28.4 TRAVELS IN AFRICA, 
makes feveral holes with his own hand. The fame cuftom, it 
is faid, obtains in Bornou, and other countries in this part of 
Africa. It calls to the mind a practice of the Egyptian kings, 
mentioned by Herodotus. Whether this ufage be antecedent to 
the introdudion of Mohammedifm into the country, I know 
not ; but as it is attended with no fuperftitious obfervance, it 
would rather feem to belong to that creed. 
jjyi: Population. 
The niimber of inhabitants in a country in fo rude a ftate as 
this is at prefent, it muft neceffarily be extremely difficult to 
compute with precifion. PofHbly the levies for war may fur- 
ni£h fome criterion. The Sultan, for about two years, had 
been engaged in a very ferious war with the ufurper of Kor- 
dofan. The original levies for this war I have underftood 
confifted of about two thoufand men. Continual reinforce- 
ments have been fent, which may be fuppofed to amount to 
more than half that number. At prefent the army does not 
contain more than two thoufand, great numbers of them having 
been taken off by the fmall-pox, and other caufes. Even this 
number is very much miffed, and the army is ftill fpoken of as 
a very large one. It feems to me from this and other confider- 
ations, that the number of fouls within the empire cannot 
much exceed two hundred thoufand. Cobbe is one of their 
moft populous towns ; yet from the beft computation I have 
been able to make, knowing the number of inhabitants in the 
greater part of the houfes, I cannot perfuade myfelf that the 
total 
