"tábowé," the tobacco of E'gedesh. Of býrgu they have an unlimited supply; and I tasted here the honey-water which they prepare from it, but found it insipid, besides being slightly purgative, not unlike the maddi, or góreba water, in Háusa.

CHAPTER LXXVI.

THE DESERT.-COUNTRY ALONG THE BORDER OF THE RIVER.GREATEST NARROWING.-SOUTHEASTERLY BEND.

A SLIGHT fall of rain, and then a thunder-storm, which, however, passed over our heads without discharging itself, delayed our departure in the afternoon, and, the camels having been sent to a great distance for a little pasture, it was past five o'clock when we left our camping-ground. A numerous crowd of Rumá, Songhay, and I'móshagh having assembled to witness my departure, I distributed a good many small presents among them, reserving the few articles of value which I still possessed for mightier chiefs.

Having crossed, after a march of two miles, a backwater much overgrown with grass, and at present almost dry, we had the faddama or bot-há of the river close on our right, while the open water was at about an hour's march distance. Here a considerable amount of cultivation was seen, a good many grounds for corn and tobacco being laid out and connected with the river by channels, through which the water, during the highest state of the inundation, approached closely, and rendered irrigation very easy; but, unfortunately, a heavy thunder-storm, rising in a tremendous battery of clouds, and enveloping the whole country in a dense mass of sand, did not allow of any exact observations being made. The many channels which here intersected our road proved a disagreeable hinderance in our hurried march, and although the clouds passed by without bringing any rain, yet darkness set in before we had reached our destination, and, to my great disappointment, prevented my noticing the whole character of the district.

But the inconvenience soon increased when we entered upon the swampy, grassy border of the river; for, although a small fire, on the dry shore to our left, held out to my companions, who were traveling almost without supplies, the prospect of a rather poor supper, a long line of fires in the midst of the river promised them better fare. Without regarding, therefore, the difficulties of the VOL. III.-FF

ground and the darkness of the night, we made straight for them. My friends were not even deterred when we reached a narrow dike scarcely fit for one horse, and in great decay, and which the guide declared to be the only path leading through a sheet of water separating us from the encampment. Thus we boldly entered upon this dike, but we had only proceeded a few hundred yards when it was pronounced, even by these people, so well accustomed to an amphibious life, to be totally impracticable, so that we were obliged to retrace our steps. While engaged in this most dangerous proceeding, my servant, the Gatróni, met with a serious accident, falling, with his horse, down the dike into the water; and although, with his native agility, he succeeded in extricating himself, with a few contusions, from his unpleasant situation, we had great difficulty in getting the horse out from the hollow into which it had fallen, my companions asserting that it was dead, and wanting to leave it behind. At length we got away from the dike, and, finding a ford through the water, we reached the encampment, which was pitched on a narrow neck-of grassy land, and completely dazzled us with the glare of its many fires, coming, as we did, out of the darkness. From the opposite side of the river, two hamlets of Songhay, called Inzámmen and Takankámte, were visible likewise by their fires.

The encampment belonged to some Kél e' Súk, who manifested a rather thievish disposition; and, although not altogether inhospitable, they were unable to treat my companions well, as in the swampy lowland there was an entire want of fire-wood. It was one of those encampments which contributed in a great measure to ruin my health, partly in consequence of the heavy dew which fell during the night. Meanwhile my servant, who was a most faithful person, was searching the greater part of the night for his pistols, which in his fall he had lost in the swamp.

Friday, May 26th. While my companions still lagged behind in order to indemnify themselves for their lost supper by a good breakfast, I set off at a tolerably early hour, in order to get out of the swampy ground; and, fearing lest we might again be entangled in these interminable low grounds, we kept at a considerable distance from the river, over the gentle sandy downs, bare at first, but afterward clad with a considerable quantity of dry grass. But some of our companions who overtook us would not allow us to pursue our northeasterly direction, and led us back again to the border of a broad swampy sheet of water, which is called Terárart,

TERA RART, NORTHERNMOST CREEK.

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and at this spot formed a shallow water full of water-plants and geese, but gradually widening to a very extensive swamp, which again increased to a large open branch. The river, however, which was now almost at its lowest level, must present a very different aspect during the highest state of the inundation, when the downs of snow-white sand, which at present separated the principal trunk from the swamp, must appear like a narrow sand-bank in the midst of the water.

Behind these downs, but separated from the main branch by a smaller creek, called "the false river," Eghírreu-n-báho, lies the hamlet E'gedesh, which at the present season was deserted, the inhabitants being scattered over the islands in the river. The three villages Garbáme, E'm-n-Tabórak, and Nshérifen, are situated on its opposite southern bank.

Exchanging at this remarkable spot our east-northeasterly direction for an east-southeasterly one, we encamped, after a march of three miles and a half, in the shade of a dense belt of underwood which girded its shores, and after a short time we were here joined by El Bakáy. A little more than a mile beyond this place, at the downs called Ghadír, this large backwater joins the river, and here, when we pursued our march in the afternoon, we ascended for a while a higher level, consisting of sandstone rock in a state of great decomposition; but after a march of three miles, again descended to its shores, the river being here full of green islands, with plenty of fine cattle. Two miles farther on, we encamped in a place called Tewílaten, or Stewílaten, at the side of a rather poor encampment of the Kél-Tebankórit. Notwithstanding their poor condition, the people slaughtered two oxen on our behalf.

