474 
TRAVELS IN AFRICA. Chap. LXVIII 
'Abd Allahi *, the uncle of the young sheikho A'hmedu of 
Hamda- Allahi. While the emir walked up and down, at 
some distance from the spot where we had taken up our 
position, in order to have a look at me, we were treated 
hospitably by the inspector of the harbour (a cheerful 
old man of the name of f Abd el Kasim, and of sup- 
posed sherif origin), with several dishes of excellent 
kuskus, one of which fell to my share : and I was de- 
lighted to see that, notwithstanding the decline of 
everything in this distracted region, the old office of 
an inspector of the harbour still retained a certain 
degree of importance. But I lamented that I was not 
allowed to survey at my leisure the general features 
of the locality, which had entirely changed since my 
first visit to this place. The river had inundated 
the whole of the lowlands, so that the water, which 
* I will give, in this place, some particulars as to the court 
— s O X" 
of Hamda-Allahi ; <$ii1 &*s>- the name is written by the natives. 
Mohammed Lebbo ruled from a. h. 1241 to 1262; his son 
Sheikho (pronounced also Seko) A'hmedu, till 1269. This is the 
chief whom M. Faidherbe (Revue Col. 1857, p. 279) calls 
Balogo, a Mandingo name, which means nothing but "war 
chief." Sheikho A'hmedu, in spite of the opposition of a strong 
party, was succeeded by his young son A'hmedu. All the members 
of the royal family live together in one and the same court- 
yard, which has something of a round shape, the yard of the chief 
himself forming the centre, and those of the four surviving sons 
of Mohammed Lebbo, viz. 'Abd Allahi, 'Abd e' Salam, Hamidu, 
and 'Abd e' Rahman, lying opposite each other around the wall. 
Of these uncles of the sheikho, 'Abd Allahi is the richest, and is 
said to possess a great amount of gold, 1700 slaves, 1900 head of 
cattle, 40 horses, and 20 boats on the river. 
