Chap. LII. 
a'fade'. 
467 
his will. I even, with the aid of a few of the large 
beads called nejum, succeeded in buying fowls, milk, 
and corn, so that we were pretty much at our ease. 
The neighbourhood is said to be greatly infested with 
thieves ; and we therefore took all necessary precau- 
tions. 
The following day I made A'fade, passing by 
Kala, where I was surprised to find the swamp at 
present of much smaller dimensions than on my 
former journey, although the season was so far ad- 
vanced. This is a very remarkable phenomenon, 
which receives its explanation from the circumstance 
that these swamps are fed by the inundations of the 
river, which, notwithstanding the rainy season, con- 
tinue to recede till the river is again full, and once 
more inundates the country, in the month of Septem- 
ber. The latter part of the road to A'fade was 
very swampy, almost the whole of that bleak kabe 
tract being under water. Here my companions en- 
deavoured by all sorts of intrigues to detain me for 
a day or two, but, notwithstanding the hospitable 
treatment which I received from the governor of the 
place, I was too anxious to reach Kukawa ; and, order- 
ing my servants to follow me as speedily as possible, I 
pursued my march the following morning without 
delay. But the roads were excessively bad, and we 
were obliged to take quite a different direction from 
the one by which we came, following a more northerly 
one in order to avoid the impassable swamps of the 
town of Ren, and the very difficult road of Ngala, 
H H 2 
