428 
TRAVELS IN AFEICA. Chap. XXXIV. 
of Central Africa, from Kordofan to the Atlantic, is 
of the highest importance. 
While resting here I received a deputation of the 
heads of families of the Fiilbe, who behaved very 
decently, and were not a little excited by the per- 
formances of my watch and compass. I then deter- 
mined to ascend the rock, which commands and 
characterises the village, although, being fully aware 
of the debilitated state of my health, I was some- 
what afraid of any great bodily exertion. It was 
certainly not an easy task, as the crags were extremely 
steep, but it was well worth the trouble, although 
the view over an immense expanse of country was 
greatly interrupted by the many small trees and 
bushes which are shooting out between the granite 
blocks. 
After I had finished taking angles I sat down on 
this magnificent rocky throne, and several of the 
natives having followed me, I wrote from their dicta- 
tion a short vocabulary of their language, which they 
call " Zani," and which I soon found was intimately 
related to that of the Marghi. These poor creatures, 
seeing, probably for the first time, that a stranger 
took real interest in them, were extremely delighted 
in hearing their words pronounced by one whom they 
thought almost as much above them as their god 
" fete," and frequently corrected each other when 
there was a doubt about the meaning of the word. 
The rock became continually more and more ani- 
mated, and it was not long before two young Fiilbe 
