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I have mentioned in my historical account of Bórnu),* originally formed the principal stock of the Koyám, together with whom the Máguni and the Fárferé constitute the principal divisions, the chief of the latter clan bearing the title of Fúgo. The Temágheri, of whom I have also had occasion to speak, and the Ngalága, fractions of both of whom are settled here, he described as Kánembú. But, besides these tribes, a great proportion of Tebú have mixed with the ancient inhabitants of this district, probably since the time of the king Edrís Alawóma, who forced the Tebú settled in the northern districts of Kánem to emigrate into Bórnu. In connection with the latter wide-spread nation, my informant described the Túra (whose chief is called Dírkemá, being a native of Dírki), the Débirí or Díbbíri (also spoken of by me on a former occasion), the U'ngumá, and the Káguwá. The Jetko or Jotko, who live along the komádugu, west from the town of Yó, he described to me as identical with the Keléti, the very tribe which is repeatedly mentioned by the historian of Edrís Alawóma. Thus we find in this district a very interesting group of fractions of former tribes who have here taken refuge from the destructive power of a larger empire.

I took a long walk in the afternoon along the sheet of water, which was indented in the most picturesque manner, and was bordered all around with the richest vegetation, the trees belonging principally to the species called karáge and baggarúwa. Farther on dúm palms became numerous; and it was the more interesting to me, as I had visited this district, only a few miles farther north, during the dry season. Guinea-fowl were so numerous that one could hardly move a step without disturbing a group of these lazy birds, which constitute one of the greatest delicacies of the traveler in these regions. A sportsman would find in these swampy forests not less interesting objects for his pursuits than the botanist; for elephants, several species of antelopes, even including the oryx or tétel, nay, as it would seem, even the large addax, the wild hog, besides an unlimited supply of water-fowl, Guinea-fowl, and partridges, would prove worthy of his attention, while occasional encounters with monkeys would cause him some diversion and amusement.

At present the water was decreasing rapidly;† but this part *See vol. ii., p. 29.

+ Compare what I have said with regard to the periods of the rising and decreasing of this river in vol. ii., p. 576.

SITE OF GHASR-E’GGOMO.

29

had been entirely dry at the beginning of September, when the late Mr. Overweg had visited it, and the conclusion then drawn by him, that the river inundates its banks in November, was entirely confirmed by my own experience. . There was a great deal of cultivation along this luxuriant border, and even a little cotton was grown; but a very large amount of the latter article might be obtained here with a greater degree of industry. Besides a village at a short distance to the S.E., inhabited by Koyám, and which bears the same name as this branch of the river, there is a hamlet, consisting of about thirty cottages, inhabited by Fúlbe, or Felláta, of the tribe of the Hillega, the same tribe whom we have met in A'damáwa. They seemed to possess a considerable number of cattle, and appeared to lead a contented and retired life in this fertile but at present almost desolate region. But, unfortunately, they have been induced, by their close contact with the Kanúri, to give up the nice manner of preparing their milk, which so distinguishes the Fúlbe in other provinces; and even the cheerful way in which the women offered us their ware could not induce me to purchase of them their unclean species of sour milk, which is prepared by means of the urine of cattle.

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Beautiful and rich as was the scenery of this locality, it had the disadvantage of harboring immense swarms of musquitoes, and our night's rest, in consequence, was greatly disturbed.

Thursday, December 2d. Winding round the swamp (for the nature of a swamp or kulúgu was more apparent at present than that of a branch of the river), we reached, after a march of about three miles, the site of the ancient capital of the Bórnu empire, Ghasr-éggomo, which, as I have stated on a former occasion,* was built by the King 'Alí Ghajidéni, toward the end of the fifteenth century, after the dynasty had been driven from its ancient seats in Kánem, and, after a desperate struggle between unsettled elements, began to concentrate itself under the powerful rule of this mighty king. The site was visited by the members of the former expedition, and it has been called by them by the half-Arabic name of Birni-Kadím, the "old capital," even the Bórnu people in general designating the place only by the name birni or burni. The town had nearly a regular oval shape, but, notwithstanding the great exaggerations of former Arab informants, who have asserted that this town surpassed Cairo (or Masr el Káhira) in size, and was a day's march across, was little more than six English * Vol. ii., p. 589.

miles in circumference, being encompassed by a strong wall with six or seven* gates, which, in its present dilapidated state, forms a small ridge, and seems clearly to indicate that, when the town was conquered by the Fúlbe or Felláta, the attack was made from two different sides, viz., the southwest and northwest, where the lower

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part of the wall had been dug away. The interior of the town exhibits very little that is remarkable. The principal buildings consist of baked bricks; and in the present capital not the smallest approach is made to this more solid mode of architecture.+ The dimensions of the palace appear to have been very large, although nothing but the ground-plan of large empty areas can be made out at present, while the very small dimensions of the mosque, which had five aisles, seem to afford sufficient proof that none but the people intimately connected with the court used to attend the service, just as is the case at the present time; and it

*The intelligent Arab Ben 'Alí, in the interesting account which he gave to Lucas (Proceedings of the African Association, vol. i., p. 148), distinctly states the number of the gates as seven; but it is remarkable that, in all the accounts of the taking of the place by the Fulbe, mention is only made of two gates, and it is still evident, at the present time, that the western and the eastern gates were the only large ones.

