A little further on, the melés and kumba were succeeded by the tall bulrush called “bús,” while beyond the north-easterly border of the lake an isolated date palm adorned the scenery, which in other respects entirely resembled the shores of the sea, a rich profusion of sea weed being carried to the bank by the billows. Then succeeded a cotton plantation, which evidently was indebted for its existence to a small brook formed by another source of fresh water which joins the lake from this side. From the end of this plantation, where the natron lake attains its greatest breadth of about a mile and a half, I kept along the bank in a south-westerly direction, till I again reached the narrow junction between the two lakes. Here the shore became very difficult to traverse, on account of an outlying branch of the plantation closely bordering the lake, and I had again to ascend the downs from whence I had enjoyed the view of this beautiful panorama on the previous day. I thus re-entered the principal village from the north-east side; and while keeping along the upper road, which intersects the market-place, I saw with delight that the town is bounded on the north side also by a narrow but very rich vale, meandering along and clad with a profusion of vegetation; and I here observed another spring, which broke forth with almost as powerful a stream as that near the southern quarter, and was enlivened by a number of women busily employed in fetching their supply of water. The market-place is formed of about thirty sheds or stalls; and there is a good deal of weaving to be observed in the place, its whole appearance exhibiting signs of industry. I could not, however, obtain a sheep, or even as much as a fowl, so that our evening’s repast was rather poor; and a very cold easterly wind blowing direct into the door of my tent, which I had opened towards Mount Shedíka in order to enjoy the pleasant prospect of the lakes and the plantation, rendered it still more cheerless. The whole of the inhabitants belong to the Háusa race; and the governor himself is of that nation.[28] He is in a certain degree dependent on the governor of Zínder, and not directly on the sheikh; and he was treated in the most degrading manner by my trooper, although the latter was a mere attendant of Ádama the governor of Donári. [Sidenote: Friday, December 24th.]