360 
TRAVELS IN AFRICA. Chap. LXXXIIT, 
Owing to the change in my mode of living, severe fits 
of fever attacked me repeatedly. 
Kano will always remain one of the most un- 
favourable localities for Europeans in this region ; 
and it was well that Mr, Yog el, for the first year after 
his arrival in Negroland, purposely avoided this 
spot. Even my animals did not escape the malig- 
nant effect of the climate. Three of my horses 
w^re seized, one after the other, with a contagious 
disease, commencing with a swelling of the thighs, 
and from thence spreading to the breast and the head, 
and generally proving fatal in six or eight days. In 
this way I lost two out of my three horses, including 
my old companion, Avho had carried me through so 
many dangerous campaigns, and who had shared all 
my fatigues and sufferings for nearly three years ; but 
the small and ugly, but strong horse which the Sultan 
of Sokoto had made me a present of, escaped with its 
life. This disease which attacked my horses, of course, 
interfered greatly with my excursions, and took away 
almost all the pleasure w^hich they would otherwise 
have afforded, as I was reduced to the necessity of 
making use of very indifferent animals. Nevertheless, 
I enjoyed greatly the open country which extended 
outside the gates of this picturesque but extremely 
dirty town, dotted with large villages at no great 
distance; and I followed up especially, with great 
interest, the easterly of the three roads which diverge 
from the K6fa-n-kura, and which leads to the small 
rivulet known as the K6gi-n'Kan6. Occasionally also 
