128 
TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 
Chap. LVI. 
which infest the whole region along the swampy 
creeks of the Niger, the people entering these ele- 
vated bedrooms from below, 
and shutting the entrance be- 
hind them, as represented in 
the accompanying woodcut. 
Leaving, then, the walled 
town of Katuru close on our 
left, we entered a dense forest 
richly interwoven with creep- 
ing plants, and intersected by 
a large koramma with a very 
uneven bottom, affording sufficient proof of the vehe- 
mence of the torrent which at times rushes along it. 
At present it contained nothing but pools of stagnant 
water in several places, where we observed a large 
herd of camels, belonging to a party of Itisan, just 
being watered, while tobacco was cultivated on the 
border of the koramma. A little further on, the tor- 
rent had swept away and undermined the banks in 
such a manner that they presented the appearance of 
artificial walls. We met several natives on the road, 
who, although Fiilbe or FelJani (that is to say, be- 
longing to the conquering tribe) and themselves ap- 
parently Mohammedans, wore nothing but a leather 
apron round their loins. 
Thus we reached, a little past noon, the town San- 
sanne e Aisa, which was originally a mere fortified 
encampment or " sansanne." But its advanced and 
in some respects isolated position, as an outlying post 
