192 
TRAVELS IN AFRICA. Chap. XXVI. 
tall reed-grass covering the fields which had been 
formerly cultivated. 
Having then passed a thick forest of underwood, 
and some cultivated ground, half an hour before noon 
we reached Biindi*, the residence of the ghaladima 
'Omar, fortified in the same way as A'lamay, and went 
up directly to the house of the governor, which con- 
sists entirely of reed-work. However, the mats (" la- 
gara") which surround the whole establishment are of 
very great height, at least fifteen feet, and of consi- 
derable thickness, made of a peculiar reed called 
" siigu," and being sustained by long poles, and kept 
in a good state of repair, do not look ill. Besides, 
they are in general strengthened still further on the 
outside by a fence of thorny bushes. 
The ghaladimaf , or governor of the Ghaladi, which 
* " B>undi," in Kanuri, means " wild beasts." The inhabitants 
still bear the particular name of Nguru-bu, plural of Nguru-ma, 
from the name of the place or district Nguru, generally called 
A'ngaru. 
•j* The termination -ma in Kanuri signifies the possession of 
a thing, and is equivalent to the mai- in Hausa, placed before a 
word. Thus billa-ma is exactly identical with mai-gari, fir-ma with 
mai-doki (the horseman), and so on. With this termination almost 
all the names of offices are formed in Kanuri, as yeri-ma, chiro-ma, 
kasel-ma, and so on. Thus also the governor of the province 
Muniyo or Minyo bears the title Muniyo-ma or Minyo-ma, a name 
entirely misunderstood by Mr. Richardson. I will only add here 
that the title of the governor of the Ghaladi in the Bornu empire, 
on account of the immense extent of the latter, has been intro- 
duced into the list of offices of all the courts of Central Negro- 
land, and that we find a ghaladima in Sokoto as well as in 
every little town of 'Adamawa. The same is to be said of some 
offices originally belonging only to the court of the empire of 
Melle, such as that of fereng or farma, manso, and others. 
