The market is held on the border of the village, on the bleak open ground which extends to the south; but there were very rarely more than 500 people, and in general scarcely as many as two hundred, assembled. But it is not to be denied that, taking into account the manner of living in these regions, a good deal of business is transacted in this place; and, on account of the many strangers who visit it, ready-cooked pudding, tíggera, and sour milk are offered for sale throughout the whole day. Besides salt, cotton strips, dyed cloth, Kóla nuts, corn, and asses, some copper manufactured chiefly into large drinking-vessels is also brought into the market by the people of Mósi. However, I do not think they manufacture the copper vessels themselves, but bring them from Asanti. Copper is worn by the inhabitants, by way of ornament, to a large extent; and I was greatly amused on observing that some of the young girls wore in the long plaits of their hair a very remarkable ornament made of that metal, representing a warrior on horseback with a drawn sword in his hand and a pipe in his mouth; for, with the Songhay people, smoking, although forbidden by the present ruler of the western part of the former territory of their empire, the fanatical prince of Hamda-Alláhi, is, next to dancing, the chief enjoyment of their existence. Whether these small horsemen worn in the hair of the young damsels form an ornament without meaning, or are intended as auspicious omens as to their future husbands, I cannot say; and I must apologise to the reader for not being able, in this part of my journey, which was more beset by dangers, to enter fully into the private life of the people. Altogether, Dóre, or as it is generally called, by the name of the whole province, Libtáko, appeared to me an extremely dry and uncomfortable place. However, this seemed to be rather exceptional, owing to the extraordinary drought prevailing that year; and it was not until the evening of the 17th of this month (July), that we had a moderate fall of rain, when nature as well as man appeared a little refreshed. The name which the Tawárek, as well as the Arabs of Ázawád, give to this place, namely Wéndu, or Wínde, seems to imply quite another character, as the word means pond or lake; but, in reality, a very extensive sheet of water is annually formed close to the western side of the town, although during my stay the extensive depression was dry; and I even have ground to suppose that this sheet of water is very often, through a very considerable backwater, directly connected with the Niger.