MARSHES NEAR THE RIVER. 
33 
From five o'clock in the evening till seven^ when we 
halted, the river continued its course to the north. We saw a 
good many hippopotami^ who kept at some distance ; I could 
see nothing of them but their heads : the negroes assured me 
that they often saw them, and that if they passed near the 
canoes they would shatter them, as it were, with a touch. 
The river at this part is a little wider, we crossed it to the 
other side during the night. 
I gave the captain of the canoe (who since I had lent 
him some cowries had become more civil) a bit of coloured 
cloth, to make him a cap, on condition that he would supply 
me with proper food, till our arrival at Cabra ; thus I was 
much better fed, than I had previously been, for the captain, 
who was not very scrupulous, took no notice of the Rhama- 
dan, and, indeed, lived very well for that country. 
In the course of the night we were awakened by the 
roaring of wild beasts. 
On the 12th of April, at five in the morning, we stood 
to the east ; the river continued narrow, but deep ; its width, 
however, w^as still nearly equal to that of the Senegal at 
Podor; about eight o'clock it made an elbow to the south, 
and became narrower. This part of the river may be called 
the dungeon^ the name given to a particular part of the 
Senegal which is extremely narrow. The country on all sides 
is low and damp, and very bare ; at the narrow part of the 
river, 1 have just mentioned, there are several marshy islands, 
some of which are flooded all the year round; we also 
observed four great arms, two on each side. The river 
seemed to lose itself in the marshes, the banks being so low 
that, even at this season, they are well nigh overflowed. 
These marshes, extending as far as the eye can reach, 
are covered with pasturage, and frequented by multitudes of 
water-fowl of every species ; by numerous herds of cattle, 
sheep, and some horses, breaking, by their various cries, the 
silence of these desert regions. These herds belong to the 
VOL. II. D 
