250 feet, goes down here into the large green valley or faddama 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 A'zena, that is to say, those native inhabitants of Kebbi who, since the death of the more energetic 'Atíku, 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 those 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, 'Othmán Lowel and 'Othmán 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* 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, 'Othmán 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,

* For a statement of the few facts which have come to my knowledge, with regard to the history of this kingdom, see Appendix.

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 endeavors 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 'Othmán, 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 faddama; 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 our 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, among which also isolated specimens of the deleb 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 northwest) 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 Zagha 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 gray horse. Pursuing then our march in their company, we immediately entered the wide fäddama 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 endeavored 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

ZOGI'RMA AND ITS GOVERNOR.

157

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 any thing 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 trust. worthy 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, favored 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 unfavorable 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 neighboring countries. His name is M'allem 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 neighboring town of Tilli on their way to Fógha, thus affording us the opportunity of trav ersing 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 A'bú Bakr, the eldest son of the governor, rode immediately to the neighboring 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 Sokoto, 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 northeasterly direction along the western border of the broad faddama, 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 northeast to northwest, and, after a march of about a mile, encamped close to them. A large herd of cattle had its resting-place in the neighborhood.

Friday, June 10th. When we started, at an early hour in the