but the inhabitants have no horned cattle. At nightfall, the men came home from work; they were all nearly naked, having nothing but a tight cotton band which they pass between their thighs. I remarked that these men had necklaces on their necks, ear-rings of glass beads, and a great many amulets, such as goat’s horns, sheep’s tails, &c. All these things supply the place of grigris, in which they have great faith. They gave us a supper of tau, with herb-sauce, but no salt; I ate a little of this dish, but the sauce was so bad that I could not relish it. In the evening a dispute arose between two men of the village, who began to fight, and would even have used their poniards, if the inhabitants had not collected round them to make peace. Nothing was heard but the shrieks of the women, who made great lamentations, and the crowd was immense; all spoke at once, and shouted to make themselves heard, so that there was a tremendous uproar. My guide informed me, that the chief of the village was blind, otherwise he would have come to the spot and restored order. I never could learn what was the cause of this scuffle, which took place precisely in the court where we lodged, and lasted a very long time, though the rain was pouring in torrents. On the 3rd of August, in the morning, my guide cooked a small yam on the coals, and I roasted a few pistachio-nuts, which we ate together; after having presented our host with some small glass beads, we proceeded on our journey; it was then about nine o’clock. It still rained hard, and my umbrella was of little use, because the high grass, and the bushes which covered the road, wetted me as much as the rain. We travelled towards the south; at some distance from Timicoro, I saw a few poor fields of foigné and yams in a bad state of cultivation; the owners had not even taken the trouble to grub up the bushes. We passed the village of Yango-Firé, situated near a rivulet, where I saw plenty of poultry. We proceeded at first to the south, and then towards the east. We passed Brokhosso; to the S.E. of which I perceived a large hill, which appeared to be entirely destitute of vegetation. After crossing some fields of foigné, and others of french-beans, the first that I had seen since I left the coast, we arrived about half-past one in the afternoon, at the neat little village of Timé, inhabited by Mandingo Mahometans; it is shaded by a number of enormous bombaces, and by a few baobabs; we had travelled about ten miles. Three or four miles to the east of Timé, we noticed a chain of mountains, which were probably eighteen hundred or two thousand feet high; this range stretches from north to east. That which faces the village is more elevated, and covered with fine vegetation, except on the summit, which is very bare. CHAPTER XII.