Chap. XXIX. DECLINE OF THE BO'RNU EMPIRE. 281 
the publication of his account; for in the hundred 
and twenty-second (lunar) year from the time when 
'Omar was compelled to abandon his royal seat in 
Njimiye, ceding the rich country of Kanem, the very 
nucleus of the empire, to his rivals, the energetic king 
Edris Katakarmabi entered that capital again with his 
victorious army, and from that time down to the be- 
ginning of the present century Kanem has remained 
a province of B6rnu, although it was not again made 
the seat of government. 
Altogether the 16th century is one of the most 
glorious periods of the Bornu empire, adorned as it is 
by such able princes as the two EdriV and Mohammed, 
while in Western Negroland the great Songhay empire 
went to pieces, and was finally subjugated by Mulay 
Hamed el Mansiir, the emperor of Morocco. Then fol- 
lowed a quieter period, and old age seemed gradually 
to gain on the kingdom, while pious and peaceful 
kings occupied the throne, till in the middle of the 
last century the energetic and enterprising king f Ali 
'Omarmi began a violent struggle against that very 
nation from which the Bornu dynasty had sprung, but 
which had now become its most fearful enemy — the 
Imoshagh or Tawarek. He made great exertions in 
every direction ; but his efforts seem to have resembled 
the convulsions of death, and being succeeded by an 
indolent king, for such was Ahmed, the fatal hour 
which was to accomplish the extinction of the dy- 
nasty of the Sefuwa rapidly approached. At last, 
when the very centre of the empire had already fallen 
