This was the sole attraction of the place, with the exception of my amiable, intelligent, and kind host Bú-Bakr Sadík. The poor old man was extremely indignant at the negligent manner in which I was treated; but he was feeble and timorous, and had no authority in higher spheres. The information which from time to time I collected from him during my monotonous stay in this place shall be given in the appendix, in the several places to which the subjects refer. It was very amusing for me to observe that the good old man, all the time that he was conversing with me, was not a moment idle; but he would either sew, not only for himself, but even articles of dress for another wife of his, whom he had in the capital, and soon intended to visit, or he would scrape some root to use as medicine, or else select some indigo, for dyeing his tobe, or, if he had nothing better to do, he would gather the single grains of corn which had fallen to the ground,—for in his pious frame of mind he thought it a sin that so valuable a proof of the bounty of the Almighty should be wasted. The other inhabitants of the place were rather uninteresting; and I had a great deal of trouble with the same man who on our arrival had refused us hospitality, for, as he was sick and wanted a cooling medicine, I found the common remedies with which I was provided too weak for his herculean frame, till at length, with a dose of half a dozen ounces of Epsom salts, mixed up with three or four drachms of worm-powder, I succeeded in making him acknowledge the efficacy of my medicines. In general the Bagírmi people are much better made than the Bórnu, the men excelling them in size, as well as in muscular strength, as they do also in courage and energy of mind, while the women are far superior. The Bagírmi females in general are very well made, taller and less square than the ugly Bórnu women, but with beautifully-proportioned limbs, while their features have a great deal of regularity and a pleasing expression; some of them might even be called handsome, with their large dark beautiful eyes. The broad nostrils of the Bórnu females, which are still more disfigured by the ugly coral on the left side of the nose, are entirely foreign to them. While the Bórnu females in general endeavour only to excel by the quantity of fat or butter which they put upon their hair, the Bagírmi women bestow considerable care upon its arrangement; and the way in which they wear it, imitating exactly the shape of the crest of a helmet, is very becoming, as it harmonizes exceedingly well with their tall and well-proportioned figures. It is therefore not without reason that the Bagírmi females are celebrated over a great part of Negroland. Their dress is very simple, similar to that of the Bórnu, namely, the black “túrkedí,” which is fastened across the breast, while the wealthier among them usually throw a second one over the shoulder.