116 
TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 
Chap. XLI. 
On the 10th we reached the komadugu ; and after 
some lively negotiation with the governor or shithna, 
who resides in the town of Y6, I and my companion 
were allowed to cross the river the same afternoon : 
for it has become the custom with the rulers of 
Bornu to use the river as a sort of political quarantine, 
a proceeding which of course they can only adopt as 
long as the river is full. During the greater part 
of the year everybody can pass at pleasure. Even 
after we had crossed, we were not allowed to continue 
our journey to the capital, before the messenger, who 
had been sent there to announce our arrival, had re- 
turned with the express permission that we might go 
on. The shores round the komadugu were greatly 
changed, the river being now at its highest. Extensive 
patches were cultivated with wheat, being regularly 
laid out in small quadrangular beds of from four to 
five feet in diameter, which were watered morning 
and evening from the river by means of buckets and 
channels. 
We reached Kiikawa on the 14th, having met on 
the road a party of about fifty Welad Sliman, who 
were proceeding to join their companions in Kanem. 
We were well received by our host, the vizier of 
Bornu. 
We had already heard from the governor of Yo, 
that the sheikh and his vizier were about to leave in 
a few days on an expedition ; and, being desirous of 
employing every means of becoming acquainted with 
new regions of this continent, we could not but 
