Chap. LXII. 
iio'mbori MOUNTAINS. 
333 
now in possession of the country adjacent to the 
banks of the great river to a considerable extent, — 
one road leading in a more northerly direction to 
Laro, and the other in a north-westerly one to Bone ; 
and although the guide whom we had taken with us 
from Mundoro assured us that we should not find 
in B6ne either quarters or hospitality, my friend 
El Walati, for some reason or other, preferred the 
latter route, and we had to make rather a long day's 
journey in the weakened state to which we ourselves 
and our animals were reduced. But the march was 
highly interesting, on account of the peculiar nature 
and the picturesque shape of the several detached 
cones of the Hombori mountains, through the midst 
of which our way led. It would have been im- 
possible, from the information which I had ga- 
thered from the natives, to form a correct idea of 
the character of the chain, which I had thought 
far more elevated and continuous : — the highest 
elevation which some of the cones reach does not 
appear to be more than 800 feet above the plain. 
In the beginning the appearance of the country 
was more uniform, while the mountains, covered by 
the rising ground on our right, looked like mere hills, 
our track itself lying through a more level country 
sometimes covered with underwood, and at others 
presenting a bleak open ground, or " nega ; " but the 
interest of this scenery increased considerably when 
we reached the western foot of a broader mound 
which had already attracted our attention the day 
