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 negroes of all Africa. The inhabitants of the towns possessed excellent houses, constructed after the manner of those of Barbary; but the peasants and shepherds of the south were nomadic hordes, living, like the Carir of the Deccan, in large baskets, or portable wicker huts. He next arrived at Kanoo, five hundred miles east of the Niger, a country inhabited by tribes of farmers and herdsmen, and abounding in corn, rice, and cotton. Among the cultivated fields many deserts, however, and wood-*covered mountains were interspersed. In these woods the orange and the lemon were found in great plenty. The houses of the town of Kanoo, like those of Timbuctoo, were built of chalk. Proceeding eastward through a country infested by gipsies, occasionally turning aside to visit more obscure regions, he at length arrived at Bornou, a kingdom of great extent, bounded on the north and south by deserts, on the west by Gnagera, and on the east by an immense country, denominated Gaoga by Leo, but known at present by the various names of Kanem, Begharmi, Dar Saley, Darfur, and Kordofan.

The scenery and produce of Bornou were exceedingly various. Mountains, valleys, plains, and deserts alternating with each other composed a prospect of striking aspect; and the population, consisting of wild soldiers, merchants, artisans, farmers, herdsmen, and shepherds, some glittering with arms, or wrapped in ample drapery, others nearly as naked as when they left the womb, appeared no less picturesque or strange. Leo's stay in this country was short, and the persons from whom he acquired his information must have been either ignorant or credulous; for, according to them, no vestige of religion existed among the people (which is not true of any nation on earth), while the women and children were possessed by all men in common. Proper names were not in use. When persons spoke of their neighbours, they designated them from some corpo