Chap. XXII. 
THE SEPARATION. 
3 
could be of no avail, and would only serve to 
alienate from us a man whom we had succeeded in 
making our friend ; and it was unfair, for, although 
the sum which we had given to the chief was rather 
large in proportion to our limited means, we were 
not compelled to pay it, but were simply given to 
understand that, if we wanted the chief himself to 
accompany us, we must contribute so much. I became 
fully aware of the unfavourable effect which Mr. 
Richardson's proceedings in this respect produced, on 
the occasion of a visit which I paid the old chief in 
the beginning of the year 1853, when passing through 
Zinder on my way to Timbuktu, fie then mentioned 
the circumstance with much feeling, and asked me if, 
judging from his whole behaviour towards us, he had 
deserved to be treated as a robber. 
But to return to Tagelel, when I shook hands with 
the " s6fo " he was sitting, like a patriarch of old, in 
the midst of his slaves and free men, male and female, 
and was dividing amongst them presents, such as 
shawls and turkedies, but principally painted arm- 
rings of clay, imported from Egypt, and of which the 
women of these districts are passionately fond. Mr. 
Richardson being ready to start, I took a hearty fare- 
well of him, fixing our next place of meeting in Kii- 
kawa, about the first of April. He was tolerably well 
at the time, although he had shown evident symptoms 
of being greatly affected by the change from the 
fine fresh air of the mountainous district of Air to 
the sultry climate of the fertile lands of Negroland ; 
B 2 
