As we approached the town of Gando, I could not help wondering how the people had been led to choose this locality as the seat of a large empire, commanded as it was by hilly chains all around, in the manner shown in the accompanying woodcut, while the rising ground would have offered a far more suitable locality. But the situation of the town is on a par with the character of its dominion—without commanding strength, and quite incapable of keeping together that large agglomeration of provinces which have gathered around it. However, for a provincial town, the interior is very pleasant and animated, being adorned with a variety of trees, among which the banana is prominent.

Having sent a messenger in advance, I soon obtained quarters in the house of El Khassa, the chief eunuch of the court; but they were extremely narrow and unpleasant, although I had a very good clay house for myself.

Thus I had entered the residence of another very important Púllo chief, whose dominion extended several hundred miles over the country which I had to traverse, and whose friendship it was of the utmost importance for me to secure, as his provinces inclose both banks of the Niger, while the dominion of the sultan of Sókoto does not reach the principal branch at all. It was the more unfavourable that the present ruler of this very extensive kingdom should be a man without energy, and most inaccessible to a European and a Christian. His name is Khalílu, and he is the son of ʿAbd Alláhi[58], the brother of the great Reformer ʿOthmán, to whom that remarkable man, at his death, gave the western part of his vast domains, while he installed the celebrated Sultan Bello over the eastern portion. Khalílu succeeded to his brother Mohammed Wáni about seventeen years ago, and has since lived in a state of the greatest seclusion, well fitted for a monk, but by no means suited to the ruler of a vast empire, employing one of his brothers in order to keep up a certain show of imperial dignity where it was absolutely necessary. Thus, during the first few years of his reign, he had employed ʿAbd el Kádiri, and was now employing Halíru, or, as the name is written, Hadhíru. Even by Mohammedans he is scarcely ever to be seen except on Fridays. It appeared, from my first arrival, extremely doubtful whether he would allow me to see his holy face; and after a vain struggle, merely in order that, by an untimely obstinacy in matters of form, I might not frustrate all my schemes of discovery, I agreed at length to deliver my present to the messengers of the sultan, in his palace, without seeing him. This present consisted of almost the same number of articles as I had given to the emír of Sókoto, with the exception of the silver-mounted pistols. I gave him three bernúses—one of yellow, one of red cloth, and the third of the kind called heláli; a háík or jeríd of the finest quality, a Stambúli carpet, two entire pieces of muslin, a red cap, four loaves of sugar, three phials of rose oil, a pair of razors, five looking-glasses, a pound of cloves, and another of benzoin.

It was very unfortunate that a foreigner and an adventurer, who had no other interest than his own selfishness, became the go-between with me and the sultan, and found ample opportunities, owing to the monkish character of the latter, for advancing his own interests, in the thousand embarrassments which he caused me. This was El Bakáy, a person who made me hate his very name, though it afterwards became so dear to me on account of my protector in Timbúktu being called by the same. However, he also was an Arab from the west, and from the tribe of the Kunta, but not connected in any way with the family of the sheikh. After having tried his fortune in several other places along the Niger, especially in Zágha and Yélu, he had at length settled down here, constituting himself a sort of consul of the Arabs, and, in the miserable state into which affairs were plunged in this court, soon exercising a great influence over the principal and the secondary rulers; for, besides Khalílu, his several brothers enjoyed a large share of authority, to all of whom I had, in consequence, to make suitable presents besides. The most remarkable amongst them were the above-mentioned Halíru and Bú-Bakr Maiguña, the latter an aspiring and restless man, who occasionally distinguished himself by acts of great violence, and to whom, in consequence, I had to make a more respectable present, in order to ensure myself against any predatory proceedings on his part.

My present to the sultan himself seemed at first to have given great satisfaction; but after a few days, matters assumed a different aspect, and I was told that the pistols which I had given to ʿAlíyu were of more value than the whole of the presents which Khalílu had received from me, while the empire of the latter extended over a larger tract of country than that of the former; and I was clearly given to understand that it was not in my power either to proceed or even to retrace my steps, unless I gave much larger presents. After a protracted and serious dispute with El Bakáy and my broker ʿAlí el Ágeren, I came at length to the determination of sacrificing the second handsome pair of silver-mounted pistols which I possessed, and then at length I had some prospect of being allowed to proceed on my journey, although the state of the country before me was really such as to make progress appear very difficult, and it was certainly very doubtful whether I should be able to reach the river. After much trouble and a great number of presents, however, which I had to give to the crafty Arab, I managed even to obtain a letter of franchise from Khalílu written with his own hand, but in so general a style that it had not much the character externally of an official document, although its contents were altogether very satisfactory, guaranteeing full security to any Englishmen visiting his territories, and commanding the officers of the various provinces to respect their property and to facilitate their proceedings.

