MEETING WITH MR. VOGEL.

587

Arab address that the letter which I forwarded to him from Kanó was a letter from some Arab, he had put it by without opening it, waiting till he might meet with a person who should be able to read it.

In the midst of this inhospitable forest we dismounted and sat down together on the ground; and my camels having arrived, I took out my small bag of provisions, and had some coffee boiled, so that we were quite at home. It was with great amazement that I heard from my young friend that there were no supplies in Kúkawa; that what he had brought with him had been spent ; and that the usurper 'Abd e' Rahmán had treated him very badly, having even taken possession of the property which I had left in Zínder. He moreover informed me that he himself was on his way to that place, in order to see whether fresh supplies had not arrived, being also anxious to determine the position of that important town by an astronomical observation, and thus to give a firmer basis to my own labors. But the news of the want of pecuniary supplies did not cause me so much surprise as the report which I received from him that he did not possess a single bottle of wine; for, having now been for more than three years without a drop of any stimulant except coffee, and having suffered severely from frequent attacks of fever and dysentery, I had an insuperable longing for the juice of the grape, of which former experience had taught me the benefit. On my former journey through Asia . Minor I had contracted a serious fever in the swamps of Lycia, and quickly regained my strength by the use of good French wine. I could not help reproaching my friend for having too hastily believed the news of my death before he had made all possible inquiries; but, as he was a new-comer into this country and did not possess a knowledge of the language, I could easily perceive that he had no means of ascertaining the truth or falsehood of those reports.

I also learned from him that there were dispatches for me in Kúkawa, informing me of the expedition sent up the River Tsadda, or Bénuwé. With regard to his own proceedings, he informed me that his sole object in going to Mándará had been to join that expedition, having been misled by the opinion of my friends in Europe, who thought that I had gone to A'damáwa by way of Mándará, and that, when once in Morá, he had become aware of the mistake he had committed when too late, and had endeavored in vain to retrieve his error by going from that place to Ujé, from

whence the overthrow of the usurper 'Abd e' Rahman and the return of his brother 'Omár to power had obliged him to return to Kúkawa.

While we were thus conversing together the other members of the caravan in whose company Mr. Vogel was traveling arrived, and expressed their astonishment and surprise at my sitting quietly here in the midst of the forest, talking with my friend, while the whole district was infested by hostile men. But these Arab traders are great cowards; and I learned from my countryman that he had found a great number of these merchants assembled in Borzári, and afraid of a few robbers who infested the road beyond that place, and it was only after he had joined them with his companions that they had decided upon advancing.

After about two hours' conversation we had to separate; and while Mr. Vogel pursued his journey to Zínder (whence he promised to join me before the end of the month), I hastened to overtake my people, whom I had ordered to wait for me in Kálemrí. I have described this place on my outward journey as a cheerful and industrious village, consisting of two straggling groups, full of cattle and animation; but here also desolation had supplanted human happiness, and a few scattered huts were all that was at present to be seen. Having rested here for about an hour with my people, who had unloaded the animals at a short distance from the well, I started again at three o'clock in the afternoon, and reached Shechéri, where I was to receive my escort, this being. the reason why I had been obliged to deviate from the main direction of my route. This time we encamped on the open square inside the village, where we were exposed to the dust and dirt raised by a numerous herd of cattle on their return from their pasture-grounds. This was a sign of some sort of comfort remaining; but we were disturbed in the night by a shrill cry raised on account of a report having been just received that a party of native traders, or "fatáki," had been attacked by the Tawárek. In the morning I had great difficulty in obtaining two horsemen for an escort; but I at last set out, taking a southerly detour instead of the direct road to Zurríkulo, and thus reached the town of Kerí-zemán, situated two miles and a half southwest from the former, along a track ornamented by a dense grove of dúm palms.

Thus I reached Zurríkulo for the third time during my travels in Negroland, but found it in a much worse condition than when I had last visited it in 1851; and the wall, although it had been con

ZURRI KULO.

589 siderably contracted, was still much too large for the small number of inhabitants. The governor, Kashèlla S'aíd, who paid me a visit in the evening, when I had pitched my tent at a short distance from his residence, requested urgently that, on my arrival in the capital, I would employ my influence with the sheikh in order to induce him either to send him sufficient succors, or to recall him from this dangerous post, otherwise he should take to flight with the rest of the inhabitants. There were here some Arabs who were scarcely able to conceive how I could pursue these difficult roads quite by myself, without a caravan.

In order to lessen the danger, I decided upon traveling at night, and set out about two o'clock in the morning, entering now a region consisting of high sandy downs and irregular hollows, full of dúm palms, and occasionally forming the receptacle for a swampy sheet of water, where the wild hog appears to find a pleasant home. After a march of nearly ten hours, which greatly fatigued my camels on account of the numerous sandy slopes which we had to go up and down, we reached the little hamlet of Gabóre, situated in a rather commanding position, bordered toward the north by a hollow dell. Here I encamped on the eastern side of the village, and was glad to treat my people with a sheep and a few fowls. From the presence of these articles of luxury I was led to conclude that the inhabitants were tolerably well off, but I was not a little astonished to learn that they pay a certain tribute to the Tawárek, in order not to be exposed to their predatory incursions.

