238 
TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 
Chap. LIX. 
ficulty in obtaining quarters, as the mayor of the 
hamlet was by no means of a jovial or hospitable 
disposition, besides that the Songhay in general are 
among the most inhospitable people I ever met, and, 
in their present degraded political situation, are of a 
rather sullen character. Moreover, the inhabitants of 
this hamlet, just at that moment, were in a state of 
great excitement, as they had received the news that 
Daiidu, the young rebellious chieftain of Zaberma, 
or Zerma, was about to attack A'bii '1 Hassan, the 
governor of Tamkala> with a strong force ; and this 
ray of hope, of once more making themselves inde- 
pendent of those foreign intruders who had conquered 
their country, could not fail at once to rouse the na- 
tional spirit of these people, who had formerly offered 
a long resistance to the Fulbe, and to render them 
indisposed to honour a stranger who was paying his 
court to those foreign rulers, and at present was 
under the protection of the chief of Gando. This 
report was the reason of my giving up my intended 
visit to the town of Tamkala, which lay a short 
distance out of our direct road to Say, towards the 
north, where we expected to find a supply of corn. 
Saturday, On leaving Tigore, we passed by the well, 
June i8th. ^h^h presented a busy scene, numbers of 
women being engaged in drawing water. Although 
situated in a depression, it was twelve fathoms in 
depth. Further on we passed another well, which 
had even been surrounded by a strong fence, to pre- 
vent strangers from using it ; and in the village of 
