expedition against Zínder, in order to subjugate the rebellious governor of that town (Ibrahím or Ibrám), encamped on this spot. The temperature of the water of the well was 66°.

On inquiring to-day for the small territory of Auyók or Nkizám, the situation as well as the name of which had been erroneously given by former travelers, I learned that it is situated between Khadéja and Gummel, and that it comprises the following places: Táshina, U'nik, Shágató, Shíbiyay, Belángu, Badda, Rómeri, Sóngolom, Melebétiye, and U'marí.

Monday, December 13th. A band of petty native traders, or dangarúnfu, who carried their merchandise on their heads, here joined our party. Their merchandise consisted of cotton, which they had bought in Díggera, and were carrying to Sulléri, the market of Múniyó, where cotton is dear. While proceeding onward, we met another party of native traders from Chelúgiwá, laden with earthenware. In the forest which we then entered, with undulating ground, the karáge was the predominant tree. Farther on the road divided; and while I took the western one, which led me to Yámiyá, my people, mistaking a sign which some other persons had laid across the path as if made by myself, took the easterly one to Chelúgiwá, where Méle, the lord of this little estate, resided, so that it was some time before I was joined by my party.

The well (which, as is generally the case in this district, lies at the foot of a granite mount, where the moisture collects) in the afternoon presented an interesting scene, a herd of 120 head of fine cattle being watered here; and it was the more interesting, as the herdsmen were Felláta, or Fúlbe, of the tribe of the Hirlége. The well measured two fathoms in depth; and the temperature of the water was 80° at 1.20 P.M., while that of the air was 84°.

Tuesday, December 14th. After a march of about six miles through a fine country, occasionally diversified by a rocky eminence, and adorned here and there by fine tamarind-trees, we reached Sulléri, a considerable place, consisting of several detached hamlets, where the most important market in the territory of Múniyó is held every Friday. The place contains about 5000 inhabitants, and was enlivened at the time by a considerable herd of cattle. Millet is grown to a great extent, although dúm bush or ngille, with its obstructing roots, renders a great portion of the soil unfit for cultivation, and scarcely any cotton at all is raised, so that this forms an important article of importation. Toward

NATRON LAKE.-NEW AND OLD BUNE.

45

the south lies another place, called Deggerári, and to the southwest a third one, called Dúgura. Granitic eminences dotted the whole country; but the foggy state of the atmosphere did not allow me to distinguish clearly the more distant hills.

Proceeding in a northwesterly direction through this hilly country, and leaving at a short distance on our right a higher eminence, at the western foot of which the village of New Búne is situated, we descended considerably into a hollow of clayey soil of a most peculiar character. For all of a sudden an isolated date palm started up on our right, while on our left the unwonted aspect of a tall slender gónđa, or Erica Papaya, attracted our attention, the intermediate ground being occupied by a rich plantation of cotton. Suddenly a large "sirge" or lake of natron of snowy whiteness, extending from the foot of the height which towers over Búne, approached on our right, the rich vegetation which girded its border, along which the path led, forming a very remarkable contrast to the barrenness of the "sirge;" for the whole surface of the basin, which did not at present contain a drop of water, was formed of natron, while people were busy digging saltpetre, from pits about six feet deep and one foot and a half in diameter, on its very border. A short distance off, fresh water is to be found close under the surface, giving life to the vegetation, which bears a character so entirely new in this district; and I gazed with delight on the rich scenery around, which presented such a remarkable contrast to the monotonous plains of Bórnu. Widespreading tamarind-trees shaded large tracts of ground, while detached date palms, few and far between, raised their feathery foliage like a fan over the surrounding country. The ground was clothed, besides, with "retem," or broom, and dúm bush, with the Tamarix gallica, or "tarfa," which I scarcely remember to have seen in any other spot during the whole of my travels in Negroland.

Ascending from the clayey soil on a sandy bottom, we reached the western foot of the eminence of Old Búne, which is built in a recess of the rocky cliffs on the western slope of the mount. But the village, which has already suffered greatly by the foundation of New Búne at so short a distance, and which is important only as the residence of Yegúddi, the eldest son of Múniyóma, had been almost destroyed some time before by a great conflagration, with the exception of the clay dwelling of the governor, situated at the foot of the cliffs. It was just rebuilding-only the déndal, or principal street, being as yet fit for habitation, while the rest of the place wore a very cheerless aspect.

Returning, therefore, a few hundred yards in the direction from whence I had come, I chose my camping-ground on an eminence at the side of the path, shaded by a majestic tamarind-tree, and affording an open prospect over the characteristic landscape in the bottom of the irregular vale. Here I spent the whole afternoon enjoying this pleasant panorama, of which I made a sketch, which has been represented in the plate opposite. I had now been suffering for the last two months from sore legs, which did not allow me to rove about at pleasure, otherwise I would gladly have accompanied my companion 'Alí el A'geren on a visit to his friend Bashá Bú-Khalúm, a relative of that Bú-Khalúm who accompa nied Denham and Clapperton. At this time he was residing in New Búne, where he had lately lost, by another conflagration, almost the whole of his property, including eight female slaves, who were burned to death while fettered in a hut. As conflagrations are very common all over Negroland, especially in the dry season a traveler must be extremely careful in confiding his property to these frail dwellings, and he would do well to avoid them entirely.

Wednesday, December 15th. A cold northerly wind, which blew in the morning, made us feel very chilly in our open and elevated encampment, so that it was rather late when we set out, changing now our course entirely from a northwesterly into a north-northeasterly direction. The whole neighborhood was enveloped in a thick fog. The country, after we had passed the mountain Bóro, which gives its name to the village Bórmarí, became rather mountainous. The path wound along through a succession of irregular glens and dells, surrounded by several more or less detached rocky eminences, all of which were clothed with bush. The bottom of the valleys, which consisted mostly of sand, seemed well adapted for the cultivation of sorghum. We passed a large store of grain, where the people were busy pounding or threshing the harvested

corn.

In many places, however, the ground was intersected by numerous holes of the fenek or Megalotis; and at times clay took the place of the sandy soil. Numerous herds of camels enlivened the landscape, all of which belonged, not to the present owners of the country, but to the Tawárek, the friends and companions of the people of Músa, who had lately made a foray on a grand scale into this very province.

We encamped at length, after a march of about thirteen miles,