Determined to put a bold face upon matters, I ordered my people to slaughter the sheep, and made myself as comfortable as possible, spreading my carpet, damaged as it was by the ants in Bákadá, upon the ground, and assuming the appearance of being quite at my ease. At that time I was not aware that in this country none but the sultan and a few high dignitaries were allowed to sit on a carpet. While the meat was cooking on the fire, and holding out the promise of some unwonted luxury, I received a visit from the father-in-law of Gréma ʿAbdú, my host in Mústafají; and his appearance and hints confirmed my unfavourable anticipations. I related to him what had happened to me since I left him,—that the governor of Búgomán had refused to receive me into his town, and that I had remained eighteen days in Bákadá, waiting in vain for an order to be allowed to enter the capital. I showed him my carpet, and told him how it had been half devoured by the ants, and how we had suffered from want of sufficient food and shelter in the beginning of the rainy season. He was very sorry that I had not been treated with more regard; but he expressed his opinion that the lieutenant-governor would not allow me to leave the country in such a way. Unfortunately this man was not open enough to confess to me that messengers from the capital had already arrived; neither did the bíllama, or rather “gollennánge” or “gar,” as he is here called—the head man of the village, who arrived with a numerous host of people just as I was about to start—give me any hint about it. Whether he came with the intention of keeping me back, and was afraid of executing his design, I do not know. In any case it would have been far more agreeable to me, if my fate had been decided here instead of at Mélé. As it was, he sent one of his people with me to show me the track to the river; and I started about an hour after noon. Considerable showers, which had fallen here seven days previously, had changed the dry character of the country, and revived its luxuriant nature. The whole district presented the cheerful aspect of spring. Fresh meadow-lands spread out; and we passed some extensive sheets of water, bordered by undulating banks in the freshest verdure. We passed several villages, among which one called Mái-Dalá, was distinguished by its neat appearance, most of the huts having been recently thatched, to protect them against the rains. In the forest which intervened, dúm- bushes and dúm-palms, here called “kolóngo,” attracted my attention, on account of the wide range this plant occupies in Central Africa, while it was erroneously believed to belong exclusively to Upper Egypt. Having passed the shallow water of Ambusáda, where numbers of the blue- feathered bird here called “dellúk,” with red feet, were splashing about, we again approached the inauspicious village where I had first set my foot in this country.