Returning then in a north-easterly direction along the western border of the broad fáddama, we reached after a march of about four miles, when the sun had already gone down, the town of Tilli, which, coming from Diggi, we had had just opposite us on the other side of the valley. Here the danger from the enemy was already considered so great, that the gates of the town on this side had been walled up, only a very narrow passage having been left, which could only be used by way of a drawbridge or kadárku. Having here learned that our new companions were already gone on in advance, and had encamped at the very border of the forest, we changed our direction from north-east to north-west, and, after a march of about a mile, encamped close to them. A large herd of cattle had its resting-place in the neighbourhood. [Sidenote: Friday, June 10th.] When we started, at an early hour in the morning, we soon left the cultivated grounds and entered a dense forest, which at the present season had a very pleasant appearance, all the trees being in blossom, and spreading a delightful fragrance around. We were also agreeably surprised when, after proceeding about five miles, we passed two extensive ponds, which supplied us with delicious water. But on our return journey, in August 1854, the water of these same ponds had acquired such a pernicious character, that it almost poisoned the whole of my troop. A little beyond these ponds, we had a considerable rocky declivity, of about one hundred feet, from the top of which we surveyed the extensive forest before us. To our disappointment, we encamped at a very early hour, a little after noon; but a short distance further on, the danger would have become so imminent that it would have been unwise to pass the night there. Having, therefore, pitched my tent in the midst of the forest, I indulged with great delight in the pleasure of an open encampment, such as I had not enjoyed since leaving Gáwasú, the dirty huts in which I had lately taken up my quarters having literally turned my stomach. But I had to enjoy this wild encampment rather longer than was pleasant; for we had to remain in it the whole of the following day, in consequence of my friends the Ásbenáwa losing, in the course of the night, one of their camels, which they did not choose to abandon. This involuntary feat of mine procured me a name in the whole neighbourhood, so that when I safely returned the following year from my journey to Timbúktu, the people of the neighbourhood designated me only as the man who had spent a day in the unsafe wilderness.