached Tembi 
 Kunda, he set up his transit instrument at 
 Kruto, and from the mean of six moon cul- 
 minations obtained a longitude of 11 15' 20". 
 With this longitude, and with the latitude 
 obtained by the British Commission of 9 6' 25", 
 mean of four observations the previously 
 obtained latitude by Captain Compton being 
 9 6' 13" the position of Kruto has been fixed 
 on the map, and the traverse has been 
 adjusted between this place and Bumban. 
 
 At Tembi Kunda Major Grant, carrying the 
 time from Kruto with five watches, and re-
 
 GEOGRAPHY AND TOPOGRAPHY 215 
 
 turning at once to Kruto to check his rating, 
 made the longitude by meridian distance 
 10 46' 33" W. The British Commission with 
 watches, assuming Major Grant's longitude 
 for Kruto, made the longitude by meridian 
 distance 10 46' 40", and the French Com- 
 mission by independent observations of lunar 
 distances made it 10 47' o". The latitude 
 obtained by the British Commission for their 
 camp was 9 5' 20" (mean of observations of 
 two pairs of stars), and by the French for 
 theirs was 9 4' 55" by circum-meridian obser- 
 vations. The French camp was situated about 
 a quarter of a mile south of the British camp, 
 and the head of the Tembi ravine was about 
 east of the interval between the two camps. 
 For the map, therefore, the latitude of 9 5' o" 
 and the longitude of 10 47' o" for the Niger 
 sources have been accepted. Between this 
 point and Kruto, as fixed before, the route 
 traverse has been adjusted. 
 
 From Tembi Kunda to the icth parallel of 
 north latitude a triangulated survey was made 
 and was closed north of Kalieri on a point
 
 216 THE NIGER SOURCES 
 
 fixed in latitude only. The three watches 
 which were taken by the British Commissioners 
 all proved untrustworthy after leaving Tembi 
 Kunda, and the meridian distances obtained 
 were manifestly very wrong. We had with 
 us also Captain Hill's apparatus for obtaining 
 the longitude by a series of instantaneous 
 exposures of the moon, taken with a large 
 camera on a solid stand, and by recording on 
 the same negative the trails made by two 
 stars having a declination within 5 of that 
 of the moon. Captain Tyler managed the 
 apparatus, and took and developed five ex- 
 cellent photographs, of which the first three 
 were made at Bumban, at Mussadugu (near 
 the watershed), and near Kalieri. The results, 
 as calculated at home from these photographs, 
 were, however, not satisfactory, and they were 
 rejected in compiling the map. But the tri- 
 angulation closed so nearly, as regards latitude, 
 that, assuming Tembi Kunda to be rightly 
 placed, any sensible error in the longitude of 
 Kalieri is improbable, The triangulated points 
 were, moreover, checked by magnetic bearings
 
 GEOGRAPHY AND TOPOGRAPHY 217 
 
 taken from every observing station. The 
 longitude was further confirmed by that ob- 
 tained for the terminal point of the next section 
 of the survey. 
 
 The longitude of Kalieri, obtained by the 
 triangulation from the position of Tembi 
 Kunda, as fixed above, is approximately 11 
 14' W., or about 3^ miles east of the position 
 given to it on the last published map. The 
 only known observation for longitude there 
 is one by Mr. Garrett in 1890, which makes 
 it n* 1 8' 45". But Mr. Garrett's longitudes 
 are generally about i' west of Major Kenney's 
 in the same district, and as both observers 
 depended on watches, an error of from i' to 
 5' is quite probable. There is collateral 
 evidence, however, that the true longitude of 
 Falaba and Kalieri is east of the positions 
 previously assigned to them, as the general 
 direction of the route from Kruto to Falaba 
 could only be maintained by giving to the 
 former place the longitude of 11 18' 58", 
 obtained by Captain Compton. Major Grant, 
 however, has shown that the true longitude is
 
 218 THE NIGER SOURCES 
 
 11 15' 20", and therefore Koinadugu, placed 
 by Captain Compton in 11 25' W. longitude, 
 must be found about 3' east of this position, 
 and Falaba must be similarly 3' east of the 
 position shown on the last map, which exactly 
 corresponds to the place it should occupy 
 according to the triangulation. 
 
 The next section of the boundary survey 
 extends from the intersection of the loth 
 parallel N. lat. with the watershed boundary 
 to the intersection of the same parallel with 
 the Kaba or Little Skarsies river. The work 
 was done with theodolite and perambulator, 
 the French Commissioners working with a 
 theodolite compass, and measuring distances 
 with a stadiometer. 
 
 An excellent photo, longitude was obtained 
 by Captain Tyler at the Kaba river, which 
 confirmed the perambulator distances, and 
 also agreed most satisfactorily with the longi- 
 tude for the other end of the section obtained 
 by the triangulation. This observation places 
 the Kaba river in longitude 11 55' 57" W. 
 The latitude was also checked at the same
 
 GEOGRAPHY AND TOPOGRAPHY 219 
 
 place by circum-meridian observations of two 
 stars. 
 
 The next and last section of the survey ran 
 from the Kaba river to the Great Skarsies or 
 Kolinte at Wellia. For Wellia we had Major 
 Kenney's longitude, 12 33' 57", obtained by 
 meridian distance from Freetown. Our own 
 meridian distance gave to Wellia a longitude 
 of 12 35' 35", whilst a very good photograph 
 by Captain Tyler brought the longitude to 
 12 31' 32". A mean of these results has 
 been adopted for the map. The latitudes 
 found by circum-meridian observations of stars 
 for the Kita-Lolo junction, 9 52' 40", the point 
 on the Kita river 1500 metres north of Lak- 
 hata, 9 56' o", and for Wellia, 9 50' 40", have 
 been adopted, and the survey has been adjusted 
 on these points. The work of the French 
 Commission from the junction of the loth 
 parallel and the Great Skarsies river was done 
 independently, and was placed freely at our 
 disposal by Captain Passaga. It strengthens 
 the opinion formed by us as to the accuracy 
 of the framework of points on which the
 
 220 THE NIGER SOURCES 
 
 survey has been adjusted, and considering the 
 knowledge acquired by previous observers, and 
 the assistance we had placed at our disposal 
 from Major Grant and from the French Com- 
 missioners, it is probable that the error in the 
 points forming the framework is limited to a 
 possible i' of longitude. 
 
 On our journey coastwards from Wellia 
 to Kambia, we made a route traverse, using 
 prismatic compass and taking a mean of the 
 distances paced by the five Europeans of our 
 party. Astronomical observations were impos- 
 sible, the sky being clouded every night, and, 
 though we had a theodolite set up ready for 
 use, we never succeeded in getting a star. We 
 therefore accepted the position of Kukuna as 
 given on previous maps, as in latitude 
 9 2 3' 55" an d longitude 12 40' 21" W. This 
 is taken from observations by Major Kenney, 
 R.E., Mr. Garrett having fixed the town in 
 9 23' 45" N. latitude, and 12 45' 20" W. 
 longitude. Between Kukuna as thus fixed 
 and Wellia as given above our route traverse 
 was adjusted. The distances agreed closely
 
 GEOGRAPHY AND TOPOGRAPHY 221 
 
 with those given on the map, and the ground 
 being hard and the roads straight, we marched 
 directly from point to point. 
 
 South of Kukuna survey work was sus- 
 pended, as the route thence to Kambia 
 is well known, and has been frequently 
 traversed. 
 
 The advantage of the work done by the 
 British and French Commissions, and by Sir 
 F. Cardew's expedition, towards the future 
 clearing up of the geography and topography 
 of the Sierra Leone Protectorate and of the 
 adjoining part of the Western Sudan is very 
 great, not from any intrinsic merit of the work 
 itself, but because of the direction taken by 
 the expeditions. This will be at once apparent 
 to any cartographer. By running a survey, 
 adjusted on fixed points, completely round a 
 country, a girdle of geographical information 
 is made to encircle the' land, and any routes 
 from known points either inside or outside of 
 the country can be easily adjusted as soon as 
 they touch the frontier. Any one now can 
 do great service with very little trouble by
 
 222 THE NIGER SOURCES 
 
 following with a prismatic compass the roads 
 which run to the frontier from say Yana, 
 Saionia, Bafodeya, Falaba, and Kruto, and by 
 connecting the towns whose position is not 
 very accurately known with one or two well- 
 known points. When this has been done, 
 and when the great rivers of the eastern part 
 of the Protectorate have been explored and 
 traced from their known ends to their em- 
 bouchures, the country will be as well known 
 as any where no high-class survey exists. The 
 work still to be done is necessary not for 
 scientific purposes only, but even more for 
 commercial purposes, in order that the buried 
 cities may be unearthed and the productive 
 capacity of the land may be realized. The 
 world of trade is slow to recognize the com- 
 mercial value of geographical exploration, 
 possibly because it is not immediately paying, 
 and possibly because it is just as likely to 
 reveal the barrenness as the wealth of a 
 country ; but to attempt to develop a country 
 without first making a thorough and scientific 
 exploration of it from end to end, is to begin
 
 GEOGRAPHY AND TOPOGRAPHY 223 
 
 a task without the knowledge which is essential 
 to make it a successful undertaking. 
 
 The heights recorded in the previous chap- 
 ters are taken from the mean of two daily 
 readings of an aneroid barometer, one of which 
 was taken about mid-day or after the day's 
 march, and the other early the next morning. 
 The recorded barometer readings give probably 
 a very close approximation to the true heights 
 above sea level, as there is remarkably little 
 movement of the barometer due to atmospheric 
 causes in West Africa in the dry season. 
 When we remained several days in the same 
 camp very little variation was recorded, and 
 the occasional tornadoes hardly affected the 
 barometer at all. Our aneroid was compared 
 at sea level before we left the coast, and on our 
 return it was again read. It was correct in the 
 first case, but on our return read 200 feet at 
 sea level. This was probably due to the com- 
 mencing rainy season, and some small deduc- 
 tion may be necessary from the heights 
 recorded after ist May, but all these heights 
 are so trifling that the correction required must
 
 224 THE NIGER SOURCES 
 
 be small. The French Commissioners also 
 used an aneroid barometer, and on the two 
 occasions when the same place was observed 
 by both Commissions, the readings recorded 
 were within 20 feet of each other. 
 
 As regards the general level of the interior, 
 the flat country of the coast region covers a belt 
 bounded by the east bank of the Great Skarsies 
 (including the Samu country west of this 
 river), from its mouth as far as its junction with 
 the Kora, and up the Kora to a point some few 
 miles north of Ula, where the hills of Tamisso 
 begin. Turning eastward, the flat country 
 includes Dunia, and turning south its border 
 skirts the western side of the spur on which 
 Kankuya is situated, and taking in the towns 
 of Saionia, Dumbaia, Lakhata, Berea, makes 
 for Bumban, and from thence reaches the coast 
 by the valley of the Rokell river. Outside of 
 this line the country in the northern half of the 
 Protectorate has an altitude above sea level 
 varying from 800 feet as a maximum, just 
 north of Bumban, to 3300 feet near Tembi 
 Kunda, the summits of the highest mountains
 
 GEOGRAPHY AND TOPOGRAPHY 225 
 
 being about 5000 feet. The highest ground is 
 met with at the Niger sources, and about 
 Wossu in Tamisso, the highest mountains seen 
 being the Salu mountains, mounts Konkonante, 
 Kenna, and the Kula peak, all near Tembi 
 Kunda. The highest of the Tamisso moun- 
 tains lie some distance north of the Anglo- 
 French frontier. South of Tembi Kunda 
 again are some considerable mountains, which 
 are probably connected with the ranges about 
 Waima. 
 
 The whole country which came within our 
 notice is covered with high, dense vegetation, 
 except only on the top of the spurs of the 
 Tamisso mountains. The vegetation consists 
 generally of scrub and cane brake, with 
 occasional trees on the slopes and on the 
 driest parts. It grows to a great height, 
 much of it being far above a man's head, and 
 it completely intercepts the view, and is very 
 difficult to get through. All the valleys and 
 waterlines are covered with a still denser 
 vegetation, consisting of trees, creepers, and 
 green bushes, and they are proportionately
 
 226 THE NIGER SOURCES 
 
 more difficult to cross. The dry bush may 
 be burned in the dry season, but it will not 
 burn well till about February. After the bush 
 has been burned the ground is comparatively 
 easy to traverse, but it is very seldom cleared 
 except in patches by bush fires. 
 
 The instrument mainly used for astronomical 
 work by our commission was a 6-inch transit 
 theodolite reading to ten seconds. A 7-inch 
 sextant was also occasionally used. Obser- 
 vations for latitude were generally made by 
 meridian determinations of pairs of stars, and 
 observations for time by the mean of determin- 
 ations of at least two pairs of east and west 
 stars. When the positions were specially 
 important, latitudes were obtained from circum- 
 meridian observations, about eight pairs of 
 observations being made, and each pair being 
 worked out separately for latitude. 
 
 The French Commission carried a large 
 theodolite reading to five seconds. Their 
 observations for latitude were all circum- 
 meridian. We carried three deck watches, 
 but found that they could not be depended
 
 GEOGRAPHY AND TOPOGRAPHY 227 
 
 upon except for giving the meridian distance 
 between two places only a few days apart. 
 
 Our topographical work was done mainly 
 with plane tables, and along the watershed 
 was based on the trigonometrically fixed 
 points. For the rest of the way the plane 
 table was used in conjunction with the per- 
 ambulator, and later with paced distances. 
 
 The compass bearings were taken with a 
 large prismatic compass lent by the Admiralty. 
 This compass was also used for ascertaining 
 the variation by observation, and on the three 
 occasions when this was done the results gave 
 a variation of from 18 12' to i82o' W.
 
 228 
 
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 ITINERARY 231 
 
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 232 
 
 APPENDIX I 
 
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 ITINERARY 233 
 
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 234 
 
 APPENDIX I 
 
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 236 
 
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 LIST OF PLACES 
 
 237 
 
 Meridian distance from 
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 238 APPENDIX II 
 
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 g ||||
 
 GLASGOW : PRINTED AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS BY 
 ROBERT MACLEHOSE AND CO.
 
 A CATALOGUE OF BOOKS 
 
 AND ANNOUNCEMENTS OF 
 
 METHUEN AND COMPANY 
 
 PUBLISHERS : LONDON 
 
 36 ESSEX STREET 
 
 iir r* 
 W.C. 
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 PAG. 
 
 FORTHCOMING BOOKS, . 2 
 
 POETRY, . .10 
 
 BELLES LETTRES, . . . . .II 
 
 ILLUSTRATED BOOKS, ..... 13 
 
 HISTORY, . . . .14 
 
 BIOGRAPHY, . 1 6 
 
 TRAVEL, ADVENTURE AND TOPOGRAPHY, . . l8 
 
 GENERAL LITERATURE, .... 19 
 
 SCIENCE, . . Of' ' .21 
 
 PHILOSOPHY, ...... 22 
 
 THEOLOGY, ...... 3> 
 
 LEADERS OP RELIGION, .... 24 
 
 FICTION, .... .25 
 
 BOOKS FOR BOYS AND GIRLS, .... 34 
 
 THE PEACOCK LIBRARY, . -36 
 
 UNIVERSITY EXTENSION SERIES, ... 35 
 
 SOCIAL QUESTIONS OF TO-DAY, ... 36 
 
 CLASSICAL TRANSLATIONS, .... 37 
 
 EDUCATIONAL BOOKS, 3^ 
 
 NOVEMBER 1897
 
 NOVEMBER 1897. 
 
