Chap. XXIX. PEDIGREE OF THE BO'RNU KINGS. 257 
while Imam A'hmed calls them sons of Nikale son of 
Ibrahim ; and this is the general statement of the 
natives of the county even at the present time, every 
educated man knowing " Daiid tata Nikalebe," or 
Daiid Nikalemi. The fact is, that the name Biri, which 
the chronicle attributes to the father of Ibrahim the 
grandfather of Edris and Daiid, being a variation of 
the form Biram, is identical with Ibrahim ; whence it 
appears that Nikale was another name of Ibrahim the 
son of Biri. The same is the case with regard to the 
names A'hmed and Diinama, which are identical, if 
not with regard to their meanings, at least with 
regard to their applications, as well as the names 
Selma or Selmama and 'Abd el Jelil. 
This general harmony between the pedigree of the 
Bornu kings as given by the chronicle No. 1. and the 
Imam A'hmed, a learned and clever man in a high 
position, and in constant connection with the court, 
is, I think, very satisfactory, and the more so if we 
take into consideration that, from a reason which I 
shall soon mention, and which at the same time is a 
strong argument in favour of the authenticity of these 
two documents, the pedigree as given by them is not 
the only one current in Bornu, but the line of descent 
and succession varies greatly in one of the two other 
short chronicles which are mentioned in No. 2., while 
the third one, which does not appear to make any 
pretensions to completeness, cannot be taken into 
account here. Hence, as far as regards the line of 
vol. ir. s 
