36 
WILD BEASTS. 
During this disorder the whole cargo was lying on the shore 
exposed to the depredations of the sailors^ who would have 
made no scruple of appropriating any article to themselves^ 
had not guards been stationed here and there to watch them. 
When the cargo was once more in safety, the men who had 
rescued it were paid with millet. We then prepared to ad- 
vance, leaving the owners and crew of the wreck to wait till 
they could get another canoe from Timbuctoo. Fortunately 
for them there was no village near, or part of their cargo 
would in all probability have been carried off. 
About noon w^e took an easterly direction ; the river con- 
tinued wide, its banks low and adorned with a few bushes. 
Along the shore 1 observed the traces of elephants, who in- 
habited the neighbouring woods. I was anxious to see one of 
these animals, but could not gratify my curiosity. It is strange 
that, during my long wanderings in the interior of Africa, 
which, according to the accounts of many travellers, is in- 
fested with wild beasts, I never met with one. At sun-set the 
river took a turn to the north. About nine in the evening we 
stopped to rest for the night ; the heat had been excessive. 
At five on the morning of the 14th of April we again 
started. Half an hour after sun-rise we passed two little 
islands pretty close to each other ; here I observed a large 
arm of the river running W. S. W. At a little distance north- 
ward were two hills, which did not appear very high. 
At seven in the morning we found the river turning 
N. E. and about nine o'clock it began to flow due east, in 
which direction it continued for four or five miles ; then 
again it turned N. E., and about two in the afternoon we 
found ourselves before the little village of Dire, a dependency 
of Timbuctoo. As far as I could judge, 1 should suppose 
it contained about 150 or 200 inhabitants. Their houses are 
built of earth, and have terraced roofs. In an arm of the 
river which branched off in the neighbourhood of the village, 
there were six vessels of sixty tons burthen, on their way 
