334 TRAVELS IN AFRICA. Chap. LXTI. 
before. On a sloping ground, consisting of rubbish 
and boulders, there rose a wall of steep cliffs like an 
artificial fortification, forming, as it seemed, a spa- 
cious terrace on the top, where there are said to be 
three hamlets, inhabited by a spirited race of natives 
who, in this rocky retreat, vindicate their inde- 
pendence against the overbearing intrusions of the 
Fiilbe. We even observed on the slope under the 
steep cliffs, where there are several caverns, some 
people pasturing their sheep, while fields of Negro 
corn and karas, or Cor chorus olitorius, testified to the 
fact that the natives sometimes descend even into 
the very plain to satisfy their most necessary wants. 
