to make herself agreeable, and offered me the various delicacies of her store for sale; but these were extremely scanty, the chief attraction to us, besides a small bowl of milk seasoned with honey, being some onions, of which I myself was not less in want than my people for seasoning our simple food; but fresh ones were not even to be got here, the article sold being a peculiar preparation which is imported from Sansándi, the onions, which are of very small size, being cut into slices and put in water, then pounded in a wooden mortar, dried again, and, by means of some butter, made up into a sort of round ball, which is sold in small pats of an inch and a half in diameter for five shells each: these are called "láwashi" in Fulfulde, or "gabú" in the Songhay language. Besides this article, so necessary for seasoning the food, I bought a little bulánga, or vegetable butter, in order to light up the dark room where I had taken up my quarters; but the night which I passed here was a very uncomfortable one, on account of the number of musquitoes which infest the whole place.

Thus broke the 6th of September-a very important day for me, as it was to determine the kind of reception I was to meet with in this quarter. But notwithstanding the uncertainty of my prospects, I felt cheerful and full of confidence; and, as I was now again firmly established on dry soil, I went early in the morning to see my horse, which had successfully crossed all the different branches lying between Kábara and Sarayámo; but I was sorry to find him in a very weak and emaciated condition.

While traversing the village I was surprised at the many clay buildings which are to be seen here, amounting to between 150 and 200; however, these are not so much the dwellings of the inhabitants of Kábara themselves, but serve rather as magazines for storing up the merchandise belonging to the people of, and the foreign merchants residing in, Timbúktu and Sansándi. There are two small market-places, one containing about twelve stalls or sheds, where all sorts of articles are sold, the other being used exclusively for meat. Although it was still early in the day, women were already busy boiling rice, which is sold in small portions, or made up into thin cakes boiled with bulánga, and sold for five shells each. Almost all the inhabitants, who may muster about 2000, are Songhay; but the authorities belong to the tribe of the Fúlbe, whose principal wealth consists of cattle, the only exception being the office of the inspector of the harbor -a very ancient office, repeatedly mentioned by A'hmed Bábá

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which at present is in the hands of Múláy Kásim, a sheríf whose family is said to have emigrated originally from the Gharb or Morocco, but who has become so Sudánized that he has forgotten all his former knowledge of Arabic. On account of the cattle being driven to a great distance, I found that milk was very scarce and dear. The inhabitants cultivate a little rice, but have some cotton, besides bámia, or Corchorus olitorius, and melons of various descriptions.

Having returned to my quarters from my walk through the town, I had to distribute several presents to some people whom El Waláti chose to represent as his brothers and friends. Having then given to himself a new, glittering, black tobe of Núpe manufacture, a new "háf," and the white bernús which I wore myself, I at length prevailed upon him to set out for the town, in order to obtain protection for me; for as yet I was an outlaw in the country, and any ruffian who suspected my character might have slain me, without scarcely any body caring any thing about it; and circumstances seemed to assume a very unfavorable aspect: for there was a great movement among the Tawárek in the neighborhood, when it almost seemed as if some news of my real character had transpired. Not long after my two messengers were gone, a Tárki chief, of the name of Knéha, with tall and stately figure, and of noble expressive features, as far as his shawl around the face allowed them to be seen, but, like the whole tribe of the Kél-hekíkan to which he belongs, bearing a very bad character as a freebooter, made his appearance, armed with spear and sword, and obtruded himself upon me while I was partaking of my simple dish of rice; notwithstanding which, he took his seat at a short distance opposite to me. Not wishing to invite him to a share in my poor frugal repast by the usual "bismillah," I told him, first in Arabic and then in Fulfulde, that I was dining, and had no leisure to speak with him at present. Whereupon he took his leave, but returned after a short while, and, in a rather peremptory manner, solicited a present from me, being, as he said, a great chief of the country; but as I was not aware of the extent of his power, and being also afraid that others might imitate his example, I told him that I could not give him any thing before I had made due inquiries respecting his real importance from my companion who had just gone to the town. But he was not at all satisfied with my argument; representing himself as a great "dhálem," or evil-doer, and that as such he might do me much harm; till at length, after a very spirited altercation, I got rid of him.

He was scarcely gone, when the whole house was filled with armed men, horse and foot, from Timbúktu, most of them clad in light blue tobes, tightly girt round the waist with a shawl, and dressed in short breeches reaching only to the knee, as if they were going to fight, their head being covered with a straw hat of the peculiar shape of a little hut with regular thatch-work, such as is fashionable among the inhabitants of Másina and of the provinces farther west. They were armed with spears, besides which some of them wore also a sword: only a few of them had muskets. Entering the house rather abruptly, and squatting down in the ante-chambers and court-yard, just where they could find a place, they stared at me not a little, and began asking of each other who this strange-looking fellow might be, while I was reclining on my two smaller boxes, having my larger ones and my other luggage behind me. I was rather at a loss to account for their intrusion, until I learned, upon inquiry from my landlady, that they were come in order to protect their cattle from the Tawarek, who at the time were passing through the place, and who had driven away some of their property. The very person whom they dreaded was the chief Knéha, who had just left me, though they could not make out his whereabouts. Having refreshed themselves during the hot hours of the day, these people started off; but the alarm about the cattle continued the whole of the afternoon, and not less than 200 armed men came into my apartments in the course of an hour.

