peculiarly favorable to purity and simplicity of manners.

The party were anxious to buy some of the famous Air cheese, for which they had been longing the whole way over the dreary desert, and had kept up their spirits with the prospect of soon indulging in this luxury; but they were not able to procure a single one, and their endeavors to buy a sheep or a goat were equally fruitless. Instead of the plenty which they had been led to expect in this country, they found nothing but misery. Barth was rather surprised to find here a very fine and strong race of asses.

They were tolerably composed, and reclining at their ease (though their weapons were always at hand), when they were a little alarmed by a demand of six riyals for the use of the pond in Jínninau. Their amiable but unenergetic friend A'nnur, a chief, seconded the demand, by way of satisfying in some way the intruders upon the cara

van.

These claims were scarcely settled, when a dreadful alarm was raised, by the report that a body of from fifty to sixty Mehára were about to attack them.

Though no good authority could be named for this intelligence, the whole caravan was carried away by excitement, and all called out for powder and shot. Eloquent speeches were delivered, and the people exhorted to be courageous; but many, very naturally, had a great objection to come to open hostilities with the desert tribe, which might end in their being unable to travel any longer along this

But unfortunately, though a very experienced merchant, he was not a practical, sharp-sighted man; and instead of giving them clear information as to the probable amount of truth in the reports, and what sort of difficulties they might really have to encounter, and how, by paying a sort of passage-money to the chiefs, they might get over them, he denied in private the existence of any danger at all, while openly he went round the whole caravan extolling Barth's importance as a missionary sent by a powerful government, and encouraging

the people to defend him, if he should be in danger.

In consequence of his exhortations, the native friends of the caravan took courage, but had the imprudence and absurdity to supply also the three intruders with powder and shot, who, though protesting to be now Barth's most sincere friends, of course made no other use of the present than to supply their band with this material, which alone gave the caravan a degree of superiority, and constituted its security.

Dr. Barth was not at all satisfied with the spirit of the caravan, notwithstanding its noise and waste of powder, and with its entire want of union; but the scene which followed in the bright moonlight evening, and lasted throughout the night, was animating and interesting in the extreme.

HERD OF BULLS.

The whole caravan was drawn up in a line of battle. About ten o'clock a small troop of Mehára appeared, when a heavy fusillade was kept up over their heads, and firing and shouting were continued the whole night.

This was but the beginning of the most serious trouble they encountered. At one time, it seemed as if they would all be murdered. Barth says that their own people were so firmly convinced that, as they stoutly refused to change their religion, though only for a day or two, they should immediately suffer death, that their servant Mohammed, as well as Mukni, requested them most urgently to testify, in writing, that they were innocent of their blood. Mr. Richardson himself was far from being sure that the sheikhs did not mean exactly what they said.

The servants and the chiefs of the caravan had left them, with the

fate in a manner worthy alike of their religion and of the nation in whose name they were traveling among these barbarous tribes, when Mr. Richardson

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interrupted the silence which prevailed, with these words: "Let us talk a little. We must " die; what is the use of sitting so mute?" For some minutes death seemed really to hover over their heads; but the awful moment passed by. They had been discussing Mr. Richardson's last propositions for an attempt to escape with their lives, when, as a forerunner of the official messenger, the benevolent and kind-hearted Slimán rushed into the tent, and, with the most sincere sympathy, stammered out the few words, 66 You are not to die."

The chief of Tintéllust having re fused to assist the expedition in its

MOUNT TISKA

further progress, except at a very considerable outlay, Dr. Barth started on a mission to A'gades, the residence of the sultan of the country. His route thither lay through a country diversified by mountains and hilly ranges, with ravines and valleys, rendered pleasant by a various tropical vegetation.

A'gades itself, Dr. Barth tells us, is a considerable town, once as large as Tunis, but it derives its chief interest from being situated in the midst of lawless tribes, on the border of the desert, and of the fertile tracts of an almost unknown continent established there from ancient times, and protected as a place of rendezvous and commerce between nations of the most different character, and having the most various wants. It is, he says, by mere accident, that this town has not attracted as much interest in Europe as her sister town Timbuctoo.

