116 
AFRICA AND ITS EXPLORATION. 
“ One of tlie skeletons we saw to-day,” says Denham, 
“ still looked quite fresh. The beard was on the chin, 
the features could be recognised. ‘ It is my slave,’ 
exclaimed one of the merchants of the kafila. ‘ I left 
him near here four months ago.’ ‘ Make haste and 
take him to the market! ’ cried a facetious slave 
merchant, e lest some one else should claim him.’ ” 
Here and there in the desert are oases containing 
towns of greater or less importance, at which the caravans 
halt. Kishi is one of the most frequented of these places, 
and there the money for the right of crossing the desert 
is paid. The Sultan of Kishi, the ruler of a good many 
of these petty principalities, and who takes the title of 
Commander of the Faithful, was remarkable for a 
complete disregard of cleanliness, a peculiarity in which, 
according to Denham, his court fully equalled him. 
This sultan paid Boo-Khaloum a visit in his tent, 
accompanied by half-a-dozen Tibboos, some of whom 
were positively hideous. Their teeth were of a dark 
yellow colour, the result of chewing tobacco, of which 
they are so fond that they use it as snuff as well as to 
chew. Their noses looked like little round bits of flesh 
stuck on to their faces, with nostrils so wide that they 
could push their fingers right up them. Denham’s 
watch, compass, and musical snuff-box astonished them 
not a little. He defines these people as brutes with 
human faces. 
The caravan now crossed the Tibboo country, in¬ 
habited by a peaceful, hospitable people, to whom, as 
keepers of the wells and reservoirs of the desert, the 
leaders of caravans pay passage-money. The Tibboos 
are a strong, active race, and when mounted on their 
nimble steeds they display marvellous skill in throwing 
the lance, which the most vigorous of their warriors can 
hurl to a distance of 145 yards. Bilma is their chief 
city, and the residence of their sultan. 
On the arrival of the travellers at Bilma, the sultan, 
escorted by a number of men and women, came out to 
meet the strangers. The women were much better- 
looking than those in the smaller towns ; some of them 
O ? 
