AN explanation is due to the reader that " we consisted of Mr and Mrs P. A. Talbot and myself, who were journeying through Southern and Northern Nigeria and the German Kameruns to Fort Lamy, the capital of the French military territory of Chad-whence we returned, across Lake Chad, to Maifoni, and so back vid Kano and Lagos. Lake Léré lies in French Ubangi, a few miles from the border of the German Kameruns, and was the first place under French jurisdiction that we visited. It forms part of the waterway that in the rainy season connects Lake Chad with the West Coast, by the Benue and Niger, though in two places above this land porterage is still necessary.

On the high banks of Lake Léré's southern shore hills rise some hundred feet in height below them are the smooth waters of the lake, and the domed villages are surrounded by wide solitudes.

To the west the Mao Kabi flows out of the lake, and, beyond, the range of the Kaa Chiu deprives the day of glory before its time, as if desirous to hasten the harmonies and soft shadows of waning light. But the lake requires no setting, for mystery ever reigns over that enchanted region.

Three attempts have been made to plumb its depths, but

though the lake is only some thirty miles in circumference and the neighbouring hills are low, no line has ever reached the bottom.

On three small islands dotted over the lake low trees and bushes form a matted tangle where tiny birds find shelter, and where heron, geese, and duck return each night to seek repose from daylight wanderings. Hippopotami lumber through the thickets in search of some muddy space large enough for their heavy gambols. The flowers and oreepers that they crush in their passage seem to spring to life again almost before they are gone by. On the sandy shore amaryllids burst their sheaths amid the black rooks of crumbling mica, and the thick shell of the water - snail contrasts with the translucent tints of its more fragile brethren amongst others a species of cockle which we saw floating in myriads upon the lake, where they make fairy rafts for hosts of bright - hued dragon-fly. Amid this ecstasy of life the grey trunk of a dead tree stands out a lonely sentinel of fate, but a fisheagle perching on & bare bough, linked death with life.

We made our way to one of these islands, and landed to find ourselves amongst a dense population of millipedes. For

the sake of those happily ignorant, I may explain that these creatures are of the length and shape of a sausage, and of the consistency of an unglutinous black slug. They lay so thickly on the ground that it was hard to avoid treading on them, and disfigured the branches of the thick bush as would the excrescences of a black fungus. Dislike of them deterred us more effectually from exploration than did the brambles that laid hold of our hair and clothes, and wrung ories of pain from our soldier gun-boy Kukawa. Instead we pulled off our shoes and stockings and sought refuge in the water, where at least we were safe from seeing the perils that surrounded us. We paddled to a depth that made us deliciously wet, though the usual penalty for nice things had to be paid when we scrambled back with bare feet on to the burning hot, blister-raising

canoe.

Daylight was on the wane as we paddled across to Due on the mainland. There the chief greeted us with the utmost cordiality, and, though he had taken the precaution of denying the existence of cows, large calabashes of milk soon appeared in obedience to our demands.

We went up to the village, and found it built in the usual Mundong style-the variations consisting in the number of inner rooms and in the degree of dirt endured by its inhabitants, which in some cases was very great. Goats and fowls had the freedom of the compound,

and a considerable number of horses were stabled in the innermost chambers, where fires were lit to save them from the murderous attack of tsetse flies. Lumps of their dung were plastered on the house walls to dry in the sun for use as fuel, dried stalks of the dum palms being practically the only alternative. The doors were of zana matting, held in place by hinges of twine passed through holes at the sides of the entrances, which, as well serving their ordinary purpose, formed a receptacle for oddments such as hairpins, some of which we bought. The man of the house showed a certain hesitation at parting with his wives' belongings, but he displayed a greater eagerness to have our money.

The furniture consisted of comparatively high, well-ornamented stools, and plank beds more or less uneven and always narrow, which, for the occupation of the great, were raised from the ground by tiny twoinch legs. Almost every house contained some instrument of music, generally a pipe and often a kind of guitar. We offered to buy one of these, but the owner refused to sell it, because, while he played it, 88 our interpreter explained, Anger no fit to catch him.'

The people showed us a simple friendliness very different from the ferocity which is attributed to them-probably on no more substantial ground than their nakedness. The women wear nothing more than a strip of cloth, or a blade of guinea corn, which is just as

effective and much prettier, though sometimes a bunch of stalks or the dried leaves of the dum palm are preferred. Some of them were engaged in making pots out of plastic clay, which they moulded and ornamented without other utensil than a piece of shell, of particular interest to us, as it was of a similar species to that originally discovered by P. A. on Lake Chad in 1904. A finish is sometimes given to the pottery by a glaze, obtained from a mimosa.

As we passed down the path that led from the village to the lake, we noticed a little lamp that lay half-hidden in thick grass, placed there for the use of the spirits of the dead.

We found our tents had been erected on a narrow strip of sand with but a few feet between us and the water, from which manatee raised their round heads and fish splashed as they leaped to escape a crocodile's devouring jaws. P. A. played St George to their dragon and killed a monster, in the confident hope that he would retrieve its body in the morning; but its brethren gathered overnight and celebrated a different form of funeral rite. They held their wake olose to us, and one thrust his snout against the flap of Dorry's (Mrs Talbot's) tent, while another almost overthrew mine by a clumsy trip over the pegs. However, P. A. had erected barricades of chairs and tables outside our doors, to warn us should they attempt to intrude, and him

self kept guard all night armed with his mightiest weapons.

