394 
TRAVELS IN AFRICA. Chap. XXXIII. 
able to understand each other; but as they spoke 
neither Arabic, nor Hausa, nor Kanuri, while I was 
but a beginner in their language, our conversation 
flowed but sluggishly. 
I had observed in all the dwellings of the natives a 
very large species of fish laid to dry on the roofs of 
the huts ; and being not a little astonished at the ex- 
istence of fish of such a size in this district, where I 
was not aware that there existed any considerable 
waters, I took the earliest opportunity of inquiring 
whence they were brought, and, having learnt that 
a considerable lake was at no great distance, I inti- 
mated to Billama my wish to visit it. I therefore 
mounted on horseback with him in the afternoon, and 
then passing behind the eastern quarter of I'ssege, 
and crossing a tract covered with excellent herbage, 
but so full of holes and crevices, that the horses 
had great difficulty in getting over it, we reached a 
fine sheet of water of considerable depth, stretching 
from west to east, and full of large fish. All along 
the way we were met by natives returning from 
fishing, with their nets and their spoil. The fish 
measure generally about twenty inches in length, 
and seem to be of the same kind as that caught in 
the Tsa-d. The banks of the water, except on the 
west side, where we stood, were so hemmed in with 
rushes that I could not form a satisfactory estimate 
of its magnitude or real character ; but it seems to 
be a hollow which is filled by the rivulet or torrent 
which I surveyed in its upper course the following 
