Chap. LXIV. EMBARK ON THE CREEK. 
377 
The town of Dar-e'-salam, or DarL the residence of 
'Abd-e'-rahman, the son of Mohammed Lebbo, lying on 
the bank of the river itself, is at a distance of thirteen 
hours on horseback from here, equal to about thirty 
miles, by way of Taiba. 
Having succeeded in hiring the boat which had come 
from Timbuktu for the exclusive use of my own party, 
for 10,000 shells, I prepared my luggage, which, al- 
though now greatly reduced from the respectable 
bulk which it presented when setting out from Katsena, 
was still sufficient to inspire me with the hope that 
I might succeed in securing the friendship of the 
more influential chiefs of these regions : and in the 
evening of the last day of August I went on board of 
my small craft, and passed there a very comfortable 
night. The river, during the time of my residence in 
the place, had risen considerably, and soon promised 
to open the communication by the western branch. 
After a good deal of delay, we at length Thursday, 
began our voyage about a quarter before Se P tember lst 
eight in the morning ; and I felt my spirits greatly 
cheered when I found myself floating on this river, or 
backwater, which was to carry me all the way to the 
harbour of Timbuktu. The river near the town forms 
a fine open sheet, widening to about 300 yards ; but 
further on, as we were winding along in a north- 
easterly direction, it was greatly obstructed with rank 
grass, or rather byrgu, which very often covered the 
water entirely, so that the boat seemed to glide along 
a grassy plain. It was quite out of the question to 