 MESSRS. METHUEN'S 
 
 ANNOUNCEMENTS 
 
 Poetry 
 
 SHAKESPEARE'S POEMS. Edited, with an Introduction and 
 Notes, by GEORGE WYNDHAM, M. P. Crown &vo. Buckram. 6s. 
 
 This is a volume of the sonnets and lesser poems of Shakespeare, and is prefaced 
 with an elaborate Introduction by Mr. Wyndham. 
 
 ENGLISH LYRICS. Selected and Edited by W. E. HENLEY. 
 Crown &vo. Buckram. 6s. 
 
 Also 15 copies on Japanese paper. Demy 8vo. 2, 2s. net. 
 Few announcements will be more welcome to lovers of English verse than the one 
 that Mr. Henley is bringing together into one book the finest lyric?, in our 
 language. 
 
 NURSERY RHYMES. With many Coloured Pictures. By 
 F. D. BEDFORD. Small 4/0. 5*. 
 
 This book has many beautiful designs in colour to illustrate the old rhymes. 
 
 THE ODYSSEY OF HOMER. A Translation by J. G. 
 CORDERY. Crown 8vo. JS. 6d. 
 
 Travel and Adventure 
 
 BRITISH CENTRAL AFRICA. By Sir H. H. JOHNSTON, 
 K.C.B. With nearly Two Hundred Illustrations, and Six Maps. 
 Crown 4/0. 305. net. 
 
 CONTENTS. {i) The History of Nyasaland and British Central Africa generally. 
 fa) A detailed description of the races and languages of British Central Africa. 
 (3) Chapters on the European settlers and missionaries ; the Fauna, the Flora, 
 minerals, and scenery. (4) A chapter on the prospects of the country. 
 
 WITH THE GREEKS IN THESSALY. By W. KINNAIRD 
 ROSE, Reuter's Correspondent. With Plans and 23 Illustrations. 
 Crown 8vo. 6s. 
 
 A history of the operations in Thessaly by one whose brilliant despatches from the 
 seat of war attracted universal attention. 
 
 THE BENIN MASSACRE. By CAPTAIN BOISRAGON. 
 
 With Portrait and Map. Crown &vo. 3*. 6J. 
 
 This volume is written by one of the two survivors who escaped the terrible 
 massacre in Benin at the beginning of this year. The author relates in detail his 
 adventures and his extraordinary escape, and adds a description of the country 
 and of the events which led up to the outbreak.
 
 MESSRS. METHUEN'S ANNOUNCEMENTS 3 
 
 FROM TONKIN TO INDIA. By PRINCE HENRI OF 
 ORLEANS. Translated by HAMLEY BENT, M.A. With 80 Illus- 
 trations and a Map. Crown 4/0. 2$s. 
 
 The travels of Prince Henri in 1895 from China to the valley of the Bramaputra 
 covered a distance of 2100 miles, of whith 1600 was through absolutely unexplored 
 country. No fewer than seventeen ranges of mountains were crossed at altitudes 
 of from 1 1,000 to 1 3,000 feet. The journey was made memorable by the discovery 
 of the sources of the Irrawaddy. To the physical difficulties of the journey were 
 added dangers from the attacks of savage tribes. The book deals with many of 
 the burning political problems of the East, and it will be found a most important 
 contribution to the literature of adventure and discovery. 
 
 THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA. By LIONEL DECLE. 
 With an Introduction by H. M. STANLEY, M.P. With 100 Illus- 
 trations and 5 Maps. Demy%vo. 2ls. 
 
 Few Europeans have had the same opportunity of studying the barbarous parts of 
 Africa as Mr. Decle. Starting from the Cape, he visited in succession Bechuana- 
 land, the Zambesi, Matabeleland and Mashonaland, the Portuguese settlement on 
 the Zambesi, Nyasaland, Ujiji, the headquarters of the Arabs, German East 
 Africa, Uganda (where he saw fighting in company with the late Major ' Roddy ' 
 Owen), and British East Africa. In his book he relates his experiences, his 
 minute observations of native habits and customs, and his views as to the work 
 done in Africa by the various European Governments, whose operations he was 
 able to study. The whole journey extended over 7000 miles, and occupied 
 exactly three years. 
 
 WITH THE MOUNTED INFANTRY IN MASHONA- 
 LAND. By Lieut. -Colonel ALDERSON. With numerous Illustra- 
 tions and Plans. Demy &vo. 121. 6d. 
 
 This is an account of the military operations in Mashonaland by the officer who 
 commanded the troops in that district during the late rebellion. Besides its 
 interest as a story of warfare, it will have a peculiar value as an account of the 
 services of mounted infantry by one of the chief authorities on the subject. 
 
 THE HILL OF THE GRACES: OR, THE GREAT STONE 
 TEMPLES OF TRIPOLI. By H. S. COWPER, F.S.A. With Maps, 
 Plans, and 75 Illustrations. Demy 8ro. los. 6d. 
 
 A record of two journeys through Tripoli in 1895 and 1896. The book treats of a 
 remarkable series of megalithic temples which have hitherto been uninvestigated, 
 and contains a large amount of new geographical and archaeological matter. 
 
 ADVENTURE AND EXPLORATION IN AFRICA. By 
 
 Captain A. ST. H. GIBBONS, F.R.G.S. With Illustrations by 
 C. WHYMPER, and Maps. Demy 8vo. 2is. 
 
 This is an account of travel and adventure among the Marotse and contiguous tribes, 
 with a description of their customs, characteristics, and history, together with the 
 author's experiences in hunting big game. The illustrations are by Mr. Charles 
 Whymper, and from photographs. There is a map by the author of the hitherto 
 unexplored regions lying between the Zambezi and Kafukwi rivers and from 18 
 to 15* S. lat.
 
 4 MESSRS. METHUEN'S ANNOUNCEMENTS 
 History and Biography 
 
 A HISTORY OF EGYPT, FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES TO 
 THE PRESENT DAY. Edited by W. M. FLINDERS PETRIE, D.C. L., 
 LL. D., Professor of Egyptology at University College. Fully Illus- 
 trated. In Six Volumes. Crown 8vo. 6s. each. 
 VOL. V. ROMAN EGYPT. By J. G. MII.NE. 
 
 THE DECLINE AND FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE. 
 By EDWARD GIBBON. A New Edition, edited with Notes, 
 Appendices, and Maps by J. B. BURY, M.A., Fellow of Trinity 
 College, Dublin. In Seven Volumes. Demy 8z>0, gilt top. 8s. Gd. 
 each. Crown 8v0. 6s. each. Vol. IV. 
 
 THE LETTERS OF VICTOR HUGO. Translated from the 
 French by F. CLARKE, M.A. In Two Volumes. Demy %vo. 
 IDS. 6d. each. Vol. II. 1835-72. 
 
 This is the second volume of one of the most interesting and important collection of 
 letters ever published in France. The correspondence dates from Victor Hugo's 
 boyhood to his death, and none of the letters have been published before. 
 
 A HISTORY OF THE GREAT NORTHERN RAILWAY, 
 I %4S~9$- By C. H. GRINLING. With Maps and Illustrations. 
 Demy 8vo. los. 6J. 
 
 A record of Railway enterprise and development in Northern England, containing 
 much matter hitherto unpublished. It appeals both to the general reader and to 
 those specially interested in railway construction and management. 
 
 A HISTORY OF BRITISH COLONIAL POLICY. By 
 H. E. EGERTON, M.A. DemySvo. 12$. 6d. 
 
 This book deals with British Colonial policy historically from the beginnings of 
 English colonisation down to the present day. The subject has been treated by 
 itself, and it has thus been possible within a reasonable compass to deal wilh a 
 mass of authority which must otherwise be sought in the State papers. The 
 volume is divided into five parts: (i) The Period of Beginnings, 1497-1650; 
 (2) Trade Ascendancy, 1651-1830 ; (3) The Granting of Responsible Government, 
 1831-1860; (4) Laissez Alter, 1861-1885 ; (5) Greater Britain. 
 
 A HISTORY OF ANARCHISM. By E. V. ZENKER. 
 
 Translated from the German. Demy &vo. js. 6tf. 
 
 A critical study and history, as well as a powerful and trenchant criticism, of the 
 Anarchist movement in Europe. The book has aroused considerable attention 
 on the Continent. 
 
 THE LIFE OF ERNEST RENAN By MADAME DARMES- 
 
 TETER. With Portrait. Crown 8vo. 6s. 
 A biography of Renan by one of his most intimate friends. 
 
 A LIFE OF DONNE. By AUGUSTUS JESSOPP, D.D. With 
 
 Portrait. Crown 8vo. 3^. 6d. 
 
 This is a new volume of the ' Leaders of Religion ' series, from the learned and witty 
 pen of the Rector of Seaming, who has been able to embody the results of much 
 research.
 
 MESSRS. METHUEN'S ANNOUNCEMENTS 5 
 
 OLD HARROW DAYS. By J. G. COTTON MINCHIX. Crown 
 8r<7. 5-y. 
 
 A volume of reminiscences which will be interesting to old Harrovians and to many 
 of the general public. 
 
 Theology 
 
 A PRIMER OF THE BIBLE. By Prof. W. H. BENNETT. 
 
 Crown 8v0. 2s. 6if. 
 
 This Primer sketches the history of the books which make up the Bible, in the light 
 of recent criticism. It gives an account of their character, origin, and composi- 
 tion, as far as possible in chronological order, with special reference to their 
 relations to one another, and to the history of Israel and the Church. The 
 formation of the Canon is illustrated by chapters on the Apocrypha (Old and 
 New Testament); and there is a brief notice of the history of the Bible since the 
 close of the Canon. 
 
 LIGHT AND LEAVEN : HISTORICAL AND SOCIAL SERMONS. 
 By the Rev. H. HENSLEY HENSON, M.A., Fellow of All Souls', 
 Incumbent of St. Mary's Hospital, Ilibrd. Crown 8v o. 6s. 
 
 pebotional <Smt0 
 
 THE CONFESSIONS OF ST. AUGUSTINE. Newly Trans- 
 lated, with an Introduction, by C. BIGG, D.D., late Student of 
 Christ Church. With a Frontispiece. iSwo. is. 6J. 
 
 This little book is the first volume of a new Devotional Series, printed in clear type, 
 
 and published at a very low price. 
 This volume contains the nine books of the ' Confessions ' which 'are suitable for 
 
 devotional purposes. The name of the Editor is a sufficient guarantee of the 
 
 excellence of the edition. 
 
 THE HOLY SACRIFICE. By F. WESTON, M.A., Curate of 
 
 St. Matthew's, Westminster. i8wo. is. 
 A small volume of devotions at the Holy Communion. 
 
 Naval and Military 
 
 A HISTORY OF THE ART OF WAR. By C. W. OMAN, 
 
 M. A., Fellow of All Souls', Oxford. Demy Sw. Illustrated, zis. 
 
 Vol. II. MEDIEVAL WARFARE. 
 
 Mr. Oman is engaged on a History of the Art of War, of which the above, though 
 covering the middle period from the fall of the Roman Empire to the general use 
 of gunpowder in Western Europe, is the first instalment. The first battle dealt 
 with will be Adrianople (578) and the last Navarette (1367). There will appear 
 later a volume dealing with the Art of War among the Ancients, and another 
 covering the isth, i_6tti, and i;th centuries. 
 
 The book will deal mainly with tactics and strategy, fortifications and siegecraft, but 
 subsidiary chapters will give some account of the development of arms and armour, 
 and of the various forms of military organization known to the Middle Ages.
 
 6 MESSRS. METHUEN'S ANNOUNCEMENTS 
 
 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ROYAL NAVY, FROM 
 EARLY TIMES TO THE PRESENT DAY. By DAVID HANNAY. 
 Illustrated. 2 Vols. Demy 8vt>. "JS. 6</. each. Vol. I. 
 This book aims at giving an account not only of the fighting we have done at sea, 
 but of the growth of the service, of the part the Navy has played in the develop- 
 ment of the Empire, and of its inner life. 
 
 THE STORY OF THE BRITISH ARMY. By Lieut-Colonel 
 COOPER KING, of the Staff College, Camberley. Illustrated. Demy 
 Svo. 7*. 6d, 
 
 This volume aims at describing the nature of the different armies that have been 
 formed in Great Britain, and how from the early and feudal levies the present 
 'standing army came to be. The changes in tactics, uniform, and armament are 
 briefly touched upon, and the campaigns in which the army has shared have 
 been so far followed as to explain the part played by British regiments in them. 
 
 General Literature 
 
 THE OLD ENGLISH HOME. By S. BARING-GOULD. 
 
 With numerous Plans and Illustrations. Crown S?jo. 75. 6d, 
 This book, like Mr. Baring-Gould's well-known ' Old Country Life,' describes the 
 life and environment of an old English family. 
 
 OXFORD AND ITS COLLEGES. By J. WELLS, M.A., 
 Fellow and Tutor of Wadham College. Illustrated by E. H. NEW. 
 Fcap. 8vo. 3-r. Leather. qs. 
 
 This is a guide chiefly historical to the Colleges of Oxford. It contains numerous 
 illustrations. 
 
 VOCES ACADEMIOE. By C. GRANT ROBERTSON, M.A., 
 Fellow of All Souls', Oxford. With a Frontispiece, Fcap. Svo. 
 p.fxl. 
 
 This is a volume of light satirical dialogues and should be read by all who are inter- 
 ested in the life of Oxford. 
 
 A PRIMER OF WORDSWORTH. By LAURIE MAGNUS. 
 
 Crown Svo. 2s. 6d. 
 
 This volume is uniform with the Primers of Tennyson and Burns, and contains a 
 concise biography of the poet, a critical appreciation of his work in detail, and a 
 bibliography. 
 
 NEO-MALTHUSIANISM. By R. USSHER, M.A. Cr. Svo. 6s. 
 
 This book deals with a very delicate but most important matter, namely, the volun- 
 tary limitation of the family, and how such action affects morality, the individual, 
 and the nation. 
 
 PRIMAEVAL SCENES. By H. N. HUTCHINSON, B.A., F.G.S., 
 Author of 'Extinct Monsters," 'Creatures of Other Days,' 'Pre- 
 historic Man and Beast,' etc. With numerous Illustrations drawn 
 by JOHN HASSALL and FRED. V. BURRIDGE. 4/0. 6s. 
 
 A set of twenty drawings, with short text to each, to illustrate the humorous aspects 
 of pre-historic times. They are carefully planned by the author so as to be 
 scientifically and archaeologically correct and at the same time amusing.
 
 MESSRS. METHUEN'S ANNOUNCEMENTS 7 
 
 THE WALLYPUG IN LONDON. By G. E. FARROW, 
 Author of 'The Wallypug of Why.' With numerous Illustration;. 
 Crown Svo. $s. 6d. 
 An extravaganza for Children, written with great charm and vivacity. 
 
