Chap. LXII. 
aribi'nda. 
307 
people having gone in advance ; but they were nar- 
row, dirty, and uncomfortable, and appeared to us the 
more miserable as a great deal of rain fell during our 
stay here. The inhabitants belong chiefly to the Son- 
ghay race ; but there are also a great many Tawarek, 
or rather Tawarek half-castes, who live here peaceably, 
though in general the Tawarek and the inhabitants of 
these districts are engaged in almost uninterrupted 
warfare with each other, — the former always push- 
ing more and more in advance, and threatening to 
overrun the whole of this region of Negroland. The 
people supply themselves with water from the holes 
in the rocks, where it collects, — their supply for the dry 
season being deposited in a cistern of large size. The 
soil in the valley, which here widens into a considerable 
plain, is very fertile, and does not require much rain ; 
and the corn was here a little cheaper than in Lib- 
tako, one hundred shells, or rather the equivalent of 
that sum, for shells had no currency in the place, 
being sufficient for the daily allowance of one horse. 
I also observed with pleasure a very fine herd of cattle. 
Aribinda* seems formerly to have been an important 
place, or rather province, and the most considerable, 
at one time, of all the districts on the south side of 
the river, so that the Songhay of Gogo designated it 
Hari-bmda, " the place beyond the water," which 
name, in a wider sense, is given to the whole country 
* There are only three more villages at present belonging to 
the district of Aribinda, their names being as follows : Hore, U'ri, 
and Wangare. 
