166 
CHAP. LXXVL 
THE DESERT. COUNTRY ALONG THE BORDER OF THE RIVER. 
GREATEST NARROWING. SOUTH-EASTERLY BEND. 
A SLIGHT fall of rain, and then a thunder-storm, 
which, however, passed over our heads without dis- 
charging itself, delayed our departure in the after- 
noon ; and the camels having been sent to a great 
distance for a little pasture, it was past five o'clock 
when we left our camping-ground. A numerous 
crowd of Ruma, Songhay, and Fmoshagh having as- 
sembled to witness my departure, I distributed a 
good many small presents among them, reserving the 
few articles of value which I still possessed for mightier 
chiefs. 
Having crossed, after a march of two miles, a 
backwater much overgrown with grass, and at pre- 
sent almost dry, we had the faddama or bot-hd of the 
river close on our right, while the open water was 
at about an hour's march distance. Here a consider- 
able amount of cultivation was seen, a good many 
grounds for corn and tobacco being laid out and 
connected with the river by channels, through which 
the water during the highest state of the inundation 
