When we had advanced as far as the middle of the first division, three of the large boats fired some muskets, to salute this majestic lake, and the crew of each boat shouted with all their might _Salam! Salam!_ repeating the cry several times. We stood off from the eastern bank and navigated with great caution: the lake was calm and the water clear. The current was not perceptible on its surface, the depth of the part which we navigated was twelve or thirteen feet. The canoes were merely rowed, and advanced very slowly. I could not recover from my surprise at seeing so great a mass of water in the heart of the country. There was something very majestic in the sight. About five in the evening we arrived off Gabibi, a small fishing village on the right bank of the lake. The huts of this village are made of straw and of a round form. Since we entered the lake we had stood to the N. E. We passed close to the island of Maria-Theresa, on which I observed some fine granite of a bright chesnut colour. We took our departure from Gabibi, and at sun-set I saw, for the first time, since I left the coast, that luminary sink into a sort of ocean. We proceeded along the shore, at some distance from it, in the direction of W. N. W. The boatmen sang while they pushed along the canoe with their poles. We observed large blocks of granite on the shore. We brought to about eleven at night off Didhiover, a large village inhabited by Foulahs, who have only straw huts like those of the pastoral Foulahs. Some negroes went to the village to buy giraumons. We could not procure a single drop of milk. CHAPTER XX. Tongom, a village in the country of the Dirimans — Co — Do —Sa, a commercial port — Mercantile flotillas — The Soorgoos or Tooariks, a nomadic and predatory tribe — Baraconga — Lelel — Garfola —Filinsa — Baracondié — Tircy — Liquor made from the kondoo — Alcodia, the Diriman capital — Customs of the inhabitants — Salacoila — Cora — Coratoo — Separation of the river into two branches — Arrival at Cabra, the port of Timbuctoo — Description of the place. On the 3rd of April we took our departure from the village of Didhiover, which is situated near the northern entrance of the lake. The river on issuing from the lake may be about six miles broad. At sun-rise we stood towards the north. In the course of the morning we passed the village of Tongom, which belongs to the country of the Dirimans. It contains about four or five hundred inhabitants.