looking out greedily for their prey. Here we again changed our course, following a great many windings, but proceeding generally in an easterly direction. But now the watercourse began to exhibit more and more the character of a noble river, bordered by strongly marked banks, clad with fine timber, chiefly tamarind and kaña trees, and occasionally enlivened by cattle. Our voyage was very delightful, gliding, as we were, smoothly along the surface of the water, and keeping mostly in the middle of the noble stream, our boatmen only changing their course once to touch at the northern shore, in order to procure for a few shells the luxury of some kola nuts, of which even these poor people were by no means insensible. At length, having passed between the villages of Haibóngu on the northern, and Dára-kaina on the southern, shore, we again exchanged our south-easterly direction for a more northerly one, proceeding along a very broad watercourse; but, after a while, the open water was broken by a broad grassy island, which left only a small channel on the west side, while that on the east was of tolerable width. Meanwhile the evening was approaching, and we met with several delays, once in order to buy some fish, and another time on account of our boatmen having lost their harpoon, with which they occasionally endeavoured to catch some large species of fish which were swimming alongside our boat. They were very dexterous in diving, although it required some time for them to ascertain the spot where the slender instrument had been fixed in the bottom. This harpoon was exactly similar to the double spear used by some divisions of the Batta, one of the tribes of Ádamáwa, such as the Bágelé, and even by some of the inhabitants of Bórnu. We had now entered a splendid reach of the river, which, almost free from reeds, extended in an easterly direction, and we glided pleasantly along the smooth water at a short distance from the northern bank, which was thickly clad with trees; till at length, darkness setting in, we struck right across the whole breadth of the river, which now, in the quiet of the evening, spread out its smooth unrippled surface like a beautiful mirror, and which at this place was certainly not less than 1000 yards broad, straight for the evening fires of the village Banáy, which was situated on the opposite bank, and we moored our vessel at the north-easterly bend of the gulf round which the town is situated. Most of our party slept on shore, while others made themselves as comfortable as possible in the boat, and on the top of the matting which formed the cabins.