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one day for an hour or so on a clay bank in my room, I found, when I got up, a large hole in my tobe, these clever and industrious miners having made their way through the clay walls to the spot where I was sitting, successfully constructed their covered walks, and voraciously attacked my shirt, all in an hour's time. My present to the governor consisted of a very fine blue bernús, a kaftan of fine red cloth, a small pocket pistol, two muslin turbans, a red cap, two loaves of sugar, and some smaller articles. The eccentric man received me with undisguised pleasure as an old acquaintance; but, being aware that I had a tolerable supply of handsome articles with me, he wanted to induce me to sell to him all the fine things I possessed; but I cut the matter short by telling him, once for all, that I was not a merchant, and did not engage in any commerce. On the whole, he was well pleased with his presents; but he wanted me to give him another small pistol, and, in the course of my stay here, I was obliged to comply with his request. He had a cover made for the pair, and used to carry them constantly about his person, frightening every body by firing off the caps into their faces.

It was, no doubt, a very favorable circumstance for me that the ghaladíma of Sokoto was at this time staying here, for under the protection of the unscrupulous governor of Kátsena I should scarcely have reached the residence of the emír el Múmenín in safety. The ghaladíma, who was the inspector of Kátsena as well as of Zánfara, had collected the tribute of both provinces, and was soon to start, with his treasure and the articles he had purchased there, on his home journey, so that there did not seem to be time enough for sending some of my people to Kanó to make there the necessary purchases; but circumstances which I shall soon mention delayed us so much that there would have been ample opportunity for doing so, and thus saving a considerable sum of money. The ghaladíma was a simple, straightforward man, not very intelligent, certainly, nor generous, but good-natured and sociable. Born of a female slave, he had very little about him of the general characteristics of the Fúlbe, being tall and broad-shouldered, with a large head, broad features, and tolerably dark complexion.

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I made some considerable purchases in this place, amounting altogether to 1,308,000 shells, employing the greatest part of cash in providing myself with the cotton and silk manufactures of Kanó and Núpe, in order to pave my way, by means of these

APPROACH OF THE RAINY SEASON.

85 favorite articles, through the countries on the middle course of the Niger, where nothing is esteemed more highly than these native manufactures.* But, as I afterward found out, I sustained a considerable loss in buying the Núpe tobes here, at least 20 per cent. dearer than I should have been able to do in Gando; but this I could not possibly know beforehand, nor was it my previous intention to make any stay in that place, where large parcels of these articles are never brought into the market. I also added to my store a few more articles of Arab manufacture, there having arrived, on the 5th of March, a very numerous caravan of Ghadámsi and other people from the north, with not less than from 400 to 500 camels, but without bringing me even a single line, either from my friends in Europe or even from those in Africa. Having likewise arranged with 'Alí el A'geren, the Méjebrí who accompanied me from Kúkawa, buying from him what little merchandise he had, and taking him into my service for nine dollars a month, I prepared every thing for my journey; and I was extremely anxious to be gone, as the rainy season was fast approaching. On the 26th of February evident signs were observed of the approach of the wet season, the whole southern quarter of the heavens being thickly overcast with clouds, while the air also was extremely damp, just as after a shower. Mounting on horseback in order to observe better these forerunners of the "dámana," I clearly distinguished that it was raining in the direction of Záriya and Núpe, and even in our immediate neighborhood a few drops fell. In the course of the evening the freshness and coolness of the air was most delicious, just as is the case after a fall of rain, and summer lightning was flashing through the southern sky.

I bought here altogether 75 túrkedís or woman-cloths, which form the usual standard article in Timbuktu, and from which narrow shirts for the males are made; 35 black tobes of Kanó manufacture; 20 ditto of Núpe manufacture; 20 silk of different descriptions; 232 black shawls for covering the face, as the best presents for the Tawárek. I also bought here, besides, four very good cloth bernúses from some Tawát traders lately arrived from their country with horses, and some other little merchandise, and half a dozen of "hamail," or sword-hangings, of red silk of Fás manufacture. I also provided myself here with water-skins and kulábu, or large skins for covering the luggage for the whole of my journey. No place in the whole of Negroland is so famous for excellent leather and the art of tanning as Kátsena; and if I had taken a larger supply of these articles with me it would have been very profitable; but of course these leather articles require a great deal of room. I also bought a good quantity of the tobacco of Kátsena, which is held in great estimation even in Timbuktu, whither the excellent tobacco from Wádí Nún is brought in considerable quantity.

The ghaladíma was also very anxious to be gone; but the army of the Góberáwa being ready to start on an expedition, on a grand scale, against the territory of the Fúlbe, we could not leave the place before we knew exactly what direction the hostile army would take. They having at length set out on their foray on the 7th of March, we began to watch their movements very anxiously, each of these two powers-the independent pagans as well as the conquering Fúlbe-having in their pay numbers of spies in the towns of their enemies. Only two days before the Góberáwa left their home they killed Bú-Bakr, the chief spy whom 'Alíyu, sultan of Sokoto, entertained in their town.

