The rain had at length ceased; but we had scarcely resigned ourselves to sleep, when a troop of pilgrims, passing by at this unusual hour of the night, roused us at once. Fortunately, the ground which we had to traverse further on was of a rocky nature, else it would have been almost impossible to proceed after the last night’s rain; but, after a march of about fourteen miles, we came to a very considerable sheet of water, which we crossed with extreme difficulty, and encamped close beyond in a state of entire exhaustion. The channel of the torrent itself, which had spread its inundation to a great distance, was so considerable, being at the deepest spot five feet and a half, that it almost swamped me on my horse, besides wetting all my luggage. The place where we had encamped was a narrow open spot in the forest; but the ground was full of ants, and we were also greatly troubled by innumerable swarms of small flies which penetrated into all our clothes. Fortunately we had no rain, so that I was able to stay outside, as the heat in the tent was scarcely endurable. This day, also, we observed numerous footprints of elephants. [Sidenote: Monday, July 25th.] We rose with the hope that we might arrive at an early hour in Aribínda, or rather the chief place of that district, although we were aware that we should have to cross another considerable sheet of water; but we were sadly disappointed, for, after a march of about three miles through a more rugged district with black and red granite and a great quantity of gneiss, we reached the wide inundations of a river called Búggoma by my companions, which we endeavoured in vain to cross. Seeing that we should not succeed here, we struck off into the forest in a south-westerly direction, in order to ford it higher up, when suddenly we fell in with two men who were pasturing a couple of asses; but, although we made signs to them that we were their friends, they would not hear us, and, beating their shields, cried out lustily to their companions, who all on a sudden rushed out in every direction from behind the bushes, and in a moment surrounded us. There were from 150 to 200 people, all tall slender men, half-naked, with nothing but a poor ragged cloth round their loins, and another rag still poorer round their heads, and each armed with a couple of spears and a ragged shield, which they brandished over their heads with warlike gesticulations. The affair seemed rather serious, and here it was fortunate that I had such a clever companion as the Waláti with me; for, while I was pointing my gun, he begged me to ride quietly in advance straight upon those people, and at the same time cried out to them that I was a sheríf, and a friend of the sheikh El Bakáy, to whom I was carrying a number of books from the east. All of a sudden they dropped their spears and thronged round me, requesting me to give them my blessing; and the circumstances under which I was placed