Chap.LV. UNUSUAL MODE OF DRAWING WATER. 89 
Leaving the principal road on our right, and fol- 
lowing a .more southerly one, we encamped near the 
village of Gutnda, which consisted of two hamlets 
inhabited exclusively by Tawarek slaves. But the 
territory belongs likewise to the province of Tum- 
tumma. A troop of fataki, or native traders, were 
encamped near us. 
The surface of the country through Tuesday, 
which our road lay was broken by depres- Februai 7 lst - 
sions of larger or smaller extent, where the dum 
palm flourished in great numbers — a tree which is 
very common in the territory of Tasawa, which we 
entered a short time before we reached the village of 
Kaso. We had here descended altogether, most pro- 
bably, a couple of hundred feet, although the descent 
was not regular, and was broken by an occasional 
ascent. The road was well frequented by people 
coming from the west with cotton, which they sell to 
advantage in Zinder. 
We made a long stretch, on account of the scarcity 
of water, passing the large village of Shabare, which 
attracted our attention from the distance by the beat- 
ing of drums, but could not supply us with a sufficient 
quantity of water, — its well measuring twenty-five 
fathoms in depth, and nevertheless being almost dry ; 
and thus we proceeded till we reached Maijirgi, 
after a march of almost twenty-five miles. The 
village is named from a troughlike * depression, on 
the slope of which it is situated, and which, towards 
* " Jirgi " means boat, as well as a large trough for watering 
the cattle. 
