434 A TROPICAL DEPENDENCY emir, British sovereignty was accepted from Borgu to Yola.

A British Resident and a garrison were placed in the capital of Bautchi, and it may be said here that the newly appointed emir proving loyal to his engagements, the Resident was able by June of 1902 to report that the slave trade was practically abolished in Bautchi as a recognised practice. Underhand slave dealing still continues to some slight extent, and constitutes one of the principal offences with which the provincial courts have to deal.

As was usual after the suppression of the slave-raider, the retaliation of the raided had to be dealt with, and there was some fighting with turbulent pagan tribes who rendered the road unsafe. They were successfully subdued, and the expedition continued its march towards Bornu. A little later the ex-Emir of Bautchi, becoming a centre of intrigue and trouble, was caught and sent into honourable exile in Ilorin, where he lived under the charge of the Emir and Resident.

Between Bautchi and Gujba there lay the territory of Gombe, which had been for some years in the possession of a brave fanatic of the name of Jibrella, who declared himself to be the Mahdi, and who had for some years maintained himself victoriously against all neighbours. On the news of the approach of the British expedition he took the initiative and attacked. His troops charged the British force most gallantly, but they were defeated and pursued for two days, when Lieutenant Dyer effected the capture of the Mahdi himself. Jibrella, who was a white-haired old man already feeble with age, was sent as a prisoner to Lokoja, where he was treated with the consideration due to his distinction as r. soldier and a priest. The Gombe country, which had once formed a portion of the Bautchi province, was, like Bautchi, brought under British administration, and the expedition pressed on to Gujba in Bornu, leaving the road all British behind it.