 RAILWAY NATIONALIZATION. By CLEMENT EDWARDS. 
 Crown Svo. 2s. f>d. [Social Questions Series. 
 
 Sport 
 
 SPORTING AND ATHLETIC RECORDS. By H. MORGAN 
 
 BROWNE. Crown Svo. \s. papir ; 2s. cloth. 
 
 This book gives, in a clear and complete form, accurate records of the best perform- 
 ances in all important branches of Sport. It is an attempt, never yet made, to 
 present all-important sporting records in a systematic way. 
 
 THE GOLFING PILGRIM. By HORACE G HUTCHINSON, 
 
 Crown Svo. 6s. 
 
 This book, by a famous golfer, contains the following sketches lightly and humorously 
 written : The Prologue The Pilgrim at the Shrine Mecca out of Season The 
 Pilgrim at Home The Pilgrim Abroad The Life of the Links A Tragedy by 
 the Way Scraps from the Scrip The Golfer in Art Early Pilgrims in the West 
 An Interesting Relic. 
 
 Educational 
 
 EVAGR1US. Edited by PROFESSOR LEON PARMENTIER of 
 
 Liege and M. BIDEZ of Gand. Demy Svo. fs. 6ct. 
 
 [Byzantine Texts. 
 
 THE ODES AND EPODES OF HORACE. Translated by 
 A. D. GODLEY, M.A., Fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford. 
 Crown Svo. buckram. 2s. 
 
 ORNAMENTAL DESIGN FOR WOVEN FABRICS. By 
 C. STKPHENSON, of The Technical College, Bradford, and 
 F. SUDDARDS, of The Yorkshire College, Leeds. With 65 full-page 
 plates, and numerous designs and diagrams in the text. Demy Svo. 
 Js. &/. 
 
 The aim of this book is to supply, in a systematic and practical form, information on 
 the subject of Decorative Design as applied to Woven Fabrics, and is primarily 
 intended to meet the requirements of students in Textile and Art Schools, or of 
 designers actively engaged in the weaving industry. Its wealth of illustration is 
 a marked feature of the book. 
 
 ESSENTIALS OF COMMERCIAL EDUCATION. By 
 
 E. E. WHITFIELD, M.A. Crown Svo. is. 6d. 
 
 A guide to Commercial Education and Examinations.
 
 8 MESSRS. METHUEN'S ANNOUNCEMENTS 
 PASSAGES FOR UNSEEN TRANSLATION. By E. C. 
 
 MARCH ANT, M.A., Fellow of Peterhouse, Cambridge; and A. M. 
 COOK, M.A., late Scholar of Wadham College, Oxford: Assistant 
 Masters at St. Paul's School. Crown &ve. 35. 6d. 
 
 This book contains Two Hundred Latin and Two Hundred Greek Passages, and 
 has been very carefully compiled to meet the wants of V. and VI. Form Boys at 
 Public Schools. It is also well adapted for the use of Honour men at the 
 Universities. 
 
 EXERCISES IN LATIN ACCIDENCE. By S. E. WIN- 
 
 BOLT, Assistant Master in Christ's Hospital. Crown Szv. is. 6d. 
 An elementary book adapted for Lower Forms to accompany the shorter Latin primer 
 
 NOTES ON GREEK AND LATIN SYNTAX. By G. 
 BUCKLAND GREEN, M.A., Assistant Master at the Edinburgh 
 Academy, late Fellow of St. John's College, Oxon. Cr. 8vo. 3*. 6</. 
 
 Notes and explanations on the chief difficulties of Greek and Latin Syntax, with 
 numerous passages for exercise. 
 
 A DIGEST OF DEDUCTIVE LOGIC. By JOHNSON 
 BARKER, B.A. Crown 8vo. 2s. 6d. 
 
 A short introduction to logic for students preparing for examinations. 
 
 TEST CARDS IN EUCLID AND ALGEBRA. By D. S. 
 CALDERWOOD, Headmaster of the Normal School, Edinburgh. In 
 a Packet of 40, with Answers, is. 
 A set of cards for advanced pupils in elementary schools. 
 
 HOW TO MAKE A DRESS. By J. A. E. WOOD. Illustrated. 
 Crown 8vo. is. 6d. 
 
 A text-book for students preparing for the City and Guilds examination, based on 
 the syllabus. The diagrams are numerous. 
 
 Fiction 
 
 LOCHINVAR. By S. R. CROCKETT, Author of 'The Raiders,' 
 etc. Illustrated by FRANK RICHARDS. Crown Svo. 6s. 
 
 BYEWAYS. By ROBERT HICHENS. Author of ' Flames,' etc. 
 Crown Sz'O. 6s. 
 
 THE MUTABLE MANY. By ROBERT BARR, Author of ' In 
 the Midst of Alarms,' ' A Woman Intervenes,' etc. Crown 8vo. 6s. 
 
 THE LADY'S WALK. By Mrs. OLIPHANT. Crown %vo. 6s. 
 
 A new book by this lamented author, somewhat in the style of her ' Beleagured City.'
 
 MESSRS. METHUEN'S ANNOUNCEMENTS 9 
 
 TRAITS AND CONFIDENCES. By The Hon. EMILY LAW- 
 LESS, Author of ' Hurrish,' ' Maelcho,' etc. Crown Svo. 6s. 
 
 BLADYS. By S. BARING GOULD, Author of 'The Broom 
 Squire,' etc. Illustrated by F. H. TOWNSEND. Crown Svo. 6s. 
 A Romance of the last century. 
 
 THE POMP OF THE LAVILETTES. By GILBERT PARKER, 
 
 Author of ' The Seats of the Mighty,' etc. Crown Svo. $s. 6d. 
 
 A DAUGHTER OF STRIFE. By JANE HELEN FINDLATER, 
 
 Author of ' The Green Graves of Balgowrie.' Crown Svo. 6s. 
 A story of 1710. 
 
 OVER THE HILLS. By MARY FINDLATER. Crown Z-vo. 6s. 
 
 A novel by a sister of J. H. Findlater, the author of ' The Green Graves of Balgowrie.' 
 
 A CREEL OF IRISH STORIES. By JANE BARLOW, Author 
 
 of ' Irish Idylls.' Crown Svo. 6s. 
 
 THE CLASH OF ARMS. By J. BLOUNDELLE BURTON, 
 Author of ' In the Day of Adversity.' Crown Svo. 6s. 
 
 A PASSIONATE PILGRIM. By PERCY WHITE, Author of 
 'Mr. Bailey- Martin. ' Crown Svo. 6s. 
 
 SECRETARY TO BAYNE, M.P. By W. PETT RIDGE. 
 
 Crown Svo. 6s. 
 
 THE BUILDERS. By J. S. FLETCHER, Author of 'When 
 Charles I. was King.' Crown Svo. 6s. 
 
 JOSIAH'S WIFE. By NORMA LORIMER. Crown Svo. 6s. 
 
 BY STROKE OF SWORD. By ANDREW BALFOUR. Illus- 
 trated by W. CUBITT COOKE. Crown Svo. 6s. 
 A romance of the time of Elizabeth 
 
 THE SINGER OF MARLY. By I. HOOPER. Illustrated 
 by W. CUBITT COOKE. Crown Svo. 6s. 
 
 A romance of adventure. 
 
 KIRKHAM'S FIND. By MARY GAUNT, Author of 'The 
 
 Moving Finger. ' Crown Svo. 6s. 
 
 THE FALL OF THE SPARROW. By M. C. BALFOUR. 
 
 Crown Svo. 6s. 
 
 SCOTTISH BORDER LIFE. By JAMES C. DIBDIN. Crown 
 
 Svs. 3*. 6d. 
 
 A 2
 
 A LIST OF 
 
 MESSRS. METHUEN'S 
 
 PUBLICATIONS 
 
 Poetry 
 
 RUDYAED KIPLING'S NEW POEMS 
 
 Rudyard Kipling. THE SEVEN SEAS. By RUDYARD 
 
 KIPLING. Third Edition. Crown 8vo. Buckram, gilt top. 6s. 
 
 ' The new poems of Mr. Rudyard Kipling have all the spirit and swing of their pre- 
 decessors. Patriotism is the solid concrete foundation on which Mr. Kipling has 
 built the whole of his work.' Times. 
 
 ' Full of passionate patriotism and the Imperial spirit.' Yorkshire Post. 
 
 ' The Empire has found a singer ; it is no depreciation of the songs to say that states- 
 men may have, one way or other, to take account of them." Manchester 
 Guardian. 
 
 ' Animated through and through with indubitable genius.' Daily Telegraph. 
 
 ' Packed with inspiration, with humour, with pathos.' Daily Chronicle. 
 
 'All the pride of empire, all the intoxication of power, all the ardour, the energy, 
 the masterful strength and the wonderful endurance and death-scorning pluck 
 which are the very bone and fibre and marrow of the British character are here.' 
 Daily Mail. 
 
 Rudyard Kipling. BARRACK- ROOM BALLADS; And 
 
 Other Verses. By RUDYARD KIPLING. Twelfth Edition. Crown 
 8vo. 6s. 
 
 ' Mr. Kipling's verse is strong, vivid, full of character. . . . Unmistakable genius 
 rings in every line.' Times. 
 
 The ballads teem with imagination, they palpitate with emotion. We read them 
 with laughter and tears ; the metres throb in our pulses, the cunningly ordered 
 words tingle with life ; and if this be not poetry, what is?' Pall Mall Gazette. 
 
 Q." POEMS AND BALLADS. By "Q.," Author of c Green 
 
 Bays,' etc. Crown 8vo. Buckram. "$$. 6d. 
 
 'This work has just the faint, ineffable touch and glow that make poetry ' Q.' has 
 the true romantic spirit. ' Speaker. 
 
 11 Q." GREEN BAYS : Verses and Parodies. By " Q.," Author 
 
 of Dead Man's Rock,' etc. Second Edition. Crown 8vo. ^s.6d. 
 1 The verses display a rare and versatile gift of parody, great command of metre, and 
 a very pretty turn of humour.' Times. 
 
 E. Mackay. A SONG OF THE SEA. By ERIC MACKAY, 
 Author of 'The Love Letters of a Violinist.' Second Edition. 
 Fcap. 8vo. $s. 
 
 ' Everywhere Mr. Mackay displays himself the master of a style irarked by all the 
 characteristics of the best rhetoric. He has a keen sense of rhythm and of general 
 balance ; his verse is excellently sonorous.' Globe.
 
 MESSRS METHUEN'S LIST n 
 
 Ibsen. BRAND. A Drama by HENRIK IBSEN. Translated by 
 WILLIAM WILSON. Second Edition. Crown %vo. ^s.6d, 
 
 'The greatest world-poem of the nineteenth century next to "Faust." It is in 
 the same set with "Agamemnon," with "Lear," with the literature that we now 
 instinctively regard as high and holy.' Daily Chronicle. 
 
 "A.G." VERSES TO ORDER. By "A. G." Cr. Svo. 2s.6<t. 
 net. 
 
 A small volume_ of verse by a writer whose initials are well known to Oxford men. 
 ' A capital specimen of light academic poetry. These verses are very bright and 
 engaging, easy and sufficiently witty. St. James's Gazette. 
 
 Belles Lettres, Anthologies, etc. 
 
 R.L.Stevenson. VAILIMA LETTERS. By ROBERT Louis 
 STEVENSON. With an Etched Portrait by WILLIAM STRANG, and 
 other Illustrations. Second Edition. Crown Svo. Buckram. Js. 6d. 
 
 ' Few publications have in our time been more eagerly awaited than these " Vailima 
 Letters," giving tlie first fruits of the correspondence of Robert Louis Stevenson. 
 But, high as the tide of expectation has run, no reader can possibly be disappointed 
 in the result.' .5V. James's Gazette. 
 
 Henley and Whibley. A BOOK OF ENGLISH PROSE. 
 Collected by W. E. HENLEY and CHARLES WHIBLEY. CrownZvo. 6s. 
 
 'A unique volume of extracts an art gallery of early prose.' Birmingham Post. 
 ' An admirable companion to Mr. Henley's " Lyra Heroica."' Saturday Review. 
 'Quite delightful. A greater treat for those not well acquainted with pre- Restoration 
 prose could not be imagined. ' A thenteum. 
 
 H. 0. Beeching. LYRA SACRA : An Anthology of Sacred Verse. 
 Edited by H. C. BEECHING, M.A. Crown 8vo. Buckram. 6s. 
 ' A charming selection, which maintains a lofty standard of excellence.' Times. 
 
 "Q." THE GOLDEN POMP : A Procession of English Lyrics 
 from Surrey to Shirley, arranged by A. T. QuiLLER COUCH. Crown 
 8:>o. Buckram. 6s. 
 ' A delightful volume : a really golden "Pomp." ' Spectator. 
 
 W. B. Yeats. AN ANTHOLOGY OF IRISH VERSE. 
 
 Edited by W. B. YEATS. Crown %vo. 3*. 6d. 
 1 An attractive and catholic selection.' Times. 
 
 G. W. Steevens. MONOLOGUES OF THE DEAD. By 
 
 G. W. STEEVENS. Foolscap %vo. 3*. 6d. 
 
 A series of Soliloquies in which famous men of antiquity Julius Caesar, Nero. 
 Alcibiades, etc., attempt to express themselves in the modes of thought ana 
 language of to-day. 
 
 The effect is sometimes splendid, sometimes bi/arrc. but always amazingly clever 
 Pall Malt Gazette.
 
 12 MESSRS. METHUEN'S LIST 
 
 Victor Hugo. THE LETTERS OF VICTOR HUGO. 
 Translate d from the French by F. CLARKE, M.A. In Two Volumes. 
 Demy &vo. 1OJ. 6d. each. Vol. I. 1815-35. 
 
 etters aout s eary oos an pays. 
 
 ' A charming and vivid picture of a man whose egotism never marred his natu 
 kindness, and whose vanity did not impair his greatness.' Standard. 
 
 0. H. Pearson. ESSAYS AND CRITICAL REVIEWS. By 
 C. H. PEARSON, M.A., Author of 'National Life and Character.' 
 Edited, with a Biographical Sketch, by H. A. STRONG, M.A., 
 LL.D. With a Portrait. Demy Svo. lOs. 6d. 
 
 ' Remarkable for careful handling, breadth of view, and knowledge.' Scotsman. 
 
 'Charming essays.' Spectator. 
 
 W. M. Dixon. A PRIMER OF TENNYSON. By W. M. 
 DIXON, M.A., Professor of English Literature at Mason College. 
 Crown 8vo. 2s. 6d. 
 
 ' Much sound and well-expressed criticism and acute literary judgments. The biblio 
 graphy is a boon.' Speaker. 
 
 W. A. Craigie. A PRIMER OF BURNS. By W. A. CRAiciii. 
 
 Crown &vo. 2s. f>d. 
 This book is planned on a method similar to the ' Primer of Tennyson.' It has also 
 
 a glossary. 
 
