104 
TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 
Chap. XXV- 
had to wait patiently till his Excellency had examined 
and approved of the presents. Having manifested 
his satisfaction with them by appropriating to himself 
a very handsome large gilt cup, which with great risk 
I had carried safely through the desert, he accom- 
panied us on horseback to the " fada," " lamorde," or 
palace, which forms a real labyrinth of courtyards, 
provided with spacious round huts of audience, built 
of clay, with a door on each side, and connected 
together by narrow intricate passages. Hundreds of 
lazy, arrogant courtiers, freemen and slaves, were 
lounging and idling here, killing time with trivial 
and saucy jokes. 
We were first conducted to the audience-hall of the 
ghaladima, who, while living in a separate palace, 
visits the " fada " almost every day, in order to act 
in his important and influential office as vizier ; for 
he is far more intelligent, and also somewhat more 
energetic, than his lazy and indolent brother 'Othman*, 
who allows this excessively wealthy and most beau- 
tiful province, " the garden of Central Africa," to be 
ransacked with impunity by the predatory incursions 
of the serki Ibram of Zinder, and other petty chiefs. 
Both are sons of Dabo and Shekara — the latter one of 
the celebrated ladies of Hausa, a native of Daura, 
who is still living, and has three other children, viz. 
* 'Othinan has since died of cholera, which made its appearance 
in Kano in 1855. I do not know the name of his successor. For 
the sake of the country, I entertain the hope that he may be more 
energetic than his predecessor. 
