Chap. LTX. 
THE RIVER. 
243 
take leave of it ; for my former notion, that I should 
be able to reach Timbuktu only by way of Libtako, 
had been confirmed in Gando, and I only entertained a 
slight hope that perhaps on a future occasion I might 
visit that part of the river between Timbuktu and 
Say. From the very beginning I entertained strong 
doubts whether I should be able to reach the western 
coast ; and it seemed to me more interesting to sur- 
vey the course of the Niger between the point where 
it has become tolerably well known by the labours 
of Mungo Park and Rene Caillie and the lower por- 
tion explored by the Landers, than to cross the whole 
extent of Central Africa. 
Having presented myself at the governor's house, 
I soon obtained quarters ; but they were not at all 
according to my fancy, being small and narrow. The 
town, in its very low position, is not refreshed by 
a single current of air, and altogether has a very 
oppressive atmosphere. The huts in these Songhay 
places are made rather for women than for men, 
the greater part of each hut being occupied by the 
female apartment or the alkilla, and the bedstead or 
serir, made of the branches of trees, being inclosed in 
a separate chamber of mats, and thus leaving only 
a very small entrance, and obstructing the whole in- 
terior of the dwelling. I have already had occasion, in 
describing the town of A'gades, to point out the care 
which the Songhay people bestow upon their matri- 
monial couches ; and I was obliged first of all to take 
down one of these small matting bed-rooms in order 
R 2 
