244 
TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 
Chap. LIX. 
to obtain some little ventilation in my hut. At length 
I had made myself somewhat comfortable, when the 
governor sent two calabashes of rice in the husk, and 
two others of millet, but no refreshment for the mo- 
ment, though I stood very much in need of it, having 
been exposed to the sun during the hottest part of 
the day. To the master of the harbour, who had 
so opportunely supplied me with the large boats, I 
made a present of 1000 shells. Very little rain had 
fallen as yet in this neighbourhood ; and a thunder- 
storm which broke out in the afternoon did not reach 
us. Indeed the air in this low valley, which is pro- 
bably at a level of about 350 ft, was so oppressive, 
that I felt at times almost suffocated, and unable to 
breathe. 
The following morning I took a ride round the 
place and its neighbourhood. The shape of the town 
is tolerably quadrangular, being encompassed on 
three sides by a low rampart of earth, the side to- 
wards the river being unprotected. It is of consider- 
able size, each side measuring about 1 400 yards ; but 
the town is only thinly inhabited, the dwellings (all of 
which except the house of the governor, consist of 
matting and reeds) lying scattered about like so many 
separate hamlets. It is intersected from north to 
south by a wide shallow depression or vale encom- 
passed by dum palms, which are almost the only trees 
either inside or outside the town ; and at the end of 
the rainy season it becomes filled with water, causing 
great inconvenience to the business of the town and 
