328 
TRAVELS IN AFRICA. Chap. LXII. 
followed by several horsemen, who were rather 
troublesome than otherwise. 
The governor of Dalla is said to be more powerful 
than even that of GiJgoji, with whom he is in an 
almost continual state of feud, as is the case with 
nearly all these petty chiefs, although they are all the 
vassals of one and the same liege lord. This man, 
hovfever, was to become of remarkable interest to 
me ; for I was soon to meet him again under very 
altered circumstances, when, from being an object of 
fear to myself, he was obliged to sue for my pro- 
tection, as will be seen in the sequel. 
The country hereabout presented a sandy level 
mostly clad with acacias, and especially with a kind 
called erria. About eight miles beyond Nyanga 
Segga, the ground became swampy ; and after a march 
of about two miles more we reached the fields of Mun- 
doro, or rather their site, for, in the present desolate 
state of the country, they were not under cultivation 
at the time. Here the soil consisted of deep white 
sand adorned with large baobab trees, while parallel 
on our right, at the distance of about five hundred 
yards, a range of sandhills stretched along, over- 
topped in the distance by an imposing cone be- 
longing to the Hombori mountains. Thus reaching, 
at last, cultivated ground, where the crops, however, 
were still very scanty and in a neglected state, we 
entered, a little after two o'clock, the deserted village 
of Mundoro, which till recently had been a consider- 
able town, consisting of a small kasrlike place, of 
dwellings built of clay, and with very pointed thatched 