I had this day still farther cause to feel satisfied that we were traveling along the north, and not along the south side of the river; for while we ourselves had but a slight shower, besides summer lightning the whole of the evening, in the course of the afternoon a considerable fall of rain took place beyond the river in A'ribínda.

Before we started I began conversing with the people of the encampment (the chief of whom, a man of renowned valor, is called Hammaláti) in a cheerful manner; whereupon they praised me as an excellent man, but made, at the same time, the candid avowal that the preceding night, when I did not speak a word, they felt a great antipathy toward me.

Having proceeded at a tolerable rate as far as this place, we here once more relapsed into our usual slow mode of progress; and after a short march of scarcely three miles over a ground strewn with pebbles and small stones, and clad only with scanty vegetation, we encamped close to the steep bank which descended toward the river opposite the island of Zamgoy, for here we were told was the residence of Sadáktu, the chief who had levied such heavy contributions upon the inhabitants of Bámba. As the country itself did not present any features of interest, it was some recompense to me for the delay we met with in this place that the character of the river was remarkable; and, in order to enjoy it as much as possible, I prepared myself a resting-place on the slope of the bank, which was thickly overgrown with small trees.

It is here that the beginning of the rocky district through which the river takes its course is first perceptible. The western end of a small island is entirely surrounded by large granite blocks, which have given to the island the remarkable name of Tahóntn-éggish, clearly indicating that even the natives themselves regard this place, for him who comes down the river, as the "entrance-rock," or the beginning of the rocky district.

The island of Zamgoy lies nearer to the southern shore, and seems to be of considerable extent, densely clothed with trees, and containing a small hamlet or ádabay. Besides the view of the river, and a walk now and then over the desert ground in our neighborhood, where I observed the ruins of some stone dwellings, I had plenty of occupation during this and the three following days which we remained here in conversing with the natives.

Sadáktu himself was very unwell, and greatly wanted my medical assistance; but after I had made him feel the efficacy of my medicines so strongly that he declared every evil to be removed from his body, he did not reward my zeal with so much as a drop of milk. I therefore could not help observing, to the great delight of his subjects, that he was the most niggardly chief I had ever met with. There were, however, others who were more social and communicative, if not more liberal, than this chief. There was, first, a wealthy and good-looking man of the name of Jemíl, of the Kél-Burrum or the people of Burrum, who evidently originate in a mixture of free Songhay people and I'móshagh, and he himself seemed to unite in a certain degree the qualities of these different nations, while his rich dress and his embonpoint proved that he was not an austere inhabitant of the desert. A great deal

THE CHIEF SADA'KTU.

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of trouble was caused me by another man of the name of Simsim, the son of Sídi A'mmer, and the eldest of seven brothers, a very rich A'móshagh, who was totally blind, but who, nevertheless, expected me to restore his sight; and it really seemed as if my friend El Bakáy confirmed him in this belief, in order to obtain from him some handsome presents for himself.

This person also had the stately appearance peculiar to all these easterly Tawárek, who seem to have enriched themselves with the spoil of the native Songhay population, the latter having in a great measure been reduced by them to the condition of serfs. Almost all of them had a very proud bearing, but nevertheless, upon nearer acquaintance, they proved to be of a very cheerful disposition; and, although of a wild character and of warlike propensities, they have an easy temper, and are not difficult to manage.

The poor inhabitants of Bamba, from whom Sadáktu had taken seventy cows and ten slaves, joined us here in the endeavor to recover their property. They earnestly begged me to be the mediator between them and that hostile chief; and I was very glad when, after a good deal of dispute, the chief returned half of the spoil. It was here also that I learned that the whole population of A'ír, under the command of Háj 'Abdúwa, had gained a great victory over the Dínnik, or Awelímmiden-wén-Bodhál, and the Aréwan, or Kél-gerés. The tribe of the Kél-fadaye enjoy a great name in this region; and it is evident that, in former times, they occupied a much more conspicuous position than they do at present. Even El Bakáy himself had taken a wife from that tribe; and I was also informed here that they lay claim to a descent from sherífs.

We had a storm almost every day during our stay in this place; but, although we ourselves had very little else than a disagreeable sand-wind, there seemed to be a very heavy fall of rain in A'ribínda. In one of these thunder-storms we nearly lost our camels, which, headed by one of their companions that had lately come from A'zawád, were making straight for that district, their beloved home, and had proceeded a distance of some miles before they were overtaken.

Wednesday, May 31st. At length we pursued our journey, but only for a short march of two hours; and I was so disgusted at the repeated delays and sham traveling, that I prayed earnestly that the Almighty would speedily deliver me from this sort of bondage. Throughout our march, the bare desert, here consisting