Chap. XXVI. THE GHALADi'MA. 
193 
(as we shall see in the historical account of the 
Bornu empire) comprised all the western provinces 
of Bornu from the komadugu Waube (the so-called 
Yeou) to the shores of the Kwara, having his resi- 
dence in Birni Nguni, near Mannar, in former times 
was an officer (or rather an almost independent feudal 
vassal) of immense power ; at present, however, he 
has sunk to great insignificance, and in real power is 
much inferior to his neighbours the governors of 
Muniyo, Zinder, and even that of Mashena. But the 
present ghaladima 'Omar is an intriguing man ; and 
it would have been imprudent to pass on without 
paying him the compliment of a visit ; and I was jus- 
tified in hoping that he would provide me with a 
guide in order that I might reach as soon as possible 
the presence of his liege lord the sheikh of Bornu. 
Not being able to see him directly, I was obliged 
to sacrifice half a day, and to make up my mind to 
spend the night here. I therefore asked for quarters, 
and was lodged in a spacious but dirty courtyard, 
where I could procure but a very insufficient shade 
with my little English bell-tent of thin canvass. Hav- 
ing passed two uncomfortable hours without any re- 
freshment, I was called in the afternoon into the pre- 
sence of the governor, and being obliged to leave my 
servant behind to take care of my luggage while 'Abd- 
Alla was pasturing the camels, I went alone, and 
found the great man in a spacious room or hall 
formed entirely of matwork, where he was lying upon 
an elevated platform or divan spread with a carpet. 
VOL. II. o 
