The governor was not a very intelligent man; but it was he who first called my attention to the fact that the town of Ngála has its own peculiar idiom, quite distinct from the Kanúri, and I afterwards found that it is even different from the dialects of the other principal places in the province of Kótokó, though it is very closely related to the idioms spoken by the islanders of the Tsád (the so-called Búdduma, but whose real name is Yédiná) on the one side, and to that of the Músgu on the other. At some distance from Ngála is the town of Ndíffu, or Ndifú, which is said to have been one of the latest strongholds of the tribe of the Soy, or Só, whom I have repeatedly mentioned in my historical sketch of the empire of Bórnu; and sundry remarkable ornaments are said to be dug up frequently in that place. [Sidenote: Tuesday, March 9th.] I had seen scarcely any traces of cultivation on the western side of the town; and when we set out again I found as little on the other sides. Nevertheless the environs of Ngála, especially the north-east side, are of great interest in the eyes of the Bórnu people, as having been the scene of two important battles fought with the Bagírmi, in the first of which, in the year of the Hejra 1233, the sultan Dúnama was slain; and my companions, who remembered all the incidents of that struggle, pointed out with patriotic enthusiasm the various positions which each body of the combatants had occupied. The country, however, became very monotonous, extending in an almost unbounded plain of black argillaceous soil of the description mentioned above, although after the rainy season, when the whole ground has become inundated, it is changed into one vast field of cultivation, producing that peculiar variety of sorghum or holcus which is called másakuwá; but at that season the whole of this country is scarcely passable for horses, and still less so for camels. Several small villages, inhabited by Shúwa, were to be seen at some distance to the south. We lost a great deal of time through having missed our way in a forest of small mimosas which surround this plain, till we at length reached a village called Síttahe, where we rested during the heat of the day. The village consists of two separate groups, one of which contains large conical huts for the rainy season, while the other is formed of light oblong dwellings adapted for the dry season, constructed entirely of mats. Here we were entertained by a mʿallem who had formerly possessed considerable property, but who had suffered greatly from the contributions levied upon him by the slaves of his liege lord. It is these impudent slaves of the court, who, having no interest in the welfare of the inhabitants, inflict so much evil on the country. With regard to the settlements of the Arabs in this district of Kótokó, I think that they are not more than two hundred years old. Most of these Arabs belong to the numerous tribe of the Sálamát.