430 
TRAVELS IN AFRICA. Chap. XXXIV. 
ever, at length left me when night came on, but the 
Fiilbe girls would not go, or if they left me for a mo- 
ment, immediately returned, and so staid till midnight. 
The eldest of the unmarried girls made me a direct 
proposal of marriage, and I consoled her by stating, 
that I should have been happy to accept her offer if 
it were my intention to reside in the country. The 
manners of people who live in these retired spots, 
shut out from the rest of the world, are necessarily 
very simple and unaffected ; and this poor girl had 
certainly reason to look out for a husband, as at 
fifteen she was as far beyond her first bloom as a lady 
of twenty-five in Europe. 
indav Taking leave of these good people, the 
June 13th. g[ Y \ looking rather sorrowful, as I mounted 
my horse, we resumed our march the following 
morning, first through cornfields, — the grain here 
cultivated being exclusively gero, or pennisetum, — 
then over rich and thinly wooded pastures, having 
the mountain-chain of the " Falibe " constantly at 
some distance. The atmosphere was extremely humid, 
and rain-clouds hung upon the mountains. Further 
on the ground consisted entirely of red loam, and was 
so torn up by the rain, that we had great difficulty 
and delay in leading the camels round the gaps and 
ravines. Dense underwood now at times prevailed, 
and a bush called " baubaw," producing an edible 
fruit, here first fell under my observation ; there was 
also another bulbous plant, which I had not observed 
before. The karage here, again, was very common. 
