in the affirmative, he shook his head, and said it would not do; for that Christians were looked upon there as the devil’s children, and enemies to the Prophet.  From him I learned the following particulars:- That Houssa was the largest town he had ever seen:  that Walet was larger than Timbuctoo, but being remote from the Niger, and its trade consisting chiefly of salt, it was not so much resorted to by strangers:  that between Benowm and Walet was ten days’ journey; but the road did not lead through any remarkable towns, and travellers supported themselves by purchasing milk from the Arabs, who keep their herds by the watering-places:  two of the days’ journeys was over a sandy country, without water.  From Walet to Timbuctoo was eleven days more; but water was more plentiful, and the journey was usually performed upon bullocks.  He said there were many Jews at Timbuctoo, but they all spoke Arabic, and used the same prayers as the Moors.  He frequently pointed his hand to the south-east quarter, or rather the east by south, observing that Timbuctoo was situated in that direction; and though I made him repeat this information again and again, I never found him to vary more than half a point, which was to the southward.

April 24.—­This morning Shereef Sidi Mahomed Moora Abdalla, a native of Morocco, arrived with five bullocks loaded with salt.  He had formerly resided some months at Gibraltar, where he had picked up as much English as enabled him to make himself understood.  He informed me that he had been five months in coming from Santa Cruz; but that great part of the time had been spent in trading.  When I requested him to enumerate the days employed in travelling from Morocco to Benowm, he gave them as follows:  To Swera, three days; to Agadier, three; to Jinikin, ten; to Wadenoon, four; to Lakeneig, five; to Zeeriwin-zerimani, five; to Tisheet, ten; to Benowm, ten—­in all, fifty days:  but travellers usually rest a long while at Jinikin and Tisheet—­at the latter of which places they dig the rock salt, which is so great an article of commerce with the negroes.

In conversing with these shereefs, and the different strangers that resorted to the camp, I passed my time with rather less uneasiness than formerly.  On the other hand, as the dressing of my victuals was now left entirely to the care of Ali’s slaves, over whom I had not the smallest control, I found myself but ill supplied, worse even than in the fast month:  for two successive nights they neglected to send us our accustomed meal; and though my boy went to a small negro town near the camp, and begged with great diligence from hut to hut, he could only procure a few handfuls of ground nuts, which he readily shared with me.

We had been for some days in daily expectation of Ali’s return from Saheel (or the north country) with his wife Fatima.  In the meanwhile, Mansong, king of Bambarra, as I have related in Chapter VIII., had sent to Ali for a party of horse to assist in storming Gedingooma.  With this demand Ali had not only refused to comply, but had treated the messengers with great haughtiness and contempt; upon which Mansong gave up all thoughts of taking the town, and prepared to chastise Ali for his contumacy.