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with him the usual compliments, I told him that, as Mr. Richardson had paid him a visit on his first arrival in the country, and on his way from the north to Kúkawa, it had also been my desire, before leaving Bórnu for the western tribes, to pay my respects to him as the most noble, powerful, and intelligent governor of the country, it being our earnest wish to be on friendly terms with all the princes of the earth, more especially with those so remarkably distinguished as was his family. He received my address with great kindness, and appeared much flattered by it.

The number of people present on this occasion was so great that I did not enter into closer conversation with the governor, the darkness of the place not allowing me to distinguish his features. I had, however, a better opportunity of observing his almost European cast of countenance when I paid him another visit. in order to satisfy his curiosity by firing my six-barreled revolver before his eyes. On this occasion he did me the honor of putting on the white heláli bernús which had constituted the chief attraction of my present, and which he esteemed very highly, as most noble people do in this country, while the common chief values more highly a dress of showy colors. The white half-silk bernús looked very well, especially as he wore underneath it a red cloth. kaftan.

The real name of the governor is Kóso, Múniyóma being, as I have stated on a former occasion,* nothing but a general title, meaning the governor of Múniyó, which, in the old division of the vast empire of Bórnu, formed part of the Yerí. In the present reduced state of the kingdom of Bórnu, he was the most powerful and respectable of the governors, and by his personal dignity had more the appearance of a prince than almost any other chief whom I saw in Negroland. Besides making himself respected by his intelligence and just conduct, he has succeeded in spreading a sort of mystery round his daily life, which enhanced his authority. The people assured me that nobody ever saw him eating; but, as far as I had an opportunity of observing, even his family harbored that jealousy and want of confidence which undermines the well-being of so many princely households based on polygamy.

Kóso at that time was a man of about sixty years of age, and, unfortunately, died shortly afterward, in the year 1854. He had displayed a great deal of energy on several occasions. It was he

*See vol. i., p. 555, note.

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who had transferred the seat of government of this province from Búne to Gúre, having conquered (or probably only reconquered) this territory from the Díggera, the Tawárek tribe formerly scattered over a great part of Háusa. But, notwithstanding his own energetic character, he had manifested his faithfulness to his.sovereign lord in Kúkawa at the time of the inroad of the Wádáy, when Serki Ibrám, the governor of Zínder, not only declared himself independent, but even demanded homage from the neighboring vassals of the Bórnu empire, and, when such was denied him, marched against Múniyóma, but was beaten near the town of Wúshek. Such faithful adherence to the new dynasty of the Kánemíyín in Kúkawa is the more remarkable in this man, as the ruling family of Múniyóma seems to have been of ancient standing, and it was an ancestor of Kóso, of the name of Sérriyó, who once conquered the strong town of Daura, the most ancient of the Háusa states.

But, notwithstanding the more noble disposition which certainly distinguished this man from most of his colleagues, here also the misery connected with the horrors of slave-hunting and the slavetrade was very palpable; for, in order to be enabled to pay his debts, he was just then about to undertake a foray against one of the towns of the Díggera, the inhabitants of which had behaved in a friendly manner toward the Tawárek during their recent inroad, and he begged me very urgently to stay until his return from the foray. But as I did not want any thing from him, and as the road before me was a long one, I preferred pursuing my journey, taking care, however, to obtain information from him, and from the principal men in his company, respecting those localities of the province which most deserved my attention.

Kóso departed, with his troop in several small detachments, about noon on the 18th, the signal for starting not being made with a drum, as is usual in Bórnu, but with an iron instrument which dates from the old pagan times, and not unlike that of the Músgu. It was also very characteristic that during his absence the lieutenant governorship was exercised by the mágirá, or the mother of the governor, who was said to have ruled on former occasions in a very energetic manner, punishing all the inhabitants capable of bearing arms who had remained behind. Before setting out, however, on his foray, the governor sent me a camel as a present, which, although it was not a first-rate one, and was knocked up before I reached Kátsena, nevertheless proved of

some use for a few days. I presume that it had been his intention to have given me a better animal, and that his design had only been frustrated by some selfish people. He had expressed a wish to purchase from me a pair of Arab pistols; but, although I possessed three beautifully-ornamented pairs, I wanted them self as presents for other chiefs on my farther march, and therefore could not gratify his wish. During my stay here he treated me very hospitably, sending me, besides numerous dishes of prepared food, two fat sheep as a present.

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Gúre, the present residence of Múniyóma, lies on the southern slope of a rocky eminence, and is separated by irregular ground into several detached portions, containing altogether a population of about 8000 inhabitants. In former years it was more spacious, and its circumference had only been lessened a short time before my arrival, in order to insure a greater security. But it is only surrounded with a single, and in some places a double fence or stockade, the southwestern corner, which is most exposed to an attack, being protected in a curious way by a labyrinth of fences, including a number of cotton-grounds and kitchen-gardens.* But although in this manner the town is only very insufficiently protected against a serious attack, the inhabitants have the advantage of the rocky cone rising over their heads, where they might certainly retire in such a case.

