368 
TRAVELS IN AFRICA. Chap. XXXII. 
banks of the river were overgrown with beautifully- 
fresh grass. Having crossed and re-crossed the fiu- 
mara, we ascended its steep left bank, which in some 
places exhibited regular strata of sandstone. Here 
we passed a little dyeing-yard of two or three pots, 
while several small patches of indigo were seen at the 
foot of the bank, and a bustling group of men and 
cattle gathered round the well. Villages were seen 
lying about in every direction ; and single cottages, 
scattered about here and there, gave evidence of a 
sense of security. The corn-fields were most agree- 
ably broken by tracts covered with the bushes of 
the wild gonda, which has a most delicious fruit, of 
a fine cream-like taste, and of the size of a peach, 
a great part of which, however, is occupied by the 
stone. The country through which we passed was 
so interesting to me, and my conversation with my 
Hausa mallem about the labours of the field so 
animated, that we made a good stretch without being 
well aware of it, and took up our quarters in a place 
called Palamari # when it was already dark. How- 
ever, our evening rest passed less agreeably than our 
afternoon's ride, owing to a violent conjugal quarrel 
in an adjoining cottage, the voices of the leading pair 
in the dispute being supported by the shrill voices of 
village gossips. 
Thursday ^ n riding through the village, as we set 
June 5th. ou i m th e morning, I observed that the 
* It might seem that the name should rather be Billamari ; but 
that is not the case. I do not know the meaning of " palama." 
