CiiAP. LXXX. COTTON PLANTATIONS.— BI'rNI. 287 
peared. Further on, fields of millet succeeded to the 
cotton plantations, and the cultivation now continued 
without interruption, extending to the slope of the 
hills, while, on the other side of the river, five villages 
appeared at short intervals. We then entered upon 
hilly sandy ground, but even this less favoured tract 
was covered with fine crops. I had made it a 
rule, owing to the weakness of my camels, which re- 
quired a good feed, always to encamp at some dis- 
tance from a larger place, and we therefore chose our 
camping-ground about two miles on this side of the 
town of Birni, amongst monkey-bread trees and hajilij, 
at a short distance from a swampy creek of the river. 
Our encampment, however, became unpleasant in the 
extreme, as we had to sustain here a very heavy thun- 
derstorm, accompanied by violent rain. 
All the inhabitants of this district are Fiilbe, or Son- 
ghay speaking the language of the Fulbe, the conquer- 
ing tribe of the latter beginning to prevail here almost 
exclusively. All of them wear indigo-dyed shirts. We 
also met here an old man, originally belonging to the 
tribe of the Udalen, a section of Imghdd, or degraded 
Tawdrek, but at present in the service of a Piillo, 
who, assisted by his slaves, was just getting his har- 
vest into the town of Birni, where he invited us to 
follow him on the approach of night. 
Having lost the greater part of the morn- Friday, 
ing in order to dry ourselves and our ani- ^^^^ 
mals, we continued our march straight upon a kind 
of defile, which seemed almost to hem in the passage 
