Chap. XL VII. SULTAN Y r SUF. — THE RIVER. 
293 
it seemed almost as if our host had a mind to kill us 
with excess of kindness, for in the evening he sent us 
four enormous bowls of well-prepared pudding of sor- 
ghum, together with meat and broth, and early the 
next morning a large bowl of gruel seasoned with 
honey, and a few moments afterwards three or four 
bowls of hasty-pudding. Fortunately there were 
people enough to consume this plenteous supply of 
food; for there was a large party of Bagirmi people 
returning to their country from Kiikawa, and to 
them I gave up these luxuries, but afterwards they 
repaid my kindness with ingratitude. Being desirous 
of having a look at the town, I sallied forth in the 
afternoon with a well-mounted trooper, who was at- 
tached to my friend Kashella Madi, by the western 
gate, and then turning round towards the east, pro- 
ceeded in the direction of the river. 
At this corner the river bends away from the wall 
to the distance of about an English mile, being from 
350 to 400 yards across ; the western shore was low 
at this point, but on the opposite side it rose to the 
height of from 12 to 15 feet. It was enlivened by 
about 40 or 50 boats, most of them about 4 feet at 
the bottom, and 6 feet at the top, and remarkable 
for their formidable prows. All these boats are built 
in the same way as those of the Budduma, with this 
exception, that the planks consist of stronger wood, 
mostly birgim, and are generally of larger size, while 
those of the Budduma consist of the frailest material, 
viz. the wood of the fogo. The joints of the planks 
u 3 
