262 
KORGUM AND ZINDER. 
The Sarkee said, " Go." But as soon as the news 
came that the sultan was gone, this prince, in whom 
that other put his trust, immediately set out to 
make a razzia on the country deserted by its sultan. 
" Compos /" cried my Moorish informant ; and 
certainly it was a clever negro trick. It is difficult 
to know whom to pity or condemn in this ini- 
quitous affair. We may be certain, however, that 
the poor women and children, the principal suf- 
ferers by the razzias, are guiltless in these trans- 
actions ; and we may, without fear, bestow our 
sympathies upon them. At the same time it is 
allowable to admire the profound secrecy with, 
which the Sarkee planned his razzia. Not a soul 
in Zinder, besides himself, knew where he was 
going. The general opinion was to Daura, which 
affords scope for a thousand razzias. 
The correspondence which I have mentioned 
between the vassals of Korgum and Zinder illus- 
trates the abominable system on which the Sheikh 
of Bornou permits his provinces to be governed. 
Really it is difficult to compare the condition of 
this extraordinary region to anything but a forest, 
through which lions and tigers range to devour 
the weaker and more timid beasts — to which they 
grant intervals of repose during the digestion of 
their meals. 
