Chap. XXXIII. THE MARGHl' TRIBE. 
399 
to make merry at the death of an old one — an ac- 
count which I found afterwards confirmed, while 
his statement that they buried the dead in an 
upright position together with their weapons, fur- 
niture, and some paste of Indian corn, did not 
prove quite correct. In many respects they claim 
great superiority over their neighbours; and they 
practise even to a great extent inoculation for small- 
pox, which in Bornu is rather the exception than the 
rule. 
Fortunately for us in our out-of-doors encampment, 
the sky remained serene ; and while, after a very 
frugal supper, we were reclining on our mats in the 
cool air of the evening, an interesting and animated 
dispute arose between Billama, Mallem Katuri, and 
Mohammedu — the A'damawa messenger whom I have 
represented above as a very communicative, sociable 
person — about the water of I'ssege, whence it came, 
and whither it flowed. Mohammedu, who notwith- 
standing his intelligence and sprightliness was not 
free from absurd prejudices, contended, with the 
utmost pertinacity, that the water in question issued 
from the river Benuwe at Kobere and ran into the 
Shary, a river with which he was acquainted only by 
hearsay. But my prudent and experienced old mal- 
lem contested this point successfully, demonstrating 
that the river rose in the mountains far to the north 
of the Benuwe. Thus we spent the evening quite 
cheerfully ; and the night passed without any acci- 
