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we gradually began to turn a little westward from N., the country improving till we reached the fields of I'sayé, or I'sé, a place of some importance, consisting, as the vil

lages in this neighborhood generally do, of a nucleus of clay houses remarkable only on account of its peculiar tower-like granaries, and a suburb of cottages of thatch-work, but of the most varied shape, several of which are represented in the wood-cut on the following page; and here we took up our quarters. As for myself, I obtained a large, excellent hut, with however this great defect-that the lower part of the thatching was so thin and frail that a heavy shower would have swamped the whole, but for a small channel which was carried all round the inner part of the wall.

I felt greatly exhausted in consequence of the constant humidity to which I was exposed, and was neither able to enjoy the hospitable treatment which was shown me, nor even to get rest at night, although I changed my couch repeatedly in order to obtain some repose. But as we remained. here the following day, I had sufficient leisure to become fully acquainted with the distinguishing features of this place; and I made a sketch (which has been represented in the plate opposite) of the village, together with an extensive pond from which the natives at this season of the year get their supply of water, and the picturesque castellated mountains of Hómbori in the background.

The place is populous, and inhabited

by Songhay and Fúlbe conjointly, the latter of whom belong to the tribe called Jéllobe, and are in possession of large herds of cat

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tle and numerous flocks, while the native Songhay seem to be poor and rather badly off. As strict Mohammedans they have the custom of wearing silver rings on their little finger, which they fancy obtains favor for them when saying their prayers. A good deal of industry was apparent; but corn was very dear, although cheaper than it was said to be farther on where no corn was to be obtained except in Núggera; and I was glad to buy a small quantity of grain, the mudd for four dr'a of very broad cotton strips, while sixteen dr'a of Gando cotton strips were esteemed equal to ten dr'a of their own. Cowries, or "chéde," had no currency here, except for buying sour milk, of which there was a good supply. On account of the numerous pools which surround the place, it was infested by musquitoes, which deprived me of what was most valu able to me--a good night's rest.

Tuesday, August 9th. There were two roads before us through the unsettled country to the north, where at present there are no towns, but only temporary encampments of the Tawárek or Imóshagh, who are now in possession of the country adjacent to the banks of the great river to a considerable extent-one road leading in a more northerly direction to Láro, and the other in a northwesterly one to Bóne; and although the guide whom we had taken with us from Mundóro assured us that we should not find in Bóne either quarters or hospitality, my friend El Waláti for some reason or other preferred the latter route, and we had to make rather a long day's journey in the weakened state to which we ourselves and our animals were reduced. But the march was highly interesting, on account of the peculiar nature and the picturesque shape of the several detached cones of the Hómbori mountains, through the midst of which our way led. It would have been impossible, from the information which I had gathered from the natives, to form a correct idea of the character of the chain, which I had thought far more elevated and continuous: the high

HO'MBORI MOUNTAINS.

231 est elevation which some of the cones reach does not appear to be more than 800 feet above the plain.

In the beginning the appearance of the country was more uniform, while the mountains, covered by the rising ground on our right, looked like mere hills, our track itself lying through a more level country, sometimes covered with underwood, and at others presenting a bleak open ground, or "néga;" but the interest of this scenery increased considerably when we reached the western foot of a broader mound which had already attracted our attention the day before. On a sloping ground, consisting of rubbish and boulders, there rose a wall of steep cliffs like an artificial fortification, forming, as it seemed, a spacious terrace on the top, where

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there are said to be three hamlets, inhabited by a spirited race of natives, who, in this rocky retreat, vindicate their independence against the overbearing intrusions of the Fúlbe. We even observed on the slope under the steep cliffs, where there are several caverns, some people pasturing their sheep, while fields of negro corn and karás, or Corchorus olitorius, testified to the fact that the natives sometimes descend even into the very plain to satisfy their most necessary wants. After passing this mound, and following a more northwesterly direction, we approached another mound, rising from the plain like an isolated cone, and, with its steep, nar

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row, and rugged crest, looking exactly like the ruin of a castle of the Middle Ages. Leaving this mound, together with the path leading to the Songhay town of Láro on our right, we approached the southern foot of another castellated mound, which stretched out to a greater length, but offered in its rugged and precipitous cliffs exactly the spectacle of crenellated walls and towers. Where the foot of the mound juts out into the path on the top of the offshoots, the inhabitants of the mountain had erected a small chapel, or rather a place for pagan worship, which presented a very peculiar appearance. Here we entered a sort of broad defile, formed between this castellated mound and another cone toward the west, which, although of considerable elevation, was not so rugged, and exhibited a less picturesque appearance.

Greatly fatigued by our long march, especially as a cool breeze in the morning was followed by an oppressive heat in the noonday hours, we reached, at about five o'clock in the afternoon, the Fúlbe village of Bóne, situated at the foot of the eastern mound; but, although I had sent two of my people in advance, we were unable to obtain quarters, and after some unavailing dispute we were obliged to encamp outside in the open grassy vale between the two mountains; for the inhabitants of this village, who are exclusively Fúlbe, do not like strangers to enter their dwellings,

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