276 
TRAVELS IN AFRICA. Chap. XLVI. 
quality of the clay with which these houses are built. 
Clay, indeed, seems to have entirely excluded, in 
ancient times, from the country of Kotoko the lighter 
buildings of reed and straw ; and I observed that even 
many of the round huts were of considerable elevation, 
being furnished with a roof of clay, which formed a 
neat terrace surrounded by a low parapet. 
There seems to have been a considerable degree 
of civilization in former times in this little kingdom 
of Kotoko, or rather in this group of distinct prin- 
cipalities, the independent character of which is 
clearly shown by the great diversity of its dialects, 
which vary with every large town : viz. Klesem, 
Gulfe and Kiisuri, Makari and Mafate, A'fade, Ren, 
and Ngala. When we consider that this country is 
not mentioned among the list of the Negro countries 
by E'bn Said (a.d. 1283) which is preserved by E'bn 
Khaldun*, where even the Kiiri are not forgotten, 
while it is evidently mentioned by Makrizi f , it ap- 
pears that it rose into importance in the course of 
the 14th century. Although we are not able to 
explain fully the circumstances under which this 
happened, we may conclude that it was due in some 
degree to the struggle between the two powerful 
dynasties of Bornu and Bulala. 
As for the dialect of A'fade, of which I made a short 
vocabulary, it appears to form a link between the 
* E'bn Khaldun, texte Arabe, vol. i. p. 200. ; trad. S. Macguc- 
kin de Slane, vol. ii. p. 1 16. 
t Makrizi, in Hamaker, Spec. Catal. p. 206., 
