200 
TRAVELS IN AFRICA. Chap. XLIV. 
meadow- water or " ngaljam" overgrown with rank 
grass, surrounded by large spreading ngabbore trees, 
which pleasantly diversified the monotonous forest, 
we made a halt, arid while the horsemen watered their 
animals, an animated " n6gona," or council, was 
held in the shade of a beautiful fig-tree. Here it 
was decided that, at least to-day, we should not 
march against Dawa and the Tuburi, but were to 
change our course more to the eastward in the di- 
rection of Demmo. It is probable that the vizier 
on this occasion promised to his friends, that after 
he had taken up his head-quarters at Demmo, and 
deposited safely, in the fortified encampment, the 
spoil that he had already made in slaves and cattle, 
he would march against Dawa ; but unfortunately, 
or rather luckily for the inhabitants, it was not our 
destiny to visit that interesting and important place, 
as I shall soon have occasion to mention. 
During our halt here I contemplated, with the most 
lively and intense interest, the rich and animated 
scene which presented itself before my eyes, — a mass 
of some thousand horsemen, dressed in the most va- 
ried manner and in the most glowing colours, with 
their spirited chargers of every size, description, and 
colour, crowded together along the green margin of a 
narrow sheet of water, skirted by a dense border of 
large trees of the finest foliage. 
After a halt of about a quarter of an hour we were 
again in the saddle, and pursued our march, but now 
in an entirely different direction, keeping almost due 