Our days were spent paddling peacefully about the lake on our way from one township to another, and wherever we went we received the welcome.

same

At Dissi it was from a female chieftain, a goodlooking young woman named Netigera, who had been appointed to the succession by her brother as he lay on his deathbed. Nor is she the only Mundong woman to hold this honour, for the mother of the Lamido of Lerè is chieftainess of a village to the north of the lake.

Our reputation as buyers had evidently preceded us, for at Kawari the women had removed temptation from their husbands and from us by the concealment of all treasures. In vain we gazed at the ceilings and doors and all the usual places, but 88 we turned away in despair, our head-man descended from the roof in triumph with a mass of objects under his arm. An iron poker was among them, and as pokers are rarely found amongst primitive peoples we could not resist buying it, though at a price amply satisfactory to its vendor. We also bought a birdsnare of attractive simplicity, made of fine string, with slipknots divided from each other by small lumps of earth. When set, grain is placed near by to tempt the victim to destruction,

as it hops away the leg becomes entangled in the line, which at once pulls taut and holds it captive. Another curious article consisted of two

oval iron rings attached to opposite ends of a short piece of string, which was itself weighted in the centre with a piece of metal. The owner said it was part of a bridle, which it obviously was not, and refused to sell it; but Dorry suggests that it may be an instrument of torture for the ears, as she had seen something similar among other tribes.

We walked back to the boat across the hills, and on our way a mud-coloured snake with a out-away tail and dark diamond markings struck at one of the boys, who deftly caught it in a cleft stick-mercifully, for it was of a kind to deal death in ten minutes.

We had left all in peace, but to peace we did not return, for washerman and cook had fallen out and were engaged in a fight, which we interrupted. Neither of the combatants wished to bring their case into court, but P. A. insisted on sitting on it judicially. Iron, milk, knife, and blow were words that came very frequently into the story, which, however, remained unintelligible to me. Whether P. A. understood the rights of it or not I do not know, but in summing up he refrained from reference to the case in point, and merely gave utterance to biblical maxims about not striking back, and then ended with the assertion that he was master, and reserved to himself all decisions as to right or wrong. Why this should be so effective has puzzled me ever since, but the fact re

mains that the combat has not been renewed.

Iguanas basked on the rocks and manatees sported in the waters, and P. A., inspired with the lust to kill, started off in a native canoe, undaunted by the knowledge that to turn round for a shot must overturn his craft. His awkward position prevented his seeing a manatee that followed him for a considerable distance, lifting its head for minutes together to look and ponder on the strangeness of his appearance. A manatee is sometimes called the African mermaid, and its chief claim to this name is that it carries its young in its arms. To me its large round head gave more the appearance of a seal, and its skin, in a dried state, is harder and thicker than any hide.

Our Mundōng waterman was very restless. Though the water teemed with crocodiles, he jumped off the seat to the bottom of the canoe and back again, as if the vessel were as motion-proof as an ocean steamer. We so little appreciated this practice that, after entrusting ourselves to his care for a short while, we returned to exchange him for another. Unluckily this other was decking himself for shore fun, of which we suspect he had already tasted, for his unwillingness to come was only equalled by his gaiety when he did.

His mirth was uninfectious, and all we could do was to sway in exact contradistinotion to his movements, and thus preserve some semblance of balance, for he blandly refused

to go ashore, and more active measures would have brought instant disaster. P. A.'s anxiety was for the salvation of his new gun, while I wondered whether we should survive long enough to count how many orocodiles fed off us, when our boatman suddenly consented to land at some rocks. After this deliverance P. A. took charge of the canoe himself, and we devoted ourselves to the truly peaceful occupation of fishing. Not even a bite disturbed our quiet, though we tried the long line, short line, and harling. It was tantalising, for fish of all sizes jumped round us, and, indeed, they appear mostly to live their lives on the surface. The natives fish when hunger drives them, but they prefer to do so in the dry season, when the lake falls some 13 feet, though its height constantly varies according to the wind. There are three different methods of fishing, the principal of which is with a long bag-shaped net that the fish enter with ease, but the meshes of which close round the fins as they try to back out. The second is by unbarbed hooks and a short line attached to a light calabash float, which is probably dragged for miles through the water ere a big fish can be landed. The third way is with barbed spears, but this is not very effectual, for the distances thrown are small, and the aim cannot be accurate from a wobbly perch on a canoe roughly hewn from the trunk of a tree.

We were bound to be on the Logone on November 10, and

could afford to spend no more time on the lake, so we returned sadly to Léré. As we entered the river, the sight of many grasses aroused our collecting instinots, particularly that of one with blade - like bracts, which differed from any we had ever seen.

Monsieur Bertaut, the Resident at Léré, welcomed us with his usual hospitality, and a few hours later, when we were at lunch, he disclosed to us a plan he intended to carry out for the exploration of the hitherto undiscovered falls of the Mao Kabi river. He had gone to seek them once before, but said that though within sound of the fall an impenetrable tangle of bush and creeper divided him from his goal. Monsieur Bouhaben had suffered the same experience; and both alike had resigned more persistent effort in favour of the chase, for giraffe had come to lure them from their search. No black man has seen these falls, for the tradition is that a devil makes them his dwelling-place. Monsieur Bertaut furthermore declared the country to be thick with game, and invited P. A. to accompany him. It was in the direction we wished to go, but was a tsetse-fly region where horses could not live, and our kind host evidently considered walking out of the question for Dorry and me. How to make him think otherwise became our anxious task, for we could not bear to be left out, and it was not long before we persuaded him that a woman could always do what she wanted to.