N.B.--If I remain a month at Zinder, I must make a little excursion amongst the Bornou villages and see the rustic life of the people; but I fear it will be a bad place to hear the pure Bornouese language. I still hope to go off early to Sakkatou, and finish quickly with Soudan. In these matters the Germans are better off than I am, and have not to wait for money.[10] [10] Nearly the whole of this long account of a residence in Aheer consists in the journals of Mr. Richardson of disjointed fragments, jotted down almost without any connexion. This was necessarily the case. Few incidents, save an occasional visit from thieves, or a dispute with that strange old gentleman, Sultan En-Noor, diversified this period. However, the simple commonplace book of a traveller in a totally new country can never be without its interest. No doubt Mr. Richardson would have attempted, had he survived, to throw all these observations into a picture; but any attempt to do so on my part would have probably resulted in the omission of characteristic traits, and the introduction of extraneous ideas. The following chapters appear to me to increase in interest, page by page.--ED. CHAPTER VII. Razzia on the Fadeea--Haussa--Names of Places--Ant-track--Circular Letter from Mourzuk--Vast Rock--Mustapha Bey's Letter--Effects of Water--Butterflies--Aspect of the Country--A Slave advanced to Honour--Shonshona--Herbage--Birds--Appearance of the Salt-Caravan--Colours of Dawn--Bilma Salt--Mode of Barter--Pass the Rock of Mari--Granite--Indigo Plant--Presents at Stamboul--The Sultan begs again--Old Men's Importunities--Baghzem--Curiosities of the Route--People of Damerghou--Temporary Village of Women--Country begins to open--Barter Transaction with Lady En-Noor. _Dec. 10th._--I rose before the sunrise; the coldest morning we have had; thermometer at half-an-hour after sunrise, 38°.