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granite, with large blocks of quartz, at others covered with black vegetable soil, with ironstone here and there, and torn by numerous small periodical water-courses descending from the rocky chain on our right, and carrying the moisture of the whole region toward the river, which still flowed on the left of our track; while granite blocks and small ridges projected every where, the whole clothed with forest more or less dense, and with a great variety of foliage. Having kept on through this kind of country for about two miles and a half, we reached the deserted ngáufate," or encampment of Bú-Bakr, a brother of Mohammed Lowel, the Governor of A'damáwa, who had last year made an expedition into these districts, and, stationing his army on this spot, had overrun the country in all directions. The encampment consisted of small round huts made of branches and grass, such as the guro caravan generally erects daily on its "zango" or halting-place. Here we began to quicken our pace, as we were now at the shortest distance from the seats of the Báza, a powerful and independent pagan tribe, with a language, or probably dialect, of their own, and peculiar customs, who live at the foot of the eastern mountain chain, while we left on our right Kibák and some other Marghí villages. In order to lessen a little the fatigue of the march, my attentive companion Bíllama brought me a handful of "gaude," a yellow fruit of the size of an apricot, with a very thick peel, and, instead of a rich pulp, five large kernels, filling almost the whole interior, but coyered with a thin pulp of a very agreeable taste, something like the gonda.

At half past nine, when the forest was tolerably clear, we obtained a view of a saddle mount at some distance on our right, on the other side of which, as I was informed, the village Womde is situated: farther westward lies U'gu, and, at a still greater distance, Gáya. Meanwhile, we pushed on with such haste -the old m'allem and Bú-S'ad, on horseback, driving my two weak camels before them as fast as they could-that the line of our troop became entirely broken; the fatáki or tugúrchi, with their pack-oxen, and several of the dangarúnfu-namely, the little tradesmen who carry their small parcels of merchandise on

THE DIVIDING RIDGE.

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the head-remaining a great distance behind; but, although I wished several times to halt, I could not persuade my companions to do so; and all that I was able to do for the safety of the poor people who had trusted themselves to my protection was to send Billama to the rear with orders to bring up the stragglers. I shall never forget the euphonious words of the old m'allem, with which he, though usually so humane, parried my entreaties to give the people time to come up; mixing Háusa with Kanúri, he kept exclaiming, "Awennan karága babu dádi" ("This is by no means a pleasant forest"), while he continued beating my poor camels with his large shield of antelope's hide. At length, having entered a very dense thicket, where there was a pond of water, we halted for a quarter of an hour, when Bíllama came up with the rear, bringing me, at the same time, a splendid little gonda fruit, which he knew I was particularly fond of.

Continuing then our march with our wonted expedition, we reached, a little before one o'clock, cultivated fields, where the slaves-field-hands," as an American would say-of the people of U'ba were just resting from their labor in the shade of the trees. As the slaves of Mohammedans, they all wore the leathern apron. Here we began to ascend, having a small rocky eminence on our right, and a more considerable one on our left, while in the distance, to the west, various mountain groups became visible. This line of elevation might seem to form the water partition between the basin of the Tsád and that of the Great River of Western Africa, but I am not sure of it, as I did not become distinctly aware of the relation of the rivulet of Múbi to that of Báza.

Be this as it may, this point of the route probably attains an elevation of about 2000 feet, supposing that we had ascended about 800 feet from Ujé, the elevation of which is 1200 feet above the level of the sea. Having then crossed, with some difficulty on the part of the camels, a rugged defile, inclosed by large granite blocks, we began to descend considerably, while Mohammedu drew my attention to the tree called "bijáge” in Fulfulde, which grows between the granite blocks, and from

which the people of Fúmbiná prepare the poison for their arrows. However, I was not near enough to give even the most general account of it; it seemed to be a bush of from ten to twelve feet in height, with tolerably large leaves of an olive color.

Emerging from this rocky passage, we began gradually to overlook the large valley stretching out to the foot of the opposite mountain chain, which seemed from this place to be uninterrupted. Its general elevation appeared to be about 800 feet above the bottom of the valley. We then again entered upon cultivated ground, and turning round the spur of the rocky chain on our right, on the top of which we observed the huts of the pagans, we reached the wall of U'ba at two o'clock in the after

noon.