Monday, December 4th. It was not yet four o'clock when I was again en route. I thought it remarkable that all this time, although not the slightest quantity of rain or moisture was perceptible, the sky was always overcast before sunrise. I was greatly pleased when I crossed my former path at the neat little village Káluwa, the aspect of which had made so deep an impression upon me at that time. Farther on I kept to the south of my former track, through a well-cultivated district, where all the fields were provided with those raised platforms intended as stations for the guardians, of which I have spoken on a former occasion. Thus passing a good many villages, we made halt during the hot hours at the village Dimísugá, under a group of fine hájilíj, the inhabitants treating us hospitably. Having then continued our journey at an early hour in the afternoon, we soon passed a village which in other respects presents nothing interesting, but the

name of which is remarkable as showing the facetious turn of the natives. It is called "Búne kayérde S'aíd," meaning "Sleep, and rely upon S'aíd," the hamlet having evidently received this name from the native traders proceeding from the side of Bórnu, who thus evinced the confidence they felt in entering the province of the energetic Kashélla S'aíd, who they knew kept it in such a state of security that there was no danger from robbers.

While we were proceeding through an uninhabited hilly tract, my guide suddenly left me, so that, being misled by the greater width of the path, and passing the village of Jíngerí, animated at the time by a group of lively females in their best attire, and just performing a marriage ceremony, I reached the town of Wádi, which I had touched at on my outward journey, and at length by a roundabout way arrived at Borzári, where I expected my people to join me. But I looked for them in vain the whole night. They had taken the road to Grémarí. The governor treated me hospitably; but his object was to induce me to speak a word in favor of him to his liege lord.

In consequence of my people having taken another road, I lost the whole forenoon of the following day, and encamped about seven miles beyond Grémarí, near the village called Mariámari. During this encampment I again heard the unusual sound of a lion during the night. But it must be taken into consideration that a branch of the komádugu passes at a short distance to the south of this place, and I therefore think myself right in supposing that, in Bórnu at least, lions are scarcely ever met with, except in this entangled net of water-courses which I had here reached. The next day I marched for a considerable time along the northern border of this channel, girt by fine tamarind and fig trees, and occasionally by a group of dúm palms, till, having passed the village of Dámen, and traversed a wide swampy tract, we crossed the first branch, which formed a fine sheet of water about a hundred yards broad, but only three feet deep, the only difficulty being in the steepness of the opposite shore.

Having passed the heat of the day under a neigboring tamarind-tree, we continued our march in a southeasterly direction to the village Dáway. Here we pitched our tent in the neat little square near the "msíd," all the matting fences surrounding the cottages being new and having a very clean appearance. My object in staying here was to confer with the "bíllama" as to the best means of crossing the larger branch of the komádugu, which

DAWAY.-KINJE BERI'.

591 runs at a short distance beyond this village, and the passage of which was said to be very difficult at the time, encumbered as we were with animals and luggage. But it was very extraordinary that the people here contended that the river then was higher than it had been ten days previously, although I did not find this statement confirmed on our actually crossing it the following morning, the water exhibiting evident signs of having decreased, an observation which exactly corresponds with what I have remarked on a former occasion with regard to the nature of this komádugu. The river here spread out to a considerable extent, and we had some difficulty in crossing it. The greatest depth was more than four feet; but the spreading out of the water was the reason that it was here passable at all, although it had become too shallow to employ the native craft, while lower down, between this place and Zéngirí, it could not be forded. Having then crossed three smaller channels and passed the village Kinjéberí, once a large town and encompassed by a wide clay wall, we took up our quarters in a poor hamlet called Margwa Sheríferí, from a sherif who had settled here many years ago; for, in order to procure myself a good reception from the ruler of Bórnu, after the great political disturbances which had taken place, I thought it prudent to send a messenger to him to announce my arrival. I only needed to give full expression to my real feelings in order to render my letter acceptable to my former protector, for my delight had been extreme, after the news which I had received of 'Abd e' Rahmán having usurped the supreme power, on hearing that the just and lawful Sheikh 'Omár had once more regained possession of the royal authority. The consequence was, that when, after having traversed the district of Koyám, with its straggling villages, its fine herds of camels, and its deep wells, some of them more than forty fathoms in depth, I approached the town on the 11th of December, I found 'Abd e' Nebí, the chief eunuch of the sheikh, with thirty horsemen, posted at the village of Kalíluwa, where a market was just held, in order to give me an honorable reception. Thus I re-entered the town of Kúkawa, whence I had set out on my dangerous journey to the west, in stately procession. On entering my quarters, I was agreeably surprised at finding the two sappers, Corporal Church and private Macguire, who had been sent out from England to accompany Mr. Vogel, and to join me, if possible, in my proceedings.