The watercourse was from sixty to seventy yards broad, and inclosed so regularly between its banks, which were about ten feet high, that it had quite the appearance of an artificial canal,—a peculiarity which in the course of time I frequently observed, not only here, but also in the similar watercourses along the Niger. At the point where we crossed it, the sheet of water was entirely broken by a small sandbank, so that we went over without wetting our feet. However, I conjectured that this was an artificial dyke thrown up by the persecuted natives, in order to keep open an easy connection with the river, on which alone their safety depended. Without any delay the expedition pushed on, in the hope of overtaking the fugitives before they had crossed the river; for here we were quite close to the western shore of the river of Logón, which is generally, but erroneously, called Shári, while this name, which belongs to the language of the Kótokó, and means “river” in general, applies more properly to the larger eastern branch below Klésem, which is inhabited by Kótokó, and to the united stream lower down below the junction of the two branches. In this place the river, or “éré,” is called Serbéwuel, I think, in the Músgu language; higher up, where we shall make its acquaintance in the course of our further researches, it is called Bá-Gun and Bá-Bay, “bá” being the general name for river in the language of Bagírmi and the native tribes of the Sóm-ray, as well as in the language of the Manding or Mandingoes. After a short time we stood on the banks of the stream. It was a considerable river even at the present moment, although it was greatly below its highest level, and probably represented the mean depth of the whole year. At present it was about four hundred yards wide, and so deep that six Shúwa horsemen, who, in their eager desire for spoil, had ventured to enter it, were carried away by the stream, and fell an easy prey to about a dozen courageous pagans, who, in a couple of canoes, were gliding up and down the river to see what they could lay their hands upon. They felt that we were unable to follow them without canoes, although for any active body of men it would have been an easy affair to construct a few rafts for crossing over, there being a plentiful supply of timber. The banks of the river on this side were at present about twenty-five feet high. The opposite shore was not so steep, and from its rich vegetation had a very inviting appearance; but I was glad, for the sake of the poor natives, that we were unable to reach it, and I think even our friend the Háj Beshír looked at this interesting landscape rather with a degree of scientific interest than with anger and disappointment. Unfortunately, on this occasion I had not taken my telescope with me, but I was so fortunate as still to get a sight of this river a little lower down.