850 
TRAVELS IN AFRICA. Chap. LXXXII. 
people as they were winding along the steep bank of 
a considerable river, which, taking a northerly course, 
and evidently identical with the watercourse at 
Katiiru, joins the great valley of Gober, a few miles 
to the north-west of Sansanne 'Aisa. At the place 
where we crossed, it was about 200 yards broad, but 
very shallow at the time, being only a foot deep and 
full of sandbanks ; but I was not a little astonished to 
find that it contained a very great quantity of fish, 
numbers of people being employed in catching them 
by the beating of drums. Although the bank was 
so steep, there were evident signs that a short time 
before, it had been covered by the water, and part of 
the crops, even beyond its border, had been damaged 
by the inundation. 
The country appeared to be well inhabited. A 
little further on we passed on our left a populous 
walled town called D61e, and an apparently larger 
place became visible on the other side, the pasture- 
grounds being covered with extremely fine cattle. 
After we had crossed the river, I found that the 
highest stalks of Indian corn, which was fast ripen- 
ing, measured not less than twenty-eight feet. Be- 
sides sorghum, sweet potatoes, or ddnkali, were also 
cultivated here to a great extent. Having then 
crossed a stony tract, we again reached the town of 
Moriki, where the river approaches to within a few 
hundred yards * On the high ground close to the 
* The watercourse is here still of considerable size, and comes 
a good many miles from the south-east, from a place called G6- 
zaki, skirting the towns of Kauri-n-Namoda, and Goga. 
