Chap. XXIV. APPROACH TO KANO'. 
93 
The town is very remarkable, as exhibiting the 
peculiar circumstances of the social state in this 
country; for it belongs partly to the Tawarek tribe of 
the Itisan, whose bugaje or serfs — properly half- 
castes, born of free mothers, but slaves from the 
father's side — live here, cultivating for their lords the 
fields around the town. Thus we see Tawarek every- 
where, not only as occasional merchants, but even as 
settlers and proprietors. The town has but one gate ; 
and a great many of the houses are of the kind de- 
scribed above. Beyond the town the country becomes 
less cultivated, and is mostly covered with the wild 
gonda-bush, which bears a most delicious fruit, richly 
deserving to be called the cream-apple. I suspected it 
for some time to be identical with the custard-apple ; 
but I afterwards assured myself that it is not. I call 
the attention of every African traveller to this fruit, 
which affords the greatest relief after a long day's 
journey; but it does not grow on the flat clayey 
plains of Bornu Proper. 
Beyond the little market-place of Budumme we 
met the first strings of empty camels belonging to 
the airi with which we had been travelling. They 
were returning from Kano, where they had carried 
the salt, in order to retrace their steps to good 
pasture-grounds, while their masters remained in 
the capital to sell their merchandise. The drivers 
confirmed the information we had already received, 
that our protector Elaiji had not as yet arrived in 
the town. For he likewise possesses a large property 
