June 11.—The feast of the Aide having arrived, and the Rhamadan finished, the new moon was ushered in by loud shouts, and by the firing of guns, and our last rocket was sent up in honour of the feast. It was preceded by a volley fired by my negroes with two carabines, and two brace of pistols, with my own gun, which gave great pleasure; for certainly never were people so enamoured of gunpowder and smoke. By sunrise all the troops were under arms, and the sheikh and all the chiefs mounted, and dressed in their finest bornouses, rode round the camp, and prayed at a short distance. The chiefs of two Munga towns came in to-day, but brought no tribute. We visited the sheikh in the evening, to congratulate him on the Rhamadan being over. He asked a great many questions, particularly about printing; and, addressing me, said:—“Why did you not bring plenty of rockets? They are the most wonderful things I ever saw.” At night we had a dreadful storm, and we were witnesses of a curious custom which the natives have, of digging an immense hole immediately after rain, and, when they come to the dry sand, getting into the hole, and lying down to avoid the damp earth. June 15.—To avoid the excessive heat of the tents, as we were still to be stationary, we rode to the town Gomsee, before the sun had gained sufficient power to be oppressive, and passed nearly the whole of the forenoon in the corner of the hut of a woman, who had come to the tents the day before for medicine. She had been troubled with ringworms for ten years: she recognised me on my entering the town, which I merely intended passing through, in order to gain the shade of some large tamarind-trees and mangoes that grow close to the lake; but she was so anxious that I should come to her house, that I could not refuse. Her husband was one of the principal persons, and their huts rather superior to the rest. In an inclosure of mats were three huts, one for the man, and the two others for his wife and slaves. I took possession of the former; when, after a repast of milk, and a kind of thick drink, made of a paste from the gussub flour, with honey and pepper, I had visits from at least one hundred of the inhabitants, male and female. This is nearly the last of the Bornou towns westwards. Although the men of Bornou are not warriors, nor the women favoured by nature, they are certainly a kind, inoffensive race; and in one hour were as intimate with me, as if I had been amongst them for years. It was decreed, however, that we were not to part quite such good friends. At noon my host brought in a very beautiful wild bull-skin, with water, on which he begged I would “sully” (pray), and, on my refusal, the usual investigation took place, which ended in my attendant explaining to them, “that I did not sully;” that is, “that I was not Mislem:” upon which, “Kerdie, Kerdie,” was whispered about. The women held up their hands, and the men retired to a distance, and I found my popularity rapidly decrease.