island or sand-bank ¿bout ten yards from the land, and found the marks of two goocb-sized crocodiles quite fresh. Close to the bank, and just at the hollow of a slight curve in the river’s course, fourteen years ago stood the town of Gambarou, the chosen place of residence of the late and former sultans of Bornou ; and the ruins now standing give a proof of the buildings having been, for this country, of a princely kind : the walls of a mosque, which were more than twenty yards square, are still visible, and those of the sultan’s house, with gates opening to the river, still remain ; a private mosque appears also to have been attached to the sultan’s residence: the buildings were all of brick, and must have had a superior appearance to any town we had seen in Africa: the situation was beautiful, and although labyrinths of thickets and brambles now overspread the banks of the river, while wild plants and useless grass were in the meadows, yet I was assured that the whole neighbourhood of Gambarou was once in a superior state of cultivation; and that in the old sultan’s time, boats were constantly moving to and from Kabshary and other towns to the west. Kouka was at that time not in being, and Angornou but a small parcel of huts.M ay 28.—Dr. Oudney and myself mounted our horses this morning, and followed the course of the river to the eastward, nearly three miles: there being no pathway, we were obliged to break through the high grass, trees, and thickly scattered bamboo, which made it a fatiguing excursion, and after all, we could only now and then get a sight of the water by following the track of the elephants and other animals, whose ponderous bodies beat down every thing before them. Our negro, Omar Gana, was alarmed, and would willingly have turned back more than once; we, however, urged him on, and at length came to an open, dry shoal of sand, the bed of the river extending more than two hundred yards; here was the fresh impression of the foot of a very large lion, and we found that the stream was here again called the Yeou. To Omar Gana’s great satisfaction, we now returned by a more direct path through the wood to our tents: these wilds, from their not leading to any high road or inhabited spot, are perhaps never visited, the whole country having been abandoned ever since theFelatahs commenced their inroads. Wild animals of all descriptions here abound therefore in greater numbers than in any other part of the kingdom of Bornou : several parcels of wood tied up with oziers, and large trees stripped of their bark and afterwards deserted, showed how the wood-cutter had been disturbed at his work by the ferocious inhabitants; and some whitened bones, and the remains of a hatchet in one place, made us shudder and conclude, that some one still less fortunate had here met a miserable death. Straggling bands ofTuaricks also sometimes scour the country about the banks of the river, and carry oif whatever suits their purpose. On our return to the tents, we found that our situation was by no means so conjfortable as we could have wished. Kabshary, to which place we intended proceeding, and there awaiting the arrival of the sheikh, had been attacked and partly burnt by the Munga people since our leaving Kouka, and deserted by the inhabitants ; and while we were debating on what steps we should take in consequence of this intelligence, two Kanemboo spearmen came to us in great consternation, with news that the Munga horse had been reconnoitring all around us, had even visited the part of the river we had been exploring in the morning, and after murdering several Kanemboos, who were proceeding to join the sheikh, had carried off the bullocks and whatever they had with them. The sheikh’s delay in coming up had made them bold, and their approach had caused all the Shouaas we had left at Muggaby to beat a retreat; we were therefore left quite alone, and, as it seemed, might expect every minute to be surrounded, taken prisoners, and with an iron round our necks,
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