298 
TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 
after ten we reached Conian-gee, or the water 
of Conian, where a town formerly stood, but 
of which no vestige remained. It belonged toKas- 
son, and was destroyed by the Kaartans. The 
place appeared to be the resort of numerous 
herds of elephants and other wild animals, drawn 
there in search of water, in which, though mud- 
dy and of a bad taste, the place abounded. Some 
of our asses that had fallen and thrown their 
loads, in scrambling up those mountains fell to 
the rear, and were, with the men attending them, 
attacked by so dense a swarm of bees, that the 
former ran into the woods throwing their loads, 
and the latter were obliged to seek safety in flight. 
It was not without much labour and loss of time 
that the loads were brought up, or the asses 
found. 
Having made a scanty meal with some of our 
dried provisions, and filled our soofras with 
putrid water, we moved forward to the ene., 
at five PM., and, travelHng through close woods 
until eight, arrived at a place called Mama 
Niarra, where, to our no small mortification, the 
supply of muddy water we expected to meet 
was dried into mud itself. To increase the un- 
pleasantness of our situation, some of the Kaar- 
tans who had gone on before set fire to the grass, 
which, being to windward of us, made rapid 
progress towards the spot where we had halted. 
