of fish which were swimming alongside our boat. They were very dexterous in diving, although it required some time for them to ascertain the spot where the slender instrument had been fixed in the bottom. This harpoon was exactly similar to the double spear used by some divisions of the Batta, one of the tribes of A'damáwa, such as the Bágelé, and even by some of the inhabitants of Bórnu.

We had now entered a splendid reach of the river, which, almost free from reeds, extended in an easterly direction, and we glided pleasantly along the smooth water at a short distance from the northern bank, which was thickly clad with trees; till at length, darkness setting in, we struck right across the whole breadth of the river, which now, in the quiet of the evening, spread out its smooth unrippled surface like a beautiful mirror, and which at this place was certainly not less than 1000 yards broad, straight for the evening fires of the village Banáy, which was situated on the opposite bank, and we moored our vessel at the north-easterly bend of the gulf round which the town is situated. Most of our party slept on shore, while others made themselves as comfortable as possible in the boat, and on the top of the matting which formed the cabins.

Here we awoke the next morning with a beautiful clear sky, and quietly enjoyed for a few hours the fine river scenery, bordered by a rich belt of vegetation, while our boatmen endeavoured to replace one of their poles, which they had broken, by a new one,

CHAP. LXIV.

TOWN OF BANA'Y.

385

and after some time succeeded in getting one which measured twenty-one feet. The town or village itself is inhabited by Songhay and Fúlbe, the latter being in possession of numerous flocks and herds. The cattle being just collected on the sandy beach near the river, were milked soon after sunrise, and furnished me with a draught of that delicious beverage, which must always constitute one of the greatest luxuries to a European traveller in these countries.

The chief part of the village extended along the bay to the south, at the point where we had moored our boat; but there was a suburb of detached huts, chiefly inhabited by Tawárek, and this part of the shore was beautifully adorned with large trees. When we at length continued our voyage, we observed also a great many dúm-palms, which served to further embellish the country, while kadéña, or tóso, seemed to form the staple produce of the inhabitants, and thickly lined the shores. The scenery was the more interesting, as, besides boys who were playing in the water, a numerous herd of cattle were just swimming across the river, which to animals not accustomed to such a task, would have been rather a difficult undertaking; and, even as it was, the people who accompanied them in boats had some difficulty in inducing them to continue their fatiguing trip when they once began to feel exhausted, especially as they were accompanied by their young calves. However, in these regions along the Niger, with its numerous channels, backwaters, and swamps, man as well as beast must be accustomed

to swimming. I took great pains to discover whether there was any current here, but I did not succeed in ascertaining the fact; and altogether, in this network of creeks and backwaters, the current seems to be very uncertain, going in on one side and out on the other, notwithstanding that we were now approaching the trunk of the river, following in general a northerly direction with a slight westerly deviation. The gradually sloping bank was here covered with the dense rich bush called bógina by the Songhay.

But at present these shores, once animated with the bustle of many larger and smaller villages of the native Songhay, were buried in silence and solitude, a turbulent period of almost 200 years having succeeded to the epoch when the great Songhay king, Mohammed el Háj A'skia, held the whole of these regions under his powerful sway. No less than four dwelling-places along this tract of the river had been destroyed on one and the same day by the father of Galáijo, the prince whom we had met on our journey a short distance from Sáy. A solitary antelope, with her young, was the only living being in the present state of desolation that we observed during several hours' navigation, but the banks were occasionally lined with fine trees. Besides the tamarind tree, a tree called bógi appeared in great quantities; it bears a yellow fruit about the size of a pear, having four or five large kernels, and which, on

*These places are Bango, Ujínne, Gakoira, and another one.

CHAP. LXIV.

ISLAND OF KO'RA.

387

account of its pleasant acid taste, afforded us a very refreshing treat.

Having met with a short delay, in consequence of a thunderstorm which brought us but little rain, we observed the island of Kóra, which lies at the mouth of this channel, and the main river ahead of us, the water increasing in breadth, while one arm branches off round the south-western part of the island, presenting here the appearance of an inland sea. But we had scarcely caught a glimpse of the great river itself, when a second and heavier thunderstorm, which had long been gathering, threatened to break forth, and obliged us to seek shelter in the grassy eastern shore of the main. We had scarcely fastened the boat, when the rain came down in torrents, and lasted with great violence for nearly two hours, so that my berth was entirely swamped, and I remained in a most uncomfortable state during the whole of the night.

The weather having cleared up, we set Sunday, out at an early hour, following a north- September 4th. easterly direction through an open water not obstructed by reeds, but soon halted again for prayer near the green bushy shore; while from the opposite side of the island of Kóra, the lowing of cattle, cackling of fowls, and the voices of men were distinctly to be heard, the island being still tolerably well inhabited and the people being said to possess even a good number of horses. It was of considerable interest to me here to fall into the course pursued by that very meritorious French traveller, Réné Caillié, on his toil

some and dangerous journey through the whole western part of the continent of Africa, from Sierra Leone to Morocco; and it is an agreeable duty for me to confirm the general accuracy of his account. Following close upon the track of the enterprising and intelligent, but unfortunate Major Laing, who had been assassinated two years previously on his desperate journey from Timbúktu, Caillié naturally excited against himself the jealousy of the English, to whom it could not but seem extraordinary that a poor unprotected adventurer like himself should succeed in an enterprise where one of the most courageous and nobleminded officers of their army had

succumbed.

Gliding slowly along the channel, which here was about 600 yards in width, and gradually exchanging the eastern shore for the middle of the stream, we observed after a few miles' advance the first riverhorses, or banga, that we had as yet seen in the Niger, carrying their heads out of the water like two immense boxes, and rather frightening our boatmen, who did not seem to relish a tête-à tête with these animals, till I sent a ball after them.

Passing then the site of the former town of Gakoira, near which the people were busy with the labours of the rice-fields, and having again landed on the opposite shore, which was covered with numerous kalgo trees, in order that the lazy boatmen might get their breakfast with comfort and ease, we had to follow a large bend of the river where the town of Danga is situated