In the company of the ghaladíma there was a younger brother of his, of the name of Al-háttu, who had lost the better portion of the character of a free man by a mixture of slave-blood, and behaved at times like the most intolerable beggar; but he proved of great service to me in my endeavor to become acquainted with all the characteristic features of the country and its inhabitants.

Besides this man, my principal acquaintance during my stay in Kátsena this time was a Tawáti of the name of 'Abd e' Rahmán, a very amiable and social man, and, as a fáki, possessing a certain. degree of learning. He had been a great friend of the Sultan Bello, and expatiated with the greatest enthusiasm on the qualities and achievements of this distinguished ruler of Negroland. He also gave me the first hints of some of the most important subjects relating to the geography and history of western Negroland, and called my attention particularly to a man whom he represented as the most learned of the present generation of the inhabitants of Sokoto, and from whom, he assured me, I should not fail to obtain what information I wanted. This man was 'Abd el Káder dan Taffa (meaning the son of Mústapha), on whose stores of knowledge I drew largely. My intercourse with 'Abd e' Rahmán was occasionally interrupted by an amicable tilt at our respective creeds. On one occasion, when my learned friend was endeavoring to convince me of the propriety of polygamy, he adduced as an illustration that in matters of the table we did not confine ourselves to a single dish, but took a little fowl, a little fish, and a little roast beef; and how absurd, he argued, was it to restrict ourselves, in the intercourse with the other sex, to only one wife. It was during my second stay in Kátsena that I collected. most of the information which I have communicated on a former occasion with regard to the history of Háusa.

UNFORESEEN DIFFICULTY.

87

Besides this kind of occupation, my dealings with the governor, and an occasional ride which I took through and outside the town, I had a great deal to do in order to satisfy the claims of the inhabitants upon my very small stock of medicinal knowledge, espe; cially at the commencement of my residence, when I was severely pestered with applications, having generally from 100 to 200 patients in my court-yard every morning. The people even brought me sometimes animals to cure; and I was not a little amused when they once brought me a horse totally blind, which they thought I was able to restore to its former power of vision.

Living in Kátsena is not so cheap as in most other places of Negroland; at least we thought so at the time, but we afterward found Sokoto, and many places between that and Timbúktu, much dearer; but the character of dearth in Kátsena is increased by the scarcity of shells in the market, which form the standard currency, and, especially after I had circulated a couple of hundred dollars, I was often obliged to change a dollar for 2300 shells instead of 2500.

I had here a disagreeable business to arrange; for suddenly, on the 18th of March, there arrived our old creditor Mohammed e' Sfáksí, whose claims upon us I thought I had settled long ago by giving him a bill upon Fezzán, besides the sum of two hundred dollars which I had paid him on the spot;* but, to my great astonishment, he produced a letter in which Mr. Gagliuffi, her majesty's agent in Múrzuk, informed him that I was to pay him in Sudán.

Such is the trouble to which a European traveler is exposed in these countries by the injudicious arrangements of those very people whose chief object ought to be to assist him, while, at the same time, all his friends in Europe think that he is well provided, and that he can proceed on his difficult errand without obstacle.

On the 19th of March we received information that the army of Góberáwa had encamped on the site of the former town of Róma, or Rúma, and I was given to understand that I must hold myself in readiness to march at an hour's notice.

Meanwhile the governor of Kátsena, who had received exaggerated accounts of the riches which I was carrying with me, was endeavoring, by every means at his disposal, to separate me from the ghaladíma, in order to have me in his own power; and his measures were attended with a good deal of success, at least in the * See vol. ii., p. 576.

case of my Arab companion 'Alí el A'geren, who, although a man of some energy, allowed himself too often to be frightened by the misrepresentations of the people. On his attempting to keep me back, I told him that, if he chose, he might stay behind, but that I had made up my mind to proceed at once, in company with the ghaladíma, whatever might happen. I had the more reason to beware of the governor, as, just at the period of this my second stay here, when he knew I was going to his liege lord, I had had another opportunity of becoming fully aware of the flagrant injustice exercised by him and his ministers. For the sherif, who, as I have said, had attached himself to my party in Zínder, having died here of dysentery soon after our arrival, he seized upon what little property he had left, notwithstanding that person had placed himself, in some respects, under my protection; and although he pretended he would send it to his relatives, there is no doubt that he or his people kept it back. The safety of the property of any European who should die in these regions ought to be taken into account in any treaty to be concluded with a native chief; but no such contingency was provided for in draughts of the treaties which we took with us.

CHAPTER LVI.

JOURNEY FROM KA'TSENA TO SO'KOTO.

Monday, March 21st. The whole town was in motion when we left; for the governor himself was to accompany us for some days' journey, as the whole country was exposed to the most imminent danger, and farther on he was to send a numerous escort along with us. It was a fine morning, and, though the rainy season had not yet set in in this province, many of the trees were clad already in a new dress, as if in anticipation of the fertilizing power of the more favored season.

The hájilij had begun, about the commencement of March, to put out new foliage and shoots of young fruit; and the dorówa or Parkia exhibited its blossoms of the most beautiful purple, hanging down to a great length from the branches. The dorówa, which is entirely wanting in the whole of Bórnu, constitutes here the chief representative of the vegetable kingdom. It is from the beans of this tree that the natives prepare the vegetable cakes

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