510 
TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 
Chap. LXIX. 
reach home in safety. The excitement of the people 
on account of my stay here thus settled down a little, 
and the party of the Fiilbe seemed quietly to await 
the result produced by the answer which the Sheikh 
had forwarded to Hamda-Allahi. 
On the 21st December we again went in the after- 
noon to^he tents. For the first time since my arrival 
in this town, I rode my own stately charger, which, 
having remained so many months in the stable, feed- 
ing upon the nutritive grass of the byrgu, had so 
completely recruited his strength that in my despe- 
rately weak state I was scarcely able to manage him. 
The desert presented a highly interesting spectacle. 
A considerable stream, formed by the river, poured 
its waters with great force into the valleys and de- 
pressions of this sandy region, and gave an appearance 
of truth to the fabulous statement* of thirty-six 
rivers flowing through this tract. After a few hours' 
repose, I was able to keep up a long conversation 
with the Sheikh in the evening, about Paradise and 
the divine character of the Kuran. This time our 
stay at the tents afforded more opportunity than 
usual for interesting conversation, and bore alto- 
gether a more religious character, my protector being 
anxious to convince his friends and followers of the 
depth of the faith of the Christians; and I really 
lamented that circumstances did not allow me to enter 
so freely into the details of the creed of these people, 
* See one of these Dative reports in Duncan's account of his 
exploration in Dahome. Journal Geog. Soc. vol. xvi. p. 157. 
