Chap. LXXV. SCARCITY OF SUPPLIES. 
165 
the inhabitants a small supply of rice and butter, as 
they asserted that their means were so reduced that 
they were sustaining themselves entirely on byrgu, 
or native grass ; but I had reason to suspect that 
they made this statement through fear of the Tawdrek. 
At all events, tobacco was the only article they offered 
for sale, the tobacco of Bamba, called " sherikiye,'' 
being far-famed along the Niger, and much sought 
after, although it is not so good as the " tabowe," 
the tobacco of E'gedesh. Of byrgu, they have an 
unlimited supply; and I tasted here the honey water 
which they prepare from it, but found it insipid, be- 
sides being slightly purgative, not unlike the maddi, 
or goreba water, in Hdusa. 
M s 