 ' A valuable addition to the literature of the poet.' Times. 
 ' An excejlent short account.' Pall Mall Gazette. 
 'An admirable introduction.' Globe. 
 
 Sterne. THE LIFE AND OPINIONS OF TRISTRAM 
 SHANDY. By LAWRENCE STERNE. With an Introduction by 
 CHARLES WHIBLEY, and a Portrait. 2 vols. Js. 
 
 'Very dainty volumes are these; the paper, type, and light-green binding are a!! 
 very agreeable to the eye. Simplex munditiis is the phrase that might be applied 
 to them.' Globe. 
 
 Congreve. THE COMEDIES OF WILLIAM CONGREVE. 
 
 With an Introduction by G. S. STREET, and a Portrait. 2 vols. "js. 
 ' The volumes are strongly bound in green buckram, are of a convenient size, and 
 pleasant to look upon, so that whether on the shelf, or on the table, or in the hand 
 the possessor is thoroughly content with them.' Guardian. 
 
 Morier. THE ADVENTURES OF HAJJI BABA OF 
 ISPAHAN. By JAMES MORIER. With an Introduction by E. G. 
 BROWNE, M.A., and a Portrait. 2 vols. "]s. 
 
 Walton. THE LIVES OF DONNE, WOTTON, HOOKER, 
 HERBERT, AND SANDERSON. By IZAAK WALTON. With 
 an Introduction by VERNON BLACKBURN, and a Portrait. $s. 6d.
 
 MESSRS. METHUEN'S LIST 13 
 
 Johnson. THE LIVES OF THE ENGLISH POETS. By 
 SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. With an Introduction by J. H. MILLAR, 
 and a Portrait. 3 voh. los. 6d. 
 
 Burns. THE POEMS OF ROBERT BURNS. Edited by 
 ANDREW LANG and W. A. CRAIGIE. With Portrait. Demy Svo, 
 gilt top. 6s. 
 This edition contains a carefully collated Text, numerous Notes, critical and textual, 
 
 a. critical and biographical Introduction, and a Glossary. 
 
 1 Among the editions in one volume, Mr. Andrew Lang's will take the place of 
 authority.' Times. 
 
 T. Langbridge. BALLADS OF THE BRAVE: Poems of 
 Chivalry, Enterprise, Courage, and Constancy. Edited, with Notes, 
 by Rev. F. LANGBRIDGE. Crown Svo. Buckram. 3*. 6J. School 
 Edition. 2s. 6d. 
 
 'A very happy conception happily carried out. These " Ballads of the Brave" are 
 intended to suit the real tastes of boys, and will suit the taste of the great majority.' 
 Spectator. ' The book is full of splendid things.' World. 
 
 Illustrated Books 
 
 Jane Barlow. THE BATTLE OF THE FROGS AND MICE, 
 translated by JANE BARLOW, Author of ' Irish Idylls,' and pictured 
 by F. D. BEDFORD. Small 4(0. 6s. net. 
 
 S. Baring Gould. A BOOK OF FAIRY TALES retold by S. 
 BARING GOULD. With numerous illustrations and initial letters by 
 ARTHUR J. GASKIN. Second Edition. Crown Svo. Buckram. 6s. 
 'Mr. Baring Gould is_ deserving of gratitude, in re-writing in honest, simple style the 
 old stories that delighted the childhood of "our fathers and grandfathers." As to 
 the form of the book, and the printing, which is by Me-^rs. Constable, it were 
 difficult to commend overmuch. Saturday Review. 
 
 S. Baring Gould. OLD ENGLISH FAIRY TALES. Col- 
 lected and edited by S. BARING GOULD. With Numerous Illustra- 
 tions by F. D. BEDFORD. Second Edition. Crown Svo. Buckram. 6s. 
 
 ' A charming volume, which children will be sure to appreciate. The stories have 
 been selected with great ingenuity from various old ballads and folk-tales, and, 
 having been somewhat altered and readjusted, now stand forth, clothed in Mr. 
 Baring Gould's delightful English, to enchant youthful readers.' Guardian. 
 
 S. Baring Gould. A BOOK OF NURSERY SONGS AND 
 RHYMES. Edited by S. BARING GOULD, and Illustrated by the 
 Birmingham Art School. Buckram, gilt top. Crown Svo. 6s. 
 
 thick paper, which it is a pleasure to touch ; and the borders ar.d pictures are 
 among the very best specimens we have seen of ihe Gakin school.' Birming- 
 ham Gazette.
 
 14 MESSRS. METHUEN'S LIST 
 
 H. 0. Beeching. A BOOK OF CHRISTMAS VERSE. Edited 
 by H. C. BEECHING, M.A., and Illustrated by WALTER CRANK. 
 Crown 8vo, gilt top. 5.?. 
 
 A collection of the best verse inspired by the birth of Christ from the Middle Ages 
 to the present day. A distinction of the book is the large number of poems it 
 contains by modern authors, a few of which are here printed for the first time. 
 L ' An anthology which, from its unity of aim and high poetic excellence, has a better 
 right to exist than most of its fellows.' Guardian. 
 
 History 
 
 Gibbon. THE DECLINE AND FALL OF THE ROMAN 
 EMPIRE. By EDWARD GIBBON. A New Edition, Edited with 
 Notes, Appendices, and Maps, by J. B. BURY, M.A., Fellow of 
 Trinity College, Dublin. In Seven Volumes. Demy 8vo. Gilt top. 
 8s. 6d. each. Also crown 8vo. 6s. each. Voh. /., II. , and III. 
 
 ' The time has certainly arrived for a new edition of Gibbon's great work. . . . Pro- 
 fessor Bury is the right man to undertake this task. His learning is amazing, 
 both in extent and accuracy. The book is issued in a handy form, and at a 
 moderate price, and it is admirably printed.' Times. 
 
 ' The edition is edited as a classic should be edited, removing nothing, yet indicating 
 the value of the text, and bringing it up to date. It promises to be of the utmost 
 value, and will be a welcome addition to many libraries.' Scotsman. 
 
 'This edition, so far as one may judge from the first instalment, is a marvel of 
 erudition and critical skill, and it is the very minimum of praise to predict that the 
 seven volumes of it will supersede Dean Milman's as the standard edition of our 
 great historical classic." Glasgow Herald. 
 
 ' The beau-ideal Gibbon has arrived at last.' Sketch. 
 
 'At last there is an adequate modern edition of Gibbon. . . . The best edition the 
 nineteenth century could produce.' Manchester Guardian. 
 
 Flinders Petrie. A HISTORY OF EGYPT,FROMTHE EARLIEST 
 TIMES TO THE PRESENT DAY. Edited by W. M. FLINDERS 
 PETRIE, D.C.L., LL.D., Professor of Egyptology at University 
 College. Fully Illustrated. In Six Volumes. Crown 8vo. 6s. each. 
 
 Vol. I. PREHISTORIC TIMES TO XVI. DYNASTY. W. M. F. 
 Petrie. Third Edition. 
 
 Vol. II. THE XVIlTH AND XVIIlTH DYNASTIES. W. M. F. 
 Petrie. Second Edition. 
 
 ' A history written in the spirit of scientific precision so worthily represented by Dr. 
 Petrie and his school cannot but promote sound and accurate study, and 
 supply a vacant place in the English literature of Egyptology.' Times. 
 
 Flinders Petrie. EGYPTIAN TALES. Edited by W. M. 
 FLINDERS PETRIE. Illustrated by TRISTRAM ELLIS. In Two 
 Volumes. Crown 8vo. 3*. 6d. each. 
 
 ' A valuable addition to the literature of comparative folk-lore - The drawings are 
 
 really illustrations in the literal sense of the word.' Globe. 
 ' It has a scientific value to the student of history and archaeology.' Scotsman. 
 ' Invaluable as a picture of life in Palestine and Egypt.' Daily Newt.
 
 MESSRS. METHUEN'S LIST 15 
 
 Flinders Petrie. EGYPTIAN DECORATIVE ART. By 
 W. M. FLINDERS PETRIE, D.C.L. With 120 Illustrations. Crown 
 Svo. 3^. 6d. 
 
 1 Professor Flinders Petrie is not only a profound Egyptologist, but an accomplished 
 student of comparative archaeology. In these lectures, delivered at the Royal 
 Institution, he displays both qualifications with rare skill in elucidating the 
 development of decorative art in Egypt, and in tracing its influence on the 
 art of other countries.' Times. 
 
 S. Baring Gould. THE TRAGEDY OF THE C^SARS. 
 The Emperors of the Julian and Claudian Lines. With numerous 
 Illustrations from Busts, Gems, Cameos, etc. By S. BARING GOULD, 
 Author of ' Mehalah,' etc. Fourth Edition. Royal 8vo. l$s. 
 
 ' A most splendid and fascinating book on a subject of undying interest. The great 
 feature of the book is the use the author has made of the existing portraits of the 
 Caesars, and the admirable critical subtlety he has exhibited in dealing with this 
 line of research. It is brilliantly written, and the illustrations are supplied on a 
 scale of profuse magnificence. 1 Daily Chronicle. 
 
 ' The volumes will in no sense disappoint the general reader. Indeed, in their way, 
 there is nothing in any sense so good in English. . . . Mr. Baring Gould has 
 presented his narrative in such a way as not to make one dull page.' Athtnczum. 
 
 H. de B. Gibbins. INDUSTRY IN ENGLAND : HISTORI- 
 CAL OUTLINES. By H. DE B. GIBBINS, M.A., D.Litt. With 
 5 Maps. Second Edition. DemyQvo. los. 6d. 
 
 This book is written with the view of affording a clear view of the main facts of 
 English Social and Industrial History placed in due perspective. Beginning 
 with prehistoric times, it passes in review the growth and advance of industry 
 up to the nineteenth century, showing its gradual development and progress. 
 The book is illustrated by Maps, Diagrams, and Tables. 
 
 A. Clark. THE COLLEGES OF OXFORD : Their History 
 
 and their Traditions. By Members of the University. Edited by A. 
 
 CLARK, M.A., Fellow and Tutor of Lincoln College. 8vo. 12s. fxf. 
 
 ' A work which will certainly be appealed to for many years as the standard book on 
 
 the Colleges of Oxford.' Athcnceuni. 
 
 Perrens. THE HISTORY OF FLORENCE FROM 1434 
 TO 1492. By F. T. PERRENS. Translated by HANNAH LYNCH. 
 8vo. I2J. 6d. 
 
 A history of Florence under the domination of Cosimo, Piero, and Lorenzo de 
 
 Medici s. 
 1 This is a standard book by an honest and intelligent historian, who has deserved 
 
 well of all who are interested in Italian history.' Manchester Guardian. 
 
 J. Wells. A SHORT HISTORY OF ROME. By J. WELLS, 
 M. A., Fellow and Tutor of Wadham Coll., Oxford. With 4 Maps. 
 Crown 8vo. $s. 6d. 
 This book is intended for the Middle and Upper Forms of Public Schools and for 
 
 Pass Students at the Universities. It contains copious Tables, etc. 
 'An original work written on an original plan, and with uncommon freshness and 
 vigour.' Speaker,
 
 16 MESSRS. METHUEN'S LIST 
 
 E. L. S. Horsburgh. THE CAMPAIGN OF WATERLOO. 
 By E. L. S. HORSBURGH, B. A. With Plans. Crown 8vo. 5*. 
 
 'A brilliant essay simple, sound, and thorough.' Daily Chronicle. 
 ' A study, the most concise, the most lucid, the most critical that has been produced. 
 Bimting/uim Mercury, 
 
 H.B. George. BATTLES OF ENGLISH HISTORY. ByH.B. 
 GEORGE, M.A., Fellow of New College, Oxford. With numerous 
 Plans. Third Edition. Crown 8vo. 6s. 
 
 ' Mr. George has undertaken a very useful task that of making military affairs in- 
 telligible and instructive to non-military readers and has executed it with laud- 
 able intelligence and industry, and with a large measure of success.' Times. 
 
 0. Browning. A SHORT HISTORY OF MEDIAEVAL ITALY, 
 A.D. 1250-1530. By OSCAR BROWNING, Fellow and Tutor of King's 
 College, Cambridge. Second" Edition. In Two Volumes. Crown 
 8z>0. 5.r. each. 
 
 VOL. I. 1250-1409. Guelphs and Ghibellines. 
 
 VOL. II. 1409-1530. The Age of the Condottieri. 
 
 'A vivid picture of mediaeval Italy.' Standard. 
 
 ' Mr. Browning is to be congratulated on the production of a work of immense 
 labour and learning.' Westminster Gazette. 
 
 O'Grady. THE STORY OF IRELAND. By STANDISH 
 O'GRADY, Author of ' Finn and his Companions.' Cr. Svo. 2s. 6d. 
 
 ' Most delightful, most stimulating. Its racy humour, its original imaginings, 
 make it one of the freshest, breeziest volumes.' Methodist Times. 
 
 Biography 
 
 S. Baring Gould. THE LIFE OF NAPOLEON BONA- 
 PARTE. By S. BARING GOULD. With over 450 Illustrations in 
 the Text and 12 Photogravure Plates. Large quarto. Gilt top. 36*. 
 
 ' The best biography of Napoleon in our tongue, nor have the French as good a 
 biographer of their hero. A book very nearly as good as Southey's " Life of 
 Nelson." ' Manchester Guardian. 
 
 'The main feature of this gorgeous volume is its great wealth of beautiful photo- 
 gravures and finely-executed wood engravings, constituting a complete pictorial 
 chronicle of Napoleon I.'s personal history from the days of his early childhood 
 at Ajaccio to the date of his second interment under the dome of the Invalides in 
 Paris.' Daily Telegraph. 
 
 ' The most elaborate account of Napoleon ever produced by an English writer.' 
 Daily Chronicle. 
 
 'A brilliant and attractive volume. Never before have so many pictures relating 
 to Napoleon been brought within the limits of an English book.' Globe. 
 
 ' Particular notice is due to the vast collection of contemporary illustrations.' 
 Guardian. 
 
 ' Nearly all the illustrations are real contributions tohistory.' Westminster Gazfttf. 
 
 'Ths illustrations are of supreme interest.' Standard.
 
 MESSRS. METHUEN'S LIST 17 
 
 Morris Fuller. THE LIFE AND WRITINGS OF JOHN 
 DAVENANT, D.D. (1571-1641), President of Queen's College, 
 Lady Margaret Professor of Divinity, Bishop of Salisbury. By 
 MORRIS FULLER, B.D. Demy 81/0. IQS. 6d. 
 
 ' A valuable contribution to ecclesiastical history.' Birmingham Gazette. 
 
 J. M. Rigg. ST. ANSELM OF CANTERBURY : A CHAPTER 
 IN THE HISTORY OK RELIGION. ByJ. M. RIGG. DemySvo. js.6J. 
 
 ' Mr. Rigg has told the story of the great Primate's life with scholarly ability, and 
 has thereby contributed an interesting chapter to the history of the Norman period.' 
 Daily Chronicle, 
 
 F. W. Joyce. THE LIFE OF SIR FREDERICK GORE 
 OUSELEY. By F. W. JOYCE, M.A. With Portraits and Illustra- 
 tions. Crown 8vo. "js. 6d. 
 
