46 
TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 
Chap. LIV. 
for the whole surface of the basin, which at present 
did not contain a drop of water, was formed of na- 
tron, while people were busy digging saltpetre, from 
pits about six feet deep and one foot and a half in 
diameter, on its very border. A short distance off, 
fresh water is to be found close under the surface, 
giving life to the vegetation, which bears a character 
so entirely new in this district ; and I gazed with 
delight on the rich scenery around, which presented 
such a remarkable contrast to the monotonous plains 
of Bornu. Wide-spreading tamarind trees shaded 
large tracts of ground, while detached date palms, 
few and far between, raised their feathery foliage 
like a fan over the surrounding country. The 
ground was clothed, besides, with " retem," or broom, 
and dum bush, with the Tamarix galliea, or " tarfa," 
which I scarcely remember to have seen in any other 
spot during the whole of my travels in Negroland. 
Ascending from the clayey soil on a sandy bottom, 
we reached the western foot of the eminence of Old 
Biine, which is built in a recess of the rocky cliffs 
on the western slope of the mount. But the village, 
which has already suffered greatly by the foundation 
of New Biine at so short a distance, and which 
is important only as the residence of Yegiiddi, the 
eldest son of Miiniyoma, had been almost destroyed 
some time before by a great conflagration, with the 
exception of the clay dwelling of the governor, situated 
at the foot of the cliffs. It was just rebuilding, — only 
