Four miles and a half beyond this river, through a country adorned with fine trees, but without any traces of cultivation, we reached a large river about 250 yards broad, and more than 5 feet deep, running here in a north-easterly direction, and no doubt identical with the river which we had lately crossed. How it is that the river here contains so much more water than it does lower down, I cannot state with certainty; but my opinion is, that a great portion of it is withdrawn towards the north, where the forest seems gradually to slope down towards the desert region of the centre of Gúndumi, where, in a sort of mould, or hollow, a large lake-like pond is formed. It is rather unfortunate that I had not an opportunity of asking information on this subject from one of the followers of the ghaladíma, who, instead of crossing the first sheet of water, kept along its northern bank, and thus with a longer circuit, but without the necessity of embarking in a boat, reached the town of Gandi. Having then crossed another small fáddama in a wide open country, where sorghum and cotton were cultivated together in the same fields, we reached the town of Gandi. It is surrounded by a wall (in a state of decay), and by two moats, and is of considerable size, but half- deserted. We traversed with some difficulty the entrance of the town, which was adorned on the outside with three very tall bombax, or silk-cotton trees, and was almost entirely obstructed by a wooden gate, and then made our way through the desolate area of the town, overgrown with tall herbage, dúm-palms, and kórna, until we reached the house of the mágaji, who is one of the five rulers of this vast and desolate place. But we had a great deal of trouble in procuring quarters in an empty courtyard, where we were glad to obtain some rest, as, owing to my long illness, and my entire want of any strengthening food, I felt extremely exhausted by our day’s march. I had, moreover, the dissatisfaction to find that one of my people, a liberated slave from Núpe, had remained behind and could not be found. As for myself, I was not able to stir much about to inquire after him, for I wanted rest the more, as we had a long day’s march before us[49], and had to rise at a very early hour.