 ' This book has been undertaken in quite the right spirit, and written with sympathy 
 insight, and considerable literary skill.' Times. 
 
 W. G. Collingwood. THE LIFE OF JOHN RUSKIN. By 
 W. G. COLLINGWOOD, M.A., Editor of Mr. Ruskin's Poems. With 
 numerous Portraits, and 13 Drawings by Mr. Ruskin. Second 
 Edition. 2 vols. Sw. 321. 
 
 C. Waldstein. JOHN RUSKIN : a Study. By CHARLES 
 WALDSTEIN, M.A., Fellow of King's College, Cambridge. With a 
 Photogravure Portrait after Professor HERKOMER. Post 8vo. $s. 
 
 'A thoughtful, impartial, well-written criticism of Ruskin's teaching, intended to 
 separate what the author regards as valuable and permanent from what is transient 
 and erroneous in the great master's writing.' Daily Chronicle. 
 
 W. H. Hutton. THE LIFE OF SIR THOMAS MORE. By 
 W. H. HUTTON, M.A., Author of ' William Laud.' With Portraits. 
 Crown 8vo. $s. 
 
 ' The book lays good claim to high rank among our biographies. It is excellently, 
 even lovingly, written.' Scotsman. ' An excellent monograph.' Times. 
 
 Clark Russell. THE LIFE OF ADMIRAL LORD COL- 
 LINGWOOD. By W. CLARK RUSSELL, Author of ' The Wreck 
 of the Grosvenor.' With Illustrations by F. BRANGWYN. Third 
 Edition. Crown 8vo. 6s. 
 
 1 A book which we should like to see in the hands of every boy in the country.' 
 St. James's Gazette. ' A really good book.' Saturday Review. 
 
 A3
 
 1 8 MESSRS. METIIUEN'S LIST 
 
 Southey. ENGLISH SEAMEN (Howard, Clifford, Hawkins, 
 Drake, Cavendish). By ROBERT SOUTHEY. Edited, with an 
 Introduction, by DAVID HANNAY. Second Edition. Crown Sve. 6s. 
 
 'Admirable and well-told stories of our naval history.' A rtny and Navy Gazette. 
 
 ' A brave, inspiriting book.' Black and White. 
 
 Travel, Adventure and Topography 
 
 R. S. S. Baden-Powell. THE DOWNFALL OF PREMPEH. 
 A Diary of Life with the Native Levy in Ashanti, 1895. By Colonel 
 BADEN-POWELL. With 21 Illustrations and a Map. Demy 8vo. 
 IDS. 6d. 
 
 ' A compact, faithful, most readable record of the campaign." Daily News. 
 ' A bluff and vigorous narrative.' Glasgow Herald. 
 
 E. S. S. Baden-Powell. THE MATEBELE CAMPAIGN 1896. 
 By Colonel R. S. S. BADEN-POWELL. With nearly 100 Illustrations. 
 Second Edition. Demy Svo. 1 55. 
 
 'Written In an unaffectedly light and humorous style.' The World. 
 
 'A very racy and eminently readable book." St.Jaines's Gazette. 
 
 ' As a straightforward account of a great deal of plucky work unpretentiously done, 
 this book is well worth reading. The simplicity of the narrative is all in its 
 favour, and accords in a peculiarly English fashion with the nature of the subject.' 
 Times. 
 
 Captain Hinde. THE FALL OF THE CONGO ARABS. 
 By SIDNEY L. HINDE. With Portraits and Plans. Demy Svo. 
 I2J. 6d. 
 
 ' The book is full of good things, and of sustained interest.' St. James's Gazette. 
 A graphic sketch of one of the most exciting and important episodes in the struggle 
 for supremacy in Central Africa between the Arabs and their Europeon rivals. 
 Apart from the story of the campaign, Captain Hinde's book is mainly remark- 
 able for the fulness with which he discusses the question of cannibalism. It is, 
 indeed, the only connected narrative in English, at any rate which has been 
 published of this particular episode in African history.' Times. 
 
 'Captain Hinde's book is one of the most interesting and valuable contributions yet 
 made to the literature of modern Africa.' Daily News. 
 
 W. Crooke. THE NORTH-WESTERN PROVINCES OF 
 INDIA : THEIR ETHNOLOGY AND ADMINISTRATION. By W. 
 CROOKE. With Maps and Illustrations. Demy'&vo. \os. 6d. 
 
 'A carefully and well-written account of one of the most important provinces of the 
 Empire. In seven chapters Mr. CrooVe deals successively with the land in its 
 physical aspect, the province under Hindoo and Mussulman rule, the province 
 under British rule, the ethnology and sociology of the province, the religious and 
 social life of the people, the land and its settlement, and the native peasant in his 
 relation to the land. The illustrations are good and well selected, and the map is 
 excellent.' ^f ztic 1 '. ester Cuaj\: an.
 
 MESSRS. METHUEN'S LIST 19 
 
 W. B. Worsfold. SOUTH AFRICA : Its History and its Future. 
 By W. BASIL WORSFOLD, M.A. With a Map. Second Edition. 
 Crown 8vo. 6s. 
 
 ' An intensely interesting book.' Daily Chronicle. 
 
 ' A monumental work compressed into a very moderate compass.' World. 
 
 General Literature 
 
 8. Earing Gould. OLD COUNTRY LIFE. By S. BARING 
 GOULD, Author of 'Mehalah,' etc. With Sixty-seven Illustrations 
 by W. PARKINSON, F. D. BEDFORD, and F. MASEY. Large 
 Crown 8vo. los. 6J. Fifth and Cheaper Edition, 6s. 
 
 " Old Country Life, as healthy wholesome reading, full of breezy life and move- 
 ment, full of quaint stories vigorously told, will not be excelled by any book to be 
 published throughout the year. Sound, hearty, and English to thecore.' World. 
 
 S. Baring Gould. HISTORIC ODDITIES AND STRANGE 
 EVENTS. By S. BARING GOULD. Third Edition. Crown*. 6s. 
 
 ' A collection of exciting and entertaining chapters. The whole volume is delightful 
 reading.' Times. 
 
 S. Baring Gould. FREAKS OF FANATICISM. By S. BARING 
 GOULD. Third Edition. Crown 8vo. 6s. 
 
 ' Mr. Baring Gould has a keen eye for colour and effect, and the subjects he has 
 chosen give ample scope to his descriptive and analytic faculties. A perfectly 
 fascinating book.' Scottish Leader. 
 
 S. Baring Gould. A GARLAND OF COUNTRY SONG : 
 
 English Folk Songs with their Traditional Melodies. Collected ar.d 
 arranged by S. BARING GOULD and H. FLEETWOOD SHEPPARD. 
 Demy 4/0. 6s. 
 
 S. Baring Gould. SONGS OF THE WEST: Traditional 
 Ballads and Songs of the West of England, with their Traditional 
 Melodies. Collected by S. BARING GOULD, M. A., and H. FLEET- 
 WOOD SHEPPARD, M.A. Arranged fcr Voice and Piano. In 4 Parts 
 (containing 25 Songs each), Parts /., //., ///., 3s. each. Part 
 IV., S.T. /// one Vol., French tnorccco, l$s. 
 'A rich collection of humour, pathos, grace, and poetic fancy. 'Saturday Review.
 
 20 MESSRS. METHUEN'S LIST 
 
 S. Baring Gould. YORKSHIRE ODDITIES AND STRANGE 
 EVENTS. Fourth Edition. Crown 8vo. 6s. 
 
 S. Baring Gould. STRANGE SURVIVALS AND SUPER- 
 STITIONS. With Illustrations. By S. BARING GOULD. Croivn 
 8vo. Second Edition. 6s. 
 
 1 We have read Mr. Baring Gould's book from beginning to end. It is full of quaint 
 and various information, and there is not a dull page in it. ' Notes and Queries. 
 
 S. Baring Gould. THE DESERTS OF SOUTHERN 
 FRANCE. By S. BARING. GOULD. With numerous Illustrations 
 by F. D. BEDFORD, S. HUTTON, etc. 2 vols. Demy 8vo. 325. 
 
 'His two richly-illustrated volumes are full of matter of interest to the geologist, 
 the archaeologist, and the student of history and manners." Scotsman. 
 
 G. W. Steevens. NAVAL POLICY: WITH A DESCRIP- 
 TION OF ENGLISH AND FOREIGN NAVIES. By G. W. STEEVENS. 
 Demy 8vo. 6s. 
 
 This book is a description of the British and other more important navies of the world, 
 with a sketch of the lines on which our naval policy might possibly be developed. 
 It describes our recent naval policy, and shows w_hat our naval force really is. A 
 detailed but non-technical account is given of the instruments of modern warfare 
 guns, armour, engines, and the like with a view to determine how far we are 
 abreast of modern invention and modern requirements. An ideal policy is then 
 sketched for the building and manning of our fleet ; and the last chapter is 
 devoted to docks, coaling-stations, and especially colonial defence. 
 
 'An extremely able and interesting work.' Daily Chronicle. 
 
 W. E. Gladstone. THE SPEECHES AND PUBLIC AD- 
 DRESSES OF THE RT. HON. W. E. GLADSTONE, M.P. 
 Edited by A. W. HUTTON, M.A., and H. J. COHEN, M.A. With 
 Portraits. 8vo. Vols. IX. and X. 125. 6d. each. 
 
 J. Wells. OXFORD AND OXFORD LIFE. By Members of 
 the University. Edited by J. WELLS, M.A., Fellow and Tutor of 
 Wadham College. Crown 8vo. 3^. 6d. 
 
 ' We congratulate Mr. Wells on the production of a readable and intelligent account 
 of Oxford as it is at the present time, written by persons who are possessed of a 
 close acquaintance with the system and life of the University.' Athenceitm, 
 
 L. Whibley. GREEK OLIGARCHIES : THEIR ORGANISA- 
 TION AND CHARACTER. By L. WHIBLEY, M.A., Fellow 
 of Pembroke College, Cambridge. Crown f>vo. 6s. 
 
 'An exceedingly useful handbook: a careful and well-arranged study of an obscure 
 
 subject.' Times. 
 1 Mr. Whibley is never tedious or pedantic.' Pall Mall Gazette.
 
 MESSRS. METIIUEN'S LIST 21 
 
 L. L. Price. ECONOMIC SCIENCE AND PRACTICE. 
 By L. L. PRICE, M.A., Fellow of Oriel College, Oxford. Crown 
 8v0. 6s, 
 
 ' The book is well written, giving evidence of considerable literary ability, and clear 
 mental grasp of the subject under consideration. 'Western Morning News. 
 
 0. F. Andrews. CHRISTIANITY AND THE LABOUR 
 
 QUESTION. By C. F. ANDREWS, B.A. Crown 8vo. 2s. 6cf. 
 ' A bold and scholarly survey.' Speaker. 
 
 J. S. Shedlock. THE PIANOFORTE SONATA : Its Origin 
 and Development. By J. S. SHEDLOCK. Crown 8v0. 5*. 
 
 ' This work should be in the possession of every musician and amateur, for it not 
 only embodies a concise and lucid history ot the origin of one of the most im- 
 portant forms of musical composition, but, by reason of the painstaking research 
 and accuracy of the author's statements, it is a very valuable work for reference.' 
 A tlttnauin. 
 
 E. M. Bowden. THE EXAMPLE OF BUDDHA : Being Quota- 
 tions from Buddhist Literature for each Day in the Year. Compiled 
 by E. M. BOWDEN. With Preface by Sir EDWIN ARNOLD. Third 
 Edition, \6rno. 2s. 6d. 
 
 Science 
 
 Freudenreich. DAIRY BACTERIOLOGY. A Short Manual 
 for the Use of Students. By Dr. ED. VON FREUDENREICH. 
 Translated from the German by J. R. AINSWORTH DAVIS, B.A., 
 F.C.P. Crown 8vo. 2s. 6d. 
 
 Chalmers Mitchell. OUTLINES OF BIOLOGY. By P. 
 
 CHALMERS MITCHELL, M.A., F.Z.S. Fully Illustrated. Crown 
 8v0. 6s. 
 
 A text-book designed to cover the new Schedule issued by the Royal College of 
 Physicians and Surgeons. 
 
 G.Massee. A MONOGRAPH OF THE MYXOGASTRES. By 
 GEORGE MASSEE. With 12 Coloured Plates. Royal 8v0. l8s. net.
 
 22 MESSRS. METHUEN'S LIST 
 
 Philosophy 
 
 L. T. Hobhouse. THE THEORY OF KNOWLEDGE. By 
 L. T. HOBHOUSE, Fellow and Tutor of Corpus College, Oxford. 
 Demy 8vo. 2is. 
 
 ' The most important contribution to English philosophy since the publication of Mr. 
 Bradley's " Appearance and Reality." Full of brilliant criticism and of positive 
 theories which are models of lucid statement.' Glasginu Herald. 
 
 ' An elaborate and often brilliantly written volume. The treatment is one of great 
 freshness, and the illustrations are particularly numerous and apt.' Times. 
 
 W. H. Fairbrother. THE PHILOSOPHY OF T. H. GREEN. 
 By W. H. FAIRBROTHER, M.A., Lecturer at Lincoln College, 
 Oxford. Crown 8vo. $s. 6d. 
 
 This volume is expository, not critical, and is intended for senior students at the 
 
 Universities and others, as a statement of Green's teaching, and an introduction to 
 
 the study of Idealist Philosophy. 
 ' In every way an admirable book. As an introduction to the writings of perhaps the 
 
 most remarkable speculative thinker whom England has produced in the present 
 
 century, nothing could be better.' Glasgow Herald. 
 
 F. W. Bussell. THE SCHOOL OF PLATO : its Origin and 
 its Revival under the Roman Empire. By F. W. BUSSELL, M. A., 
 Fellow and Tutor of Brasenose College, Oxford. Deiy%vo. ids. 6d. 
 
 ' A highly valuable contribution to the history of ancient thought.' Glasgow Herald. 
 ' A clever and stimulating book, provocative of thought and deserving careful reading.' 
 Manchester Guardian. 
 
 F. S. Granger. THE WORSHIP OF THE ROMANS. By 
 F. S. GRANGER, M.A., Litt.D., Professor of Philosophy at Univer- 
 sity College, Nottingham. Crown Si'o. 6s. 
 
 ' A scholarly analysis of the religious ceremonies,be'.iefs, and superstitions of ancient 
 Rome, conducted in the new instructive light of comparative anthropology.' 
 Times. 
 
 Theology 
 
 E. 0. S. Gibson. THE XXXIX. ARTICLES OF THE 
 CHURCH OF ENGLAND. Edited with an Introduction by E. 
 C. S. GIBSON, D.D., Vicar of Leeds, late Principal of Wells 
 Theological College. In Two Volumes. Demy 8vo. i$s. 
 
 ' The tone maintained throughout is not that of the partial advocate, but the faithful 
 
 exponent. ' --Scotsman. 
 ' There are ample proofs of clearness of expression, sobriety of judgment, and breadth 
 
 of view. . . . The book will be welcome to all students of the subject, and its sound, 
 
 definite, and loyal theology ought to be of great service.' National Observer. 
 ' So far from repelling the general reader, its orderly arrangement, lucid treatment, 
 
 and felicity of diction invite and encourage his attention.' Yorkshire Post.
 
