I was quietly reclining in the cool shade, although not without some sad forebodings, when the head man of Mélé, accompanied by seven or eight armed Shúwa, was seen approaching. They first addressed themselves to my horseman Gréma, who had made himself comfortable in the shade of another tree a short distance off. Having finished their business with him, they came to me, protesting that they could not allow me to continue my journey, as they were compelled to wait for an order from the capital, when I did not hesitate to declare on my part that I was willing to wait any reasonable time, on condition of their assigning me a residence, and the means of supplying my wants. They expressed their satisfaction at my compliance, telling me that in case of my refusal they would have sent all the Shúwa in the neighbourhood to harass me on the road. The head man of Mélé then promised me that, if I would return to his village, he would take care that I should be supplied with everything I wanted, particularly fowls and milk. I therefore allowed Gréma to proceed alone, in order to take my letters to the capital, while I slowly retraced my steps. An hour and a half’s march along a more direct path brought me back to the village where I had first entered this country. The position of Mélé is not without interest, situated as it is upon a steep bank overhanging a large and beautiful navigable river, which here changes its course from a west-easterly to a south-northerly direction; and here I might have indulged a few days in contemplating the interesting scenery, if my future progress had allowed me more tranquillity. As it was, the six or seven days I passed here were spent in rather a dull manner; for the inhabitants became very suspicious when they observed that my favourite place was the shade of a fine tree at the very brink of the shore, from whence I had a view over the river to a great extent north and west. Of course there was but little communication; and very rarely a boat was seen proceeding in either direction. Now and then the sand-bank became enlivened by a crocodile coming out of the water to bask in the sun, or by the frolics of the boys of the village, who occasionally crossed over to look after their fishing-tackle, or dry their nets. Both fish as well as crocodiles are extremely plentiful in the river; and the meat of the latter forms a great delicacy to the natives. But there is also in this river a very large animal, which, I think, must be identical with the ayú of the Bénuwé and Niger—the _Manatus Vogelii_.[38]