2 
TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 
Chap. LIII. 
venture to associate myself again with such a law- 
less set of people. I therefore determined to direct 
my whole attention towards the west, in order to 
explore the countries situated on the middle course 
of the great western river the Fsa, or the so-called 
Niger, and at the same time to establish friendly 
relations with the powerful ruler of the empire of So- 
koto, and to obtain full permission for myself or other 
Europeans to visit the south-eastern provinces of 
his empire, especially A'damawa, which I had been 
prevented from fully exploring by the real or pre- 
tended fear of the governor of that province, to 
grant such a permission without the sanction of his 
liege lord. 
The treaty which I had at length succeeded in 
getting signed by the sheikh of B6rnu and his vizier 
on the last of August, together with a map of 
all the parts of Central Africa which I had as yet 
visited, and containing at the same time all the infor- 
mation which I had been able to collect concerning 
the neighbouring provinces*, I had forwarded home 
in the middle of October, addressing at the same time 
the request to H. M.'s consul at Tripoli, to send me, 
by a special courier to Zinder, a certain sum of 
money. The road which I had before me was long, 
leading through the territories of a great many dif- 
* This is the map which was published by Mr. Petermann, in the 
account of the progress of the Expedition to Central Africa, adding 
from Mr. Richardson's and Mr. Overweg's journals, which I had 
sent home, an outline of those districts visited by themselves alone. 
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