After a march of about nine miles we reached a place called Báta, half deserted, and surrounded by a clay wall, in a very decayed state. Nevertheless, the few cottages that remained, simple and unpretending though they were, testified to some degree of industry and cleanliness. Of hospitality, however, we received no proof; and the authority of the Míyará Ýsuf seemed to be nought indeed, these poor people affirming, with some show of reason, that as the ruler did not protect them against the unjust exactions of their neighbours, they need not respect his commands. There was, therefore, little necessity for the servant of the sultan accompanying me any further, for if they did not respect his orders here, they would certainly not do so further on. [Sidenote: Wednesday, March 17th.] We continued our march alone. On the east side of the town a little cultivation was to be seen, the country here being very swampy, and inundated during the rainy season. It is covered with a dense jungle; and wild beasts are in great numbers. Water is close under the surface of the ground, and the well that we passed near a Shúwa village was only three fathoms deep. Near the village of Atmarchári, which we left on our right, there were traces of cultivation, trees being cut down and the ground cleared to make room for corn-fields; the village is inhabited by Kanúri people. Soon after, the forest became denser than before, climbing plants running up the trees, and hanging down in festoons from the branches. Here it was that I first saw the footprints of the rhinoceros, an animal which is unheard of in all the western parts of Negroland. The people of this part of Logón call the animal “bírní,” the name usual in Bagírmi, while the real name in the language of the country is “ngirmé.” The Kanúri call it “kárgadán,” or “bárkaján”—the very name mentioned already by El Edrísi.[37] It is greatly feared by the inhabitants, who sometimes encounter these ferocious animals on the narrow footpaths which wind through the thick forests of their country.