But while the prospecting and actual mining work being done on the Bauchi field are establishing an ever-widening recognition of its mineral wealth, its inaccessibility and the difficulties of transport, which represent its chief drawbacks, have not yet been overcome, and it may be opportune to explain here the methods of transport employed in the two Nigerias, to describe the railway system, and to give some ideas of the difficulties of carriage with which the mine owners of Northern Nigeria have to contend. Southern Nigeria, through which the Northern Protectorate is reached from the coast, is covered with a network of waterways, which are the natural transport roads of the entire region, and the Marine Department is continually surveying old and overgrown streams and opening up new river routes. It is possible, travelling by the Niger River from Forcados to the confluence at Lokoja, and following from that point the Benue River to Loko, to arrive within about 180 miles of Bauchi, or going by rail from Lagos to Jebba, the present northern terminus of the line, to get, as the crow flies, within 300 miles of that centre. The river route is obviously the quickest and cheapest, and is the one still in use, the natives carrying the tin in parcels of 60 lbs. weight on their heads from the field to Loko, travelling about 15 miles a day. At Loko, the metal is put into small steamers or barges, according to the season, and conveyed to the confluence, where it is transferred to Niger boats and taken to Forcados for shipment to Liverpool, the entire journey occupying thirty-five days and costing £29 10s. per ton. COST OF TRANSPORT When the construction of the Kano Railway from Baro on the Niger to railhead is opened, and the road connecting the railway to Bauchi is made, the journey will be appreciably shortened. The completion of the railway from Lagos in 1911 should further reduce it to about twenty-eight days, and again when motors are available on the new road, to about three weeks. The cost per ton by the Forcados-Baro route will be:— £ _s._ _d._ By sea to Forcados 2 0 0 Forcados to Baro by boat and by train from Baro to railhead by cheapest rate 7 12 6 From railhead to tin field, about 9 0 0 ------------- £18 12 6 This will be increased when the maximum rate is charged, and will be reduced when the motor transport on the new road is available. THE RAILWAYS OF NIGERIA