Besides the presents to be given to all these people, I had also to make a fresh sacrifice to my Arab ʿAlí el Ágeren; for, notwithstanding the arrangement which I had previously made with him, when he saw the difficulties I was in, and being aware that the easy part of my journey was now over, he threatened to leave me if I did not accept the conditions which he prescribed to me. I had also the misfortune to lose, during my stay here, my best camel, which I had bought from the governor of Kátsena for 60,000 shells; so that I was obliged to purchase another animal from Bú Bakr Maiguña at the price he demanded, camels here being very scarce.

Notwithstanding all this disagreeable business, which occasionally cost me much bitter reflection, greatly enhanced by the advance of the season, the month of May being at an end, and that of June having set in with violent rains, I passed the time during my residence in this place not quite uselessly, especially as I was so fortunate as to obtain here from a learned man of the name of Bokhári, a son of the late Mohammed Wáni, a copy of that most valuable historical work of Áhmed Bábá, to which my friend ʿAbd el Káder, in Sókoto, had first called my attention, but without being able to satisfy my curiosity; and I spent three or four days most pleasantly in extracting the more important historical data of this work, which opened to me quite a new insight into the history of the regions on the middle course of the Niger, whither I was bending my steps, exciting in me a far more lively interest than I had previously felt in a kingdom the great power of which, in former times, I here found set forth in very clear and distinct outlines, and I only lamented that I had not time enough to copy the whole.

As for the town of Gando itself, there was not much to be seen; and the situation of the place, hemmed in as it is in a narrow valley, did not admit of long excursions; moreover, the insecurity of the neighbourhood was so great that it was not possible, at least in a northerly direction, to proceed many yards from the wall. Several times during my stay the alarm was given that the enemy was approaching; and the whole political state of the place was plunged into the most terrible disorder, the enemy being established in several strong places at scarcely half a day’s journey distance, Argúngo being the residence of Dáúd the rebellious chief of the independent Kábáwa. A numerous foray (“yáki,” or, as the Fúlbe say, “konno”) left early in the morning of the 29th of May, but returned the same evening amid the noisy manifestations of the inhabitants. They had however only given an additional proof of their cowardly disposition, inasmuch as they had not even dared to attack the enemy, who had just succeeded in ransacking the town of Yára, and were carrying all the unfortunate inhabitants into slavery.

The interior of the place was not quite without its charms, the whole of the town being intersected, from north to south, by the broad and shallow bed of a torrent, which exhibited fine pasture-grounds of fresh succulent herbage, while it was skirted on both sides by a dense border of exuberant vegetation, which altogether is much richer in this place than either in Sókoto or Wurno, being surpassed only by the fine vegetable ornament of Kanó. The rains are extremely plentiful in Gando, causing here quite an exceptional state in the productive power of the soil; and to this circumstance we have partly to ascribe the fact that very fine bananas are grown here in considerable quantity: and the fruit being just ripe at the time, formed a very pleasant variation to my usual food. The onion of Gando is remarkable for its size and quality, compared with that of all the neighbouring districts; and it is well for the traveller, in whatever direction he may intend to go, to lay in a supply of this wholesome article. But the place is extremely dull, and the market very insignificant—a fact easily to be explained by the desperate state of the provinces around, although the situation of the capital, as a central place for commerce, is rather favourable. But the town of Jéga has not yet lost, in this respect, the whole of its former importance, and is still the great entrepôt for that coarse kind of coloured silk which is imported from the north, and which, notwithstanding its very inferior character, is nevertheless so greatly sought after by the natives for adorning their leatherwork. It is, perhaps, in consequence of the little trade which is carried on, that the people of Gando have applied themselves with more industry to supplying their own want of cotton cloth—and no one can deny that their cotton strips are of first-rate quality: their dyeing, on the contrary, is very coarse, and they seem quite unable to give to the dyed cloth that lustre which so eminently distinguishes the manufactures of Núpe and Kanó; but nevertheless this cloth of Gando is in great demand as far as Libtáko.

