The country assumed more and more the appearance of a swamp at present dry; and we were even obliged to change our direction frequently, in order to avoid spots where the bog had not dried up, while everywhere we observed the same kind of small ridges which I have mentioned before. Further on, the ground became a little drier, but presented only a monotonous waste, with detached bunches of rank grass, overshadowed now and then by scanty and stunted karáge trees scarcely fifteen feet high, while we had been accustomed, in the Músgu country, to see this kind of tree assume the size of the most magnificent specimens of the vegetable kingdom, with an elevation of from seventy to eighty feet, and a crown of not less diameter. As far as the eye could reach, the character of the country presented the same poor appearance; but, as I have mentioned before, the sky was not very clear, and the view was therefore rather limited. The bush of the fan-palm seemed to be quite solitary, without there being a full-grown specimen to be seen. At length this swampy ground seemed to have an end; but nothing but poor stubble-fields, where the crop had failed, took its place, with here and there a few detached poor-looking huts, the few trees which were visible exhibiting the same scanty growth that we had observed in the district through which we had just passed. At last the eye, fatigued by the length of this gloomy tract, was refreshed by the sight of a field with a fresh crop of másakuwá, or _Holcus cernuus_, though it was far from being a rich one. Already here, besides the huts common in this country, others, of a remarkable and peculiar style, became visible, such as I shall describe further on, and as only the most excellent clay soil can enable the natives to build. Entering for a while a grassy plain, we reached an open water, such as the Kanúri people call komádugu, about thirty yards broad, but apparently of considerable depth, being inclosed by banks ten feet high, and winding through the plain in a fine meandering course. The water, at present, had no current; and we found a spot where it was totally broken, and were enabled to cross it with dry feet. A few hundred yards on the other side of this watercourse were the ruins of Bága, the residence of the chief Kábishmé (or, as the Kanúri call him, Kabshimé), which had been ransacked last year by Kashélla ʿAlí Fúgomámi. Among these ruins the vizier, by the advice of Ádishén, who wanted to keep the undisciplined host from his own fertile territory, had chosen the encampment. Thither I directed my steps, while the main body of the cavalry were scattered about the corn-fields, in order to gather the half-ripe ears of grain for themselves and their half-starved horses; and he was lucky who arrived first, those who came afterwards either finding nothing at all, or only green, unwholesome corn.