The bargaining being at length concluded, we got ourselves in readiness to pursue our journey, when a violent thunder-storm, gathering from the north, kept us back till nearly noon. We at length set out; but the recently bought animals were so intractable that we only moved on at a very slow pace. We had first to retrace our steps a little to the eastward, in order to cross the hilly chain which separated us from the sandy downs along the Niger; and had then to descend a very steep sandy slope, which brought us into an irregular valley, with the mountains of Dalla forming a conspicuous object towards the west. Having then turned round a mountain spur which stretched out into the plain on our right, we reached the encampment of Bélé, a powerful chief of the degraded tribe of the Haw-n-ádak. His exterior had nothing of that noble appearance which so eminently distinguishes the higher class of these wild tribes, as he was of unwieldy corpulency, and of a rather short figure, resembling the famous South-African chief, Nangóro, visited by Messrs. Galton and Anderson. He received us, however, very hospitably, and proved to be rather an intelligent man; but, fortunately, he had not sufficient cleverness to discover that I was a Christian, although, from the very first moment when he beheld my luggage, he arrived at the firm conclusion that I was not what my companions represented me to be,—namely, a sheríf from the far east; but he had made up his mind, on account of the little knowledge which I possessed of his language, and which I had not quite kept back before him, that I was a merchant, either from Ghadámes or Morocco, and it was quite amusing to me to hear him argue this point, while he affirmed with the greatest obstinacy, and with an oath, that I was a Shillúh,—a Berber from the north,—and wanted to represent myself as a sheríf, in order to pass through his tribe with less trouble and expense. He, as well as his people, became, by degrees, rather troublesome; but they treated us well, sending us two prepared sheep, and large dishes of rice boiled in an abundance of butter, but without salt. The chief himself is said to consume every day a sheep, and the supply of milk from seven cows,—in this respect reminding us of the Emperor Vitellius. [Sidenote: Monday, August 15th.]