242 
GUMEL SUPERSTITIONS . 
According to the information of a slave of the 
Sarkee, Gumel is a large Bornouese province, the 
capital of which is Tumbi: the Sultan's name is 
Dan-Tanoma. Gumel is one day and a-half from 
Zinder, but the capital is three days by horse and 
five days by camel travelling. Gumel has twelve 
great officers. Bundi is a large province of Bornou, 
the capital of which is Galadima : the Sultan's 
name is Kagami. Galadima is three days from 
Zinder. Aoud, a large place, is one day from Gala- 
dima. Alamaigo, also a large village or town, is half 
a day from Galadima. Meria, is three days from 
Galadima, and three from Zinder. 
According to strict Muslims, it is a sin to 
write Jebel Mekka, " the mountain of Mekka." 
I have lately noticed several instances of supersti- 
tion. A Moor of Fezzan, to whom I gave a small 
portion of camphor, showed me the paper and piece 
of cotton cloth in which he had wrapped it up, 
and swore that during the night the ginns, or evil 
spirits, had eaten it. Many other Moors asked 
me if it was possible to preserve camphor from 
the ginns? They said they knew a man who one 
evening locked up a piece of this substance in 
an iron box, and in the morning it was gone; 
the ginns had eaten it. 
I went to see the manufacture of the matting 
which is used for making houses. There were 
thirty slaves at work, all belonging to one man ; 
over these were three masters (also slaves), to keep 
