Chap. XXVI. ARRIVE AT KU'KA MAIRUA'. 157 
watered ; a beautiful tamarind-tree spreading a shady 
canopy over a busy group of talkative women selling 
victuals, ghussub-water, and sourmilk, or " cotton." 
About ten o'clock detached dum-palms began to im- 
part to the landscape a peculiar character, as we ap- 
proached the considerable but open place Gabezawa, 
which at present exhibited the busy and animated 
scene of a well-frequented market. In this country 
the market-days of the towns succeed each other 
by turns, so that all the inhabitants of a consi- 
derable district can take advantage every day of the 
traffic in the peculiar article in which each of these 
places excels. 
While pushing our way through the rows of well- 
stocked sheds, I became aware that we were approach- 
ing the limits of the Kamiri language ; for being 
thirsty, I wished to buy ghussub-water ("fura" in 
Hausa), but in asking for it, received from the women 
fresh butter (" fula" in Kamiri), and had some diffi- 
culty in making them understand that I did not want 
the latter. Continuing our march without stopping, 
we reached at noon the well-known (that is to say, 
among the travelling natives) camping-ground of 
Kiika mairud, an open place surrounded by several 
colossal specimens of the monkey-bread tree, kiika 
or Adansonia digitata, which all over this region of 
Central Africa are not of that low, stunted growth 
which seems to be peculiar to them near the coast, but 
in general attain to a height of from sixty to eighty 
feet. Several troops of native traders were already en- 
