Africa . to protectthem from the ants, present rather a peculiar sight at adistance. Still keeping to the north-west, Barth arrived at awell-cultivated district, but where the Fulah alone breedcattle. Then, crossing the Sirba, a not inconsiderabletributary of the Niger, he came upon the Sonrhay villageof Bossebango, where the men are inveterate smokers, andwear short blue shirts and long wide trousers. Thewomen are of short stature, of unsymmetrical figure, andadorn their neck and ears with strings of pearls, but do THE NORTHERN BEND OF THE NIGER. 169 not wear nose-rings. Next followed Sebba,
Africa . to protectthem from the ants, present rather a peculiar sight at adistance. Still keeping to the north-west, Barth arrived at awell-cultivated district, but where the Fulah alone breedcattle. Then, crossing the Sirba, a not inconsiderabletributary of the Niger, he came upon the Sonrhay villageof Bossebango, where the men are inveterate smokers, andwear short blue shirts and long wide trousers. Thewomen are of short stature, of unsymmetrical figure, andadorn their neck and ears with strings of pearls, but do THE NORTHERN BEND OF THE NIGER. 169 not wear nose-rings. Next followed Sebba, which, thoughcapital of a Fulah province, is a wretched place of 200mud huts. In the adjoining territory of Libtako, the lastrecognising the authority of Gando, the daily hardships ofthe journey were intensified by the troublesome flies andthe leeches which, like their cousins in the Terai of theHimalayas, crept out of the grass on to the horses legs,and plagued him so that the blood ran down in streams.*. Lamorde, in the district of Aribinda, and Tinge areindependent Sonrhay places, whose inhabitants build veryroomy houses, wear indigo blue shirts, and carry spears astheir usual weapon, but swords occasionally. Here also thelower classes disfigure their features by gashing then open tracts were succeeded by the domain of theFulahs of Massina. The appearance of the country fromKuka to this point had been tolerably uniform—cultivated 170 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. plains, varied by woodland scenery, arid districts, and low
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Keywords: ., bookauthorkeaneaha, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1870, bookyear1878
