Chap. XXXII. THE ROAD SOUTHWARDS. 
353 
thus extend my inquiries even as far as the equator; 
but my first design was, and had always been, to 
decide by ocular evidence the question with regard 
to the direction and the tributaries of the great river 
which flowed through the country in the south. 
Leaving the Ngornu road to our left, we reached 
the village Karba at sunset, but were received so in- 
hospitably, that, after much opposition from a quarrel- 
some old woman, we took up our quarters not inside, 
but outside, her courtyard, and with difficulty ob- 
tained a little fire, with which we boiled some coffee, 
but had not firewood enough for cooking a supper, so 
that we satisfied our appetite with cold " diggwa," a 
sweetmeat made of meal, honey, and butter. The 
inhabitants of the villages at no great distance from 
the capital are generally very inhospitable ; but the 
traveller will find the same in any country, 
At an early hour we were ready to re- Friday> 
sume our march, not having even pitched May 30th. 
a tent during the night. The morning was very fine ; 
and, in comparison with the naked and bare environs 
of the capital, the country seemed quite pleasant 
to me, although the flora offered scarcely anything 
but stunted acacias of the gawo and kindil kind, while 
diim-bush and the Asclepias procera formed the un- 
derwood, and coarse dry grass full of " ngibbu " or 
Pennisetum distichum covered the ground. Now and 
then a fine tamarind-tree interrupted this monotony, 
and formed a landmark ; indeed both the well which 
we passed (Tamsuku-kori) and the village Tamsiik- 
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