The kingdom or empire of Gando, according to its titles, comprises a number of wealthy provinces, all lying along that great West-African river which opens such an easy access into this continent, or on its branches; although nobody who stays in the capital for any length of time would suppose that it holds such a preeminent rank. I shall give some further details respecting these provinces in the Appendix[59]; here I will only enumerate them by name. They are, the western half of Kebbi, Maúri or Árewá, Zabérma, Déndina (comprising Kénga-koy and Zágha), a great part of Gurma (comprising the provinces of Galaijo, Toróde, Yágha, and Libtáko), with a small portion of Borgu or Barba, a large portion of Yóruba with the capital Alóri or Ilórin, and, on the east side of the river, the provinces of Yaúri and Núpe or Nyffi. But at that time most of these provinces were plunged into an abyss of anarchy, which could not fail to impart to the capital a more sombre aspect than it may possess in general.

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CHAP. LIX.

THE PROVINCE OF KEBBI AND ITS RIVER. — THE SALT VALLEY OF FÓGHA. — REACH THE NIGER.

Saturday, June 4th.At length I was allowed to proceed on my journey, which now soon promised to become of overwhelming interest, as I was approaching that great African river which has been the object of so much discussion and individual ambition for so long a period. There had been a very heavy thunderstorm during the night, accompanied by a great abundance of rain, which lasted till late in the morning, and delayed my setting out for a considerable time. It was almost eleven o’clock when we at length left the western gate of the town, or the kófa-n-Jéga, and entered the open fields, where the crop was already shooting forth. Keeping along the rocky ground bordering the valley on the north side, we soon had a specimen of the swamps which during the rainy season are formed in these deep valleys of Kebbi, while we beheld here also extensive rice-grounds, the first which I saw under actual cultivation. But the guide, who was to accompany me to the very western extremity of the territory of Khalílu, having not yet arrived, we made only a short march of about six miles, and took up our quarters in a comfortable hut lying outside the walls of Kámbasa, which, by a separate wall, is divided into two distinct quarters.

This town lies on the north side of a large swamp, which fills the bottom of the fáddama, and affords excellent grounds for the cultivation of rice. The governor treated me hospitably, sending me everything that was wanted for a good African dinner, from a sheep down to a bit of salt and a few cakes of dodówa; and I made him a suitable present in return. During the night we suffered greatly from mosquitoes, giving us a fair idea of what we were to expect on our journey through these swampy valleys.

Sunday, June 5th.Another storm again delayed our departure this morning; and being now in the middle of the rainy season, I had a fair sample of what I should have to endure on my long journey to Timbúktu. In consequence of the rain, it was again eleven o’clock before we could start. The principal road leads along the northern bank of the fáddama, by way of Zóro, the residence of Cháfo a son of Khalílu; but it was deemed too unsafe in the present unsettled state of the country,—that very town of Zóro, although situated on the north side of the fáddama, at present being only accessible from the south; and it was decided, therefore, to cross the swamp close to Kámbasa, in order that it might afford us protection, in our further progress through this unsafe region, against any sudden attack from the rebels in the northern part of the province. Thus proceeding along the south side of the sheet of water, here about 200 yards broad and thickly overgrown with tall reeds of different species, including a large proportion of papyrus, we reached, after a little less than two miles, another walled town, likewise called Kámbasa,—a civil war having broken out among the inhabitants of the former town, and a portion of them having separated from the original tribe, and settled in this place. We then continued along the southern side of the valley, till, after a march of about four miles, we had to cross a small branch which joins the chief trunk of the valley from the south, and opened a view of Mount Bóbye, over the saddle of which the road leads from Támbawel to Jéga, the great marketplace of this quarter of the country, while the fáddama, here spreading out in a large sheet of water, receded behind a walled town called Badda-badda. A track frequented by the elephant, of which for a long time I had seen no traces, led through the rich pasture-ground, to the edge of the water. Almost the whole cultivation along this fertile but swampy valley consisted of rice. It was about 1200 yards broad, and even at the present season, before the rains had set in, was full of water. A couple of months later it inundates its low borders, and almost precludes any passage, so that, on my home journey from the west, I was obliged to pursue another path. The crops of Negro corn were here already three inches high, numbers of people being busily employed in the labours of the fields, while an isolated deléb palm gave a peculiar character to the landscape. The prevailing representatives of the vegetable kingdom were the dorówa and the useful kadeña tree. The pasture-grounds were full of cattle; and everything testified to the rich nature of the district, which is still very populous. After passing another walled town perched on the high border of the swampy valley, three miles and a half beyond Badda-badda, we reached Gaúmaché, at present reduced to a small hamlet, or rather “rúmde,” inhabited exclusively by slaves, and adorned by a few specimens of the butter tree and the dorówa. It was once a large walled town; but in the sanguinary war between the native Kábáwa and the conquering tribe of the Fúlbe, it was destroyed by the former.