 MESSRS. METHUEN'S LIST 23 
 
 E. L. Ottley. THE DOCTRINE OF THE INCARNATION. 
 
 By R. L. OTTLEY, M.A., late fellow of Magdalen College, Oxon., 
 
 Principal of Pusey House. In Two Volumes. Demy%vo. 151. 
 ' Learned and reverent : lucid and well arranged.' Record. 
 ' Accurate, well ordered, and judicious.' National Observer. 
 ' A clear and remarkably full account of the main currents of speculation. Scholarly 
 
 precision . . . genuine tolerance . . . intense interest in his subject are Mr. 
 
 Ottley's merits.' Guardian. 
 
 F. B. Jevons. AN INTRODUCTION TO THE HISTORY 
 
 OF RELIGION. By F. B. JEVONS, M.A., Litt.D., Principal of 
 Bishop Ilatfield's Hall. Demy 8vo. los. 6J. 
 
 Mr. F. B. Jevons' 'Introduction to the History of Religion 1 treats of early religion, 
 from the point of view of Anthropology and Folk-lore ; and is the first attempt 
 that has been made in any language to weave together the results of recent 
 investigations into such topics as Sympathetic Magic, Taboo, Totemism. 
 Fetishism, etc., so as to present a systematic account of the growth of primitive 
 religion and the development of early religious institutions. 
 
 'Dr. Jevons has written a notable work, and we can strongly recommend it to the 
 serious attention of theologians, anthropologists, and classical scholars.' Jlfan- 
 chester Guardian. 
 
 ' The merit of this book lies In the penetration, the singular acuteness and force of the 
 author's judgment. He is at once critical and luminous, at once just and suggestive. 
 It is but rarely that one meets with a book so comprehensive and so thorough as 
 this, and it is more than an ordinary pleasure for the reviewer to welcome and 
 recommend it. Dr. Jeyons is something more than an historian of primitive 
 belief he is a philosophic thinker, who sees his subject clearly and sees it whole, 
 whose mastery of detail is no less complete than his view of the broader aspects 
 and issues of his subject is convincing.' Birmingham Post. 
 
 S. R. Driver. SERMONS ON SUBJECTS CONNECTED 
 WITH THE OLD TESTAMENT. By S. R. DRIVER, D.D., 
 Canon of Christ Church, Regius Professor of Hebrew in the Uni- 
 versity of Oxford. Crown 8vo. 6s. 
 
 ' A welcome companion to the author's famous ' Introduction.' No man can read these 
 discourses without feeling that Dr. Driver is fully alive to the deeper teaching of 
 the Old Testament.' Guardian. 
 
 T. K. Cheyne. FOUNDERS OF OLD TESTAMENT CRITI- 
 CISM : Biographical, Descriptive, and Critical Studies. By T. K. 
 CHEYNE, D.D., Oriel Professor of the Interpretation of Holy Scrip- 
 ture at Oxford. Large crown Svo. 75. 6d. 
 This book is a historical sketch of O. T. Criticism in the form of biographical studies 
 
 from the days of Eichhorn to those of Driver and Robertson Smith. 
 'A very learned and instructive work.' Times. 
 
 C.H.Prior. CAMBRIDGE SERMONS. Edited by C.H. PRIOR, 
 
 M.A., Fellow and Tutor of Pembroke College. Crown 8zv. 6s. 
 A volume of sermons preached before the University of Cambridge by various 
 
 preachers, including the Archbishop of Canterbury and Bishop Westcott. 
 A representative collection. Bishop Westcott's is a noble sermon.' Guardian. 
 
 E B. Layard. RELIGION IN BOYHOOD. Notes on the 
 Religious Training of Boys. With a Preface by J. R. ILLING- 
 \VORTII. By E. B. LAYARD, M.A. i&wo. is.
 
 24 MESSRS. METHUEN'S LIST 
 
 W. Yorke Faussett. THE DE CATECHIZANDIS 
 
 RUDIBUS OF ST. AUGUSTINE. Edited, with Introduction, 
 
 Notes, etc., by W. YORKE FAUSSETT, M.A., late Scholar of Balliol 
 
 Coll. Crown 8vo. 35. 6d. 
 
 An edition of a Treatise on the Essentials of Christian Doctrine, and the best 
 
 methods of impressing them on candidates for baptism. 
 
 'Ably and judiciously edited on the same principle as the ordinary Greek and 
 Latin texts.' Glasgow Herald. 
 
 SDetotional 
 
 With Full-page Illustrations. Fcap. 8vo. Buckram. y. 6d. 
 
 Padded morocco, $s. 
 
 THE IMITATION OF CHRIST. By THOMAS A KEMPIS. 
 With an Introduction by DEAN FARRAR. Illustrated by C. M. 
 GERE, and printed in black and red. Second Edition. 
 'Amongst all the innumerable English editions of the "Imitation," there can have 
 been few which were prettier than this one, printed in strong and handsome type. 
 with all the glory of red initials.' Glasgow Herald. 
 
 THE CHRISTIAN YEAR. By JOHN KEBLE. With an Intro- 
 duction and Notes by W. LOCK, D.D., Warden of Keble College, 
 Ireland, Professor at Oxford. Illustrated by R. ANNING BELL. 
 'The present edition is annotated with all the care and insight to be expected from 
 Mr. Lock. The progress and circumstances of its composition are detailed in the 
 Introduction. There is an interesting Appendix on the MSS. of the "Christian 
 Year," and another giving the order in which the poems were written. A "Short 
 Analysis of the Thought " is prefixed to each, and any difficulty in the text is ex- 
 plained in a note.' Guardian. 
 ' The most acceptable edition of this ever-popular work. ' Globe. 
 
 Leaders of Religion 
 
 Edited by H. C. BEECHING, M.A. With Portraits, crown 8vo. 
 
 A series of short biographies of the most prominent leaders / /" 
 
 of religious life and thought of all ages and countries. O / \~\ 
 
 The following are ready y_)l 
 
 CARDINAL NEWMAN. By R. H. HUTTON. 
 JOHN WESLEY. By J. H. OVERTON, M.A. 
 BISHOP WILBERFORCE. By G. W. DANIEL, M.A. 
 CARDINAL MANNING. By A. W. HUTTON, M.A. 
 CHARLES SIMEON. By H. C. G. MOULE, M.A. 
 JOHN KEBLE. By WALTER LOCK, D.D. 
 THOMAS CHALMERS. By Mrs. OLIPHANT. 
 LANCELOT ANDREWES. By R. L. OTTLEY, M.A. 
 AUGUSTINE OF CANTERBURY. By E. L. CUTTS, D.D. 
 WILLIAM LAUD. By W. H. HUTTON, B.D.
 
 MESSRS. METHUEN'S LIST 25 
 
 JOHN KNOX. By F. M'CUNN. 
 JOHN HOWE. By R. F. HORTON, D.D. 
 BISHOP KEN. By F. A. CLARKE, M.A. 
 GEORGE FOX, THE QUAKER. By T. HODGKIN, D.C.L. 
 Other volumes will be announced in due course. 
 
 Fiction 
 
 SIX SHILLING NOVELS 
 
 Marie Corelli's Novels 
 
 Crown 8vo. 6s. each. 
 
 A ROMANCE OF TWO WORLDS. Sixteenth Edition. 
 VENDETTA. Thirteenth Edition. 
 THELMA. Seventeenth Edition. 
 ARDATH. Elwenth Edition. 
 THE SOUL OF LILITH Ninth Edition. 
 WORMWOOD. Eighth Edition. 
 
 BARABBAS : A DREAM OF THE WORLD'S TRAGEDY. 
 
 Thirty-first Edition. 
 
 1 The tender reverence of the treatment and the imaginative beauty of the writing 
 have reconciled us to the daring of the conception, and the conviction is forced on 
 us that even so exalted a subject cannot be made too familiar to us, provided it be 
 presented in the true spirit of Christian faith. The amplifications of the Scripture 
 narrative are often conceived with high poetic insight, and this "Dream of the 
 World's Tragedy " is, despite some trifling incongruities, a lofty and not inade- 
 quate paraphrase of the supreme climax of the inspired narrative.' Dublin 
 Review. 
 
 THE SORROWS OF SATAN. Thirty-sixth Edition. 
 
 ' A very powerful piece of work. . . . The conception is magnificent, and is likely 
 to win an abiding place within the memory of man. . . . The author has immense 
 command of language, and a limitless audacity. . . . This interesting and re- 
 markable romance will live long after much of the ephemeral literature of the day 
 is forgotten. ... A literary phenomenon . . . novel, and even sublime.' W. T. 
 STEAD in the Review of Reviews. 
 
 Anthony Hope's Novels 
 
 Crown %vo. 6s. each. 
 THE GOD IN THE CAR. Seventh Edition. 
 
 ' A very remarkable book, deserving of critical analysis impossible within our limit ; 
 brilliant, but not superficial ; well considered, but not elaborated ; constructed 
 with the proverbial art that conceals, but yet allows itself to be enjoyed by readers 
 to whom fine literary method is a keen pleasure.' The World. 
 
 A CHANGE OF AIR. Fourth Edition. 
 
 'A graceful, vivacious comedy, true to human nature. The characters are traced 
 with a masterly hand.' Times. 
 
 A MAN OF MARK. Fourth Edition. 
 
 ' Of all Mr. Hope's books, " A Man of Mark " is the one which best compares with 
 1 ' The Prisoner of Zenda." ' Xational Observer.
 
 26 MESSRS. METHUEN'S LIST 
 
 THE CHRONICLES OF COUNT ANTONIO. Third Edition. 
 
 'It is a perfectly enchanting story of love and chivalry, and pure romance. The 
 outlawed Count is the most constant, desperate, and withal modest and tender of 
 lovers, a peerless gentleman, an intrepid fighter, a very faithful friend, and a most 
 magnanimous foe. ' Guardian. 
 
 PHROSO. Illustrated by H. R. MILLAR. Third Edition. 
 
 'The tale is thoroughly fresh, quick with vitality, stirring the blood, and humorously, 
 
 dashingly told. 1 St. James's Gazette. 
 1 A story of adventure, every page of which is palpitating with action and excitement.' 
 
 Speaker. 
 ' From cover to cover " Phroso " not only engages the attention, but carries the reader 
 
 in little whirls of delight from adventure to adventure.' Academy. 
 
 S. Baring Gould's Novels 
 
 Crown &vo. 6s. each. 
 'To say that a book is by the author of " Mehalah" is to imply that it contains a 
 
 may be very generally accepted. His views of life are fresh and vigorous, his 
 language pointed and characteristic, the incidents of which he makes use are 
 striking and original, his characters are life-like, and though somewhat excep- 
 tional people, are drawn and coloured with artistic force. Add to this that his 
 descriptions of scenes and scenery are painted with the loving eyes and skilled 
 hands of a master^of his art, that he is always fresh and never dull, and under 
 such conditions it is no wonder that readers have gained confidence both in his 
 power of amusing and satisfying them, and that year by year his popularity 
 widens.' Court Circular. 
 
 ARM I NELL : A Social Romance. Fourth Edition. 
 URITH : A Story of Dartmoor. Fifth Edition. 
 
 'The author is at his best.' Times. 
 
 IN THE ROAR OF THE SEA. Sixth Edition. 
 
 'One of the best imagined and most enthralling stories the author has produced. 
 Saturday Review. 
 
 MRS. CURGENVEN OF CURGENVEN. Fourth Edition. 
 
 ' The swing of the narrative is splendid.' Sussex Daily Neu>s. 
 
 CHEAP JACK ZITA. Fourth Edition. 
 
 ' A powerful drama of human passion. 1 Westminster Gazette. 
 'A story worthy the author.' National Observer. 
 
 THE QUEEN OF LOVE. Fourth Edition. 
 
 ' You cannot put it down until you have finished it.' Punch. 
 
 ' Can be heartily recommended to all who care for cleanly, energetic, and interesting 
 fiction.' Sussex Daily News. 
 
 KITTY ALONE. Fourth Edition. 
 
 ' A strong and original story, teeming with graphic description, stirring incident, 
 and, above all, with vivid and enthralling human interest.' Daily Telegraph. 
 
 NOEMI : A Romance of the Cave-Dwellers. Illustrated by 
 
 R. CATON WOODVILLE. Third Edition. 
 1 "Noe'mi" is as excellent a tale of fighting and adve_nture as one may wish to meet. 
 
 The narrative also runs clear and sharp as the Loire itself.' Pall Mall Gazette. 
 ' Mr. Baring Gould's powerful story is full of the strong lights and shadows and 
 
 vivid colouring to which he has accustomed us.' Standard.
 
 MESSRS. METHUEN'S LIST 27 
 
 THE BROOM-SQUIRE. Illustrated by FRANK DADD. 
 
 Fourth Edition. 
 ' A strain of tenderness is woven through the web of his tragic tale, and its atmosphere 
 
 is sweetened by the nobility and sweetness of the heroine's character.' Daily Nevus. 
 1 A story of exceptional interest that seems to us to be better than anything he has 
 
 written of late.' Speaker. 
 
 THE PENNYCOMEQUICKS. Third Edition. 
 DARTMOOR IDYLLS. 
 
 4 A book to read, and keep and read again ; for the genuine fun and pathos of it will 
 not early lose their effect.' Vanity Fair. 
 
 GUAVAS THE TINNER. Illustrated by Frank Dadd. Second 
 
 Edition. 
 ' Mr. Baring Gould is a wizard who transports us into a region of visions, often lurid 
 
 and disquieting, but always full of interest and enchantment.' Spectator. 
 ' In the weirdness of the story, in the faithfulness with which the characters are 
 
 depicted, and in force of style, it closely resembles ' ' Mehalah. " ' Daily Telegraph. 
 ' There is a kind of flavour about this book which alone elevates it above the ordinary 
 
 novel. The story itself has a grandeur in harmony with the wild and rugged 
 
 scenery which is its setting. ' A thenttvm. 
 
 Gilbert Parker's Novels 
 
 Crown 8vo. 6s. each. 
 PIERRE AND HIS PEOPLE. Fourth Edition. 
 
 ' Stories happily conceived and finely executed. There is strength and genius in Mr. 
 Parker's style.' Daily Telegraph. 
 
 MRS. FALCHION. Fourth Edition. 
 
 ' A splendid study of character.' A thencruni, 
 
 1 But little behind anything that has been done by any writer of our time. 'Pall 
 Mall Gazette. 'A very striking and admirable novel.' St. James's Gazette. 
 
 THE TRANSLATION OF A SAVAGE. 
 
 ' The plot is original and one difficult to work out ; but Mr. Parker has done it with 
 great skill and delicacy. The reader who is not interested in this original, fresh, 
 and well-told tale must be a dull person indeed.' Daily Chronicle. 
 
 THE TRAIL OF THE SWORD. Fifth Edition. 
 
 'Everybody with a soul for romance will thoroughly enjoy "The Trail of the 
 Sword." ' St. James's Gazette. 
 
