380 
TRAVELS IN AFRICA. Chap. XXXIII. 
fine fields were sown this year, but still presented the 
old furrows of former years ; and all around was silent 
and inert, bearing evident signs, if not of desolation, 
at least of oppression. 
I had already dismounted, being a little weak and 
fatigued after my last sleepless night's uncomfortable 
drenching, hoping that we should here pass the heat of 
the day ; but there seemed to be nothing left for us to 
eat, and after some conversation with a solitary in- 
habitant, Billama informed me that we were to proceed 
to another village, which likewise belongs to Molghoy. 
We therefore continued our march, and soon after 
entered a dense forest, where we had more enjoyment 
of wild fruits, principally of one called " foti," of the 
size of an apricot, and with three large kernels, the 
pulp of which was very pleasant. Behind the little 
hamlet Dala Disowa I saw the first specimen of the 
sacred groves of the Marghi — a dense part of the 
forest surrounded with a ditch, where, in the most 
luxuriant and widest- spreading tree, their god " Tum- 
bi " is worshipped. 
It was one o'clock in the afternoon when we reached 
the village where we expected to find quarters. It 
also is called Molghoy, and is divided into two groups 
by a water- course or komadugu (as the Kaniiri, dille 
as the Marghi call it) about twenty-five yards wide, 
and inclosed by steep banks. My kashella, deprived 
of his former irresistible authority, was now reduced 
to politeness and artifice; and having crossed the 
channel, which at present retained only a pool of stag- 
