Major Denham travelled, on this route, along the south side of the lake: but the road which he took is now entirely given up, on account of the insecurity of the country, and the place or rather district Keskári mentioned by him, lying from three to four hours’ march north-east from this place, is entirely deserted; we therefore followed a more southerly road. The first object which attracted our attention here was a herd of wild hogs, an animal which I had very rarely seen in these regions, but which I afterwards found frequenting in great numbers the country bordering on the river Shári; it even seems to form a substantial part of the food of the natives, not excepting the Mohammedans. While we were winding along the narrow path leading through the forest, the vegetation all at once exhibited an entirely new and very remarkable feature; for here, all on a sudden, I saw a group of perhaps ten or twelve large trees of arborescent _Euphorbiaceæ_. I have mentioned small specimens of euphorbia, on my journey through Dámerghú, and even in Háusa; but I had afterwards almost entirely lost sight of it in Negroland. Here, however, this plant grows to a height of certainly not less than from thirty to thirty-five feet, its succulent, luxuriant, cactus-like leaves contrasting in a very remarkable manner with the monotonous and dry vegetation of the mimosas around. There must be something very peculiar in the soil in this tract; for I never afterwards, in the whole of my travels, beheld the euphorbia attain to such an altitude, the greatest height which I saw it reach being twenty feet. This was in the country of Músgu, in an entirely isolated instance; and even on the journey to Bagírmi I did not meet with a single specimen of this plant, however small. Proceeding through a part of the forest which exhibited a fresher appearance, and which was enlivened by a troop of horsemen whom we met, we reached the village of Dábuwa at five o’clock in the afternoon. Here we were hospitably received, in consequence of the persuasive manners of my cheerful companion Kágo, while the apish grimaces of the trooper who formed my official escort were quite disregarded. Poultry, milk, and negro corn were given to us for our supper in the evening. In this place the people are not so badly off for water, the well measuring not more than five fathoms. [Sidenote: Sunday, March 7th.]