Having left this village behind us, we entered a fine northerly reach belonging to the branch which was finally to carry us into the great river itself, and left the town of Sanyáre beyond the shallow sandbank, conspicuous on account of a group of majestic tamarind trees. Here the inhabitants wanted to barter some sour milk for negro corn, which to them, with their ordinary diet of rice, seemed to be a luxury. Having lost some time, we at length had the broad sheet of the Niger before us; and here, at the point of junction, there started forth from the easterly shore a group of solitary trees, which appeared to form the usual nocturnal place of resort for all the water-fowl in the neighbourhood, the trunk as well as the branches of the trees being overlaid with a white crust formed by the droppings of these visitors, which with animated cries were collecting together towards the close of the evening. Having here left the shore, which at present formed a low and bare headland, but which in the course of a month would be entirely under water, we at once entered the middle of that magnificent river the Ísa, or Máyo Balléo, running here from W. 35° S. to E. 35° N., which has excited the lively curiosity of Europeans for so many years. It was at this spot about a mile across, and by its magnitude and solemn magnificence in the new moon which was rising in front of us, and with the summer lightning at times breaking through the evening sky, inspired my servants with real awe and almost fright; while we were squatting on the shelving roof of our frail boat, and looked with searching eyes along the immense expanse of the river in a north-easterly direction, where the object of our journey was said to lie. Whether from the excitement of the day, or from the previous night’s wetting, when at length we lay to at the ancient Songhay town of Koiretágo, which had once been a place of importance, but had been almost destroyed by the Fúlbe in conjunction with the Tárki chief Somki, I was seized with a severe attack of fever, but in order to take care of my luggage I was unwilling to go on shore, where I might have lain down on a fine sandy beach, choosing rather to remain on board our frail boat. [Footnote 79: See El Bekrí’s “Description of Africa,” ed. de Slane, p. 181. وعيشهم من اللحم اللبن ومن حب تنبته الارض من غير اعتمال.] [Footnote 80: This is the name which the Songhay give to the place, “koira” meaning “town” in the Songhay-kiní; while the Wangaráwa and the Bámbara call it Sáma-kanda, “kanda” meaning “country” or “district” in the Wákoré; and the Fúlbe, on account of the “swamp” which is formed here, Winde Sáme.] [Footnote 81: On this occasion I learned from the Háj of Tisít, who was present, that in his desert town there are in general three falls of rain every year.] [Footnote 82: These places are Bango, Ujínne, Gakoira, and another one.] CHAP. LXV. ARRIVAL AT KÁBARA. — ENTRANCE INTO TIMBÚKTU.