AFRICAN EXPLORERS OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY. 123 
This incident had a very bad effect, and Denham 
was not again admitted to the presence of the sultan. 
The enemies of the Pacha of Bornou and the Sultan 
of Mandara were called Fellatahs. Their vast settle¬ 
ments extended far beyond Timbuctoo. They are a 
handsome set of men, with skins of a dark bronze colour, 
which shows them to be of a race quite distinct from the 
negroes. They are professors of Mahommedanism, and 
mix but little with the blacks. We shall presently have 
to speak more particularly of the Fellatahs, Foulahs, or 
Fans, as they are called throughout the Soudan. 
South of the town of Mora rises a chain of mountains, 
of which the loftiest peaks are not more than 2500 feet 
high, but which, according to the natives, extend for 
more than “two months’ journey.” 
The most salient point noticed by Denham in his 
description of the country, is a vast and apparently 
interminable chain of mountains, shutting in the view on 
every side ; this, though in his opinion inferior to the 
Alps, Apennines, Jura, and Sierra Morena, in rugged 
magnificence and gigantic grandeur, are yet equal to 
them in picturesque effect. The lofty peaks of Valhmy, 
Savah, Djoggiday, Munday, &c., with clustering villages 
on their stony sides, rise on the east and west, while 
Horza, exceeding any of them in height and beauty, 
rises on the south with its ravines and precipices. 
Derkulla, one of the chief Fellatah towns, was reduced 
to ashes by the invaders, who lost no time in pressing on 
to Musfeia, a position which, naturally very strong, was 
further defended by palisades manned by a numerous 
body of archers. The English traveller had to take 
part in the assault. The first onslaught of the Arabs 
appeared to carry all before it; the noise of the fire-arms, 
with the reputation for bravery and cruelty enjoyed by 
Boo-Ivhaloum and his men, threw the Fellatahs into 
momentary confusion, and if the men of Mandara and 
Bornou had followed up their advantage and stormed the 
hill, the town would probably have fallen. 
The besieged, however, noticing the hesitation of 
their assailants, in their turn assumed the offensive, and 
