place, called Hasbery, where we found no water; having come a distance of thirty-four miles. The whole of this country is covered with alluvial soil; has a dark clayey appearance. Cracks, several inches in width, make the roads difficult, and, in the wet season, the water which falls remains on the ground for several months after. This evening, Boo-Khaloom’s camels, unable to keep pace with the light-footed maherhies of the Bornou people, were so long in coming up, that he came to Barca Gana’s tent, and a few unfortunate questions put to him, on the subject of my religion, sank me wofully in the opinion of my Bornou friends. Boo-Khaloom had been a great traveller, and was extremely liberal in his religious opinions for a Musselman; more so than he dared to acknowledge to these bigoted followers of the Prophet. The kashella’s fighi, Malem Chadily, had always eyed me with a look of suspicion, and had once said, when the whole army halted, at dawn, “ Do you wash and pray ?” “Yes,” said I. “ Where?” rejoined the fighi. “ In my tent," I replied. This fighi, who continued throughout my mortal enemy and annoyance,' now asked Boo-Khaloom “ what these English were ? were they Hanafy or Maleki ?” still believing, that as we appeared a little better than the Kerdies, or savages, that we must be Moslem in some way or other. Boo-Khaloom answered, with some hesitation, “ No : that we were mesquine (unfortunate); that we believed not in ‘ the book,' the title always given to the Koran; that we did not sully, or pray, as they did, five times a day; that we were not circumcised; that we had a book of our own, which did not mention Saidna Mohamed, and. that, blind as we were, we believed in i t : but In sh’ allah,” added he, “ they will see their error, and die Musselmans, for they are naz zein zein Yassur (good people, very good).” This account was followed by a general groan; and the fighi clasped his hands, looked thoughtful, and then said, “Why does not the great bashaw of Tripoli make .them all Musselmans ?” This question made Boo-Khaloom smile: “ W hy!” replied .Boo- Khaloom, “ that he could not very well do, great as he is; these people are powerful, very powerful, and an affront to even one of these might cost the bashaw his kingdom:—they are also rich, very rich.” . “ May it please the Lord quickly to send all their riches into the hands of true Musselmans,” ■ said the fighi; to which the whole assembly echoed “ Amen.” “ However,” continued Boo-Khaloom, “ there are insara 'Yassur j i denier (a great many Christians in the world), but the English are the best of an y ; they worship no images; they believe.in one God, and are almost Moslem.” This was as much as he could say, although it raised me but little in the fighi s estimation; and as he decided, so every body, was obliged to think. Our rice water, and honey, was always brought in a brass basin tinned on the inside, such as are only used by sultans and people of the highest rank, wooden bowls being always drunk out of by the people; and out of this basin Barca Gana and myself only were allowed to drink. To-night, while I was drinking, the fighi made some remark; what I left in the bowl was instantly thrown away, and soon after a separate .vessel was assigned me. We continued our course to Ally Mabur, where there is a large lake of still water. The horses, who had not drunk the night before, lushed into the lake by hundreds, and, in consequence, the water we got to drink was nearly as thick as pease-soup. The day was dreadfully sultry. My camel not coming up, I could not pitch my tent, and I became nearly exhausted by the intolerable heat. The thermometer was at 113° in the best shade I could find, and covered completely with a cloth, besides a thick woollen bornouse, I kept up some, little moisture by excluding entirely all external a ir; still it was almost insupportable. Ally Mabur, in the afternoon, and at night, halted at an open spot in the wood called Emcheday. The trees we had seen within the last two days were of a much larger kind, and the underwood
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