178 
FROM KANO TO SOCCATOO. 
I said I would take his advice, as, from my own ill health and the 
badness of the roads, I saw we should soon be all knocked up, both 
man and beast. I had a plentiful supply of every thing. 
Wednesday, Oct. 1 1th. — Last night my horse died, and this morn- 
ing I lost my pocket journal and remark book'*, spectacles, inkhorn, 
and pens, &c., which my servant had laid on the saddle outside the 
door of my hut, ready for me when I came out. The person in 
whose house I had lodged while at Baebaegie I had permitted 
to remain in the same enclosure ; and my servant at once accused 
him and his men of the theft. I was desirous of searching them, 
but they made off the moment that the theft was discovered. 
At 7 A. M. I proceeded on my journey, passed through a large 
village, and several times crossed the river which I have frequently 
before mentioned as coming from the granite hills, to the south of 
Kaslina ; — it here winds beautifully, with steep and high-wooded 
banks, sometimes composed of rock, and sometimes a mixture of 
clay and rock. My camels I could hardly get along, as they were 
nearly worn out with sores and fatigue. The country around Zur- 
mie is well cultivated, and planted with millet, Indian corn, and 
dourra. The villages are numerous, the soil a light red clay, mixed 
with small crumbling rocks scattered over the surface, which is 
generally covered with a thin layer of sand. 
The army has now increased to a large size, the forces of 
Zurmie and Jaroba having joined, the roads on every side crowded 
with horse and foot, camels, bullocks, and asses, all striving who 
shall get foremost. Some of the people of Zurmie are entirely 
naked, save only tanned sheep skin bound round the loins, cut into 
tassels, and ornamented with cowries, their woolly hair cut in parts 
or shaved, the rest plaited and formed into crests, circles, &c. Some 
have it drawn out, and hanging in shaggy ringlets, which gives 
them a wild and savage appearance. 
* It does not appear that he ever recovered them — hence the hiatus in the journal. 
