Chap. LVII. 
RETURN OF THE SULTAN. 
183 
he did not enter Wurno till the 23rd, having for- 
warded a message to me the preceding evening from 
Yan-serkij in the territory of Raba, requesting me to 
meet him the following morning outside the town. 
In consequence of this I mounted on horseback with 
the first dawn of day, but found the sultan already 
close to the gate, descending the rocky path which 
leads from the above-mentioned place. He then made 
a halt, with his whole suite, and saluted me in the 
kindest manner, calling me by my name, e Abd elKerim. 
The sultan was followed by the ghaladima ; and I here 
first made the acquaintance of the learned f Abd el 
Kader dan TafFa (Mustapha), whom I was most 
anxious to see, in order to obtain from him some 
historical information. As soon as the people had 
dispersed quietly, returning to their various quarters, 
I sent him a present, when he paid me a visit in the 
evening, and furnished me immediately with some 
positive data with regard to the history of the dy- 
nasty of the Asaki, or A'skia, the rulers of Songhay, 
which he had perfectly in his head, and which were 
of the greatest importance in giving me an insight 
into the historical relation of the western countries 
of these regions with that of Central Negroland. 
In the forenoon I went to f Aliyu, in order 
,. i • i • n April 29th. 
to pay my compliments to mm upon his sale 
return from this expedition, which, although not 
very glorious, had yet proved not quite unprofitable, 
he having reduced to subjection the poor little hamlets 
of the rocky district of Kotorkoshe, the inhabitants 
N 4 
