360 
TRAVELS IN AFRICA. Chap. XXXII. 
land, is found within the populous districts. This 
" firki " was the largest I had yet seen, and exceeded 
three miles in length. Much rain had already fallen 
hereabouts ; and further on, near a full pond, we 
observed two wild hogs (gado), male (bi) and female 
(kurguri), running one after the other. This also 
was a new sight for me, as heretofore I had scarcely 
seen a single specimen of this animal in this part 
of the world ; but afterwards I found that, in the 
country between this and Bagirmi, this animal lives 
in immense numbers. We here overtook a small troop 
of native traders, or " tugurchi," with sumpter oxen 
laden with natron, while another with unloaded 
beasts was just returning from Uje\ A good deal of 
trade is carried on in this article with the last-named 
place. 
Having gone on in advance of the camels with 
Billama and Mallem Katuri, I waited a long time 
under a splendid " chedia," or " jeja " (the Hausa 
name), the caoutchouc tree, indicating the site of 
a large town of the Gamerghu, called Muna (which 
has been destroyed by the Fiilbe or Fellata), expect- 
ing our people to come up, as we intended to leave 
the direct track and go to a neighbouring village, 
wherein to spend the hot hours of the day ; but as 
they delayed too long, we thought we might give 
them sufficient indication of our having left the road 
by laying a fresh branch across it. This is a very 
common practice in the country ; but it requires atten- 
tion on the part of those who follow, and may some- 
