All these Jews, however, seem to have thriven in their apostasy. Ibrahim of Zinder is worth about six or seven thousand dollars, and, besides being a working-jeweller, is a merchant. I tried to exchange some of my imitation rings for his silver ones, but it was useless. He had the conscience to demand thirty of my nicely-made rings for one of his trumpery, ill-made silver ones--silver with a very bad alloy. Then he wanted a pretty cotton-print handkerchief for a miserable silver bead. With such people it is impossible to strike a bargain. These Barbary Jews are the hardest and most tricky dealers in the world. Ibrahim has been laid up with a bad leg for five months, and intends going to Kuka when he gets better. He wanted me to sell him some mastic, but I refused. He said he wished to have one jolly day, but the fellow is almost a skeleton with his ulcerous leg. The Shereef Saghir is quite a character. He has been over the greater part of the world, and along the Indian coast--has seen the English in India, and the Christians in many ways and manners; and so is free from all sort of fanaticism. He wants now to return with me to England. He says--Soudan is _bâtal_ (worthless), and that if he take his wife, the daughter of the Sarkee of Zinder, with him to the north coast, he will sell her, and so finish his connexion with the negroes! I forgot to mention that Ibrahim has brought with him a Muslim wife from Mourzuk, and has now two or three black wives, and several children. From the courier who came from Dr. Overweg I have obtained the following account of the route from Zinder to Tesaoua: From Zinder direct west to Tus, 1 hour; village: to Termini, 5 hours; village: to Dambidda, 1 hour; a large village: to Babul, 5 hours; village: to Gumda, 4 hours; village: to Kurnaua, 4 hours; village: to Garagumsa, 5 hours; village: to Shabari, 7 hours; village: to Maizirgi, 1 hour; large village: to Tesaoua, 5 hours. Along this route there is abundance of herbage and trees, but no running water or wadys. There are wells of great depth. The distances between the various villages being in all, when summed up, thirty-eight hours, we must consider the whole length of the route three long and four short days' journey, as the caravans generally arrive on the fourth day. Slavery is the curse of all these countries. My Soudan servant, Amankee, would not come with me to Zinder, on account of his longing desire to see his mother and brother and sisters; and yet, although these feelings are deep in the bosoms of all the blacks, they can see their neighbours torn away from their houses and carried off in irons with the greatest indifference. The slaves of the Sarkee of Zinder are double-ironed, like convicts, and in this condition jump through the streets, for they cannot walk. The backs of these poor slaves are all ulcerated with the strokes of the whip.