204 
CHAP. LIX. 
THE PROVINCE OF KEBBI AND ITS RIVER. THE SALT VALLEY 
OF FOGHA. REACH THE NIGER. 
Saturday, ^ T k D g*h I was allowed to proceed on my 
June 4th. journey, which now soon promised to be- 
come of overwhelming interest, as I was approaching 
that great African river which has been the object of 
so much discussion and individual ambition for so 
long a period. There had been a very heavy thunder- 
storm during the night, accompanied by a great 
abundance of rain, which lasted till late in the morn- 
ing, and delayed my setting out for a considerable 
time. It was almost eleven o'clock when we at 
length left the western gate of the town, or the k6fa- 
n-Jega, and entered the open fields, where the crop 
was already shooting forth. Keeping along the 
rocky ground bordering the valley on the north side, 
we soon had a specimen of the swamps which during 
the rainy season are formed in these deep valleys of 
Kebbi, while we beheld here also extensive rice- 
grounds, the first which I saw under actual culti- 
vation. But the guide, who was to accompany me to 
the very western extremity of the territory of Khalilu, 
having not yet arrived, we made only a short march 
of about six miles, and took up our quarters in a 
