218 
TRAVELS IN AFRICA. Chap. LXXVIII. 
Having thus surveyed the river, I took a turn round 
the hamlet, which altogether consists of about 300 
huts, grouped in separate clusters, and surrounded 
by heaps of rubbish, which seemed to indicate the 
site of some larger buildings of the former city. 
While walking round the huts, the women came out 
from their ^'biige," or matting huts, and gathered 
cheerfully round us, exclaiming one above the other, 
'^Nasara, nasara, Allah aakbar!" "A Christian, a 
Christian : God is great ! " but they seemed to take a 
greater interest in my younger Shuwa lad than in 
myself, dancing round him in a very cheerful and fasci- 
nating manner. Some of them had tolerably regular 
features, and were tall and of good proportions. They 
were all dressed in the same style, very different from 
the dress of the women in Timbuktu, having a broad 
wrapper of thick woollen cloth of different coloured 
stripes fastened below the breast, so that it came 
down almost to their ankles, and many of them had 
even fastened this dress over their shoulders by a 
pair of short braces, in the same way as men wear 
their trowsers in Europe, and others had simply fas- 
tened it from behind. 
While I was thus walking round the village, I met 
an old man who greeted me in the most cheerful 
manner, and attached himself to me. From what he 
intimated, I could not but conclude, that he had come 
into close contact with the Christian who so many 
years ago navigated this river in such a mysterious 
manner ; but, unfortunately, he was of weak under- 
