158 
TRAVELS IN AFEICA. Chap. XXVI. 
camped here, while a string of some thirty camels, 
most of them unloaded, and destined to be sold in 
Kano, had just arrived. A wide-spreading tamarind- 
tree formed a natural roof over a busy market-scene, 
where numbers of women were selling all the eatables 
and delicacies of the country. The village lay to the 
south-east. Here we pitched our tents close together, 
as robbers and thieves are very numerous in the 
neighbourhood; and I fired repeatedly during the 
night, a precaution which the event proved to be not 
at all useless. The name of the place signifies " the 
Adansonia with the water. " However, the latter part 
of the name seemed rather ironical, as I had to pay 
forty kurdi for filling a waterskin and for watering 
my horse and my camels ; and I would therefore not 
advise a future traveller to go to a neighbouring 
village, which bears the name of " Kuka maifura," 
in the belief that he may find there plenty of cheap 
fura or ghussub-water. 
Wednesday, ^ ur encampment was busy from the 
March 12th. V ery first dawn of day, and exhibited 
strong proof of industry on the part of the natives ; 
for even at this hour women were offering ready- 
cooked pudding as a luncheon to the travellers. 
Some of our fellow-sleepers on this camping-ground 
started early; and the two Welad Sliman also, who 
led the string of camels, started off most imprudently 
in the twilight. As for us, we waited till everything 
was clearly discernible, and then took the opposite 
direction through underwood ; and we had advanced 
