374 
TRAVELS IN AFRICA. Chap. LXIV 
in the dry season the connection is interrupted), only- 
one sea-worthy boat was lying here at the time, 
neither conspicuous for its size nor for its comfortable 
arrangement, and with two cabins of matting, one in 
the prow and one in the stern, while another boat, 
measuring forty feet by eight, was just repairing. All 
the craft are built of planks sewed or tied together in 
a very bungling manner. 
I learned, on this occasion, that it is only at this 
season of the year that people go from here to Tim- 
buktu, which lies almost exactly north from this place, 
by an eastern winding ; while later in the season they 
follow a westerly branch. A labyrinth of creeks, 
backwaters, and channels is in this manner spread 
over the w T hole of this country, of which people had 
no previous idea. 
I had scarcely returned to my quarters, when the 
governor, or emir, of the place came to pay me a visit. 
This man, whose name was 'Othman, was a cheerful 
kind of person. He stands in direct subjection to 
the chief of Hamda-AUahi, without being dependent 
upon any other governor ; and his province comprises 
some other places in the neighbourhood, such as Fatta, 
Horesena, and Kabeka. Having made strict inquiries 
with regard to the present state of affairs in Stambiil, 
and having asked the news respecting the countries 
of the East in general, he left me, but returned again 
in the course of the afternoon, accompanied by the 
chief persons in the town, in order to solicit my aid 
in procuring rain. After a long conversation about the 
