MASTER WORTHLESS VOCABULARIES. 99 
tially a merry, care-nothing people, always half 
tipsy, and always full of fun. They, however, work 
a little in agriculture ; differing from our gipsies, 
who are little more than itinerant tinkers. A hoy 
was shown to me to-day, whom his parents had 
christened Butu, "worthless." It is related that 
his mother had many children before him, all of 
whom died, and when he came into the world 
the people or neighbours all cried, " Butu! Butu!'* 
i. e. " He will come to nothing." Then, it is added, 
" God seeing the people gave him a bad name, 
determined in compassion to preserve his life, and 
so his life was preserved to this day." 
En-Noor returned this evening from his visit 
to the marabout. — It is my intention to send home 
fifty thousand African words for this expedition. 
What future expeditions may do, if my life be 
spared, I cannot tell. I speak for this. I imagine 
I have already sent to the Foreign Office six thou- 
sand. I shall have five thousand, I hope, by the 
time I get to Zinder — three of Soudanese, and 
two of Bornouese. I must try to get a few words 
of the Aghadez language. These I can get, pro- 
bably, at Sakkatou. I must have another writer, 
or fighi. My present Bornouese fighi is a very 
poor fellow. 
24th. — The Sunday soon came again, with the 
study of languages. Now the time of our waiting 
here does not appear to be long enough. I have 
a commercial dictionary to make. 
