We had some little difficulty in understanding our guide. The Songhay he spoke was so unlike that in use in Timbuktu. Towards evening he wanted us to go up a little creek on the left, at the end of which, with the aid of our glasses, we saw a number of camels grazing; but not knowing why so many animals were assembled here, for they are generally kept some little distance from the river, I thought it more prudent to anchor opposite the village of Forgo, on an island. We heard the _tabala_ beating around us again. About eight o’clock a canoe approached, in which was the brother of the chief of the village, who hailed us. I did not at all like his reserved manner. He kept on talking about the _tabala_ of Madidu, which, he said, could be heard when it was beaten all over the country from Burrum to Ansongo. He promised us some presents from his brother, but, needless to say, we never saw them. We started very early the next morning, winding our way amongst the numerous islands dotting the river. Presently on our left we saw some beautiful trees with bushy foliage, and all of a sudden from their midst arose a greyish mass of the shape of a truncated pyramid. There was not the slightest doubt that it was the tomb of the founder of the Songhay dynasty, Mohamed Askia, and that we were close to Garo or Gao; Garo, the ancient capital of the Western Sudan; Garo, the most powerful city ever founded by negro civilization, the metropolis from which radiated the various routes bringing to the Niger the produce of the Tchad districts and of Egypt; Garo, which but two Europeans, Mungo Park and Dr. Barth, had ever seen. Our emotion at this stage of our journey can be better understood than described. From what was once the mighty town of Garo the river mists of the morning rose up; from a dead city now, but one which it was perchance our mission to restore. A great people, whose heart this lost city may be said to have been, once lived and flourished here. The Askias had united under their banner all the African states from Lake Tchad to the Senegal, and from the desert to Say. The Songhay empire was then not only the most powerful in Africa, but of the whole contemporary world. Felix Dubois, in his book called _Timbuktu the Mysterious_, gave an account, founded on the _Tarich es Sudan_, of the Songhay, which supplements well the information given to Barth about the people who once dwelt in the great empire named after them. To add to what these great authorities have said would be mere waste of time. I must remark here, however, that I was struck by the fact that lower down the Niger the Songhay have taken the name of Djerma, which is that of the district and its inhabitants where they now dwell. This name Djerma is also that of the North African oasis which was known to the ancients as Garama, or the land of the Garamantes. The resemblance between the two cannot fail to strike every one.