Chap. LIX, 
SHALLOW VALES. 
225 
companion, went raving mad, making the most ludi- 
crous leaps, and kicking in every direction, till it 
fell to the ground. 
At length we emerged from the dense vegetation of 
the fertile but neglected vale, and ascended higher 
ground, which separates the dallul M&uri from the 
dallul Fogha # , and after a while obtained a sight of 
the hilly chain bordering the east side of the latter 
valley, which runs from N. 20° E. to S. 20° W., being at 
the broadest part about 1000 yards across. These val- 
leys certainly form a very remarkable feature in this 
quarter, and, by their shallow character and the total 
want of a current in the water here collected, evi- 
dently prove the little inclination which the country 
has towards the Niger, as well as the limited extent 
of ground which they drain ; and it seems extremely 
doubtful whether, even after the plentiful rains which 
occasionally fall in the mountainous country of A's- 
ben, the watercourses of that region have even the 
slightest connection with these shallow vales which 
join the Niger. 
It was half-past four in the afternoon when, greatly 
fatigued by our long and slow march, we gradually 
descended the shelving ground into the valley of 
Fogha, the beautifully sloping banks of which are 
adorned with a profusion of dum palms, but are 
entirely wanting in deleb palms. Crossing then the 
green vale, which was clothed with rank grass, and 
* Dallul Fogha joins the Niger at Birni-n-D61e, one day and a 
half from Gay a. 
VOL. IV. Q 
