Temperature on the Plateau was in marked contrast to that felt in the lower ground of Nassarawa Province. On the higher altitude cool air and strong breezes temper the beat rays. Instead of being charged with moisture, the atmosphere is dry, rarefied. At one part of the march I was walking, to ease the horse and for a change of movement to myself, when an incident occurred which might have produced an unpleasant result to each side in the quarrel. The carriers were ahead, out of sight, for, notwithstanding their 60 lbs. load on the head, they will swing along on an even path at 3½ miles an hour in dry weather and 3 miles an hour over wet ground, soon outdistancing a horse that is not trotting. With me there was only one of the doki boys. We were passing along a winding path flanked with a long hill on the left and high grass on the right. The noise of shouting in front reached us, which at first I thought came from some ju-ju celebration or other jollification at one of the Pagan centres. A bend of the path showed a crowd of men struggling and the angry voices conveyed unmistakably that passions were roused. Running forward I saw a Hausa man on the ground being dragged by half-a-dozen Pagans towards their compound and houses at the side of the path, whilst eight or ten Hausa men were trying to prevent it. At the moment more Pagans, who had evidently been summoned to the scene, were hurrying up, spears in hand, though not poised ready for thrusting. I pushed my way into the middle of the struggling mass and motioned the Pagans to release their hold on the Hausa, which they did immediately. He then attempted to rise, but I promptly and none too gently pushed him down, so that adjudication could be done without giving either side the impression of favouring the other. It was better the relative positions remain. The Hausa was one of a party, under a Headman, taking loads across country. I demanded from the Headman the reason for the disturbance. He attempted to represent the Pagans as the aggressors, but his story was easily sifted and the truth ascertained. As I expected, the Hausa was in the wrong. Some of the labourer class frequently adopt towards Pagans insolence and a sneering manner they would not dare unless for the knowledge that the British have forbidden violence and the use of weapons to vent a grievance, under any conditions. In the present case, the Pagans, noticing the Hausas approaching, had gone out with ground-nuts to sell. The man on the ground had taken a handful, eaten nearly half, and then given the remainder back, refusing to pay the penny due, on the plea that the nuts were not good. He had further exasperated these simple people by grinning at them as he proceeded to go away with his fellows. They thereupon seized, and were dragging, him into their village.