It must be this circumstance (which to the natives themselves, in the degenerate age of the later kings, appeared as a miracle) which caused the report that in Ghámbarú and Ghasr-éggomo there were buildings of the time of the Christians.

RUINS. THE KOMADUGU.

31 serves, moreover, clearly to establish the fact that even in former times, when the empire was most flourishing, there was no such thing as a médresé, or college, attached to the mosque. The fact is, that although Bórnu at all times has had some learned men, study has always been a private affair among a few individuals, encouraged by some distinguished men who had visited Egypt and Arabia. Taking into consideration the great extent of the empire during the period of its grandeur, and the fertility and wealth of some of its provinces, which caused gold dust at that time to be brought to market here in considerable quantity, it can not be doubted that this capital contained a great deal of barbaric magnificence, and even a certain degree of civilization, much more so than is at present found in this country; and it is certainly a speculation not devoid of interest to imagine, in this town of Negroland, a splendid court, with a considerable number of learned and intelligent men gathering round their sovereign, and a priest writing down the glorious achievements of his master, and thus securing them from oblivion. Pity that he was not aware that his work might fall into the hands of people from quite another part of the world, and of so different a stage of civilization, language, and learning! else he would certainly not have failed to have given to posterity a more distinct clew to the chronology of the history of his native country.

It is remarkable that the area of the town, although thickly overgrown with rank grass, is quite bare of trees, while the wall is closely hemmed in by a dense forest; and when I entered the ruins, I found them to be the haunt of a couple of tall ostriches, the only present possessors of this once animated ground; but on the southwest corner, at some distance from the wall, there was a small hamlet.

The way in which the komádugu, assisted probably by artificial means, spreads over this whole region, is very remarkable. The passage of the country at the present season of the year, covered as it is with the thickest forest, was extremely difficult, and we had to make a very large circuit in order to reach the village of Zéngirí, where the river could be most easily crossed. I myself went, on this occasion, as far southwest as Zaraima, a village lying on a steep bank near a very strong bend or elbow of the river, which, a little above, seems to be formed by the two principal branches, the one coming from the country of Bedde, and the other more from the south; but, notwithstanding the great cir

the very coldest night which I experienced in the whole of my journeys since entering the fertile plains of Negroland, the thermometer in the morning, a little before sunrise, showing only 9° Fahr. above the freezing point. The interior of Africa, so far removed from the influence of the sea (which is warmer in winter than the terra firma), forms, with regard to the cold season, an insulated cool space in the tropical regions in opposition to the warm climate of the West Indies, and the coasts and islands of the Pacific and Indian Oceans. We were all greatly affected by the cold; but it did us a great deal of good, invigorating our frames after the enervating influence of the climate of Kúkawa. We did not set out, however, before the sun had begun to impart to the atmosphere a more genial character, when we proceeded on our journey westward. The country which I traversed, passing by the frequented well of Beshér, although already known to me from previous travels, now presented a very different aspect from what it had done on my first journey from Kanó to Kúkawa, those bleak and dreary hollows of black argillaceous soil being now changed into the richest corn-fields, and waving with a luxuriant crop of masákuwá, while the fields of small millet (Pennisetum) stood in stubble.

We encamped near the well Súwa-búwa, or, as it was called by others, Kabubíya, on the gentle slope of the rising ground toward the north, from whence the busy scene round the well, of cattle, asses, goats, and sheep being watered in regular succession, presented an interesting and animated spectacle, more especially coming after and contrasted with the dull life of the capital. The well measured fifteen fathoms in depth, and the inhabitants were so on the alert for gain that they thought it right to sell us the precious element for watering our camels. My whole party were in the best spirits, cheerful and full of expectation of the novelties, both in human life and nature, that were to be disclosed in the unknown regions in the far west. In order to protect ourselves from the cold, which had so much affected us the preceding night, we set fire to the whole of a large decayed tree, which, with great exertion, we dragged from some distance close to our tent, and thus enjoyed a very moderate degree of temperature in our open encampment.

Saturday, November 27th. I now entered Koyám, with its straggling villages, its well-cultivated fields, and its extensive forests of middle-sized mimosas, which afford food to the numerous herds

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