Chap. LXXL THE WATERS SUBSIDE. 
49 
quence' of the rumour of my death ; all my effects 
were buried ; and when I arrived at length in Hausa, 
where I had reckoned to find every thing that I 
wanted, I found even the supplies which I had left 
drawn away from me, as from a dead man. 
Almost the whole of January and the beginning of 
February had been in general cold, with a thick and 
foggy atmosphere, well representing that season which 
the Tawdrek call with the emphatic and expressive 
name " the black nights," ehaden esattafnen ; and all 
this time the river was continually rising or preserv- 
ing the highest level which it had reached. But on 
the 17th the river, after having puzzled us several 
times as to its actual state, had really begun to de- 
crease, and almost immediately afterwards the weather 
became clearer and finer, thus testifying to the asser- 
tion of the Tawdrek — who have exchanged their 
abodes in the desert for this border district along the 
river, as well as the Arabs, who give to this season 
the name of the forty nights — that the river never 
begins really to decrease before the end of this period. 
The greatest danger from the inundation is just at 
this time, when the waters recede, as the rising 
ground on which the hamlets along the shore are 
situated has been undermined and frequently gives 
way ; and we received intelligence on the 22nd that 
the hamlet of Betagungu, which is situated between 
Kdbara and Giindam, had been destroyed in this 
manner. 
Although I had enjoyed a greater degree of security 
VOL. V. E 
