About the same time Pullo Khalifa appeared at Fort Archinard, sent, he said, by Ibrahim Galadio, the friend of Monteil. He began by asking us what we wanted, but it really was he who wanted to get something out of us. We gave him a fine red _chechia_ to replace his own, which was very dirty and greasy. Later we gave him various other presents, but, strange to say, he always came to visit us in his shabbiest garments. [Illustration: TALIBIA.] _Thursday, April 23._—In the evening a sudden noise and confusion arose on shore at Talibia, and in our camp we heard dogs barking and women shrieking, whilst the glare of torches lit up the surrounding darkness. Gradually the tumult died away in the distance. Had the Toucouleurs been on the way to surprise us, but finding us prepared given up the idea for the time being? We shouted to Mahmadu Charogne, but no answer came. Mamé then fired a fowling-piece into the air, but nothing came of it. All was silent again, but we passed the night in watching, for we knew that that very morning a man wearing a white _bubu_ had tried to tamper with our coolies, and to frighten away the native traders. He had shouted from the left bank that Amadu had let loose the Silibés upon us, giving them permission to make war on us, and promising them the blessing of Allah if they beat us. No wonder such a coincidence as this put us on our guard. The next morning Mahmadu explained the uproar of the preceding evening. It had been a question not of an attack on us, but of a wedding amongst the Koyraberos. He told us a marriage is never consummated until the bridegroom has literally torn away his bride from her people, and the rite of abduction, for a regular rite it is, is a very exciting ceremony. When the suitor comes to pay the dowry it is customary for him to give his _fiancée_, it is considered good form for the parents to shrug their shoulders, and pretend that the sum offered is not enough; millet is very dear just now, they say, and they cannot afford wedding festivities worthy of their daughter. They must keep her at home until after the harvest, and so on. The young man goes home then with bowed head and a general air of depression. When he gets back to his own village he calls his relations and friends together, chooses out the best runners and those who can shout the loudest, and with them returns to seize the object of his choice. He finally succeeds in taking her away in the midst of screams, yells, and the sham curses of her relations, who are really full of joy at the marriage. The so-called ravishers of the dusky bride are pursued to the last tents of the village, and the ceremony concludes, as do all weddings amongst the negroes, with a feast such as that of Gamache immortalized in _Don Quixote_.