374 
TRAVELS IN AFRICA. Chap. LXXXIII. 
small present, while my camels pursued the direct 
track. Thus we reached Giimmel, and encamped 
outside at some distance from the wall to the north- 
east. 
I had left this town on my former journey in the 
enjoyment of a considerable degree of wealth and 
comfort, under the rule of the old Dan Tanoma. But 
civil war, which cuts short the finest germs of human 
prosperity, had been raging here ; the person ap- 
pointed by Bornu as the successor of the former go- 
vernor having been vanquished by his rival Sh^ri, 
who, having taken possession of the town after much 
serious fighting, had again been driven out by the 
governor of Zmder sent against him by the Sheikh 
of Bornu. Having taken refuge in the territory of 
Kano, and collected there fresh strength, the rebel- 
lious governor had reconquered his seat, where he 
was now tacitly acknowledged by his liege lord, in 
the weak state to which the kingdom of B6rnu had 
been reduced by the civil war. The town was almost 
desolate, while the palace had been ransacked, pillaged, 
and destroyed by fire, and the new governor himself, 
who, after a long struggle with his rival and near 
kinsman, had at length succeeded in taking possession 
of this government, was residing amidst the towering 
ruins of the royal residence, blackened by fire, and ex- 
hibiting altogether the saddest spectacle. It was with 
a melancholy feeling, that I remembered the beautiful 
tamarind-tree, which spread its shade over the whole 
courtyard of the palace, where, on my former visit, 
