Such is the general plan of a Bornou house. For the construction of the walls the following method is constantly pursued: a trench for the foundation being made, is filled with dry and solid materials rammed in with force, and levelled; on these a layer of tempered mud or clay is placed; and in this substitute for mortar a suitable number of stones are regularly fixed. Thus with alternate layers of clay and stones the wall proceeds; but as soon as it has reached the height of six or seven feet, the workmen suspend its progress for a week, that it may have time to settle, and become compact; for which purpose they water it every day. When the walls are finished they are neatly plaistered, both within and without, with clay or mud, tempered with sand; for the country furnishes no lime. The roofs are formed of branches of the palm tree, intermixed with brushwood; and are so constructed as at first to be waterproof; but such is the violence of the wind and rain, that the end of the second year is the utmost period of their brief duration.[20] Much less attention is given to the furniture than is bestowed on the structure of the houses; for the catalogue of the utensils is extremely short. Among the lower classes of the inhabitants it consists of the mats covered with a sheep-skin, upon which they sleep; of an earthen pot; of a pan of the same materials; of two or three wooden dishes, a couple of wooden bowls, an old carpet, a lamp for oil, and perhaps a copper kettle. Persons of a superior rank are also possessed of leathern cushions, that are stuffed with wool; of several brass and copper utensils, of a handsome carpet, and of a sort of candlesticks; for instead of the vegetable oil which is used by the common people, they employ the light of candles manufactured from their bees wax and the tallow of their sheep. Bornou is situated at the distance of a day’s journey from a river which is called Wed-el-Gazel, from the multitude of antelopes that feed upon its banks, and which is lost in the deep and sandy wastes of the vast Desart of Bilma.[21] From the symmetry of the houses, and the general resemblance which they bear to each other, a regular arrangement of streets might, with the utmost ease, have been given to their towns. In Bornou, however, a different system has prevailed; for even in the capital, the houses, straggling wide of each other, are placed without method or rule; and the obvious propriety of giving to the principal mosque, a central situation, exhibits the only proof of attention to general convenience.[22] The King’s palace, surrounded by high walls, and forming a kind of citadel, is built, perhaps with a view to security, in a corner of the town.[23] Markets for the sale of provisions are opened within the city; but for other articles, a weekly market, as in Barbary, is held without the walls.