I had sent a messenger in advance, the preceding day, in order to have some large boats ready for me to cross the river. But no boat having arrived, I had plenty of leisure for contemplating the river scenery, which is represented in the plate opposite. There were a good number of passengers, Fúlbe and Songhay, with asses and pack-oxen, and there were some smaller boats in readiness suitable to their wants; but at length the boats, or rather canoes, which were to carry me and my effects across, made their appearance. They were of good size, about forty feet in length, and from four to five feet in width in the middle, consisting of two trunks of trees hollowed out, and sewn together in the centre. These boats are chiefly employed for conveying the corn from the town of Sínder, which lies higher up the river, to the town of Say; and they had been expressly sent for by the “king of the waters,” or the inspector of the harbour, the “serkí-n-jirgí,” or “lámido-lála,” as he is called by the Fúlbe, or “híyokoy,” according to his title in the Songhay language. The largest of them was able to carry three of my camels; and the water was kept out much better than I had ever yet found to be the case with the native craft of the inhabitants of Negroland. My camels, horses, people, and luggage having crossed over without an accident, I myself followed, about one o’clock in the afternoon, filled with delight when floating on the waters of this celebrated stream the exploration of which had cost the sacrifice of so many noble lives. A little nearer the western bank, a short distance below the spot where the river is generally crossed, an isolated rock starts forth from the river, rising at this season from twelve to fifteen feet above the surface; and beyond there is a smaller one, which, as the river rises a little higher, becomes covered by the water. The sight of the river was the more momentous to me, as I was soon again to take leave of it; for my former notion, that I should be able to reach Timbúktu only by way of Libtáko, had been confirmed in Gando, and I only entertained a slight hope that perhaps on a future occasion I might visit that part of the river between Timbúktu and Say. From the very beginning I entertained strong doubts whether I should be able to reach the western coast; and it seemed to me more interesting to survey the course of the Niger between the point where it has become tolerably well known by the labours of Mungo Park and Réné Caillié and the lower portion explored by the Landers, than to cross the whole extent of Central Africa.