Having crossed here a considerable stream of running water, which testified to the quantity of rain which had fallen in this district, we passed, on our left, the large walled town of Talba, where the beating of drums gave proof of warlike preparation. The fields around were adorned with numbers of deléb palms.

At a short distance from Talba lies Dáube. The whole of this district had attained a high degree of power and prosperity under the dominion of the Kanta, and had only recently begun, in consequence of the war of independence, to lose many of its former centres of human industry.

An obvious illustration of this desolation was afforded by the little town of Yára, which we reached after another three miles. We had left the fáddama at some distance on our right, and kept along rocky ground occasionally broken by patches of fine sandy soil. But we were urgently warned, by people whom we met on our road, of the danger of an approaching ghazzia.

This place, which a short time ago was the seat of human wellbeing, had been destroyed by the enemy on the 29th of the preceding month, and all the inhabitants carried into slavery, notwithstanding the presence of the expedition which, as I have mentioned above, marched out from Gando to the succour of their countrymen. The aspect of the place was doleful and melancholy in the extreme, corresponding well with the dangerous situation in which we found ourselves; and while traversing the half-ruined village, which from a bustling little place had become the abode of death, I almost involuntarily snatched my gun, and held it steadily in my hand. But life and death in these regions are closely allied; and we had scarcely left the ruined village behind us, when, in a widening of the fáddama, which again opened on our right, we were greeted by a most luxuriant rice-field, where the crops were already almost three feet high, and girt by the finest border of a rich variety of shady trees, such as the dorówa, kadé, and kágim, overtopped by a number of tall deléb palms, the golden fruit of which, half ripe, was starting forth from under the feathery foliage. But our attention was soon diverted from the enjoyment of this scenery, to a point of greater interest to ourselves. We here observed a solitary individual, in spite of the unsafe state of the country, sitting quietly at the foot of one of the palm trees, and seemingly enjoying its fruit. Now, coupling the present state of the country with the news we had just received, we could not help greatly suspecting this man to be a spy, posted here by the enemy in order to give them information of the passers by; and I had the greatest difficulty in preventing my Méjebrí Arab, who, when there was no danger for himself, always mustered a great amount of courage, from shooting this suspicious-looking character.

Proceeding then through a very rich country, we reached, after a march of about two miles, the town of Gúlumbé, situated close to the southern border of the valley, and exhibiting extensive fields cultivated with yams and cotton. The banana constituted the chief ornament of the narrow border inclosed between the fáddama on one side, and the wall of the town on the other, and the gónda or Erica Papaya, raising its feathery foliage on its slender, virginlike stem, towered proudly over the wall, as shown in the woodcut on the next page. The town was walled, of considerable size, and densely inhabited; but nevertheless the people were in such dread of the enemy, that they kept up a continual beating of drums; and although, on account of the smallness of the gate, we encamped outside, in a courtyard situated between the wall and the border of the fáddama, we thought it prudent to fire a few shots, in order to apprize the people around that we were well prepared to receive them, to the great relief of the inhabitants of the town, who, delighted at the unexpected addition to their strength, treated us in a very hospitable manner. The only disturbance to our night’s rest was caused by the mosquitoes, which harassed us greatly and drove most of my people into the rúdu, that kind of raised hut which I have described on a former occasion, and which forms the most essential part of even the poorest dwelling in the province of Kebbi.

Monday, June 6th.After a thunder-storm accompanied by a few drops of rain, the night was succeeded by a beautiful morning; and I felt great pleasure in surveying the interesting landscape, only regretting that the insecure state of the country did not allow the natives to enjoy it in tranquillity, the war having driven thousands of people from their homes, and as many more into captivity. The fields on this side of the town, as well as on the other, where we had approached it the day before, were fenced with great care, while horses and asses were grazing on the rich pasture-grounds. After a little more than a mile and a half, we passed, on our left, a farming-village called Ígené, after its master, a cheerful Púllo of advanced age, who was just inspecting the labour of his slaves in the fields. The crops hereabouts were already more than a foot above the ground; and a little further on they reached a height of two feet. Besides sorghum, yams were cultivated to a great extent; but nevertheless, on account of the insecurity of the country, dearth and famine everywhere prevailed.

