Travels Of Richard And John Lander Into The Interior Of Africa For The Discovery Of The Course And Termination Of The Niger By Robert Huish
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On The 27th, They Appeared Gradually To Approach Something Resembling
Vegetation.
They had rising lands and clumps of fine grass the whole
of the way, and the country was not unlike some of the heaths in
England.
A herd of more than a hundred gazelles crossed them towards
the evening, and the footmarks of the ostrich, and some of its
feathers, were discovered by the Arabs. The spot where they halted
was called Geogo Balwy.
Early on the following morning, they made Beere-Kashifery, and soon
afterwards Mina Tahr, (the black bird,) the sheik of the Gunda
Tibboos, attended by three of his followers, approached the camp.
Beere-Kashifery lay within his territories, and no kafilas pass
without paying tribute, which, as he is absolute, sometimes amounts
to half what they possess. In the present case, the visit was one of
respect. Boo Khaloom received him in his tent, and clothed him in a
scarlet bornouse of coarse cloth, and a tawdry silk caftan, which was
considered as a superb present. The Tibboos are smart active fellows,
mounted on small horses of great swiftness; their saddles are of
wood, small and light, open along the bone of the back; the pieces of
wood, of which they are composed, are lashed together with thongs of
hide; the stuffing is camels' hair, wound and plaited so as to be a
perfect guard; the girths and stirrup-leathers are also of plaited
thongs, and the stirrups themselves of iron, very small and light;
into these, four toes only are thrust, the great toe being left to
take its chance.
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