Chap. XXVIII. FERTILE HOLLOWS. 
241 
Besher I should be able to water my horse. This 
news only served to confirm me in my resolution to 
ride on in advance, in order as well to water my poor 
beast before the greatest heat of the day, as to reach 
the residence in good time. 
I therefore took leave of my two young servants, 
and, giving Mohammed strict orders to follow me 
with the camels as fast as possible, I hastened on. 
The wooded level became now interrupted from time 
to time by bare naked concavities, or shallow hol- 
lows, consisting of black sedimentary soil, where, 
during the rainy season, the water collects and, dry- 
ing up gradually, leaves a most fertile sediment for the 
cultivation of the masakwa. This is a peculiar kind 
of holcus, {Holcus cernuus,) which forms a very im- 
portant article in the agriculture of Bornu. Sown 
soon after the end of the rainy season, it grows up 
entirely by the fructifying power of the soil, and 
ripens with the assistance only of the abundant dews, 
which fall here usually in the months following the 
rainy season. These hollows, which are the most 
characteristic natural feature in the whole country, 
and which encompass the south-western corner of the 
great lagoon of Central Africa throughout a distance 
of more than sixty miles from its present shore, are 
called " ghadir " by the Arabs, " firki," or " ange," by 
the Kaniiri. Indeed they amply testify to the far 
greater extent of the lagoon in ante-historical times. 
Pushing on through a country of this description, 
and passing several villages, I reached about noon 
VOL. II. R 
