There are two great men in the town, ʿOthmán Lowel and ʿOthmán Záki; but the former is the real governor of the place, bearing the pompous but rather precarious title of serkí-n-Kebbi—for even he, at the present time, possesses such limited authority, that it was rather out of my respect for historical connections than for his real power[61], that I made him a considerable present. He is a man of simple manners, without pretensions, and almost blind. His residence was distinguished by its neatness. The other great man, ʿOthmán Záki, who was many years ago governor of Núpe, and knew Clapperton, although I did not pay him a visit, showed his friendship for me by very hospitable treatment. He has since returned to Núpe, and is rebuilding Rabba. We had a long conversation in the afternoon with the more respectable inhabitants, on the subject of our journey, and most of the people thought that I should not succeed in reaching the Niger, the country being in such a turbulent state; but they advised me to address myself to the governor of Zogírma, who was the only man, they said, able to assist me in my endeavours to traverse that part of the country with some degree of security. [Sidenote: Tuesday, June 7th.] In the morning, we left the town in the company of a son of ʿOthmán, a person of manly bearing and a rather European expression of countenance; and traversing the fields, which were quite dry and as yet without any preparation for cultivation, we directed our march straight for a pass in the mountain-spur which I have mentioned above, and which is called Dúko; but we found it too narrow for our heavily-laden camels to pass through, the path being cut into the sandstone like a gutter, so that I was obliged to send my train round the southern slope of the promontory. We thus descended almost to the level of the fáddama; but having traversed a richly-wooded vale with a variety of trees, such as dynnia, mádachi, and fresh kadé, we had another mountain-spur on our left, while on the right the exuberant savanna of the valley became visible. The place was enlivened by cattle, and occasionally by a sheet of water at times fringed with a rich border of vegetation, amongst which also isolated specimens of the deléb palm, besides dorówa, were not wanting.