38 
TRAVELS IN AFRICA. Chap. XXIII. 
pagans, and wear no clothing but the leathern apron. 
Their character appeared to me to be far more grave 
than that of the inhabitants of Tasawa ; and this is 
a natural consequence of the precarious position in 
which they are placed, as well as of their more war- 
like disposition. The whole population is certainly 
not less than ten thousand. 
Having visited the market, I went to the house of 
the mallem, where I found several A'sbenawa belong- 
ing to our caravan enjoying themselves in a very 
simple manner, eating the fruits of the kana, which are 
a little larger than cherries, but not so soft and suc- 
culent. The mallem, as I had an opportunity of 
learning on this occasion, is a protege of Elaiji, to 
whom the house belongs. Returning with my com- 
panions to our encampment, I witnessed a very in- 
teresting sort of dance, or rather gymnastic play, 
performed on a large scale by the Kel-owi, who being 
arranged in long rows, in pairs, and keeping up a 
regular motion, pushed along several of their number 
under their arms — not very unlike some of our old 
dances. 
Monday, Starting early in the morning, we felt 
January 20th. ^ Q CQ | ( j yer y g^ibl^ the thermometer 
standing at 48° Fahr. a little before sunset. Culti- 
vated fields interrupted from time to time the 
underwood for the first three miles, while the 
" ngille," or "kaba," formed the most characteristic 
feature of the landscape ; but dum-palms, at first very 
rarely seen, soon became prevalent, and continued 
