October 10.—We had to-day a fresh breeze from the north-west, which was delightfully invigorating, and the natives promised us some few days of cold dry weather, which was to carry off all the fever and agues. This strongly reminded me of the Spanish villagers in Old Castile, who, during the sickly months of July and August, were, upon an average, three out of four confined to their beds with a very similar complaint: like these people, they took no medicines, but always said, “When the cold winds come we shall be better.” The winds in Bornou are regular and periodical: previous to our going to Munga, east and south-east winds were nearly constant; when the rainy season commenced, we had them from the south-west, with a thick atmosphere, a sultry, damp, and oppressive air. Previous to a storm, gusts of wind would accompany the black clouds which encompassed us, and blow with great force from the north-east; these winds, however, were not accompanied by such violent or lasting rains; but when the clouds formed themselves to the south-east, they were tremendous, accumulating, as it were, all their force, and gradually darkening into a deeper and more terrific black, with frequent and vivid forked lightning, accompanied by such deafening and repeated claps of thunder, as shook the ground beneath our feet like an earthquake. The rain always at these times burst upon us in torrents, continuing sometimes for several hours; while blasts of wind, from the same quarter, drove with a violence against our unsheltered huts, that made us expect, every instant, low as they were, to see the roofs fly from over our heads, and deprive us of the trifling protection they afforded. After these storms, the inclosures round our huts were often knee deep in water, and channels were formed, with all possible speed, in order to prevent the huts themselves from being inundated. At the full and change of the moon these storms were always most violent. Oct. 16.—“How use doth breed a habit in a man.” Miserably solitary as were all my pursuits, disheartening as were my prospects, and demi-savage as was my life altogether, I was incapable of accounting, even to myself, for the tranquillity in which my days glided away. The appetite with which I generally devoured the rice or paste, which formed my lone repasts, for no one could endure the smell of food but myself, so heavy was sickness upon them; the satisfaction felt in my morning and evening visits to Barca Gana, and the plans, full of hope of further progress, which floated in my imagination, when at night I laid my head upon my pillow, frequently excited in my mind the most proud and grateful sensations.