Greatly fatigued by our long march, especially as a cool breeze in the morning was followed by an oppressive heat in the noonday hours, we reached, at about five o’clock in the afternoon, the Fúlbe village of Bóne, situated at the foot of the eastern mound; but although I had sent two of my people in advance, we were unable to obtain quarters, and after some unavailing dispute we were obliged to encamp outside in the open grassy vale between the two mountains; for the inhabitants of this village, who are exclusively Fúlbe, do not like strangers to enter their dwellings, at least not for a night’s quarters. They however treated us in the evening with a good supply of milk, while they also informed us that a large encampment of that section of the Tawárek which is called Iregenáten was at a few miles’ distance. El Waláti supposed, or rather pretended to suppose, that they were the clan of a powerful chief of the name of Somki, and assured me that it would be necessary to make this chief a handsome present, in order that under his protection we might proceed safely from camp to camp till we reached the banks of the Niger; for although we might have travelled by a more southerly road turning from this point westward to Núggera, it seemed more prudent to endeavour to get out of the range of the dominion of the Fúlbe, in order not to be at the mercy of the chief of Hamda-Alláhi, who certainly could not but be hostile to my intention of reaching Timbúktu. And it seems not to be out of place to mention here, that this very Núggera,—a hamlet of some note, as being the residence of learning and holiness,—was the point from which the founder of the dynasty of Hamda-Alláhi started. [Illustration: Drawn by J. M. Bernatz, from a Sketch by Dr. Barth. M. & N. Hanhart, lith. et impt. MOUNTAINS OF HÓMBORI. August 9th. 1853.] [Footnote 73: I shall reserve a few further observations on this subject till my return journey along the Niger.] [Footnote 74: There are only three more villages at present belonging to the district of Aribínda, their names being as follows: Hóre, Úri, and Wángaré.] [Footnote 75: El Bekri, “Description de l’Afrique,” Arabe texte, published by Macguckin de Slane, p. 183.] [Footnote 76: El Bekrí, ed. de Slane, 1857, texte arabe, p. 179.; comp. Cooley, the Negroland of the Arabs, p. 39. n. 73.—There can be but little doubt that by this مدينة انباره Hómbori is meant; for although El Bekrí made a gross mistake in stating that this place was situated west of Ghána, while in reality it was east, yet, on the other hand, it is very remarkable that the distance of nine days between Ambára and Kúkia, or Kúgha, agrees exactly with that between Hómbori and the latter place.]