Sunday, December 19th. I left Gúre, continuing my march toward Zínder, not along the most direct road, but with the intention of

* I here give a list of the towns and more important villages belonging to the province of Múniyó: Gúre, the present capital, conquered from the Díggera by Kóso, the present governor; Búne, the old capital; New Bune; Sulléri, the chief marketplace; Wúshek; Gábana; Sangáya; Méza; Gertégené; Mázamní; Mástatá; Keléno; Kizámmana; Dellakóri; Bóbit, W. of Old Búne; Bírni-n-Gammachak or Chéchega, the oldest possession of the Múniyómas; Gábu, inhabited besides by Manga, also by Kanúri and Fúlbe; Bratáwa; Kólori; two places called Gediyó; Kábara; Fasú; Chágamo; Mérerí; Ngámarí; Berdéri; Wódo; Dudémerí; Yebál; Deríkwa; Kalalíwa; Chando; Wurme; Másoda; Fusám ghana; Bermárili; three places called Kadalébbuwa; two places Mája; Changa, with a market every Wednesday; Hogómarí; Gínuwa; Umórarí; Maiganarí; Falám; three places Kolólluwa; Donári; Gáso; Onjol; Wonji; Aladári; Grémarí; U'duwa; Koïgdám; Bítuwa; Kúrerí; Wórirám; Shéddiga; Ngamda; Boggosúwa; Shá; Bráda: Garekkhí; Mádará; Gergériwá; Sassudári; Gásabá; Maya; Lássorí; Shút: Aúra; Ganákta; Maye; Kelle; Aidambé; Ferám; Hugadébbuwa; two places Felládarí; Yémmerí; Dúgerí; Búgu; Ngóliwá; Térmuwa; Gurógudá; U'rowa; Gárruwa; Farram; Hosomawáro; Shishuwa; Kangárruwa; Bobot; M'allem Mádorí; Daúrduwa; Deríguwa; Gujámbo; Wárimí; Gajémmi; Inyóm; Tsérruwa; M'allemrí; Karbo; Aríwaul; Díni, and others.

PECULIAR SITE OF WU'SHEK.

57

visiting those localities which were likely to present the most interesting features. I therefore kept first in a westerly direction, passing through a mountainous district, and farther on through more open country, with the purpose of visiting Wúshek, a place which had been mentioned to me as peculiarly interesting. The situation of the place has something (as the plate a few pages farther on, as well as the woodcut, will show) very peculiar about it -a mixture of fertility and aridity, of cultivation and desolation, of industry and neglect, being situated at some distance from the foot of a mountain range, and separated from it by a barren tract, while on the side itself the moisture percolates in several small dells and hollows; and thus, besides a good crop of wheat, several small groves of date-trees are produced. The largest of these groves, skirting the east side of the town, contains about 800 trees, while a little farther east another dell winds along, containing about 200 palms, and, joining the former to the north of the village, widens to a more open ground richly overgrown with tamarind-trees, which are entwined with creepers and clad with herb- · age. This grove, which encompasses the whole of the north side of the place, exhibits a very pleasant aspect. Several ponds are formed here, and abundance of water is found in holes from a foot to two feet in depth.

Going round this depression, I entered the town from the northeast quarter, and here found a large open space laid out in fields of wheat, kitchen gardens, with onions, and cotton-grounds, all in different stages of cultivation : most of the beds where wheat was grown were just being laid out, the clods of dry earth being broken and the ground irrigated, while in other places the green stalks of the crop were already shooting forth. The onions were very closely packed together. Every where the fertilizing element was close at hand, and palm-trees were shooting up in several detached clusters; but large mounds of rubbish prevented my taking a comprehensive view over the whole, and the more so as the village is separated into four detached portions lying at a considerable distance from each other, and forming altogether a circumference of about three miles, with a population of from 8000 to 9000 inhabitants. But the whole is merely surrounded by a light fence. The principal cluster, or hamlet, surrounds a small eminence, on the top of which stands the house of the head man or mayor, built of clay, and having quite a commanding position, while at the northeastern foot of the hill a very picturesque date

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WU'SHEK.

1. Principal hamlet surrounding the dwelling of the billama, which is situated on an eminence. 2. Several smaller clusters of huts. 3, 4. Shallow vales with palm-trees.

5. Small depressions or cavities in the sandy soil, also with palm-trees. 6. Another group of palm-trees on the border of a small brook formed by a source of living water.

grove spreads out in a hollow. The ground being uneven, the dwellings, like those in Gúre, are mostly situated in hollows, and the court-yards present a new and characteristic feature; for, although the cottages themselves are built of reed and stalks of Negro corn, the corn-stacks, far from presenting that light and perishable appearance which they exhibit all over Háusa, approach closely that solid style of building which we have observed in the Músgu country, being built of clay, and rising to the height of ten feet.

Wúshek is the principal place for the cultivation of wheat in the whole western part of Bórnu; and if there had been a market that day, it would have been most profitable for me to have provided myself here with this article, wheat being very essential for me, as I had only free servants at my disposal, who would by no means undertake the pounding and preparing of the native corn, while a preparation of wheat, such as mohamsa, can be always kept ready; but the market of Wúshek is only held every Wednesday. In the whole of this country, one hundred shells, or kúngona, which are estimated equal to one gábagá, form the standard currency in the market; and it is remarkable that this sum is

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