288 TRAVELS IN AFRICA. Chap. LXI. 
here at the time, I was lodged in an excellent and 
spacious hut, measuring probably not less than thirty- 
five feet in diameter, and presenting a remarkable 
contrast to the little dirty nook which formed my 
quarters in Namantiigu. The place is said to abound 
in thieves, which is not astonishing, as it is not only 
the rendezvous for all the natives from the different 
tribes which dwell in the immediate neighbourhood, 
but even several Bornu people have settled here since 
the inroad of Waday. 
Dore is principally a great place of resort for the 
Arabs of A'zawad, the district to the north of Tim- 
buktu, who bring to this market the salt of Taodenni 
in great quantities, and occasionally even reside here 
for a long time ; but they generally come direct from 
A'zawad without touching at Timbuktu, proceeding 
by way of Gagho (the ancient capital of the Songhay 
empire, and once the great gold- market of the western 
part of Negroland), or, still more direct, by Tosaye, 
the point where the river greatly contracts, before it 
changes from an easterly to a south-easterly course. 
Some of them are very wealthy people, — one individual 
having as many as forty camels with him. Among 
other important information, I received from them 
the news that Hamed Weled Habib, the sheikh of 
A'rawan, who, from the account of Caillie*, is gene- 
rally regarded in Europe as the chief murderer of 
Major Laing, had died a short time before, after a 
reign of nearly forty years ; and I regarded this piece 
* Caillie, " Travels to Timbuctoo/' vol. ii. p. 82. (Engl, version.) 