A little further on we passed, on our left, a considerable sheet of water, with plenty of dorówa, large kadé, and sycamores. The deléb palms had ceased just beyond Ígené. A broad flat-topped mountain, called Hamári, at the eastern foot of which lies the town of Zóro, broke the uniform surface of the country.

Proceeding through this rich but distracted and unsafe district, I was greatly delighted when, near the walled town of Kardi, I fell in with a solitary and courageous pilgrim, a Jolof, from the shores of the Atlantic, carrying his little luggage on his head, and seemingly well prepared to defend it with his double-barrelled gun which he carried on his shoulder, and a short sword hanging at his side, while his shirt was tossed gallantly up, and tied over the shoulder, behind the neck. In my joy at the sight of this enterprising native traveller, I could not forbear making him a small present, in order to assist him in his arduous undertaking.

The walls of the town of Kardi, which is chiefly inhabited by the slaves of Khalílu, and which is of great importance for the supply of corn in this province, were strengthened by a thick fence of thorny bushes, which, in these regions, afford an immense advantage in the defence of any town, by furnishing a secure place of retreat to the archers.

The green bottom of the wide fáddama had receded to a greater distance on our right; but we joined it again seven miles from Gúlumbé, and had here to cross it beyond a couple of hamlets which, lying close together and called, the one Háusáwa, and the other Kábáwa, gave us a slight indication as to the history of this country, where the Háusa element, as the more civilized, gradually gained the upper hand and drove the native element as well as the Songhay, which advanced from the west, into the background. Perhaps, if we knew more of the history of this country, the annals of these two villages might open to us a view of an interesting national struggle. The fáddama was here at present dry; and besides yams a great deal of tobacco was cultivated. We then traversed a wooded tract adorned with a violet liliacea and with the bush tsáda or bidér, the delicious cherrylike fruit of which I have mentioned repeatedly, and, slightly ascending, reached, a little before eleven o’clock, the beautiful site of the former more extensive wall of the large town of Bírni-n-Kebbi. It was founded in this commanding position by the dynasty of the Kanta, at the time when the rival Songhay empire was dashed to pieces and became the prey of foreigners and of a number of small tribes, who had once been kept in a state of insignificance and subjection.

Under such circumstances Kebbi, besides being the seat of a powerful kingdom, became also the centre of a considerable trade even in gold, till it was destroyed by the Fúlbe under ʿAbd Alláhi, in the year of the Hejra 1221, when a great deal of gold and silver is said to have been found among the ruins. The royal palace, however (the ruins of which I visited), does not seem to have been very extensive; but this in part may be attributed to the fact that a great portion of the residence consisted of straw huts for the female department and the followers.[60] The walls of the present town are almost a mile distant from those of the old one, lying close to the steep slope which, with a descent of about 250 feet, goes down here into the large green valley or fáddama which intersects the whole of Kebbi from E.N.E. to W.S.W., and is at this part almost three miles in breadth, affording the richest ground for cultivation, but at present plunged in a state of the utmost insecurity. Even then it was full of cattle, at least its southerly part; but they had to be carefully watched by the natives from above the slope, for the whole of the country on the other side, the hilly chains and cones of which are clearly seen, is in the hands of the Ázena, that is to say, those native inhabitants of Kebbi who, since the death of the more energetic ʿAtíku, are successfully struggling for their religious and political independence. On the very brink of the slope a market was held, where we bought some necessaries before entering the town; and I willingly lingered a few moments, as the whole presented a very novel sight, increased by a picturesque spur or promontory which juts out into the valley a few miles to the west, and is a remarkable feature in the landscape. We then entered the town, which is rather thickly inhabited, but is far from presenting that cheerful aspect which is peculiar to most of the towns in these regions, as it is almost bare of trees. I myself was quartered in an excellent hut, belonging to a newly-married couple, and possessing all the comforts of which these simple dwellings are capable,—the floor and walls of the hut being neatly polished, and the background or “nanne” being newly sprinkled with snow-white sand; but the whole of the courtyard was extremely narrow, and scarcely afforded space for my horses and camels.

