Chap. XXYII. THE BANKS OF THE WA'NI. 
215 
increased number of waterfowl, indicated plainly that 
Ave were approaching a branch of the wide- spreading 
net of the komadugu of Bornu. 
First we came to a hollow clothed with a great 
profusion of vegetation and the freshest pasturage, 
but at present dry, with the exception of a fine pond 
of clear water on our left ; and we marched full three 
miles through a dense forest before we came to the 
real channel, which here, running south and north, 
formed an uninterrupted belt of water as far as the 
eye could reach, but at present without any current. 
It looked just like an artificial canal, having almost 
everywhere the same breadth of about fifty yards, 
and, at the place where we crossed it, a depth of 
two feet and a half. 
We halted, during the heat of the day, on its 
eastern shore, in the shade of one of the small gawo- 
trees which border it on this side ; and after our dreary 
and rather uninteresting march from Kano, I was 
greatly delighted with the animated and luxuriant 
character of the scene before us. The water of this 
komadugu, moreover, though it was fully exposed to 
the power of the sun's rays, was delightfully cool, 
while that from the wells was disagreeably warm, 
having a mean temperature of 77°, and quite unfit 
to drink until allowed to cool. The river was full 
of small fish ; and about twenty boys from the vil- 
lage of Shogo, which lay upon the summit of the 
rising ground before us, were plashing about in it 
in playful exercise, and catching the fish with a large 
p 4 
