42 
TRAVELS IN AFRICA. Chap. XXXIX. 
better cultivated ; and soon after we saw the clay walls 
of Baruwa, though scarcely to be distinguished, owing 
to the high mounds of rubbish imbedding them on all 
sides. Near the south-west gate of the town the road 
leads over the high mound (which destroys entirely 
the protection the wall might otherwise afford to 
the inhabitants), and lays its whole interior open 
to the eyes of the traveller. It consists of closely 
packed huts, generally without a courtyard, but shaded 
here and there by a mimosa or kiirna, and affords 
a handsome specimen of a Central African dwelling- 
place. The inhabitants, whose want of energy is 
clearly seen from the nature of the mounds, do not 
rely upon the strength of their walls; and, to the 
disgrace of the sheikh of Bornu, who receives tribute 
from them, and places a governor over them, they 
likewise pay tribute to the Taw&rek. They belong 
in general to the Kanembii tribe ; but many Yedina, 
or Biidduma, also are settled in the town. Their prin- 
cipal food and only article of commerce is fish, which 
they catch in great quantities in the lake, whose nearest 
creeks are, according to the season, from two to three 
miles distant, and from which they are not excluded, 
like the inhabitants of Ngornu and other places, on 
account of their friendly relations with the warlike 
pirates of the lake. As for corn, they have a very 
scanty supply, and seem not to employ the necessary 
labour to produce it, perhaps on account of the inse- 
cure state of the country, which does not guarantee 
them the harvest they have sown. Cotton they have 
none, and are obliged to barter their fish for cotton 