There was one very characteristic building in the town, which, though a most conspicuous object from the terrace of his house, Barth was curious to investigate. This was the mesállaje, or high tower rising over the roof of the mosque.

The mesállaje starts up from the platform or terrace formed by the roof of the mosque, which is extremely low, resting apparently, in its interior,

upon four massive pillars. It is square, and measures at its base about thirty feet, having a small lean-to, on its east side, on the terrace of the mosque, where most probably there was formerly the entrance. From this the tower rises (decreasing in width, and with a sort of swelling or entasis in the middle of its elevation, something like the beautiful model adopted by nature in the delébpalm, and imitated by architects in the columns of the Ionic and Corinthian orders) to a height of from ninety to ninety-five feet. It measures at its summit not more than about eight feet in width. The interior is lighted by seven openings on each side. Like most of the houses in A'gades, it is built entirely of clay; and in order to strengthen a building so lofty and of so soft a material, its four walls are united by thirteen layers of boards of the dom-tree crossing the whole tower

MOUNT CHEREKA.

in its entire breadth and width, and coming out on each side from three to four feet.

Dr. Barth's mission to the Sultan of A'gades was so successful, that on his joining his companions at Tin-Teggana, which was in advance of Tintellust, where he had left them, on the way to Kano, he says they were actually jealous of him! Their means of progress were not, however, in any way forwarded by this great success, for the old chief A'nnur would not move, and they had to remain in the valley of TinTeggana for upwards of a month, waiting for the great salt caravans, before proceeding to the southward.

At length a start was effected on the 12th of December, 1850, through at first a rocky country, abounding in gazelles, hares, and partridges. There were, also, many maneless lions in this region, which is the northern limit of the indigo plant. A table-land clothed

with high grass, and abounding in gazelles and hares, led thence to the long valleys of Unan and Bargot, which were well wooded, dôm-palms and talhas being very numerous, and the latter covered with parasitical plants.

At the extremity of these valleys the granite was once more succeeded by sedimentary rocks. This was at the southern limit of the maneless lion of Air, and the northern of the giraffe. The way now lay across uninhabited and waterless regions. The dôm-palm and all other large trees had disappeared. The antelope leucoryx became more numerous. This was succeeded by what Dr. Barth terms, a perfect desert plain, with an average elevation of about 2,000 feet, whole tracts being covered with karengia (penisetum distichum), others with brushwood. This region was the home of the giraffe, the wild ox, the ostrich, and the leucoryx. At length, after several days'

He was tolerably well at the time although he had shown evident symptoms of being greatly affected by the change from the fine fresh air of the mountainous district of Air to the sultry climate of the fertile lands of Negroland; and he was quite in

capable of bearing the heat of the sun, for which reason he always carried an umbrella, instead of accustoming himself to it by degrees.

Barth and Overweg started together, passing amid the corn-stacks of OlaIowa, the first regular ant-hill. Travel was now very pleasant, cultivated land alternating with prairies of " Gamba," a tall sort of grass, and woods enlivened by guinea-fowl, and wild pigeons. They

found the earth, however, to abound in a peculiar kind of small worms (?) which greatly annoyed those who had no bedsteads. On the 11th of January, according to Overweg, and the 12th, according

to Barth, they saw the first tulip-tree, just open in all the natural finery of its colors, while not a single leaf adorned the trees. At the same time, they met with the first cottonfields, which alternated with

the corn-fields most agreeably. On the 13th, Overweg, who had determined to go directly to Tasawa, in order to carry out an adventurous journey to Gober and Maradi, parted from Barth. The latter proceeded a little south to Gozenako before he turned off for Tasawa, where, however, he had another interview with his fellow-traveler, before they finally separated.

Traveling appears to have been any.