296 
TRAVELS m AFRICA. Chap. XLVII. 
waters; and he promised me that the next day I should 
visit the river, and even navigate it, without the least 
hindrance. However, there was so much talk in the 
town about my surveying the stream, that I was 
obliged in the course of the afternoon to pay the 
vizier another visit. He was very anxious to know 
whether if once embarked in a boat upon the water 
I might not jump out in order to search for gold ; 
when I told him I was rather afraid of the crocodiles. 
This expression of my fear contributed a great deal 
to alleviate his suspicions, for it seemed that until 
then he had supposed Europeans to be a sort of super- 
natural beings, and exempt from every kind of fear. 
Our treatment was hospitable in the extreme, — so 
much so that two hundred persons might have feasted 
upon the dishes that were sent to me. But besides 
all these dishes of native food, my hospitable host sent 
for my own private consumption a large fat sheep, 
and an enormous jar of milk. This very splendid 
treatment, however, created a great deal of jealous 
and envious feeling in the breasts of those Bagirmi 
people whom I have before mentioned, although they 
themselves reaped the greatest benefit from the liber- 
ality of the sultan towards me. From what I ob- 
served, I think I may draw the conclusion that it is 
the general policy of the ruler of this little tributary 
kingdom to treat his guests well, and certainly it is a 
wise one ; but I dare say I was especially favoured by 
the sultan. 
With extreme delight I had cherished the 
March 15th. ° 
plan of navigating the river, although, of 
