South of the river two other provinces are mentioned by Áhmed Bábá, namely, the province of Hómbori, which from the nature of the country was also called Tondi, or El Hajri, and Burgu[106], or rather Barba, though the latter country was apparently never entirely subjected. The governors of these provinces were certainly possessed of considerable power, and belonging, as they did in general, to the royal family, exercised a very prejudicial influence upon the destinies of the empire, as at the same time the central government became weak and debilitated. The governor of Kúrmina, especially, conscious of the important influence and the rich character of his province, was very prone to mutiny and revolt. For as it was certainly a great advance in the scale of civilisation, that it was not customary amongst the Songhay to murder the younger brothers of the newly elected king, or to render them incapable of aspiring to the royal dignity by depriving them of their sight (as is still the custom in Wádáy), or in some other manner disabling them; so, on the other hand, it was no doubt very prejudicial to the stability of the empire, that so many royal princes were constantly installed as governors of powerful provinces, some of them situated at a great distance from the capital. Such a government could only prosper under the rule of a powerful king, such as Mohammed el Háj Áskía was during his most vigorous period. On the other hand, we find that the government of Songhay was far more despotic than that of Bórnu, where, as I have had occasion to relate[107], the election of a new king from among the royal princes was placed in the hands of three electors, themselves chosen from the most trustworthy men of the country; while the kings of Songhay appear originally to have designated their own successor among the royal princes, there being even an established dignity of something like an heir-apparent or crown-prince, with the title of “feréng-mangha:”[108] but this principle, as is naturally the case in barbaric states without any written constitution, was only observed as long as the king exercised paramount authority, while we see in other cases the army, or even a powerful governor, choosing a successor, as that of Dendi, who deposed Mohammed Bánkorí, and installed in his place Áskía Ismʿaíl.