92 
TRAVELS IN AFRICA. Chap. XXIV. 
in carrying off some of our luggage, but had to run 
very hard for his life. 
Early the next morning we started with an en- 
thusiastic impulse, in order to reach before night the 
celebrated emporium of Central Negroland. Kan6, 
indeed, is a name which excites enthusiasm in every 
traveller in these regions, from whatever quarter 
he may come, but principally if he arrives from the 
north. We thus started in the twilight, passing in 
the bush some herds of cattle remaining out in the 
pasture-grounds, and meeting several troops of tra- 
vellers, which made us fancy the capital to be nearer 
than it really was. We listened to the tales of 
our comely and cheerful companion, the " baba-n- 
bawa " of Tagelel, who detailed to us the wonders 
of this African London, Birmingham, and Man- 
chester — the vastness of the town, the pakee and 
retinue of the governor, the immense multitudes as- 
sembled every day in its market-place, the splendour 
and richness of the merchandise exposed there for 
sale, the various delicacies of the table, the beauty 
and gracefulness of its ladies. At times my fiery Tu- 
nisian mulatto shouted out from mere anticipation of 
the pleasures which awaited him. 
Keeping steadily along, we reached, after about five 
miles, the very considerable town of Bechi, the well- 
kept high clay walls of which started forth suddenly 
from a most luxuriant mass of vegetation, where we 
saw again the beautifully-feathered serdi fluttering 
about from branch to branch. 
