Chap. XLVII. GOVERNMENT. — FOOD. 
307 
the east ; and it might be a most happy little kingdom 
if it were not overwhelmed and oppressed by its more 
powerful neighbours, who, as we have just seen, en- 
croach upon it on all sides. But while the Bornu 
people levy a more regular tribute, the people of Ba- 
girmi seem to treat the poor inhabitants of the districts 
nearest their borders with the greatest injustice, 
subjecting them, in a very anomalous manner, to all 
sorts of contributions. Nevertheless, from the list 
of the places which I shall subjoin in the Appendix*, 
it will be seen that the country is still tolerably well 
inhabited, though certainly it cannot new be said to 
be in a very flourishing condition. 
As for the food of the natives, fish ("kiyi") in 
which the river is extremely rich, constitutes a great 
proportion of their live stock; but cattle ("ntha") as 
well as sheep (" wiifu") seem to be extremely rare, 
and it has the appearance as if their neighbours had 
deprived them entirely of this article of wealth and 
comfort. The native Arabs however are tolerably 
well supplied with both. Poultry also seems not to 
be very numerous ; but the hog ('" sese ") abounds in 
immense quantities, and seems to be often resorted to 
by the natives as an article of food. Besides sorghum 
or, as they call it, " makala," and millet, u viyo " (the 
"fiyo" of the Kotoko and Yedina — rice I did not 
observe), a great deal of cotton, " mpataki," is grown 
in the country ; and weaving constitutes one of the 
* Appendix III., No. n. 
x 2 
