At length we were again in motion; but our difficulties now commenced, the path being extremely winding, deeply hollowed out, and full of water, and leading through the thickest part of the forest—and I had to lament the loss of several bottles of the most valuable medicine, a couple of boxes being thrown from the back of the camel. The forest extended only to the border which is reached by the highest state of the inundation, when we emerged upon open country, and, leaving the town of Nghurútuwa (where Mr. Richardson died) at a short distance on our right, we encamped a few hundred yards to the south of the town of Alaúne, which I had also passed on my former journey. Here we entered that part of the province of Manga which is governed by Kashélla Belál; and the difference in the character of this tract from the province of Koyám, which we had just left behind, was remarkable, the country being undulated in downs of red sand, famous for the cultivation of ground-nuts and beans, both of which constitute a large proportion of the food of the inhabitants, so that millet and beans are generally sown on the same field, the latter ripening later and constituting the richest pasture for cattle and camels. Of grain, Negro millet (_Pennisetum typhoïdeum_) is the species almost exclusively cultivated in the country of Manga, sorghum not being adapted for this dry ground. The same difference was to be observed in the architecture of the native dwellings,—the corn stacks which impart so decided a character of peace and repose to the villages of Háusa, but which are sought for in vain in the whole of Bórnu Proper, here again making their appearance. The Manga call them “sébe” or “gúsi.” The cottages themselves, although they were not remarkable for their cleanliness, presented rather a cheerful aspect, the thatch being thickly interwoven with and enlivened by the creepers of various cucurbitaceæ, but especially the favourite kobéwa or _Melopepo_. The same difference which was exhibited in the nature of the country and the dwellings of the natives, appeared also in the character of the latter, the Kanúri horseman or the Koyám camel-breeder being here supplanted by the Manga footman, with his leather apron, his bow and arrow, and his battle-axe, while the more slender Manga girl, scarcely peeping forth from under her black veil, with which she bashfully hid her face, had succeeded to the Bórnu female, with her square figure, her broad features, and her open and ill-covered breast. I have observed elsewhere that, although the Manga evidently form a very considerable element in the formation of the Bórnu nation, their name as such does not occur in the early annals of the empire, and we therefore can only presume that they owe their origin to a mixture of tribes. Having passed the important place of Kadagárruwá and some other villages, we encamped on the 5th near the extensive village Mámmarí, where the governor of the province at that time resided.[14]