236 
TRAVELS IN AFRICA. Chap. LIX. 
here of Negro millet, to the exclusion of rice and 
sorghum. Last year's crop had here also been very- 
scanty; and we endeavoured in vain to procure a 
supply. We had then to cross the bottom of the 
valley or rafi, which at present exhibited only sepa- 
rate sheets of water, while on my return journey 
the following year, later in the season, it was almost 
entirely inundated. But at a short distance beyond 
the hamlet, even at present, we crossed with some dif- 
ficulty an extensive swamp covered with rank grass. 
We took up our quarters, after a march of about 
nine miles, in an open village situated on a rising 
ground, and overhanging a large sheet of water which 
is overgrown with reeds ; it is called Songho-sare, 
meaning probably " the town of the Songhay," but 
nevertheless a very remarkable name, as " sare " is not 
a Songhay, but a Mandingo word. Besides Songhay 
and Fulbe, it was inhabited by serfs belonging to the 
people of Tdmkala; and, being a farming village, it 
was full of corn-stacks. All the huts in these Son- 
ghay villages consist merely of reeds ; and while they 
are less solid than the dwellings of Kebbi, which 
throughout are built with clay walls, they are better 
ventilated and have a less offensive smell. There 
was here a jovial old Pullo farmer, with a cheerful 
countenance and pleasing manners, of the name of 
Mammaga, who behaved very hospitably towards me, 
and, besides milk and corn, even made me a present 
of a sheep. 
