142 FROM THE NIGER TO THE NILE 



squirrels, and monitors of which I got several. Many of 

 the names of the Bornu towns, especially in this neighbour- 

 hood, end in " ri." This suffix denotes " belonging to." 

 " Digimari," for instance, means (the village) belonging to 

 Digima, and " Shuari " one belonging to the Shua. They are 

 mostly named from their owner or headman, but are some- 

 times called after some peculiarity or other. For instance, 

 " Balamingubdo " means " the town of a hundred years," 

 and is so named because it has existed for a very long time 

 in the same place. This is a somewhat extraordinary 

 occurrence, as the people of a village usually exhaust the soil 

 round it in a comparatively short space of time and move 

 on to another spot. Near Digimari was a small stream which 

 was said to be the source of the River Shari-Wase at Maifoni. 



On September 19 Alexander at last rejoined me, bringing 

 with him a lot of provisions w^hich were most welcome after 

 the forced living on the country. Those which he had sent 

 according to promise never reached me. From Gujba he 

 had been to see the Resident of Bornu at Magumeri, where 

 he had had an attack of fever which lasted for several days. 

 From that place he had gone to Maifoni and then come south 

 in search of me. He also brought a mail which had not 

 reached me for a long time past. As a matter of fact, only 

 about half the letters sent out ever reached me. 



The news of our httle fight had apparently travelled right 

 through Bornu almost as soon as it took place ; which shows 

 how quickly native reports can spread. Alexander also 

 said that he had met Gosling at Gujba, and that the latter 

 had gone on with the boats to the Yo river whence he would 

 take them down to Chad. 