The eastern quarter of this town, the northernmost Púllo settlement in A'damáwa on this side, consisting of a few huts scattered over a wide space, has quite the character of a new and cheerless colony in Algeria; the earthen wall is low, and strengthened with a double fence of thorn bushes. The western quarter, however, is more thickly and comfortably inhabited; and each cluster of huts, which all consist of bongo, or rather búkka bongo, "jwarubokáru," is surrounded with a little corn-field. It was pleasant to observe how the fences of mats, surrounding the yards, had been strengthened and enlivened by young, living trees of a graceful, slender appearance, instead of dull stalks, giving to the whole a much more cheerful character than is generally the case with the villages in other parts of Negroland, particularly in Bórnu Proper, and promising in a short time to afford some cool shade, which is rather wanting in the place.*

Passing the mosque, the "judírde," a spacious quadrangular building, consisting entirely of halls built of mats and stalks, which must be delightfully cool in the dry season, but extremely damp during the rains, and including a large open space, we reached the lamórde (the house of the governor, or lámido); it

* The nature of these trees may be seen from the fence of the yard in the view of Demsa.

lies on one side of a small square or "belbel." Bíllama and Bú-S'ad having here fired a couple of rounds, we were soon shown into our quarters. These were of rather an indifferent description, but, lying at the northern border of the inhabited quarter, and not far from the foot of the rocky ridge, they had the advantage of allowing us freedom of movement.

ADAMAWA.

CHAPTER XXXIV.

MOHAMMEDAN SETTLEMENTS IN THE HEART OF

CENTRAL AFRICA.

We had now reached the border of A'damáwa, the country after which I had been panting so long, and of which I had heard so many interesting accounts, a Mohammedan kingdom ingrafted upon a mixed stock of pagan tribes-the conquest of the valorous and fanatic Púllo chieftain A'dama over the great pagan kingdom of Fúmbiná.

I was musing over the fate of the native races of this country when the governor, with a numerous suite, came to pay me a visit. Neither he nor any of his companions were dressed with any degree of elegance or even cleanliness. I had endeavored in vain to obtain information from my companions as to the period when the Fúlbe had begun to emigrate into this country, but they were unable to give me any other answer than that they had been settled in the country from very ancient times, and that not only the fathers, but even the grandfathers of the present generation had inhabited the same region as cattlebreeders, "berroróji." Neither the Neither the governor nor any of his people were able to give me any more precise information, so that I was obliged to set my hopes upon the capital, where I was more likely to find a man versed in the history of his tribe. I then communicated to my visitor my wish to ascend the ridge which overlooks the place, and on the top of which, according to Mohammedu, a spring bubbled up between the rocks. The

governor advised me to defer the excursion till the morrow; but, as the weather was fine at the time, and as at this season it was very doubtful whether it would be so the next morning, I expressed a wish to obtain at once a view at least over the opposite mountain chain. He then told me that I might do as I liked, and followed me with his whole suite. The ridge, on this side at least, consisted entirely of enormous blocks of granite heaped one upon the other in wild confusion, and making the ascent extremely difficult, nay, impossible without ropes, so that, with the utmost trouble, we reached the height of a little more than a hundred feet, which gave me, however, an advantageous position for obtaining a view over the broad valley and the mountain range beyond, of which, on my return journey, I made a sketch, which is represented in the wood-cut opposite.

Some of the governor's people, however, were very agile in climbing these blocks, and they need to be so if they wish to subject the native inhabitants, who, when pursued, retire to these natural strongholds, which are scattered over nearly the whole of this country.

We had scarcely returned to our quarters when a storm broke out, but it was not accompanied with a great quantity of rain. Our cheer was indifferent, and we passed our evening in rather a dull manner.

Wednesday, June 11th. Seeing that the weather was gloomy, and being afraid of the fatigue connected with the ascent of the ridge, even along a more easy path, as I was well aware how much my constitution had been weakened, I preferred going on, and gave orders for starting. On leaving the western gate of the town, which is formed of very large trunks of trees, we entered on a tract of corn-fields in a very promising condition, while, at the same time, a number of young jet-black slavegirls, well fed, and all neatly dressed in long aprons of white clean gábagá, and having their necks adorned with strings of glass beads, were marched out to their daily labor in the field. The town formerly extended much farther in this direction, till it was ransacked and plundered by Ramadhán, a slave and officer of the sheikh Mohammed el Kánemi. Before the Fúlbe