Chap. L. THE KING'S ENTRY INTO THE TOWN. 405 
considerable, although the prince had been absent from 
home for six months ; and the whole share of the 
sultan himself seemed to consist of about four hundred 
individuals. The sultan passed slowly through the 
town, along the principal road from the western 
gate, and, proceeding along the " dendal," or " boko," 
entered his palace amid the acclamations of the people 
and the clapping of hands (the "kabello " or " t6faji," as 
it is here called) of the women. 
Although I had not yet paid my compliments to 
the banga, he sent two messengers in the afternoon 
to bid me welcome. These messengers were the 
brother and son of one of the chief men of the 
country, with the title or name " Maina Bela^dem!," 
who was a sort of consul of Bornu, and was repre- 
sented to me by all the people as one of the most 
intelligent men in the country. However, he had 
returned in a bad state of health, and, unfortunately 
for me, succumbed in a few days. 
I informed the messengers of the prince how badly 
I had been treated, when they assured me that the 
sultan did not know anything about it, and that as 
soon as he had received the news of my arrival he had 
forwarded orders to the lieutenant-governor to pro- 
vide me with a milch- cow. The messengers then went 
away, and soon returned with a sheep, some butter, 
and a large supply of kreb, the seed of a sort of grass 
of which I have spoken on former occasions. 
The next morning I went to pay a visit to Maina, 
being accompanied by my old runaway guide Grema 
D D 3 