 ' A rousing and dramatic tale. A book like this, in which swords flash, great sur- 
 prises are undertaken, and daring deeds done, in which men and women live and 
 love in the old straightforward passionate way, is a joy inexpressible to the re- 
 viewer." Daily Chronicle. 
 
 WHEN VALMOND CAME TO PONTIAC : The Story of 
 
 a Lost Napoleon. Fourth Edition. 
 
 1 Here we find romance real, breathing, living romance, but it runs flush with our 
 own times, level with our own feelings. The character of Valmond is drawn un- 
 erringly ; his career, brief as it is, is placed before us as convincingly as history 
 itself. The book must be read, we may say re-read, for any one thoroughly to 
 appreciate Mr. Parker's delicate touch and innate sympathy with humanity.' 
 Pall Mall Gazette. 
 'The one work of genius which 1895 has as yet produced.' New Age. 
 
 AN ADVENTURER OF THE NORTH: The Last Adven- 
 
 tures of ' Pretty Pierre.' Second Edition. 
 ' The present book is full of fine an 
 
 and moving stories of the great North, and it will 
 add* to Mr. Parker's already high reputation.' Glasgow Herald.
 
 28 MESSRS. METHUEN'S LIST 
 
 THE SEATS OF THE MIGHTY. Illustrated. Eighth Edition. 
 
 1 The best thing he has done ; one of the best things that any one has done lately." 
 
 St. James's Gazette. 
 'Mr. Parker seems to become stronger and easier with every serious novel that he 
 
 attempts. . . . In " The Seats of the Mighty " he shows the matured power which 
 
 his former novels have led us to expect, and has produced a really fine historical 
 
 novel. . . . Most _ sincerely is Mr. Parker to be congratulated on the finest 
 
 novel he has yet written. 1 A. thena-um. 
 Mr. Parker's latest book places him in the front rank of living novelists. "The 
 
 Seats of the Mighty" is a great book.' Black and White. 
 'One of the strongest stories of historical interest and adventure that we have read 
 
 for many a day. ... A notable and successful book.' Speaker. 
 
 Conan Doyle. ROUND THE RED LAMP. By A. CONAN 
 DOYLE, Author of 'The White Company,' 'The Adventures of 
 Sherlock Holmes,' etc. Fifth Edition. Crown Svo. 6s. 
 'The book is, indeed, composed of leaves from life, and is far and away the best view 
 that has been vouchsafed us behind the scenes of the consulting-room. It is very 
 superior to ' ' The Diary of a late Physician. " ' Illustrated London News. 
 
 Stanley Weyman. UNDER THE RED ROBE. By STANLEY 
 WEYMAN, Author of ' A Gentleman of France.' With Twelve Illus- 
 trations by R. Caton Woodville. Twelfth Edition. Crown Svo. 6s. 
 
 ' A book of which we have read every word for the sheer pleasure of reading, and 
 which we put down with a pang that we cannot forget it all and start again.' 
 Westminster Gazette. 
 
 ' Every one who reads books at all must read this thrilling romance, from the first 
 page of which to the last the breathless reader is haled along. An inspiration of 
 " manliness and courage." ' Daily Chronicle. 
 
 Lucas Malet. THE WAGES OF SIN. By LUCAS 
 MALET. Thirteenth Edition. Crown Svo. 6s. 
 
 Lucas Malet. THE CARISSIMA. By LUCAS MALET, 
 Author of ' The Wages of Sin,' etc. Third Edition. Crown Svo. 6s. 
 
 Arthur Morrison. TALES OF MEAN STREETS. By ARTHUR 
 
 MORRISON. Fourth Edition. Crown Svo. 6s. 
 1 Told with consummate art and extraordinary detail. He tells a plain, unvarnished 
 
 tale, and the very truth of it makes for beauty. In the true humanity of the book 
 
 lies its justification, the permanence of its interest, and its indubitable triumph.' 
 
 A thenattm. 
 1 A great book. The author's method is amazingly effective, and produces a thrilling 
 
 sense of reality. The writer lays upon us a master hand. The book is simply 
 
 appalling and irresistible in its interest. It is humorous also ; without humour 
 
 it would not make the mark it is certain to make.' World. 
 
 Arthur Morrison. A CHILD OF THE JAGO. By ARTHUR 
 
 MORRISON. Third Edition. Crown Svo. 6s. 
 This, the first long story which Mr. Morrison has written, is like his remarkable 
 
 ' Tales of Mean Streets,' a realistic study of East End life. 
 1 The book is a masterpiece.' Pall Mall Gazette. 
 ' Told with great vigour and powerful simplicity.' Athenautn. 
 
 Mrs. Clifford. A FLASH OF SUMMER. By Mrs. W. K. CLIF- 
 FORD, Author of 'Aunt Anne, 'etc. Second Edition. Crown Svo. 6s. 
 ' The story is a very sad and a very beautiful one, exquisitely told, and enriched with 
 many subtle touches of wise and tender insight. It will, undoubtedly, add to its 
 author's reputation already high in the ranks of novelists.' Speaker.
 
 MESSRS. METHUEN'S LIST 29 
 
 Emily Lawless. HURRISH. By the Honble. EMILY LAW- 
 LESS, Author of ' Maelcho,' etc. Fifth Edition. Crown 8vo. 6s. 
 A reissue of Miss Lawless' most popular novel, uniform with ' Maelcho.' 
 
 Emily Lawless. MAELCHO : a Sixteenth Century Romance. 
 By the Honble. EMILY LAWLESS. Second Edition. CrownZvo. tss. 
 
 ' A really great book.' Spectator. 
 
 'There is no keener pleasure in life than the recognition of genius. Good work is 
 commoner than it used to be, but the best is as rare as ever. All the more 
 gladly, therefore, do we welcome in " Maelcho " a piece of work of the first order, 
 which we do not hesitate to describe as one of the most remarkable literary 
 achievements of this generation. Miss Lawless is possessed of the very essence 
 of historical genius.' Manchester Guardian. 
 
 J. H. Findlater. THE GREEN GRAVES OF BALGOWRIE. 
 By JANE H. FINDLATER. Fourth Edition. Crown 8vo. 6s. 
 
 'A powerful and vivid story.' Standard. 
 
 ' A beautiful story, sad and strange as truth itself.' Vanity Fair. 
 
 ' A work of remarkable interest and originality." National Observer. 
 
 ' A very charming and pathetic tale.' Pall Mall Gazette. 
 
 1 A singularly original, clever, and beautiful story.' Guardian. 
 
 1 " The Green Graves of Balgowrie" reveals to us a new Scotch writer of undoubted 
 
 faculty and reserve force.' Spectator. 
 'An exquisite idyll, delicate, affecting, and beautiful.' Black and White. 
 
 H. G. Wells. THE STOLEN BACILLUS, and other Stories. 
 By H. G. WELLS, Author of 'The Time Machine.' Second Edition. 
 Crown Svo. 6s. 
 
 ' The ordinary reader of fiction may be glad to Jcnow that these stories are eminently 
 readable from one cover to the other, but they are more than that ; they are the 
 impressions of a very striking imagination, which, it would seem, has a great deal 
 within its reach.' Saturday Review. 
 
 H.G. Wells. THE PLATTNER STORY AND OTHERS. By H. 
 
 G. WELLS. Second Edition. Crown 8vo. 6s. 
 
 ' Weird and mysterious, they seem to hold the reader as by a magic spell.' Scotsman. 
 1 Such is the fascination of this writer's skill that you unhesitatingly prophesy that 
 
 none of the many readers, however his flesh do creep, will relinquish the volume 
 
 ere he has read from first word to last.' Black and White. 
 ' No volume has appeared for a long time so likely to give equal pleasure to the 
 
 simplest reader and to the most fastidious critic.' Academy. 
 ' Mr. Wells is a magician skilled in wielding that most potent of all spells the fear 
 
 of the unknown.' Daily Telegraph. 
 
 E. F. Benson. DODO : A DETAIL OF THE DAY. By E. F. 
 
 BENSON. Sixteenth Edition. Crown 8vo. 6s. 
 ' A delightfully witty sketch of society.' Spectator. 
 ' A perpetual feast of epigram and paradox.' Speaker. 
 
 E. F. Benson. THE RUBICON. By E. F. BENSON, Author of 
 
 ' Dodo." Fifth Edition. Crown Svo. 6s. 
 
 ' An exception*! achievement ; a notable advance on his previous work.' National 
 Observer. 
 
 Mrs. Oliphant. SIR ROBERT'S FORTUNE. By MRS. 
 OLIPHANT. Crown 8vo, 6s. 
 
 ' Full of her own peculiar charm of style and simple, subtle character-painting comes 
 her new gift, the delightful story before us. The scene mostly_lies in the moors, 
 and at the touch of the authoress a Scotch moor becomes a living thing, strong, 
 tender, beautiful, and changeful.' Pall Mail Gazette.
 
 30 MESSRS. METHUEN'S LIST 
 
 Mrs. Oliphant. THE TWO MARYS. By MRS. OLIPHANT. 
 Second Edition. Crown &vo. 6s. 
 
 W.E.Norris. MATTHEW AUSTIN. By W. E. NORRIS, Author 
 of ' Mademoiselle de Mersac,' etc. Fourth Edition. Crown 8vo. 6s. 
 
 "Matthew Austin " may safely be pronounced one of the most intellectually satis- 
 factory and morally bracing novels of the current year.' Daily Telegraph. 
 
 W. E. Norris. HIS GRACE. By W. E. NORRIS. Third 
 Edition. Crown Svo. 6s. 
 
 ' Mr. Norris has drawn a really fine character in the Duke of Hurstbourne, at once 
 unconventional and very true to the conventionalities of life.' At'tentrutn. 
 
 W. E. Norris. THE DESPOTIC LADY AND OTHERS. 
 
 By W. E. NORRIS. Crown 8w. 6s. 
 ' A budget of good fiction of which no one will tire.' Scotsman. 
 
 W. E. Norris. CLARISSA FURIOSA. By W. E. NORRIS, 
 Author of ' The Rogue,' etc. Crown 8vo. 6s. 
 
 ' One of Mr. Norris 's very best novels. As a story it is admirable, as a. jeu d' esprit 
 it is capital, as a lay sermon studded with gems of wit and wisdom it is a model 
 which will not, we imagine, find an efficient imitator.' The World. 
 
 ' The best novel he has written for some time : a story which is full of admirable 
 character-drawing. ' The Standard. 
 
 Robert Barr. IN THE MIDST OF ALARMS. By ROBERT 
 BARR. Third Edition. Crown 8vo. 6s. 
 
 ' A book which has abundantly satisfied us by its capital humour.' Daily Chronicle. 
 ' Mr. Barr has achieved a triumph whereof he has every reason to be proud.' Pall 
 Mall Gazette. 
 
 J. Maclaren Cobban. THE KING OF ANDAMAN : A 
 Saviour of Society. By J. MACLAREN COBBAN. Crown 8vo. 6s. 
 
 ' An unquestjonably interesting book. It would not surprise us if it turns out to be 
 the most interesting novel of the season, for it contains one character, at least, 
 who has in him the root of immortality, and the book itself is ever exhaling the 
 sweet savour of the unexpected. . . . Plot is forgotten and incident fades, and 
 only the really human endures, and throughout this book there stands out in bold 
 and beautiful relief its high-souled and chivalric protagonist, James the Master 
 of Hutcheon, the King of Andaman himself.' Pall Mail Gazette. 
 
 J. Maclaren Cobban. WILT THOU HAVE THIS WOMAN ? 
 ByJ. M. COBBAN, Author of ' The King of Andaman.' Crown %vo. 6s. 
 
 ' Mr. Cobban has the true story-teller's art. He arrests attention at the outset, and 
 he retains it to the end.' Birmingham Post. 
 
 H. Morrah. A SERIOUS COMEDY. By HERBERT MORRAH. 
 
 Crown 8vo. 6s. 
 
 1 This volume is well worthy of its title. The theme has seldom been presented with 
 more freshness or more force.' Scotsman.
 
 MESSRS. METHUEN'S LIST 31 
 
 H. Morrah. THE FAITHFUL CITY. By HERBERT MORRAH, 
 
 Author of ' A Serious Comedy.' Crown 8vo. 6s. 
 
 ' Conveys a suggestion of weirdness and horror, until finally he convinces and 
 enthrals the reader with his mysterious savages, his gigantic tower, and his 
 uncompromising men and women. This is a haunting, mysterious book, not 
 without an element of stupendous grandeur.' Atkentrum. 
 
 L. B. Walford. SUCCESSORS TO THE TITLE. By MRS. 
 
 WALFORD, Author of 'Mr. Smith, 'etc. Second Edition. Crown 8 vo. 6s. 
 
 ' The story is fresh and healthy from beginning to finish ; and our liking for the two 
 
 simple people who are the successors to the title mounts steadily, and ends almost 
 
 in respect. Scotsman. 
 
 T. L. Paton. A HOME IN INVERESK. By T. L. PATON. 
 
 Crown 8vo. 6s. 
 'A pleasant and well-written story.' Daily Chronicle. 
 
 John Davidson MISS ARMSTRONG'S AND OTHER CIR- 
 CUMSTANCES. By JOHN DAVIDSON. Crown 8vo. 6s. 
 
 ' Throughout the volume there is a strong vein of originality, and a knowledge of 
 human nature that are worthy of the highest praise.' Scotsman. 
 
 M. M. Dowie. GALLIA. By MENIE MURIEL DOWIE, Author 
 
 of ' A Girl in the Carpathians.' Third Edition. Crown 8vo. 6s. 
 'The style is generally admirable, the dialogue not seldom brilliant, the situations 
 surprising in their freshness and originality, while the subsidiary as well as the 
 principal characters live and move, and the story itself is readable from title-page 
 to colophon.' Saturday Review. 
 
 J. A. Barry- IN THE GREAT DEEP : TALES OF THE SEA. 
 By J. A. BARRY. Author of ' Steve Brown's Bunyip.' Crown 8vo. 6s. 
 'A collection of really admirable short stories of the sea, very simply told, and placed 
 before the reader in pithy and telling English.' Westminster Gazette. 
 
 J. B. Burton. IN THE DAY OF ADVERSITY. By J. BLOUN- 
 
 DELLE BURTON.' Second Edition. CrownSvo. 6s. 
 ' Unusually interesting and full of highly dramatic situations.' Guardian. 
 
 J. B. Burton. DENOUNCED. By J. BLOUNDELLE BURTON. 
 
 Second Edition. Crown 8vo. 6s. 
 
 The plot is an original one, and the local colouring is laid on with a delicacy 
 and an accuracy of detail which denote the true artist.' Broad Arrow. 
 
 W. C. Scully. THE WHITE HECATOMB. By W. C. 
 
 SCULLY, Author of ' Kafir Stories.' Crown Svo. 6s. 
 ' The author is so steeped in Kaffir lore and legend, and so thoroughly well acquainted 
 
 with native sagas and traditional ceremonial that he is able to attract the reader 
 
 by the easy familiarity with which he handles his characters." South Africa, 
 ' It reveals a marvellously intimate understanding of the Kaffir mind, allied with 
 
 literary gifts of no mean order.' African Critic. 
 
