GEOGRAPHY AND ANTIQUITIES. 867 



cultivation of the soil is carried on by slaves, who greatly outnumber the free 

 inhabitants ; there was no person so poor as to have less than three or four. 

 On the 18th of June Dr. Earth discovered the great river Benue, at its junc- 

 tion with an affluent called the Faro. The name signifies the l; Mother of 

 "Waters,'' and the stream is half a mile wide, and nine feet deep hi the chan- 

 nel. Dr. Baith conjectured that this river was in reality the Chaclda, the 

 eastern arm of the Niger an opinion which has since been confirmed by 

 actual exploration. 



On the 22d of June he reached Tola, the capital of Adamawa. a town two 

 miles and a half in length by one and a half in breadth.^ It is situated on a 

 level plain, at the foot of the mountain Alantika, which rises to the height of 

 10,000 feet. The sultan, whose name was Mohammed Loel, having taken 

 offense at some expressions in the letter of the Sultan of Bornou, Dr. Baith 

 was ordered to leave the place, after a stay of three days. lie returned by 

 the same route, and reached Kuka on the22d of July. During his absence. 

 Dr. Overweg launched the boat of the expedition on the waters of Lake Tsad, 

 and employed five weeks in exploring the islands and shores. He found it 

 to be about 80 miles in breadth, but very shallow, the soundings ranging be- 

 tween 8 and 15 feet. The greater portion of the lake is occupied by a vast 

 labyrinth of small islands, inhabited by a tribe called the Biddumas, who treated 

 the explorer with the greatest kindness. 



After the return of Dr. Barth, the travelers planned an excursion to Kanem 

 and Borgon an unexplored country lying to the north-east of Lake Tsad, and 

 extending midway to Egypt They obtained the protection of an Arab tribe, 

 and had almort reached the capital of Kanem. when the Tibboos fell upon the 

 Arabs and defeated them obliging the travelers to retreat in haste. They 

 returned to Kuka after two months' absence, and found the sultan preparing 

 to send an army to subjugate Mandara, a country lying to the nouth-east of 

 Bornou. They immediately resolved to take part in the campaign, which 

 lasted from the 25th of November to the 1st of February, 1852. The army, 

 consisting of 20,000 men, penetrated to the distance of two hundred miles in 

 a south-eastern direction, and returned with a booty of 5,000 slaves and 

 10,000 head of cattle. The country was very level, and abounded with 

 marshes. 



The travelers immediately set about planning other explorations with an 

 energy as admirable as it is rare. Dr. Barth left Kuka toward the end of 

 March, and, after great difficulties and dangers, succeeded in reaching Masena, 

 the capital of Baghirmi, a powerful kingdom to the east of Bornou, which had 

 never before been visited by a European. He was not able to penetrate fur- 

 ther to the East, as had been Ms intention, but was obliged to return to Kuka, 

 where he arrived on the 20th of August. Dr. Overweg attempted to pene- 

 trate the great Fellatah kingdom of Yakoba, lying on the Eiver Benue, but 

 was driven away from its frontier, and reached Kuka after an absence of two 

 months. His constitution, which was naturally ill-adapted to endure the 

 mid- African heats, began to give way, and after several attacks of weakness 

 and fever, he finally met the fate of Richardson. He died on the 27th of 

 September, 1852, in the arms of Dr. Barth, who buried him near the village of 



