66 
TRAVELS IN AFRICA. Chap. LXXII. 
from all parts of the neighbouring district. Amidst 
such feasting the name of Mohammed was given to 
the new-born infant. The way in which the guests 
dealt with the enormous dishes, some of which were 
from four to five feet in diameter, and could only be 
carried by six persons, bore testimony to the voracity 
of their appetites ; one of these immense dishes was 
upset, and the whole of the contents spilt in the 
sand. 
But the people were not long left to enjoy their 
festivity, for just while they were glutting themselves 
a troop of Kel-hekikan, the tribe who waged the 
bloody feud with the Gwanin, passed by, throwing 
the whole encampment into the utmost confusion. 
When at length it had again settled down, the fes- 
tivities proceeded, and Mohammed el 'Aish, with some 
of his countrymen from Tawdt, rode a race up the 
slope of the downs towards the tents, firing their 
guns at the same time ; but altogether the exhibi- 
tion was rather shabby, and some of the men were 
very poor riders, having probably never been on horse- 
back before, as they were natives of the desert where 
the camel prevails. The inhabitants of Timbuktu, 
who possess horses, are continually pestered with the 
request to lend them to strangers ; and, with regard 
to these animals, a sort of communism prevails in the 
town ; but they are of a very poor description, only the 
Sheikh himself possessing some good horses, brought 
from the Gibleh, or Western quarter of the desert. 
The Kel-hekikan formed also a subject of anxiety 
