RESIDENCE AT SOCCATOO AND AI AGAR I A. 253 
sent to kill and skin a wild boar for me arrived with the skins of a 
boar, a sow, and one of their young ones. All the idle people in 
the neighbourhood had come to have a peep, as did several of the 
better sort of people, some of whom sat down to see me and the poor 
pagan, whose name is Whidah, and his sons go through the opera- 
tion of salting and packing the skins. They asked Whidah if he 
eat the flesh ? He answered, Yes, and very good it is too. It is 
quite ridiculous to see how much those people dread even to touch 
any part of the animal’s skin, and know not for what reason, only 
because they have heard others say so. I told them it was better 
meat than dogs’ flesh, which the people of Fezzan and those of Tri- 
poli eat; and at Tripoli dogs’ flesh was publicly sold in the market ; 
true they were Moslem, and had not a pig, which was more cleanly 
in its eating, and better to be eaten than a dog. My servants, the 
ignorant rascals, would not come near, and if there had been others 
to be hired, I w ould have paid them off. I first strewed the poison 
slightly over the inner part of the hides, then plenty of finely pounded 
salt, and made Whidah and his sons rub all well in, strewed them 
over with dried grass, and packed each separately in a mat, and gave 
them in charge to Whidah, to have them properly dried, and to 
take the flesh off the bones of the heads. The news soon got to the 
market that I had such things in my house ; and on sending to the 
market to buy three new mats, the owner said he would sell them 
to me, but would not bring them to my house; and now the pigs 
and I are the whole talk of Soccatoo. 
Sunday, 25th. — Divine service. Nothing worth remarking has 
happened since the 25th, except that I was laid up for the last 
four days with ague. 
Wednesday, 28th. — Paid Malem Mohamed 20,000 cowries for 
his waiting me an account of the country between Soccatoo and 
Masina, and Kano and Sennar, and making a chart of the river 
Quorra, between Cubbie and Masina. 
