154 
TRAVELS IN AFRICA. Chap. XXVI. 
which was held to-day (as it is every Monday) 
outside the town, nothing else was offered for sale 
but cattle and sheep, scarcely a piece of cotton cloth 
being laid out, and very little corn. Also round the 
town there are scarcely any traces of cultivation. 
The mayor seemed not to be in very enviable cir- 
cumstances, and bore evident traces of sorrow and 
anxiety; indeed the laziness and indolence of the 
governor of Kano in neglecting the defence of the 
wealth and the national riches of his province are 
incredible, and can only be tolerated by a liege lord 
just as lazy and indifferent as himself. But at that 
period the country still enjoyed some tranquillity and 
happiness, while from the day on which the rebel 
Bokhari took possession of Khadeja, as I shall soon 
have occasion to relate, the inhabitants of all the 
eastern part of this beautiful province underwent 
daily vexations, so that the towns on this road were 
quite deserted when I passed a second time through 
this country, in December, 1854. 
Early next morning we loaded our camels and left 
the town, in order to join our new travelling com- 
panion, who by this time had also got ready his little 
troop. It consisted of himself on horseback, his 
" sirriya," likewise on horseback, three female at- 
tendants, six natives, and as many sumpter oxen. He 
himself was a portly Arab, with fine, sedate manners, 
such as usually distinguish wealthy people of the 
Gharb (Morocco) ; for he was a native of Fas, and 
though in reality not a sherif (though the title of a 