There are two great men in the town, ʿOthmán Lowel and ʿOthmán Záki; but the former is the real governor of the place, bearing the pompous but rather precarious title of serkí-n-Kebbi—for even he, at the present time, possesses such limited authority, that it was rather out of my respect for historical connections than for his real power[61], that I made him a considerable present. He is a man of simple manners, without pretensions, and almost blind. His residence was distinguished by its neatness. The other great man, ʿOthmán Záki, who was many years ago governor of Núpe, and knew Clapperton, although I did not pay him a visit, showed his friendship for me by very hospitable treatment. He has since returned to Núpe, and is rebuilding Rabba. We had a long conversation in the afternoon with the more respectable inhabitants, on the subject of our journey, and most of the people thought that I should not succeed in reaching the Niger, the country being in such a turbulent state; but they advised me to address myself to the governor of Zogírma, who was the only man, they said, able to assist me in my endeavours to traverse that part of the country with some degree of security.

Tuesday, June 7th.In the morning, we left the town in the company of a son of ʿOthmán, a person of manly bearing and a rather European expression of countenance; and traversing the fields, which were quite dry and as yet without any preparation for cultivation, we directed our march straight for a pass in the mountain-spur which I have mentioned above, and which is called Dúko; but we found it too narrow for our heavily-laden camels to pass through, the path being cut into the sandstone like a gutter, so that I was obliged to send my train round the southern slope of the promontory. We thus descended almost to the level of the fáddama; but having traversed a richly-wooded vale with a variety of trees, such as dynnia, mádachi, and fresh kadé, we had another mountain-spur on our left, while on the right the exuberant savanna of the valley became visible. The place was enlivened by cattle, and occasionally by a sheet of water at times fringed with a rich border of vegetation, amongst which also isolated specimens of the deléb palm, besides dorówa, were not wanting.

Thus we reached the foot of a rocky eminence, on the top of which the walled town of Kóla is situated in a very strong position, commanding the whole passage of the valley. It is the seat of a governor who bears the title of serkí-n-Záromé, and who is said to have as many as seventy musketeers under his command; so that, as he was an officer of much importance in this turbulent country, it did not seem advisable to pass him unnoticed, and we therefore determined to take up our quarters here, although it was still early in the morning. He has a large house or palace, but it is somewhat in decay. Having made him a small present, I was hospitably treated both by himself and his sister, who sent me an excellent goose, which afforded a very pleasant change in my diet. He accompanied me the following morning to the boundary of his little territory.

Our road lay through fine corn-fields, shaded by beautiful dorówa trees, along the border of this fertile valley, which was formerly surrounded on both sides by an uninterrupted line of large walled towns. But most of them are now deserted and destroyed, such as the towns of Kúka (which lies about three hours north-west) and Ambúrsa; and both factions are continually harassing each other by predatory expeditions. In fact the state of the country is such, that the whole of the tribute which the province of Núpe has to pay to Gando is obliged to take the roundabout way through Zágha and Bunza, the latter of which is situated about eight miles south from Zogírma, on the river Gíndi, which is said to be navigable as far as this place, and sometimes even as far as Jéga. A considerable number of horses were grazing on the fine pasture-grounds at the border of the valley, under the protection of a couple of hamlets well defended by a stockade; but the herbage was full of small venomous snakes, which repeatedly crossed our path in such numbers as I never saw before. When we reached the border of the territory of Júggurú, my companion returned to his residence.

Leaving the walled town of Júggurú (surrounded by a good many monkey-bread trees) on the hills to our left, we reached, after a march of about five miles along the border of the valley, and only once crossing a romantic rocky defile, the considerable town of Diggi; and here I had the satisfaction of being officially received by three sons of the governor of Zogírma, who quite unexpectedly came galloping up to the front and saluted me, wishing me all possible success on my dangerous undertaking, and bidding me welcome to the province of their father. The eldest of the three was a very handsome young man, and splendidly mounted upon a tall grey horse. Pursuing then our march in their company, we immediately entered the wide fáddama which separated us from Zogírma; and it took us more than three hours to cross this shallow swampy valley, the whole of which at the end of the rainy season is filled with water, but which at present was only intersected by two broken sheets of stagnant water, while I endeavoured in vain to make out, at this spot, an uninterrupted channel of the gulbi: and yet, in the month of September, the whole valley is flooded by a river of considerable breadth.

