Perhaps I should not say “must.” All are free to make their own arrangements, but it will be found impossible to engage carriers direct, for every man-Jack available is constantly employed by the Niger Company, who could do with hundreds, if not thousands, more. Had the Company, or someone else, not organised transport there would have been such scramble and chaos in the endeavour to get carriers for the tin fields that the Government would have been compelled to itself organise the service, for the confusion would have been intolerable. As matters are, everything goes much easier and is a great deal more reliable than if carriers were hired casually.
The Niger Company is sharply, even bitterly, criticised for the time occupied in goods reaching consignees in the tin fields’ area. The fact should be remembered and counted as an element of consideration that not only is the country new but that the tin-mining industry has come unexpectedly and with a rush and no public or private concern in the land which is actively involved can cope with the mountain of requirements which have arisen. Railways, roads—where there were not so much as bush paths—and transfer of thousands of men from one occupation to another are not evolved in a day, or a year, by the mere want of them. They cannot be produced by a Governor’s proclamation, the most potent document in Northern Nigeria. They take time; and attempts to do things too hastily, regardless of special local difficulties, mean courting a complete breakdown.
Decidedly it would not do for men to come to railhead and bid against one another for carriers. That would mean the individual with the longest purse would always be first, and the cost to everyone would be more than it is. If the Niger Company at Rahama is advised well in advance of a person’s wants he is seldom, if ever, kept waiting. Goods cannot be forwarded at once. A man and his immediate belongings are. Of course, people must not expect 300 carriers apiece. The plan is to allow sufficient for personal requirements—I think 30 carriers to an individual is the present limit—and an ample margin beyond. Engaging and taking away a large number of carriers might be a trick to keep other persons back.
Above everything, I am informed, is it necessary to let the officer in charge at Rahama know as long as possible in advance. Whilst I was there a man who had not given previous notice of his requirements offered to pay more than anybody else, and was willing to put the money down on the spot, if he could be immediately supplied with carriers. His offer was declined. The transport officer acted on the principle of the Company, that having taken in hand persons’ needs it was morally bound to comply with them, as though there had been a contract. It seems to me that the work at Rahama is regulated by a sense of responsibility and fairness.
In obtaining a pony for trekking there is a broader choice. It can be bought from or through the Niger Company or purchased direct from a dealer in Rahama Town, near by. I should not advise the latter way. The horse dealer here is not far removed in instinct from his counterpart in England. He takes stock of his client and acts accordingly. “He savvy plenty he be Bako Bature”—“He recognises that the buyer is a stranger white man,” as a Hausa interpreter expressed the situation to me—and therefore fair game. Although the horse merchant has not been a deep or diligent student of the works of Adam Smith and John Stuart Mill, and probably cannot read or write a word in any language, he estimates to a nicety the extreme doctrine of political economy, and nobody knows better how to hold the market and shape his bargains after that preliminary.
A horse for which £12 is asked in Rahama Town can be bought through the Niger Company for £8, 10s. I will not give my own experience as it might be thought I was favoured. I will relate two cases of fellow-passengers which came under my notice, as each showed me his mount for an opinion. One went direct to a Rahama dealer and paid £8, 5s. for an object on four legs, which, poor beast, seemed inured against the persuasion of reins or whip Another passenger had from the Niger Company a black Katsena pony—next to the Pagan horse, the best type for trekking in a country of broken roads and stone-stepping spruits—at £8.
One must not expect at Rahama a fiery, untamed, prancing Arab. Untamed, possibly yes; more probably, utterly broken in spirit and with a mouth as firm as granite. No novice need fear getting on top, and if he does roll off there is not far to fall, for the average height appears to be from 12 to 14 hands.
Should a horse be wanted for settled use in the country it ought to be obtained at Zaria or Kano, the latter greatly for preference.
A further word of advice. Bring saddle and bridle from England. Any for sale here are immediately snapped up. Owing to the competition a man will likely have to pay more for an English bridle and saddle falling to pieces than the cost of a new one at home plus the expense of carriage out.
The Niger Company bullock transport for the tin fields keeps 150 animals going, worked when necessary in teams of 16. Thirty oxen will draw 12 two-wheeled carts of half-a-ton carrying capacity at an average speed of 10 to 12 miles a day. The men who drive were taken over from the old cart transport between Zungeru and Kano, instituted by Sir Frederick Lugard previous to the railway being laid. The training on the road was done by drivers from India, many of whom had passed through the military transport service there, to which no doubt is to be traced some of the words used. The bullocks shamble off hearing “Tashi!” the Hausa word for “Start!” and stop at the sound of “Halt!”