Chap. XXXIII. THEIR LANGUAGE. 
385 
girls busy at house- work : they were about twelve 
years of age, and were more decently clad, wearing 
an apron of striped cotton round their loins ; but this 
was evidently a result of Mohammedanism. These 
also were of copper colour ; and their short curled 
hair was dyed of the same hue by powdered cam- 
wood rubbed into it. They wore only thin tags in 
their under lips, and strings of red glass beads round 
their neck. Their features were pleasing, though 
less handsome than those of the woman above de- 
scribed. They were in ecstasies when I made them 
some little presents, and did not know how to thank 
me sufficiently. 
I had scarcely returned from my most interesting 
walk, when the inhabitants of the neighbouring yards, 
seeing that I was a good-natured sort of man who 
took great interest in them, and hearing from my people 
that in some respects I was like themselves, sent me 
a large pot of their intoxicating beverage, or "komil," 
made of Guinea corn, which, however, I could not 
enjoy, as it was nothing better than bad muddy beer. 
Instead of confusing my brains with such a beverage, 
I sat down and wrote about two hundred words in 
their own language, which seemed to have no relation 
to any of the languages with which I had as yet 
become acquainted, but which, as I found afterwards, 
is nearly related to, or rather only a dialect of the 
Batta language, which is spread over a large part of 
A'damawa or Fumbina, and has many points of connec- 
tion with the Miisgu language, while in certain gene- 
VOL. II. c c 
