We encamped after a march of about thirteen miles, having by mistake exchanged our westerly direction for a south-westerly one, near the well called Kagza[5], and were very hospitably and kindly treated by a patriotic old man, a citizen of the old capital or birni of Ghasr- éggomo, who, when that splendid town was taken by the Fúlbe or Felláta, in the year 1809, had fled to Wádáy, and had lived there several years among the Welád Ráshid, waiting for better times. This good man described to me, with a deep feeling of sorrow, the taking of that large and wealthy town, under the command of the Fúlbe chiefs Malá-Rída, Mukhtár, and Hanníma, when the king, with his whole host of courtiers and his numerous army, fled through the eastern gate while the enemy was entering the western one, and the populous place was delivered up to all the horrors accompanying the sacking of a town. What with the pleasant character of the country and the friendly disposition of our host, I should have enjoyed my open encampment extremely, if I had not been suffering all this time very severely from sore legs, ever since my return from Bagírmi, when I had to cross so many rivers and was so frequently wet through.[6] [Sidenote: Monday, November 29th.] Pursuing still a south-westerly direction, our march led us through a district called Rédaní in regard to which, the state of the cultivation of the ground (the géro, the wealth of this country, lying in large heaps or “bagga” on the fields) and the uninterrupted succession of straggling hamlets left the impression of ease and comfort. But we had great difficulty in finding the right track among the number of small footpaths diverging in every direction; and in avoiding the northern route, which we knew would lead us to a part of the river where we should not be able to cross it, we had, by mistake, chosen a too southerly path, which, if pursued, would have led us to Gújeba. While traversing this fertile district, we were astonished at the repeated descents which we had to make, and which convinced us that these sandy swells constitute a perfect separation between the komádugu and the Tsád on this side. The district of Rédaní was followed by another, called Kangálla, and, after a short tract of forest, a third one, of the name of Meggi, consisting mostly of argillaceous soil, and not nearly so interesting as Rédaní. We encamped at length, near a group of three wells, where, once a week, a small market is held. In the adjacent hollow a pond is formed in the rainy season. The wells were twenty fathoms in depth. [Sidenote: Tuesday, November 30th.]