On the road we passed some cotton-plantations and stubble-fields. The chief agricultural produce of Mása consisted of “sábade,” the sweet sorghum or _Sorghum saccharatum_. This sort of grain I had not yet seen in the course of my journey; but in Díkowa my friend Malá Ibrám had sent me a large quantity of it, in order that I might indulge in this African luxury. At that period I was surprised at the great length of these stalks, some of which measured fourteen feet; but how astonished was I afterwards, when, in the course of my travels, in the luxuriant valleys of Kébbi I found specimens of twice that length! This evening the vizier treated us with the marrow of the “sábade,” which in snow-white pieces of about eight inches in length, were neatly placed upon a straw cover or “féfe,” such as are used in the country. While indulging in this simple African dainty, our conversation, very naturally, turned upon the cultivation as well as the preparation of sugar, which is one of those articles of European industry that most excites the admiration of the natives of this country. But when they learn in what a filthy manner it is refined, they become horrified, and hesitate whether they shall say farewell to this indulgence, or overcome the scruples and prejudices of their creed. There is no doubt that the “sábade” would yield a rich produce of sugar; but it is not necessary to have recourse to this expedient, as the sugar-cane itself grows wild in several regions of Negroland, and we shall actually find a small plantation of it, and boiling-houses, on a small scale, carried on by a native in the neighbourhood of Sókoto. Our conversation at these African _soirées_ with the vizier became sometimes so learned, that even Ptolemy with his “_Mandros oros_” was quoted. But, sad as it must seem to all who, like myself, delight in going back into remote antiquity, this famous mountain, which at the first sight seems to be an ancient memorial of the Mándará mountains, of some 1700 years standing, appears to belong entirely to Western Africa. Our kind host always found great delight in every kind of information; it was only a pity he was wanting in manly energy to carry out his good projects. [Sidenote: Monday, December 8th.]