FROM TIMBUKTU TO TOSAYE 105 Of course I knew that Abiddin exaggerated, as all Orientals do, and that much of his enthusiasm for Madidu was only cupboard love, the result of the good cheer he had enjoyed in his camp. Still I gathered from what he said that his chief really was somebody worth reckoning with. Writing to the Lieutenant-Governor of the French Sudan by the returning canoe which had brought our despatches I said, " I am now pretty well convinced that if Madidu really wishes it we shall pass without hindrance, but that if he opposes us we shall have the greatest difficulty in going down the river." This was, however, but a faqon de parler, for I was mentally resolved that, with or without Madidu's help and permission, we would go down the Niger, though if he did try to prevent us, we should most likely leave our bones in the river.

It will readily be understood how much this passage through the Awellimiden district occupied our thoughts. It was the chief subject of all our talks with Abiddin, and we had every reason to congratulate ourselves on having so far won him over. But we meant to do far more than that.

He was altogether our friend now, and never left the boat except to eat. I reminded him of the former grandeur of his race, of Sidi Moktar and his brothers, who had acted as mediators between the tribes of the neighbourhood, and pointed out to him that it was the outburst of fanaticism, against which his grand-uncle had struggled so hard, which had led to the decrease of the influence of the Kuntas. We too, I told him, had to contend against those who propagated the doctrines declared by Hamet Beckay to be false and contrary to the true morality of Islam, and we had succeeded in what that great man wished to accomplish, for we had driven back the invading Toucouleurs.

If, I urged, we whites, who had considerable forces at our