In the beginning the appearance of the country was more uniform, while the mountains, covered by the rising ground on our right, looked like mere hills, our track itself lying through a more level country sometimes covered with underwood, and at others presenting a bleak open ground, or “néga;” but the interest of this scenery increased considerably when we reached the western foot of a broader mound which had already attracted our attention the day before. On a sloping ground, consisting of rubbish and boulders, there rose a wall of steep cliffs like an artificial fortification, forming, as it seemed, a spacious terrace on the top, where there are said to be three hamlets, inhabited by a spirited race of natives who, in this rocky retreat, vindicate their independence against the overbearing intrusions of the Fúlbe. We even observed on the slope under the steep cliffs, where there are several caverns, some people pasturing their sheep, while fields of Negro corn and karás, or _Corchorus olitorius_, testified to the fact that the natives sometimes descend even into the very plain to satisfy their most necessary wants. After passing this mound, and following a more north-westerly direction, we approached another mound, rising from the plain like an isolated cone, and with its steep, narrow, and rugged crest, looking exactly like the ruin of a castle of the middle ages. Leaving this mound, together with the path leading to the Songhay town of Láro on our right, we approached the southern foot of another castellated mound, which stretched out to a greater length, but offered in its rugged and precipitous cliffs, exactly the spectacle of crenellated walls and towers. Where the foot of the mound juts out into the path on the top of the offshoots, the inhabitants of the mountain had erected a small chapel, or rather a place for pagan worship, which presented a very peculiar appearance. Here we entered a sort of broad defile, formed between this castellated mound and another cone towards the west, which, although of considerable elevation, was not so rugged, and exhibited a less picturesque appearance. [Illustration] [Illustration]