PEOPLE OF GUM RUM. 
157 
blackbird ; and crows and doves in numbers. Kear 
the water I picked up the feathers of the guinea- 
fowl, and the piece of a shell of a large turtle. Bur- 
rows of the hysena and the ant-eater dotted the 
ground. En-Noor told me that lions also abound 
in the thickets. The lions conceal themselves in the 
trees, and the hysenas burrow under ground. 
Our people are now on the threshold of Damer- 
ghou, and do not know yet what route they will 
take from this country to Kanou ; whether by 
Tesaoua or Zinder. Even En-Noor seems quite 
undecided what he shall do. 
6th. — We came well on to-day, eight hours and 
twenty minutes. After four or five hours we passed 
on the roadside a dozen huts, with skin-roofs or 
coverings. The people are some light, some dark; 
variegated, like most of the Tuaricks. The children 
of eight or nine years go quite naked. After two 
hours more we came upon the large village of Gum- 
rum, or Gumrek. I saw many people, light and 
dark: the women are fat and bold, free in their 
conversation; and the men evidently fanatical. The 
latter shouted that we ought not to pass, because we 
were infidels. One fellow was very savage, and 
cursed me : he was an old grey-headed gentleman, 
and seemed quite excited. These people are also of 
the tribe of the Tagama. Amankee came up to me, 
whispering, " These are like the Kalfadai', they 
would rob you as they did, only they are all in the 
hands of the Sofo (En-Noor)." 
