[Footnote 183: Leo, l. vii. c. 7.] [Footnote 184: Navigazioni di Aloise Ca da Mosto, c. 13.: “La prima parte di loro va con la carovana che tiene il cammino di Melli ad un luogo che si chiama Cochia.”] [Footnote 185: We shall see, in the further course of our proceedings, that there is another direct road from Gógo to Tawát; but this, in ancient times, seems not to have been frequented, on account either of the difficulties of the road itself, or the dangerous character of the tribes in its vicinity.] [Footnote 186: Leo, l. vii. c. 1.: “E rimase debitore di centocinquanta mila ducati.”] [Footnote 187: Whether the story which circulates among the people, that this family originally came from Stambúl or Constantinople has any reasonable foundation, I am unable to decide.] [Footnote 188: This seems also to have been the most important income in the time of Leo: “Riceve il re gran rendita delle gabelle che pagano le robe de’ forestieri.”] [Footnote 189: In the Sónghay language “koy” means master, and is not only employed in other compositions, such as kút-koy (the shepherd), bír-koy (the marksman), but even as title for a governor, such as Túmbutu-koy (the governor of Timbúktu), Jínni-koy (the governor of Jínni). I therefore conclude that kó-koy means the master of the masters, or greatest master—the king of kings, like the Háusa “serkí sárakay.”] [Footnote 190: Perhaps some might conjecture that this word geré-geré has some connection with the Gér-geri of Ebn Batúta (see above); but I think there is none.] [Footnote 191: “Turáwa” is the plural of “ba-túre.” “Túre,” or “túri,” is an old word, already mentioned by Ebn Batúta (Journal Asiatique, 1843, tom. i. p. 201.): “Les hommes blancs, qui professent les doctrines sonnites et suivent le rite de Malik, sont designés ici (dans le royaume de Melle) par le nom de توري.” The word, therefore, seems to have been introduced into the Háusa language at a later period as designating the white people, and I think has connection with the word “túra” (to pray) in Fulfúlde, the language of the Fúlbe. I have only to mention that it never refers to any but Arabs or Europeans.] [Footnote 192: “Kókoy kaina” properly means the little master, a very appropriate term for a eunuch in an Oriental court. The homonymy of bába-n-serkí, the chief eunuch, and babá-n-serkí, the great lord or king, in the Háusa language, is really provoking.] [Footnote 193: Unfortunately I was unable to ascertain the elevation of the locality by observation, as I could only take a common thermometer with me on this trip; but, considering the whole ground along the road from Tintéllust, I think it can scarcely be less than 2500 feet.] [Footnote 194: The mithkál of Ágades is equal to 1000 kurdí, 2500 of which make a Spanish or Austrian dollar.]