388 
TRAVELS IN AFRICA. Chap. LXXXIII- 
this channel, girt by fine tamarind and fig trees, 
and occasionally by a group of diim-palms, till 
having passed the village of Ddmen, and traversed a 
wide swampy tract, we crossed the first branch, 
which formed a fine sheet of water about a hundred 
yards broad, but only three feet deep, the only diffi- 
culty being in the steepness of the opposite shore. 
Having passed the heat of the day under a neigh- 
bouring tamarind tree, we continued our march in a 
south-easterly direction to the village Daway. Here 
we pitched our tent in the neat little square near the 
msid," all the matting fences surrounding the cot- 
tages being new and having a very clean appearance. 
My object in staying here was to confer with the 
" billama " as to the best means of crossing the larger 
branch of the komddugu, which runs at a short dis- 
tance beyond this village, and the passage of which 
was said to be very difficult at the time, encum- 
bered as we were with animals and luggage. But 
it was very extraordinary that the people here con- 
tended that the river then was higher than it had 
been ten days previously ; although I did not find 
this statement confirmed on our actually crossing it 
the following morning, the water exhibiting evident 
signs of having decreased, an observation which ex- 
actly corresponds with what I have remarked on a 
former occasion with regard to the nature of this 
komadugu. The river here spread out to a con- 
siderable extent, and we had some difficulty in cross- 
ing it. The greatest depth was more than four 