The town, which was surrounded by a clay wall in good repair, impressed me as being more considerable than I had supposed it to be. We were led immediately to our quarters, and were here treated with very good tíggera, or prepared millet and sour milk; after which a large calabash full of rice, and, a short time after, a heifer, were brought me as a present. Later in the afternoon I went to pay my respects to the governor, Hámed Búrtu, and found him a very decent-looking man of from fifty to sixty years of age, with almost European features, but with rather a melancholy expression of countenance. His residence had a very stately appearance, and surprised me not a little by its style of architecture, which approached to the Gothic, although the fine and well-ornamented clay walls were only loosely held together by a framework of boards and branches. Presenting to him a red bernús of middling quality, a piece of muslin, a pair of razors, and some other trifles, I delivered to him the letter with which Khalílu had furnished me, and explained to him how the ruler of Gando had given me hopes of his being able to conduct me safe to Fógha; for the two horsemen whom I had with me, one from Gando and the other from Sókoto, were only of service as long as there was anything to eat and while there was no great danger. He received my address in the most cheerful manner, and informed me that there were two roads, one of them leading straight on through the midst of the forest from Zogírma to the town of Kallíul. This he said was the safest, though it was probably too difficult for my heavily-laden camels. The other, he added, was more convenient but very unsafe. He promised, however, that he would find trustworthy men to escort me.

Zogírma may contain from 7000 to 8000 inhabitants; but at that time it was suffering greatly from famine, on account of the war which had been raging for the last two years, between the Fúlbe conquerors of the country and the native inhabitants the Dendi, who, favoured by the weakness of the government of their oppressors, had risen to assert their independence; and I could scarcely feel dissatisfied with my host when, after the first signs of hospitality which he had shown me, he left us to provide for our own wants, although we had some difficulty in procuring a sufficient supply of corn. I was very sorry that, owing to the unfavourable circumstances of the whole country, I was prevented from visiting the town of Bunza (which is situated south from Zogírma), on account of its interesting and important situation as regards the intercourse with Núpe on the lower part of the gulbi, where it is still navigable, and the number of deléb palms which are said to adorn it. There was also residing in this place a man whom I should like to have visited, inasmuch as he is reported to possess a great knowledge of the history of the Kanta, and of the relations of the province of Kebbi to the neighbouring countries. His name is Mʿallem Mahamúdu.

Thursday, June 9th.We were to start the following day, in order to allow our camels some rest before entering the unsafe wilderness; but in the course of the morning the news suddenly arrived that a party of Tawárek, with about forty camels besides bullocks and asses, had arrived at the neighbouring town of Tilli on their way to Fógha, thus affording us the opportunity of traversing the wilderness with some degree of security. It was therefore decided that we should start in the afternoon by way of Tilli, which certainly lay greatly out of our road, in order to join this party, while my young friend Ábú Bakr, the eldest son of the governor, rode immediately to the neighbouring town to induce those people to wait for us. It was thus deemed sufficient to give me for companions only two horsemen; but fortunately they were of such a character that I preferred them to at least a dozen other people, both of them being experienced old warriors and most respectable men, one of them having been till lately the governor of the town of Débe, which was now deserted, and the site of which we had to pass on our road. I was heartily glad to get rid of my two former effeminate companions, Lowel, the servant of the governor of Gando, and Beshír, an attendant of the ghaladíma in Sókoto, as they had been of scarcely any use to me on my way hither, except, perhaps, in procuring me a better reception from the governors of the towns and villages; and I gladly complied with the demands of my new companions, by giving to each of them a new black “lithám” or “ráwani bakí” for themselves, a flask of rose oil for their wives, and one thousand shells for the expenses of their households during their absence.

Returning then in a north-easterly direction along the western border of the broad fáddama, we reached after a march of about four miles, when the sun had already gone down, the town of Tilli, which, coming from Diggi, we had had just opposite us on the other side of the valley. Here the danger from the enemy was already considered so great, that the gates of the town on this side had been walled up, only a very narrow passage having been left, which could only be used by way of a drawbridge or kadárku. Having here learned that our new companions were already gone on in advance, and had encamped at the very border of the forest, we changed our direction from north-east to north-west, and, after a march of about a mile, encamped close to them. A large herd of cattle had its resting-place in the neighbourhood.