 H. Johnston. DR. CONGALTON'S LEGACY. By HENRY 
 JOHNSTON. Crown 8vo. 6s. 
 
 ' A worthy and permanent contribution to Scottish literature.' Glasgow Herald.
 
 32 MESSRS. METHUEN'S LIST 
 
 J. F. Brewer. THE SPECULATORS. By J. F. BREWER. 
 
 Second Edition. Crown 8vo. 6s, 
 
 ' A pretty bit of comedy. . . , It is undeniably a clever booK. ' Academy. 
 ' A clever and amusing story. It makes capital out of the comic aspects of culture, 
 
 and will be read with amusement by every intellectual re?der.' Scotsman. 
 'A remarkably clever study.' Vanity Fair. 
 
 Julian Corbett. A BUSINESS IN GREAT WATERS. By 
 JULIAN CORBETT. Crown 8v0. 6s. 
 
 ' Mr. Corbett writes with immense spirit, and the book is a thoroughly enjoyable 
 one in all respects. The salt of the ocean is in it, and the right neroic ring re- 
 sounds through its gallant adventures.' Speaker. 
 
 L. Cope Cornford. CAPTAIN JACOBUS : A ROMANCE OF 
 THE ROAD. By L. COPE CORNFORD. Illustrated. Crown 8vo. 6s. 
 
 ' An exceptionally good story of adventure and character.' World. 
 
 0. P. Wolley. THE QUEENSBERRY CUP. A Tale of 
 Adventure. By CLIVE PHILLIPS WOLLEY. Illustrated. Crown 
 8vo. 6s. 
 
 ' A book which will delight boys : a book which upholds the healthy schoolboy code 
 of morality.' Scotsman. 
 
 L. Daintrey. THE KING OF ALBERIA. A Romance of 
 the Balkans. By LAURA DAINTREY. Crown 8vo. 6s. 
 
 ' Miss Daintrey seems to have an intimate acquaintance with the people and politics 
 of the Balkan countries in which the scene of her lively and picturesque romance 
 is laid.' Glasgow Herald. 
 
 M. A. Owen. THE DAUGHTER OF ALOUETTE. By 
 MARY A. OWEN. Crown 8vo. 6s. 
 
 A story of life among the American Indians. 
 'A fascinating story.' Literary World. 
 
 Mrs. Pinsent. CHILDREN OF THIS WORLD. By ELLEN 
 F. PINSENT, Author of ' Jenny's Case." Crown 8z'<?. 6s. 
 
 ' Mrs. Pinsent's new novel has plenty of vigour, variety, and good writing. There 
 are certainty of purpose, strength of touch, and clearness of vision.' A thenteutn. 
 
 Clark Russell. MY DANISH SWEETHEART. By W. 
 CLARK RUSSELL, Author of 'The Wreck of the Grosvenor," etc. 
 Illustrated. Fourth Edition. Crown 8vo. 6s. 
 
 G. Manville Fenn. AN ELECTRIC SPARK. By G. MANVILLE 
 FENN, Author of ' The Vicar's Wife,' 'A Double Knot,' etc. Second 
 Edition. Crown 8vo. 6s. 
 
 L. S. McChesney. UNDER SHADOW OF THE MISSION. 
 
 By L. S. McCHESNEY. Crown 8vo. 6s. 
 
 ' Those whose minds are open to the finer issues of life, who can appreciate graceful 
 thought and refined expression of it, from them this volume will receive a welcome 
 as enthusiastic as it will be based on critical knowledge.' Church Times. 
 
 Eonald Boss. THE SPIRIT OF STORM. By RONALD 
 Ross, Author of ' The Child of Ocean. ' Crown 8vo. 6s. 
 A romance of the Sea. ' Weird, powerful, and impressive.' Black *nd White.
 
 MESSRS. METHUEN'S LIST 33 
 
 R. Pryce. TIME AND THE WOMAN. By RICHARD PRYCE. 
 
 Second Edition. Crown St'O. 6s. 
 
 Mrs. Watson. THIS MAN'S DOMINION. By the Author 
 of ' A High Little World. ' Second Edition. Crown &vo. 6s. 
 
 Marriott Watson. DIOGENES OF LONDON. By 
 
 H. B. MARRIOTT WATSON. Crown Svo. Buckram. 6s. 
 
 M. Gilchrist. THE STONE DRAGON. By MURRAY GIL- 
 CHRIST. Crown Svo. Buckram. 6s. 
 
 ' The author's faults are atoned for by certain positive and admirable merits. The 
 romances have not their counterpart in modern literature, and to read them is a 
 unique experience. 1 National Observer. 
 
 E. Dickinson. A VICAR'S WIFE. By EVELYN DICKINSON. 
 
 Crown Svo. 6s. 
 E. M. Gray. ELS A. By E. M 'QUEEN GRAY. Crown %vo. 6s. 
 
 3/6 
 
 THREE-AND-SIXPENNY NOVELS 
 
 Croivn Svo. 
 
 DERRICK VAUGHAN, NOVELIST. By EDNA LYALL. 
 MARGERY OF QUETHER. By S. BARING GOULD. 
 JACQUETTA. By S. BARING GOULD. 
 SUBJECT TO VANITY. By MARGARET BENSON. 
 THE SIGN OF THE SPIDER. By BERTRAM MITFORD. 
 THE MOVING FINGER. By MARY GAUNT. 
 JACO TRELOAR. By J. H. PEARCE. 
 THE DANCE OF THE HOURS. By'VERA.' 
 A WOMAN OF FORTY. By ESM STUART. 
 A CUMBERER OF THE GROUND. By CONSTANCE 
 
 SMITH. 
 
 THE SIN OF ANGELS. By EVELYN DICKINSON. 
 AUT DIABOLUS AUT NIHIL. By X. L. 
 THE COMING OF CUCULAIN. By STANDISH O'GRADY. 
 THE GODS GIVE MY DONKEY WINGS. By ANGUS 
 
 EVAN ABBOTT. 
 
 THE STAR GAZERS. By G. MANVILLE FENN. 
 THE POISON OF ASPS. By R. ORTON PROWSE. 
 THE QUIET MRS. FLEMING. By R. PRYCE. 
 DISENCHANTMENT. By F. MABEL ROBINSON. 
 THE SQUIRE OF WANDALES. By A. SHIELD. 
 A REVEREND GENTLEMAN. By J. M. COBBAN.
 
 34 MESSRS. METHUEN'S LIST 
 
 A DEPLORABLE AFFAIR. By W. E. NORRIS. 
 
 A CAVALIER'S LADYE. By Mrs. DICKER. 
 
 THE PRODIGALS. By Mrs. OLIPHANT. 
 
 THE SUPPLANTER. By P. NEUMANN. 
 
 A MAN WITH BLACK EYELASHES. By H. A. KENNEDY. 
 
 A HANDFUL OF EXOTICS. By S. GORDON. 
 
 AN ODD EXPERIMENT. By HANNAH LYNCH. 
 
 2/6 
 
 HALF-CROWN NOVELS 
 
 A Series of Novels by popular Authors. 
 
 1. HOVENDEN, V.C. By F. MABEL ROBINSON. 
 
 2. ELI'S CHILDREN. By G. MANVILLE FENN. 
 
 3. A DOUBLE KNOT. By G. MANVILLE FENN. 
 
 4. DISARMED. By M. BETHAM EDWARDS. 
 
 5. A MARRIAGE AT SEA. By W. CLARK RUSSELL. 
 
 6. IN TENT AND BUNGALOW. By the Author of ' Indian 
 
 Idylls. 1 
 
 7. MY STEWARDSHIP. By E. M'QUEEN GRAY. 
 
 8. JACK'S FATHER. By W. E. NORRIS. 
 
 9. JIM B. 
 
 10. THE PLAN OF CAMPAIGN. By F. MABEL ROBINSON. 
 
 11. MR. BUTLER'S WARD. By F. MABEL ROBINSON. 
 
 12. A LOST ILLUSION. By LESLIE KEITH. 
 
 Lynn Linton. THE TRUE HISTORY OF JOSHUA DAVID- 
 SON, Christian and Communist. By E. LYNN LINTON. Eleventh 
 Edition. Post Svo. is. 
 
 Books for Boys and Girls 
 
 A Series of Books by well-known Authors, well illustrated. 
 
 1. THE ICELANDER'S SWORD. By S. BARING GOULD. 
 
 2. TWO LITTLE CHILDREN AND CHING. By EDITH 
 
 F CUTHELL. 
 
 3. TODDLEBEN'S HERO. By M. M. BLAKE. 
 
 4. ONLY A GUARD-ROOM DOG. By EDITH E. CUTHELL. 
 
 5. THE DOCTOR OF THE JULIET. By HARRY COLLING- 
 
 WOOD. 
 
 6. MASTER ROCKAFELLAR'S VOYAGE. By W. CLARK 
 
 RUSSELL. 
 
 7. SYD BELTON : Or, The Boy who would not go to Sea. 
 
 By G. MANVILLE FENN.
 
 MESSRS. METHUEN'S LIST 35 
 
 The Peacock Library 
 
 3/6 
 
 A Series of Books for Girls by well-known Authors, 
 handsomely bound in blue and silver, and well illustrated. 
 
 1. A PINCH OF EXPERIENCE. By L. B. WALFORD. 
 
 2. THE RED GRANGE. By Mrs. MoLESWORTH. 
 
 3. THE SECRET OF MADAME DE MONLUC. By the 
 
 Author of 'Mdle Mori.' 
 
 4. DUMPS. By Mrs. PARR, Author of 'Adam and Eve.' 
 
 5. OUT OF THE FASHION. By L. T. MEADE. 
 
 6. A GIRL OF THE PEOPLE. By L. T. MEADE. 
 
 7. HEPSY GIPSY. By L. T. MEADE. 2j. 6d. 
 
 8. THE HONOURABLE MISS. By L. T. MEADE. 
 
 9. MY LAND OF BEULAH. By Mrs. LEITH ADAMS. 
 
 University Extension Series 
 
 A series of books on historical, literary, and scientific subjects, suitable 
 for extension students and home-reading circles. Each volume is com- 
 plete in itself, and the subjects are treated by competent writers in a 
 broad and philosophic spirit. 
 
 Edited byj. E. SYMES, M.A., 
 
 Principal of University College, Nottingham. 
 
 Crown 8vo. Price (wit A some exceptions] 2s. 6d. 
 
 The following volumes are ready : 
 
 THE INDUSTRIAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND. By H. DE B. GIBBINS, 
 D.Liu. , M.A., late Scholar of Wadham College, Oxon., Cobden Prizeman. 
 Fifth Edition, Revised. With Maps and Plans, y. 
 
 'A compact and clear story of our industrial development. A study of this concise 
 but luminous book cannot fail to give the reader a clear insight into the principal 
 phenomena of our industrial history. The editor and publishers are to be congrat- 
 ulated on this first volume of their venture, and we shall look with expectant 
 interest for the succeeding volumes of the series.' University Extension Journal. 
 
 A HISTORY OF ENGLISH POLITICAL ECONOMY. By L. L. PRICE, 
 M.A., Fellow of Oriel College, Oxon. Second Edition. 
 
 PROBLEMS OF POVERTY : An Inquiry into the Industrial Conditions ol 
 the Poor. By J. A. HOBSON, M.A. Third Edition. 
 
 VICTORIAN POETS. By A. SHARP. 
 
 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. By J. E. SYMES, M.A. 
 
 PSYCHOLOGY By F. S. GRANGER, M.A.
 
 36 MESSRS. METHUEN'S LIST 
 
 THE EVOLUTION OF PLANT LIFE: Lower Forms. By G. MASSEE. 
 
 With Illustrations. 
 
 AIR AND WATER. Professor V. B. LEWES, M.A. Illustrated. 
 THE CHEMISTRY OF LIFE AND HEALTH. By C. W. KIMMINS, 
 M.A. Illustrated. 
 
 THE MECHANICS OF DAILY LIFE. By V. P. SELLS, M.A. Illustrated. 
 ENGLISH SOCIAL REFORMERS. H. DE B. GIBBINS, D.Litt., M.A. 
 
 ENGLISH TRADE AND FINANCE IN THE SEVENTEENTH 
 CENTURY. By W. A. S. HEWINS, B.A. 
 
 THE CHEMISTRY OF FIRE. The Elementary Principles of Chemistry. 
 By M. M. PATTISON MUIR, M.A. Illustrated. 
 
 A TEXT-BOOK OF AGRICULTURAL BOTANY. By M. C. POTTER, 
 M.A.. F.L.S. Illustrated, y. 6d. 
 
 THE VAULT OF HEAVEN. A Popular Introduction to Astronomy. 
 By R. A. GREGORY. With numerous Illustrations. 
 
 METEOROLOGY. The Elements of Weather and Climate. By H. N. 
 DICKSON, F.R.S.E., F.R. Met. Soc. Illustrated. 
 
 A MANUAL OF ELECTRICAL SCIENCE. By GEORGE J. BURCH, 
 M.A. With numerous Illustrations. 3?. 
 
 THE EARTH. An Introduction to Physiography. By EVAN SMALL, M.A. 
 Illustrated. 
 
 INSECT LIFE. By F. W. THEOBALD, M.A. Illustrated. 
 
 ENGLISH POETRY FROM BLAKE TO BROWNING. By W. M. 
 
 DIXON, M.A. 
 ENGLISH LOCAL GOVERNMENT. By E. JENKS, M.A., Professor of 
 
 Law at University College, Liverpool. 
 THE GREEK VIEW OF LIFE. By G. L. DICKINSON, Fellow of King's 
 
 College, Cambridge. Second Edition. 
 
 Social Questions of To-day 
 
 Edited by H. DE B. GIBBINS, D.Litt., M.A. 
 
 Crown Svo. 2s. 6d. I S 
 
 A series of volumes upon those topics of social, economic, 2* / \J 
 and industrial interest that are at the present moment fore- / 
 
 most in the public mind. Each volume of the series is written by an 
 author who is an acknowledged authority upon the subject with which 
 he deals. 
 
 The folio-wing Volumes of the Series are ready : 
 
 TRADE UNIONISM NEW AND OLD. By G. HOWELL, Author of 
 ' The Conflicts of Capital and Labour.' Second Edition. 
 
 THE CO-OPERATIVE MOVEMENT TO-DAY. By G. J. HOLYOAKE, 
 Author of ' The History of Co-Operation.' Second Edition. 
 
 MUTUAL THRIFT. By Rev. J. FROME WILKINSON, M.A., Author of 
 ' The Friendly Society Movement.'
 
 MESSRS. METHUEN'S LIST 37 
 
 PROBLEMS OF POVERTY : An Inquiry into the Industrial Conditions of 
 the Poor. By J. A. HOBSON, M.A. Third Edition. 
 
 THE COMMERCE OF NATIONS. By C. F. BASTAPLE, M.A., Professor 
 of Economics at Trinity College, Dublin. 
 
 THE ALIEN INVASION. By W. H. WILKINS, B.A., Secretary to the 
 Society for Preventing the Immigration of Destitute Aliens. 
 
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