G 
TRAVELS IN AFRICA. Chap. XXXVIII. 
Overweg had the honour of presenting his Budduma 
friends to the sheikh of Bornu. All nature was 
now cheerful ; the trees were putting forth fresh 
leaves, and the young birds began to fledge. I took 
great delight in observing the little household of a 
family of the feathered tribe ; there were five young 
ones, the oldest and most daring of which began to 
try his strength on the 12th of August, while the 
other four set out together on the 14th. 
Marriages are not frequent about this time, on 
account of the dearness of corn ; but matches are 
generally made after the harvest has been got in, and 
while corn is cheap. I shall speak in another place 
of the marriage ceremonies of this country. 
On the 5th of September we obtained the first 
specimen of new " argiim moro," white Negro millet, 
which is very pleasant to the taste when roasted on 
the fire ; but this is regarded as a rarity, and new 
corn is not brought into the market in any great 
quantities before the end of November, or rather the 
beginning of December, when all the corn, which has 
been for a long time lying in the fields in conical 
heaps, called "bugga," is threshed out. 
My friend, the vizier, whose solicitude for my health 
I cannot acknowledge too warmly, was very anxious 
that I should not stay in the town during the rainy 
season; and knowing that one of our principal objects 
was to investigate the eastern shore of lake Tsad, 
sent me word, on the 11th of August, that I might 
now view the bahar el ghazal, an undertaking which, 