Friday, June 10th.When we started, at an early hour in the morning, we soon left the cultivated grounds and entered a dense forest, which at the present season had a very pleasant appearance, all the trees being in blossom, and spreading a delightful fragrance around. We were also agreeably surprised when, after proceeding about five miles, we passed two extensive ponds, which supplied us with delicious water. But on our return journey, in August 1854, the water of these same ponds had acquired such a pernicious character, that it almost poisoned the whole of my troop. A little beyond these ponds, we had a considerable rocky declivity, of about one hundred feet, from the top of which we surveyed the extensive forest before us. To our disappointment, we encamped at a very early hour, a little after noon; but a short distance further on, the danger would have become so imminent that it would have been unwise to pass the night there. Having, therefore, pitched my tent in the midst of the forest, I indulged with great delight in the pleasure of an open encampment, such as I had not enjoyed since leaving Gáwasú, the dirty huts in which I had lately taken up my quarters having literally turned my stomach. But I had to enjoy this wild encampment rather longer than was pleasant; for we had to remain in it the whole of the following day, in consequence of my friends the Ásbenáwa losing, in the course of the night, one of their camels, which they did not choose to abandon. This involuntary feat of mine procured me a name in the whole neighbourhood, so that when I safely returned the following year from my journey to Timbúktu, the people of the neighbourhood designated me only as the man who had spent a day in the unsafe wilderness.

But it almost seemed as if we were to stay here a third day; for when we were getting ready our luggage early in the morning of the 12th, a very violent thunder-storm broke out, with torrents of rain, which made our open encampment rather uncomfortable, and did not allow us to start until a late hour. After a march of about four miles through a very dense forest with low ridges on our right, we reached the site of Bírni-n-Débe, a beautiful open spot adorned with a rich abundance of dorówa besides a tolerable number of deléb palms, while beyond the rich mass of vegetation a hilly chain approached from the north-east. Footprints of elephants were here observed in every direction. The rich character of the country scarcely allows the traveller to suspect that a few miles to the north lies the province of Máuri or Árewá, which all my authorities represent as a country approaching closely to the nature of the desert.

Having then entered again thick forest, which occasionally became so dense that it scarcely allowed us to pass, and caused repeated delays, we reached, after a march of about nine miles, a large depression or shallow vale coming from the north-east from the province of Máuri, and therefore called Dallul or Ráfi-n-Máuri (the Vale of Máuri), richly clad with a profusion of the most succulent herbage and with numerous deléb palms, besides a few specimens of the dúm palm; and having halted here for a few minutes near a well and the site of a former Púllo settlement of the name of Bána, we crossed the path which leads from Máuri to Yélu, the capital of the province of Déndina. This is the most dangerous part of the whole route, on account of the two provinces, that of Máuri and Déndina, having rebelled, and there being constant intercourse between the enemy in these two quarters along this track, so that our companions were not a little alarmed when fresh footprints of horses were here discovered. However we could move on but slowly on account of the dense thicket, and the anxiety of the people to collect the fruit of the deléb palm, corn being extremely scanty and scarcely to be got in this region at the time. Here the camel, which I had received from Khalílu in a present, and which I had given up to my Méjebrí companion, went raving mad, making the most ludicrous leaps, and kicking in every direction, till it fell to the ground.

At length we emerged from the dense vegetation of the fertile but neglected vale, and ascended higher ground, which separates the dallul Máuri from the dallul Fógha[62], and after a while obtained a sight of the hilly chain bordering the east side of the latter valley, which runs from N. 20° E. to S. 20° W., being at the broadest part about 1000 yards across. These valleys certainly form a very remarkable feature in this quarter, and, by their shallow character and the total want of a current in the water here collected, evidently prove the little inclination which the country has towards the Niger, as well as the limited extent of ground which they drain; and it seems extremely doubtful whether, even after the plentiful rains which occasionally fall in the mountainous country of Ásben, the watercourses of that region have even the slightest connection with these shallow vales which join the Niger.

It was half-past four in the afternoon when, greatly fatigued by our long and slow march, we gradually descended the shelving ground into the valley of Fógha, the beautifully sloping banks of which are adorned with a profusion of dúm palms, but are entirely wanting in deléb palms. Crossing then the green vale, which was clothed with rank grass, and only presented here and there a broken sheet of water, we reached the first salt-manufacturing hamlet, which is situated on a mound of rubbish of almost regularly quadrangular shape, and of about thirty feet elevation, not unlike the ancient towns of Assyria, while at its foot a shallow dirty pond of brackish water of almost black colour spread out,—the whole scenery forming a very remarkable ensemble, of which an attempt has been made to give a fair representation in the plate opposite.