There is the general problem of labour on the mines and the rate of payment by the owning companies, but consideration of that aspect of the question does not come within the scope of this chapter, which is to deal wholly with the matter of supply. The same means, on the return journey, are employed to take the tin towards its destination. Transport from railhead at Rahama and also at the terminus of the trunk line at Kano is wholly in the hands of the Niger Company, except in the case of one or two mines that have partially made their own arrangements. To survey the situation thoroughly it is necessary to hark back to the time when the railway was being pushed up as extensions of the Lagos line and had only reached Rigachikun, 585 miles from the sea. That marked the old route to the Bauchi Plateau tin fields. From that point a road was made. As the line was laid further up, Zaria, 622 miles, was touched. That had all along been recognised as the most suitable place for direct access to the foot of the Plateau, in the direction where the main tin deposits had been located. There was, however, about 100 miles between the railway and the foot of the Plateau, to the south-west of the line. At this time the Niger Company was doing all transport to and from the mines. Twelve to 14 days were occupied on the Rigachikun road, and a fair proportion of goods was sent up and tin brought down along the Loko-Keffi route, on the opposite side of the Plateau, for shipment on the Benue River, thence down the Niger to the sea. But in looking into this important matter of road transport, perhaps it will be best to start at the inception. It began between five and six years ago, when the Niger Company commenced regular prospecting for tin. Before that time the only whites up-country were the Government officials, and as they were few and far between there was no call for transport, even of the primitive and limited kind in operation to-day. The Niger Company’s prospecting camps needed supplies, both of food for the squads of natives employed and of material for the engineers, as well as edibles for their tables. So small caravans of carriers were sent up to the camps. The route was then what is known as the Loko-Keffi one; that is to say, from the sea by river to Loko, from which point the overland line was taken to Keffi, almost due east. At that time the amount despatched, inwards and outwards, was probably 5 tons monthly. Now by rail to Rahama, and from there distributed via the Niger Company’s Jos centre, it must average 500 tons monthly, with about 14 tons still going over the old Loko-Keffi route.