ferent from the general character of that tribe, whose distinguishing features are humility and harmlessness. All of them came in full armor, and many were well dressed, and their general bearing bore testimony to an independent mind. It was curious, however, that the chief of these people mistook me for El Bakáy, and therefore paid his compliments to me first, probably in consequence of my beard being longer.

Saturday, July 1st. The herd of cattle which the Gá-béro were to make a present of to the sheikh having at length successfully regained their native shore, we set out on our return march to Gógó late in the afternoon, and keeping along the rocky slope, where it recedes inland, behind Tin-shéran, we halted for the night in an encampment of the Kél-gúnhan, which was very considerable, consisting of more than 100 leathern tents. The encampment was full of young slaves, such as I had rarely seen with any of these Tawárek; but, as I have observed on a former occasion, the Kél e' Súk do not seem as yet to have entirely forgotten their former residence in a large, luxurious place, and even at the present time indulge greatly in the traffic of slaves. Here, also, the slaves, male and female, were entirely clad in leather, but, on the whole, they were good looking, and appeared cheerful.

Sunday, July 2d. I again reached Gógó, while the sheikh remained behind in the encampment of another body of Kél e' Súk, situated on a sort of promontory projecting into the swampy plain, which we reached about five miles after setting out from the place where we had passed the night. Our march lay along the foot of the rocky slope, full of caverns and ravines, and enlivened with trees and bush, the swampy ground on our left being laid out in rice-fields, which the people were busy cultivating, and interrupted here and there by insulated rising ground clad with dum bush.

On my arrival in my tent, I was glad, after my long abstinence from palatable food, to indulge in an excellent rejíre, the favorite drink made with cheese and dates, which is very acceptable in the desert country, but rather difficult to digest in the feverish regions of Negroland. Thus I began to prepare myself for my homejourney, which from henceforward I might confidently expect to pursue with more steadiness. I then went to pay a visit to my friends the Kél e' Súk, who, during our long absence, had grown very impatient, and, as it would seem, not without good reason. They received me very cheerfully, and in their excess of friendly

feeling made an endeavor to convert me to their creed; but, having received a direct refusal, they entreated me very earnestly to return to them as soon as possible, but this time by way of Tawát. However, I was obliged to tell them that it was very unlikely I should ever return, and more improbable still by way of Tawát, that road being extremely dangerous for us; but I informed them that I entertained no doubt that, if it were possible to get over the rapids which obstructed the lower course of the river, the English would not be long in paying them a visit.

All my friends, who now saw my departure near at hand, began to evince their attachment to me more strongly than ever, and in the evening, after I had dismissed El Munír and Inésa, the sons of Khozématen, both of them worthy young men, I had a very animated conversation with my friend Mohammed el Khottár over our tea, and I promised him a considerable number of Arabic books in the event of his paying a visit to England.*

The following morning, when I was lying outside my tent, as was my custom, enjoying the fresh air, all my friends gathered round me, and I had to read to them passages from various European books, including the Greek text of the Evangelists. The German principally attracted the attention of these people, the full heavy words of that language appearing to them somewhat like their own idiom, and they became highly elated when I recited to them from memory some verses of a favorite German poem.

us,

All my people were so full of enthusiasm on account of a fair prospect of a speedy departure on our home-journey being held out to them, that they gave the Sheikh el Bakáy, when he joined in the course of the morning, in Gógó, a most hearty reception, and fired away a good deal of powder in honor of him. I afterward went with him to distribute some presents among the chiefs of the Kél e' Súk and some great men of the Awelímmiden who had arrived in the company of the sheikh. Khozématen received a fine black Núpe tobe and a black lithám; Hanna, a túrkedí and a litham; the four Awelímmiden, viz., Bodhál, Ríwa, Alíso, and Sábet, each a lithám, besides some smaller articles; and each of the sons of Khozématen and Hanna the half of a lithám. Every one was content, although some of them would have liked to receive articles of greater value.

* This young man actually came to Tripoli in the course of last summer, but the unfortunate state of Indian affairs, and other circumstances, together with an illness common with people coming from the interior, which attacked both him and his companions, prevented his coming to this country.

PREPARATIONS TO LEAVE GOʻGOʻ.

491

There being no prospect that Alkúttabu would join us here, as we were told that he had gone to drive back a predatory expedition of the Kél-fadaye, I returned the fine black horse which the sheikh had made me a present of, and which I had destined for the chief of the Awelímmiden, to the former, who was going to visit that chief, in order that he might present it to him in my I also made ready the present which I intended to make to Thákkefi, the son of the former chief, and El A'gwi, a near relation of his.

name.

The sheikh himself showed his consciousness of our approaching separation by assuming a lively air. In the evening I had a very animated conversation with him and Sídi A'hmed el Wádáwi, the most learned of his pupils, with regard to the shape of the earth, and succeeded, at length, in clearly demonstrating to him its globular shape and the circular motion of the whole system of the planets. He was not a little struck when, speaking of what was above the earth and under it, I told him that, with regard to the Omnipresent Being, such as we and they recognize the Almighty Creator of the universe to be, the idea of an above and below was not to be entertained, but that such expressions had only reference to human speculation. But although, as a Mohammedan, he could not entirely concur in such a doctrine, being overawed by the authority of the Kurán, yet, having before his eyes the beautiful panorama of the hemisphere, he became quite convinced that on the whole I was right, although, shut up within the narrow walls of his room in the town, he had always thought it both absurd and profane to assert such a thing.

