172 
TRAVELS IN AFRICA. Chap. L VII. 
enjoying our cool shade, we partook of a very mo- 
derate but wholesome African luncheon, consisting 
of a few onions boiled in water, seasoned with some 
tamarind fruit and a little butter, which forms 
a very refreshing treat during the hot hours of a 
tropical climate ; for the onions hereabout are of 
excellent quality and extremely cheap, fifteen being 
sold for ten kurdi. 
Soon after starting in the afternoon, we fell in 
with a long marriage procession, consisting of a bride 
and her mother, both mounted on horseback, accom- 
panied by a considerable number of female servants 
and attendants, carrying the simple household fur- 
niture on their heads. At the same time that this 
interesting procession caused a cheerful intermezzo, 
a greater variety of vegetation was perceptible at a 
village on our right. Besides korna, there were a 
few dum and deleb palms; and the fields were 
adorned with a great number of tamarind trees, but 
of small growth. 
Proceeding thus over the rocky ground, we reached 
the small rivulet of S6koto, the " gulbi-n-Raba" or 
"Biigga," or, as it is called in its upper course, where 
I fell in with it on my return journey, gulbi-n-Bakiira. 
Even at the present season it had a small current of 
water, but only about ten yards wide and ten inches 
deep, and just sufficient for us to water our horses. 
The water is regarded as unwholesome for man; 
and at this season of the year shallow wells or 
holes are dug in the gravel at some distance from the 
