184 MAIN BRANCH OF THE SHARY. 



Finding that Mr. Lander was unwilling to 

 move in the state he was in, I determined on 

 proceeding alone to visit Fundah, of which town 

 we had heard so much, and so many favourable 

 accounts. Mr. Lander promised to follow me up 

 as soon as a remission of his complaint would 

 allow him, and gave orders to my mate, Harvey, 

 who had accompanied me to the Alburkah, to get 

 the cutter fitted with a hurricane-house for the 

 purpose. I engaged a man belonging to a neigh- 

 bouring village to pilot me to Yimmahah, which 

 was represented as the port of Fundah, for six 

 thousand cowries, and started on my expedition 

 in the early part of a delightful morning. 



The main branch of the Shary is from three 

 quarters of a mile to a mile wide at the conflu- 

 ence ; but after a vain attempt to find a passage 

 through the numerous sandbanks that choke its 

 mouth in the dry season, we were obliged to re- 

 enter the Niger, and ascend it for about two 

 miles ; when we came to a narrow creek, with 

 three or four fathoms of water in it. This creek 

 intersects the rich alluvial soil thrown up by the 

 united streams of the rivers in the form of a 

 horse-shoe. This delta is also intersected by 

 numerous other creeks. After passing the Al- 



