Chap. LX. SEBBA, CAPITAL OF YA'GHA. 
275 
Forest again succeeded, intersected by a small 
rivulet which had inundated the district to some ex- 
tent ; and about two miles beyond Gongungo we 
had to cross swampy meadow grounds, where my 
Hausa Piillo, a native of Zaberma, whom I had 
taken into my service in Champagore, called my 
attention to a plant named here " yangara-bubiki," 
which is said to keep flies from open wounds, espe- 
cially from those of the camel ; it probably contains 
a sort of slight poison. Having crossed a short tract 
of rugged ground, where granite, gneiss, and sand- 
stone protruded through the surface, we entered a 
more populous district, with several villages right 
and left, but presenting great difficulties to the pas- 
sage of the camels, as it consisted of red clay, soaked 
with water, which formed several large ponds, and, 
being recently traversed by a numerous herd of 
cattle, was extremely muddy. 
Thus leaving two villages on one side, we reached, 
a little before noon, the clay wall of the town of 
Sebba, which, though the residence of the lord of 
Yagha, has nothing in its appearance to indicate the 
capital of even a small province. The governor was 
sitting in front of his house, close to the mosque, in 
the midst of a large congregation of people, and was 
reading and interpreting to them some passages from 
the Kuran. Having sent two of my servants in ad- 
vance, I soon obtained quarters, and was lodged in 
an excellent hut, which I shall here describe. 
The hut measured about twenty feet in diameter, 
T 2 
