Chap. LXIX. DANGEROUS SITUATION. 
491 
time, of his having taken the town of Hombori, was 
not subsequently confirmed. But, on the whole, the 
fact of this Berber tribe pushing always on into the 
heart of Negroland, is very remarkable ; and there is 
no doubt that if a great check had not been given 
them by the Fiilbe, they would have overpowered ere 
this the greater part of the region north of 13° N. 
latitude. Great merit, no doubt, is due to the Fiilbe, 
for thus rescuing these regions from the grasp of the 
Berber tribes of the desert, although as a set-off it 
must be admitted that they do not understand how to 
organise a firm and benevolent government, which 
would give full security to the intercourse of people of 
different nationalities, instead of destroying the little 
commerce still existing in these unfortunate regions, 
by forcing upon the natives their own religious pre- 
judices. 
The danger of my situation increased when, on the 
17th November, some more messengers from the 
prince of Hamda-Allahi arrived in order to raise the 
zeka *, and at the same time we received authentic 
information that the Fiilbe had made an attempt to 
instigate A'wab, the chief of the Tademekket, upon 
whom I chiefly relied for my security, to betray me 
into their hands. News also arrived that the Welad 
Sliman, that section of the Berabish to which belongs 
especially the chief Hamed Weled 'Abeda, who killed 
Major Laing, had bound themselves by an oath to 
put me to death. But my situation became still more 
* Of the amount of the zeka, I shall speak in another chapter. 
