Let us imagine that the railway is completed, that boats brought up in sections to Kolikoro have been put together there, and are going down the river as far as Gao, boats sufficiently well armed to make the French respected, and of sufficient tonnage to carry merchandise; we should at once have either at Gao or somewhere else in its neighbourhood, a centre, so to speak, of transit, to which the Tuaregs could bring their animals to be laden, and acting as convoys to our caravans, would be most useful auxiliaries to the French traders. Do not let any one urge against this the pillaging instincts of the Tuaregs. To begin with, it is in our power, if necessary, to destroy, or at least to insist, upon the removal elsewhere, of the riveraine negro villages, an excellent way of keeping the natives in awe, for we should then have it in our power to avenge ourselves efficaciously on them in case of their hostility, for it is from these riveraine districts that they obtain the grain which is their only food. I assert, however, that it would never be necessary to proceed to such extremities as that. The Tuaregs are alike too intelligent and avaricious of gain to risk raids, the result of which would be uncertain, when merely letting out their camels on hire would bring them in alike a greater and a surer profit. By doing as I suggest, the old route from Gao to Lake Tchad, one of the most ancient in Northern Africa, could be reopened. This route, bearing as it does in the direction of Gober and Aïr, and skirting the Sahara, as it were in the rear, might in the end be made to connect the French Sudan with Algeria and Tunis. To achieve this I repeat we must not give the marabouts, who are badly disposed towards the French, time to destroy our work before it is fairly begun; we must not by too long a delay, awake once more the suspicions of the Awellimiden, which are always easily aroused. I do not pretend to say that any immediate profits would result from the course I advocate. Skins, wool, and gum are all too heavy to make it worth while to export them by difficult and costly modes of transport from Timbuktu to Kolikoro, and from Kolikoro to Diubeba, where ends at the present moment the railway from the Senegal to the Niger. [Illustration: MEDAL OF THE MARSEILLES GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY.] It is, however, absolutely necessary to pave the way for traffic even at the cost of a temporary loss, so that it may be in full swing from the very day of the completion of the railway, when steamers will begin to ply on the navigable portion of the Niger. On that day our hydrographical map, which is so far the chief result of our expedition, will find its use! Was our stay at Say a profitable one? The future alone can decide.