186 
TRAVELS IN AFHICA. Chap. LXXVI. 
land, I had to take care not to excite too much the 
suspicions of the natives. 
From this spot I had a clear prospect over the 
point where the river issuing forth from between 
the islands is shut in by two masses of rock, called, 
I think, Shab6r* and Barr6r, which obstructed it 
like a sort of iron gate, although the passage be- 
tween them, especially at high water, appeared to be 
open and clear. In summer, however, during the 
lowest state of the river, the difficulty of the navi- 
gation is greatly increased by the sandbank which 
is formed a little above this strait between the 
islands and the bank. On the island where the chief 
Kdla resided, also, a mass of rock, which at times in 
the sun light of the afternoon appeared like a snow- 
white boulder of quartz rock, started forth like an arti- 
ficial terrace. Higher up, the river was encompassed 
in its winding course by steep banks ; but, in one spot 
on the opposite shore, where the sandy downs formed 
a recess, a low grassy headland or island was formed, 
which at the time was enlivened by numbers of horses, 
cattle, and sheep, and was adorned by stately trees, 
especially a fine group of diim-palms ; for diim-palms 
apparently begin to prevail here, and lower down 
the river are found occasionally in great numbers. 
The slope itself, from whence I overlooked this 
scenery, consisted entirely of rock. Quartz and mica- 
slate were visible everywhere, and an uninterrupted 
* I am not quite certain whether Shabor may not be the name 
of the island and not of the rock. 
