Ascending then the slope of the eminence on which the town is built, and which rises to about one hundred feet, and leaving a spacious “máriná” or dyeing-place on the slope of the hill on our left, we entered the walls of Sókoto by the kófa-n-rími; and although the interior did not at present exhibit that crowded appearance which made such a pleasing impression upon Clapperton, the part nearest the wall being rather thinly inhabited, and the people being evidently reduced to a state of great poverty and misery, it made a cheerful impression on me, on account of the number of dúm palms and kórna trees by which it is adorned. Orders having been sent beforehand, I was quartered without delay in the house of the ghaladíma—a clay dwelling in tolerable repair, but full of white ants, so that I was glad to find there a “gadó” or couch of reeds, where I was able to rest myself and put away my small effects, without being continually exposed to the insidious attacks of these voracious insects. Having thus made myself comfortable, my first visit the following morning was to Módibo ʿAlí, who had already testified his friendship for me by sending me a fat sheep to Wurno. Differing entirely from the present generation of beggars, whose ignoble habits make a long stay in Wurno or Sókoto intolerable, he is a cheerful old man of noble demeanour, and with pure Fúlbe features, with which his middle height and rather spare growth exactly corresponded. He was simply but neatly dressed in a white shirt and a shawl of the same colour. Módibo ʿAlí is the oldest member of the family of the Reformer still alive, being the son of ʿAlí an elder brother of ʿOthmán the Jehádi, and about seventy- five years of age. He was seated in the antechamber of his house, before the door of which his little herd of milch cows were assembled; and he received me with unaffected kindness. I immediately saluted him as an old friend and acquaintance, and we had a very pleasant and cheerful conversation, after which I delivered to him my present, consisting of a heláli bernús, a piece of white muslin, a high red cap or “mátri,” a small flask of “ʿottár” of roses, two razors, a pound of cloves, a loaf of sugar, and a looking-glass; and he was particularly delighted with some of these articles, which, on account of the insecurity of the road at the present time, are imported more rarely even from Kanó. In former times a great many Arabs used to visit this place, partly for purposes of trade, partly in order to obtain a present from the sultan; but the danger of the communication in the present reduced state of the empire is so great, that not a single Arab merchant visits the town. This circumstance cannot fail to render the conquering tribe more favourably disposed towards opening an intercourse with the English, or Europeans in general, by way of the Niger. At present almost the whole traffic in foreign merchandise is in the hands of the people of Ghát and Ágades,