The Whole Populace
Were Afterwards Gratified By A Discharge Of Sky-Rockets.
On the 2d March, the travellers set out to Birnie, to visit the sultan.
At this court it was
The fashion for the grandees to emulate each other
in rotundity, and when the desired result could not be attained by high
feeding, they used wadding, and in spite of the sultry climate, put on a
vast number of garments, one over another. Surrounded by three hundred of
these great men, sat the sultan, enclosed in a species of cane basket
covered with silk, his features scarcely discernible beneath his huge
turban. The presents were received in silence.
The travellers departed for Kouka, passing Angornou, a city containing
thirty thousand inhabitants. The market of Angornou is held in the open
air, and is attended by immense crowds; the principal articles sold are
grain, bullocks, sheep, and fowls, together with amber, coral, and brass;
also young lions, which are kept as domestic pets.
The kingdom of Bornou is of great extent. Its chief physical feature is
the lake Tchad, which is about 200 miles in length, and 150 in breadth,
and is one of the largest bodies of fresh water in the world, second only
in extent to the great inland seas of America. Its dimensions vary
according to the season; and during the rains, many miles of territory
previously dry, are submerged. This tract, covered with dense thickets,
and rank grass twice the height of a man, is the habitation of wild
beasts, "abounding with elephants of enormous dimensions, beneath whose
reclining bodies large shrubs, and even young trees were seen crushed;
tenanted also by lions, panthers, leopards, large flocks of hyenas, and
snakes of enormous bulk." These monsters of the wood are driven from
their fastnesses by the advancing waters, and seek their prey among the
dwellings of the natives.
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