I am told his highness is much feared by all the people of the provinces. He has the character of being impartial. But the way in which he carries out capital punishment is truly terrible, and beyond conception barbarous. He neither hangs nor beheads. This mode of punishment is too mild for him. No; he actually cuts open the chest, and rips out the heart! or else hangs up people by the heels, and so inflicts upon them a lingering death. I am astonished that the Sheikh of Bornou permits such barbarity, but imagine that the Sheikh is still afraid of his vassal, and shrinks from endeavouring to deprive him of this awful power. Here, then, we have a specimen of the negro character, with all its contradictions; soft and effeminate in its ordinary moods; cheerful, and pleasant, and simple, to appearance; but capable of acting, as it were without transition, the most terrible deeds of atrocity. Say what you will of the barbarism of the Tuaricks, such a mode of inflicting capital punishment is unknown amongst them. I took leave of his highness, promising to come again another day and bring other things. This evening we were disturbed by the cries of the hyæna; a large one had come down upon the calves belonging to a drove of bullocks, and carried off one as big as itself. The brute seizes its prey by the throat, and so prevents the animal from giving intelligence to its pursuers. The place of execution is near my house, and when the Sultan executes any criminal the body is left unburied. At such times, troops of hyænas, old and young, come down in the night, from the rocks and open country, and devour the body in a few minutes. The jackal does not visit this place, but is found in the open country. There are also many lions on the road between this and Kuka. A very simple mode of salutation is prevalent here in Zinder, said to be the custom of Wadaï--that of merely clapping the palms of the hand together; the hand being held forward flat, not edge-ways. Gurasu is an interesting Tuarick territory, three days' journey north-east from Zinder, and two days from Minyo. This country consists of a number of small villages, scattered upon the rocks, or mountains. The inhabitants are especially those banditti who, from time to time, plunder the caravans on the route from Bornou to Mourzuk. Gurasu is seven days from Kanem, and Kanem is three days from the Bornou route. Kanem is mostly a desert country, and has now only a few inhabitants. Gurasu and Damerghou are the only Tuarick countries adjoining the provinces of the Sheikh of Bornou, and Gurasu is the last country east in this part of Africa. There is but very slight communication between it and Zinder; and little is known of the people, except that they are Tuaricks. _19th._--I again entertained visitors, who are still numerous, of all classes; and also paid a visit to the Shereef, and took with me the kaleidoscope, as he expressed a wish to see its revolving glowing beauties.