Wednesday, 13th.—The sultan sent me a present of a sheep and four Guinea fowls and some rice, from the Sanson, apologizing for his long absence in the camp, as the Tuaricks were very unsettled, and they had not as yet determined what party to side with. Thursday, 14th.—I to-day employed Hadji Omar and Malam Mohamed, the latter to give me a route, noting the northing and southing of the road, between Massina, the country in which he was born, to Soccatoo; the other, who has just returned from Mecca, to give me an account between this and Sennar, with a description of the countries, towns, and rivers: his route is from Kano to Adamowa, Bagermie, Runza, Kaffins, Darfoor, and Kordofan: he says the Bahr-el-Abiad is only about four feet deep in the summer, as is also the Shari above Logan, before it is joined by the river Asha, which comes from the south-east, through Bagermie, and falls into the Shari above Logan. This is the only river not fordable in the summer between the Quorra and the Bahr-el Azrek. Monday, 18th.—I was not a little surprised to-day with the arrival of a messenger from Kano, who had left, he said, my servants and baggage at the border town, or, as they call it, the Sanson, of Zamfra, with Hadji Salah, my agent; all of which he said had been sent for by the sultan’s order: he also said that Pascoe had been taken and brought back by Richard, after his having got as far as Roma, in Zegzeg, and that he had twice run away since, and had been taken, committing a fresh robbery each time; the last time was at the Sanson. The only construction I put on this strange proceeding was, that the sultan had done it, thinking that my things would be safer with me than at Kano; and, as my health was not very good, the account of Pascoe’s repeated robberies would make me worse; and he, I thought, had judged that it would be time enough to tell me when all my things had arrived. Tuesday, 19th.—I was visited by Sidi Sheik, who is one of the sultan’s Arab secretaries and confidential friends, who, after a little conversation on the affairs of other people, asked me if I was not glad my things were coming, and my servants. I said it would put me to an expense I could ill afford, and I thought it a very strange proceeding of the sultan.