This Town Where The King Abaan Resides, Is About 4 Leagues Up The Country, And In The Opinion Of Our People Who Were There Is As Large In Circumference As London, Though All Built Like Those We Had Already Seen.

Around the town there was great abundance of the wheat of the country, insomuch that on one side of it they saw 1000 ricks of wheat and of another sort of grain called _mill_ or millet, which is much used in Spain.

All round this town there is kept a good nightly watch, and across all the roads or paths they have cords stretched and connected with certain bells; so that if any one touch the cords the bells, immediately ring to alarm the watchmen, on which they run out to see what is the matter. In case of any enemies, they have nets suspended over the paths ready to let fall and entangle them. It is impossible to get to the town except by the regular paths, as it is every where environed with trees and thick underwood; besides which the town is surrounded by a fence of sedge bound with thick ropes made of the bark of trees[268].

[Footnote 268: It is hard to discover what place this was. Perhaps it was _Great Commendo_ or _Guaffo_, which stands on a river that runs by the town of the _Mina_, and is still the residence of a negro king; in which case the port they put in at might have been little _Commendo._ But the royal city is very far from being as large as London was in 1556, not having above 400 houses.

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