We followed the direct route for Ngála. The country, open at the commencement, became gradually covered by the dúm-bush, and further on by middle-sized trees of various kinds. Besides the wife of my escort trooper, who was to pay a visit to her father in Bagírmi, and who was at least a degree better than her husband, a very cheerful man of the name of Kágo had attached himself to our little troop. He had been acquainted with the members of the former expedition, and was anxious to give me all possible information with regard to the qualities of the various trees and bushes which adorned the wilderness, especially the kári, karáwa, and látram; and on this occasion I learnt that a kind of disease, which would seem to be the stigma of a closely-packed civilization, is not at all rare in these countries: it is here called “dun.” Everything testifies to the richness of this country, which is now left to utter neglect. The population of the small villages which dot the landscape is mixed, consisting one half of Kanúri, and the other of Shúwa; and I was not a little surprised to find in one of them, which belongs to a man named Mʿallem Tálbay Sámi, Felláta or Fúlbe mixed with the Kanúri. Most of the Shúwa had already deserted their villages for temporary residences in other quarters. At an early hour we halted in the village Kostári, the inhabitants of which had seen me on a former occasion. They seem to be very poor, which may however be attributed to their laziness. According to their own account, they were living almost entirely upon the waterfowl which frequent the shores of the lagoon in countless numbers; and indeed the whole village was full of wild geese and ducks. However, I succeeded in getting a little milk, some honey, and kréb, or kashá,—a kind of seed, probably identical with the _Poa Abyssinica_, but of which there are different species: here in Bórnu there are principally two species, called “kashá ngórgo” and “kashá magáya,” while in Wádáy there are three or four, called “denáng,” “líliyák,” “shorók,” and tanfáfanáng, besides a collateral species called “felé.” It is very remarkable that, while the waters of the lake are fresh, most of the water which is obtained hereabouts, at a very short distance from its shore, is full of natron. The water of this place was so impregnated with that mineral, that it was scarcely drinkable, which was felt the more as the air was oppressive in the extreme; and I felt so exhausted at the commencement of my journey, and after a long stay in the town, that I was obliged to recruit my strength with a small remnant of _mastico_ which I had with me. The heat was so intense that I felt very grateful when, later in the afternoon, a slight breeze sprung up. My poor animals, however, fared still worse than myself, being tormented by a large blood-sucking fly.