The existence of alluvial tin in these Northern regions was known for some considerable time, but until a year or two ago its value as a commercial asset was not seriously considered. Rumours of such sources of wealth frequently reached the Niger Company, and quantities of small faggots of very pure metal, which occasionally found their way down to the coast, afforded evidence that the natives had been working and smelting tin for a lengthy period. It was subsequently discovered that the procedure adopted by the native Nigerian tin miners, and described by Mr. Nicolaus, is as follows: “The washers, usually working in gangs of three or four, wade into the river, tributary creeks and gullies, generally at or near some shallow rapids, and, loosening the gravel under water with a short hoe-like implement, scoop it into large calabashes about 18 inches to 24 inches in diameter. As soon as sufficient gravel is collected (about 30 lbs.), it is washed, and the resulting rough concentrate placed in a smaller calabash, 6 inches to 8 inches in diameter, and thoroughly cleansed, nearly all the fine tinstone being lost. The resulting ‘black tin’ containing the equivalent of from 60 to 65 per cent. metal, is sun-dried, and packed in bags and skins for transport to the smelting furnaces. “This ‘black tin’ is usually smelted in various parcels on a royalty basis, exclusively by members of one family, who hold the process a profound secret. Only three native smelting furnaces are in use, and these are each capable of turning out about 2 cwt. of metal per diem. They are built of well-puddled clay, and are 3 feet 6 inches in diameter, and have at the back four tuyère holes conducting the blast from primitive sheepskin bellows to the hearth. The tin is reduced by means of charcoal, and runs through a channel 2 feet 6 inches long and 4 inches broad to a catch-pot, whence it is ladled by small gourds or calabashes and poured. The tin is cast in the form of thin bars of about an eighth of an inch in diameter and 12 inches long, which are produced by pouring the molten metal on semi-circular banks of clay, 18 inches high, perforated by dry Guinea corn-halms.” THE DISCOVERY OF BAUCHI TIN