Wednesday, July 5th. All was ready for our departure, when Thákkefi, the cousin of the present ruler of the Awelímmiden, and son of the late powerful chief E' Nábegha, joined us with a few of his companions, among whom Sohéb was the most conspicuous. The arrival of this important personage caused us fresh delay, which, however, on the whole, was agreeable to me, as he was authorized by Alkúttabu to grant me full franchise and per fect security for all Englishmen traveling or trading in their territory; and in the course of conversation he even made the remarkable proposal to me that the English should endeavor, by means of a strong expedition up the river, to establish regular intercourse with them.

Meanwhile the chiefs of the Kél e' Súk departed for their respective homes, holding forth the prospect that I myself might

soon follow. Thákkefi staid with me almost the whole of the day, inspecting my effects with the greatest curiosity and attention. He was a fine, tall man, possessed of great strength and remarkable intelligence, and had the most ardent wish to see more of our ingenious manufactures. I was very sorry that I was able to show him so little, as almost the whole of my supplies were exhausted. A spear had been thrust through his neck from behind in the sudden attack by the Kél-gerés at Tin-taláit, where his father was slain, and he was very anxious to obtain some efficacious plaster for his wound. Every thing went on so well in my intercourse with this chief, that in the afternoon of the day following his arrival the letter of franchise was written by Daniel, the secretary of Alkúttabu, and the day after Thákkefi himself called upon me in my tent. He appeared to have some particular object in view, and, having carefully secured the entrance of the tent, in order to prevent other people from overhearing our conversation, he expressed his desire and that of his uncle that the English might send three well-armed boats up the river, in order to establish intercourse with them. I took care to point out to him that, however anxious the English were to establish commerce and an exchange of produce with this region, yet the success of their endeavors was dependent on the circumstance whether they would be able to cross the rapids and the rocky passage which obstructed the river lower down, between Búsa and Rába, and that therefore I was unable to promise him any thing with certainty. I gave to this chief, who, besides being possessed of great vigor, had a good deal of good-nature about him, one tobe shahariye, two black tobes, two black shawls, three túrkedís, a silk cord of Fás manufacture for suspending the sword, and several other smaller articles.

During our stay in this place I had laid down the course of the river between Timbúktu and Gógó on a tolerably large scale, as far as it was possible to do so, written a dispatch to government, and several letters to members of the Royal Geographical Society and other private friends, and, having sealed the parcel, I delivered it to the sheikh in order that he might forward it without delay upon his return to Timbúktu. I am sorry to say, however, that this parcel only arrived a few months ago, having been laid up at Ghadámes for more than two years.

Before leaving Gógó, I was anxious to ascertain exactly the nature of the river along this shore, as on our march both to and

SURVEY OF THE RIVER.

493

from the Gá-béro we had kept at some distance from its bank, and I arranged with the sheikh's nephew to survey the shores of the river for some distance downward. When I was about to mount on horseback Thákkefi requested that I would put on my European dress, as he was anxious to see how it looked; but, unfortunately, instead of an officer's dress, which would certainly have pleased them very much, I had no European clothes with me except a black dress suit, which could only impress them with a rather unfavorable idea of our style of clothing; and although they approved of the trowsers, they could scarcely fail to think the shape of the coat highly absurd. But, having never before seen fine black cloth, they were surprised at its appearance, and, at a distance, all the people mistook it for a coat of mail, as most of them had been accustomed to see only red cloth.

Pursuing then my proposed excursion, I observed, also, below the village, some fine groups of date palms. I also assured myself that the creek of Gógó, at least at this season of the year, is quite unnavigable, although I could not understand why the modern capital of the Songhay empire was not built on the open river, the only advantage derived from its actual situation being that the small creek forms a kind of close harbor, which affords protection to the boats, and may easily be defended in case of need. As for the site of the former capital Kúkiya, or Kúgha, I am sorry I did not arrive at a distinct conclusion respecting it.

Having followed the bank as far as the point where the creek joins the principal branch of the river, I felt myself induced, by the precarious state of my companion's health, to retrace my steps. This indisposition of the sheikh's nephew influenced the choice of my companions on my return-journey, as it had been originally the sheikh's intention to send his nephew along with me as far as Sókoto. In his place another, but more distant relation of the sheikh, Mohammed ben Mukhtár, an energetic and intelligent young man, but of a less noble turn of mind, was appointed; and besides him, there was the Hartáni Málek, son of a freed slave, who was to return with the last-named messenger from Támkala; then Mustafa, and Mohammed Dáddeb, the latter a native of Timbúktu, who were to return from Sókoto, and A'hmed el Wádáwi, and Háj A'hmed, who were to return from Bórnu.

In the evening preceding our departure our camp exhibited a busy scene, as we were engaged in finishing our preparations for the journey, the sheikh undertaking the outfit of one half the