and begged I would think no more about it; he himself knew it was a lie told by the Arabs to save their credit. We parted not quite such good friends as we had been. The country at present, on this side of Zaria, looks like some of the finest in England, about the latter end of the month of April. All around is green and beautiful, with only trees here and there. The soil a red clay, mixed with gravel. The cultivated ground continued until 11 A.M. when we entered a wood of low trees, which continued until noon, when we found ourselves amongst the cultivated grounds belonging to the town of Leokoro, which we passed, and halted on the east side. It is of considerable size, walled round, but the wall is in very bad condition, being broken and falling down in several places. The houses are in good repair, and the inhabitants numerous. Towards sunset several large herds of cattle came in from grazing in the neighbouring woods, and were secured in thorny enclosures outside the walls for the night. Saturday, 15th.—At 4.30 P.M. arrived and halted at a town called Roma, in English, Soup, whose walls are extensive; and, from the number of shady trees within them, must have once been a populous and well inhabited place. The present inhabitants do not amount to more than forty, poor, mean, and miserable. They were all collected under one of the old shady trees in the town to receive me, with their chief man at their head, bearing a long white wand, or peeled palm-tree branch in his hand, dressed in a ragged dirty white tobe, his skin spotted black and white like a leopard with disease. He conducted me to his house, which was large and spacious; but the courts were overgrown with weeds and grass; the roofs of the huts falling in; the floors wet, damp, and dirty. I could not amongst the whole find one fit to shelter man or beast. I went out, and he accompanied me until, amongst the untenanted houses, I found one, where I put my baggage for the night. He brought me a little corn in a gourd for my horses, and I asked him the cause of the sad state in which the town was: he said, the Fellatas, and held his peace. “Why is your house in such a state?” I asked. He said he once had fifty wives, but they had all run away one after another, and he could not take care of it himself. Plenty of guinea fowls came to roost on the shady tree. Towards sunset I went out and shot six, which served all hands.