382 
TRAVELS IN AFRICA. Chap. LXXXIII. 
of provisions, and had some coffee boiled, so that 
we were quite at home. It was with great amaze- 
ment that I heard from my young friend that there 
were no supplies in Kiikawa; that what he had 
brought with him had been spent ; and that the 
usurper 'Abd e^ Rahman had treated him very badly, 
having even taken possession of the property which 
I had left in Zinder. He moreover informed me that 
he himself was on his way to that place, in order to 
see whether fresh supplies had not arrived, being also 
anxious to determine the position of that important 
town by an astronomical observation, and thus to give 
a firmer basis to my own labours. But the news of 
the want of pecuniary supplies did not cause me so 
much surprise as the report which I received from him, 
that he did not possess a single bottle of wine. For 
having now been for more than three years without 
a drop of any stimulant except coffee, and having 
suffered severely from frequent attacks of fever and 
dysentery, I had an insuperable longing for the 
juice of the grape, of which former experience had 
taught me the benefit. On my former journey 
through Asia Minor, I had contracted a serious 
fever in the swamps of Lycia, and quickly regained 
my strength by the use of good French wine. I 
could not help reproaching my friend for having too 
hastily believed the news of my death before he had 
made all possible inquiries; but as he was a new 
comer into this country, and did not possess a know- 
ledge of the language, I could ea&ily perceive that he 