My messengers not returning at the appointed time from their errand to the town, I had at length retired to rest in the evening. when shortly before midnight they arrived, together with Sídi A'lawáte, the Sheikh El Bakáy's brother, and several of his followers, who took up their quarters on the terrace of my house in order to be out of the reach of the musquitoes; and after they had been regaled with a good supper, which had been provided beforehand by some of the townspeople, I went to pay my respects to them.

It was an important interview; for, although this was not the person for whom my visit was specially intended, and whose favorable or unfavorable disposition would influence the whole success of my arduous undertaking, yet for the present I was entirely in his hands, and all depended upon the manner in which he received me. Now my two messengers had only disclosed to himself personally that I was a Christian, while at the same time

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they had laid great stress upon the circumstance that, although a Christian, I was under the special protection of the Sultan of Stambúl; and Sídi A'lawáte inquired therefore of me, with great earnestness and anxiety, as to the peculiar manner in which I enjoyed the protection of that great Mohammedan sovereign.

Now, it was most unfortunate for me that I had no direct letter from that quarter. Even the firmán, with which we had been provided by the Bashá of Tripoli, had been delivered to the gov ernor for whom it was destined, so that at the time I had nothing with me to show but a firmán, which I had used on my journey in Egypt, and which of course had no especial relation to the case in question. The want of such a general letter of protection from the Sultan of Constantinople, which I had solicited with so much anxiety to be sent after me, was in the sequel the chief cause of my difficult and dangerous position in Timbúktu; for, furnished with such a letter, it would have been easy to have imposed silence upon my adversaries and enemies there, and especially upon the merchants from Morocco, who were instigated by the most selfish jealousy to raise all sorts of intrigues against me.

Having heard my address with attention, although I was not able to establish every point so clearly as I could have wished, the sheikh's brother promised me protection, and desired me to be without any apprehension with regard to my safety; and thus terminated my first interview with this man, who, on the whole, inspired me with a certain degree of confidence, although I was glad to think that he was not the man upon whom I had to rely for my safety. Having then had a farther chat with his telamíd, or pupils, with whom I passed for a Mohammedan, I took leave of the party, and retired to rest in the close apartments of the lower story of the house.

Wednesday, September 7th. After a rather restless night, the day broke when I was at length to enter Timbúktu; but we had a good deal of trouble in performing this last short stage of our journey, deprived as we were of beasts of burden; for the two camels which the people had brought from the town, in order to carry my boxes, proved much too weak, and it was only after a long delay that we were able to procure eleven donkeys for the transport of all my luggage. Meanwhile, the rumor of a traveler of importance having arrived, had spread far and wide, and several inhabitants of the place sent a breakfast both for myself and my protector. Just at the moment when we were at length mount

ing our horses, it seemed as if the Tárki chief Knéha was to cause me some more trouble, for in the morning he had sent me a vessel of butter, in order thus to acquire a fair claim upon my generosity; and, coming now for his reward, he was greatly disappointed when he heard the present had fallen into the hands of other people.

It was ten o'clock when our cavalcade at length put itself in motion, ascending the sand-hills which rise close behind the village of Kábara, and which, to my great regret, had prevented my obtaining a view of the town from the top of our terrace. The contrast of this desolate scenery with the character of the fertile banks of the river which I had just left behind was remarkable. The whole tract bore decidedly the character of a desert, although the path was thickly lined on both sides with thorny bushes and stunted trees, which were being cleared away in some places, in order to render the path less obstructed and more safe, as the Tawárek never fail to infest it, and at present were particularly dreaded on account of their having killed a few days previously three petty Tawáti traders on their way to A'rawán. It is from the unsafe character of this short road between the harbor and the town, that the spot, about half way between Kábara and Timbúktu, bears the remarkable name of "Ur-immándes," " ""he does not hear," meaning the place where the cry of the unfortunate victim is not heard from either side.

Having traversed two sunken spots designated by especial names, where, in certain years, when the river rises to an unusual height, as happened in the course of the same winter, the water of the inundation enters, and occasionally forms even a navigable channel; and leaving on one side the talha-tree of the Welí Sálah, covered with innumerable rags of the superstitious natives, who expect to be generously rewarded by their saint with a new shirt, we approached the town; but its dark masses of clay not being illuminated by bright sunshine, for the sky was thickly overcast, and the atmosphere filled with sand, were scarcely to be distinguished from the sand rubbish heaped all round; and there was no opportunity for looking attentively about, as a body of people were coming toward us, in order to pay their compliments to the stranger, and bid him welcome. This was a very important moment, as, if they had felt the slightest suspicion with regard to my character, they might easily have prevented my entering the town at all, and thus even endangered my life.