rd-houses, after which he found Sultan Bello seated on a small carpet
in a sort of painted and ornamented cottage. Bello had a noble and
commanding figure, with a high forehead and large black eyes. He gave
the traveller a hearty welcome, and after inquiring the particulars of
his journey, proceeded to serious affairs. He produced books belonging
to Major Denham, which had been taken in the disastrous battle of
Dirkullah; and though he expressed a feeling of dissatisfaction at the
Major's presence on that occasion, readily accepted an apology, and
restored the volumes. He only asked to have the subject of each
explained, and to hear the sound of the language, which he declared to
be beautiful. He then began to press his visiter with theological
questions, and showed himself not wholly unacquainted with the
controversies which have agitated the christian world; indeed, he soon
went beyond the depth of his visiter, who was obliged to own he was not
versant in the abstruser mysteries of divinity.

"The Sultan now opened a frequent and familiar communication with the
English envoy in which he showed himself possessed of a good deal of
information. The astronomical instruments, from which, as from
implements of magic, many of his attendants started with horror, were
examined by the monarch with an intelligent eye. On being shown the
planisphere, he proved his knowledge of the planets and many of the
constellations, by repeating their Arabic names. The telescope, which
presented objects inverted,--the compass, by which he could always turn
to the East when praying,--and the sextant, which he called 'the
looking-glass of the sun,' excited peculiar interest. He inquired with
evident jealousy, into some parts of English history; particularly the
conquest of India and the attack upon Algiers."

The same traveller describes the capital of Loggun, beneath whose high
walls the river flowed in majestic beauty. "It was a handsome city,
with a street as wide as Pall Mall, bordered by large dwellings, having
spacious areas in front. Manufacturing industry was honored. The cloths
woven here were superior to those of Bornou, being finely dyed with
indigo, and beautifully glazed. There was even a current coin, made of
iron, somewhat in the form of a horseshoe; and rude as this was, none of
their neighbors possessed any thing similar. The women were handsome,
intelligent and lively."

All travellers in Africa agree, that the inhabitants,