138 
TRAVELS IN AFRICA. Chap. XLII. 
the base : they were in a state of good repair. I was 
struck by the height and round shape of the huts, 
which entirely wanted the characteristic top, or, as 
the Kanuri people call it, kogi ngimbe, and were of 
the same kind as I had observed in the other towns 
of this southern province. Every hut had its little 
courtyard, in some of which vegetation was seen, 
mostly karas. 
The further we proceeded, the more I was pleased 
with the general appearance of the town, the exterior 
of which had made a favourable impression upon me 
on our first arrival. Large, beautiful, wide-spreading 
fig-trees, ngabore, chedia or elastic gum-trees, and 
korna-trees, spread their shade all around, and two 
or three isolated papaw-trees, or, as the Kanuri call 
them,bambus-masarbe, with their remarkable feathery 
crowns and their smooth virgin-like stems, formed a 
lively contrast to the broad-leafed canopy of the other 
trees, while the hedges and fences of the courtyards 
were partly enlivened by a luxurious creeper called 
" dagdagel " by the natives. The real nucleus of the 
town seemed to consist entirely of clay houses. 
After a very pleasant ride we reached the house of 
the " mainta," or governor, who still enjoys a certain 
degree of independence. The chief ornament of the 
place in front of his house was the most splendid 
caoutchouc-tree I have ever seen ; indeed I can 
scarcely imagine that the diameter of its crown, 
which was so regularly and symmetrically shaped 
that it appeared as if effected by art, measured less 
