272 
TRAVELS IN AFRICA. Chai>. XLVL 
the north-east side, are of great interest in the eyes 
of the Bornu people, as having been the scene of two 
important battles fought with the Bagirmi, in the first 
of which j in the year of the Hejra 1233, the sultan 
Diinama was slain ; and my companions, who re- 
membered all the incidents of that struggle, pointed 
out with patriotic enthusiasm the various positions 
which each body of the combatants had occupied. 
The country, however, became very monotonous, 
extending in an almost unbounded plain of black 
argillaceous soil of the description mentioned above, 
although after the rainy season, when the whole 
ground has become inundated, it is changed into one 
vast field of cultivation, producing that peculiar 
variety of sorghum or holcus which is called masa- 
kuwa ; but at that season the whole of this country 
is scarcely passable for horses, and still less so for 
camels. Several small villages, inhabited by Shiiwa, 
were to be seen at some distance to the south. We 
lost a great deal of time through having missed our 
way in a forest of small mimosas which surround this 
plain, till we at length reached a village called Sittahe, 
where we rested during the heat of the day. The 
village consists of two separate groups, one of which 
contains large conical huts for the rainy season, while 
the other is formed of light oblong dwellings adapted 
for the dry season, constructed entirely of mats. Here 
we were entertained by a mallem who had formerly 
possessed considerable property, but who had suffered 
greatly from the contributions levied upon him by 
