“I dare say you begin to fear, but you have no reason, for we are all as safe as you are. We arrived here a month ago, and were received in the most flattering manner. Several thousand horsemen were sent out to conduct us to town. The sheikh was very kind, and has continued so ever since. He is the chief man; the sultan is nothing. The climate is very hot, and the heat will continue till the rains set in, which will not be for three months yet. The heat at present is about the same as it is at the hottest season in Fezzan. The inhabitants are two distinct races—the black and the copper-coloured. The former are Bornouese, and the latter are ———. We have found them both very obliging. Our journey here was pleasant, but it was over a dreary country. It yields no grass, and the wells are several days’ journey from each other. Few animated beings are to be seen in these deserts, and, unless for the purposes of gain, they are shunned by man. I have been rather unwell myself, but, thank God, I am now nearly well, and intend setting out on an excursion through Bornou, in three or four days. I had a slight fever and a troublesome cough which is now better. In our excursion I do not expect to see much that is interesting, as all the country we have passed over is much the same. There are often thickets of trees with grass, which is all dried up. Near the town there are many open spaces, on account of the trees having been cut down for firewood. Near a great lake called Spad, elephants, hippopotami, and antelopes are met with in great numbers; my friend Clapperton has shot a great many of the latter. He is quite an enthusiast in the chase, and has been very successful. He enjoys the best of health, and is as stout as ever. This is far from being a disagreeable country, but it is deficient in fruit and vegetables—a circumstance we did not expect so far to the southward, and which we feel as a great privation in a warm climate. We have provisions in abundance, especially fowls and sheep, the latter being very cheap,—40[1] for a dollar—a vast difference from what you must pay for your mutton. Still there is not that comfort in living here that you experience; and although you must pay more for some of the articles you use, yet, perhaps, you live cheaper than we can. There are no great beauties among the females of this place, yet many of them have pleasing countenances. All of them have their hair done up in a peculiar manner, which must require great patience and labour. They have among them four or five different fashions, each however adheres to her own, and it serves to distinguish the town to which she belongs, and the race from which she is descended; and so these African fashions may have continued many generations without change. It is quite a different thing with your fashionables, who must have something new every month. The dress is very simple, being merely a piece of blue calico, which comes up nearly to the shoulders, and a similar portion