marched to the shores of the lake, and began to
reconnoitre the islands on which the Shouaas, with their cattle and
cavalry, were stationed; but the experienced eye of Barca Gana soon
discerned, that the channel, though shallow, was full of holes, and
had a muddy deceitful appearance. He proposed therefore to delay the
attack, till a resolute band of Kanemboo spearmen should arrive and
lead the way. The lowing, however, of the numerous herds, and the
bleating of the flocks on the green islands, which lay before them,
excited in the troops a degree of hunger, as well as of military
ardour, that was quite irrepressible. They called out, "What! be so
near them, and not eat them?--No, no, let us on; this night, these
flocks and women shall be ours." Barca Gana suffered himself to be
hurried away, and plunged in amongst the foremost. Soon, however, the
troops began to sink into the holes, or stick in the mud; their guns
and powder were wetted, and became useless; while the enemy, who knew
every step, and could ride through the water as quickly as on land,
at once charged the invaders in front, and sent round a detachment to
take them in the rear. The assault was accordingly soon changed into
a disgraceful flight, in which those who had been the loudest in
urging to this rash onset set the example. Barca Gana, who had
boasted himself invulnerable, was deeply wounded through his coat of
mail and four cotton tobes, and with difficulty rescued by his chiefs
from five La Sala horsemen, who had vowed his death. The army
returned to their quarters in disappointment and dismay, and with a
severe loss. During the whole night, the Dugganah women were heard
bewailing their husbands, who had fallen, in dirges composed for the
occasion, and with plaintive notes, which could not be listened to
without the deepest sympathy. Major Denham was deterred by this
disaster from making any further attempt to penetrate to the eastern
shores of the Tchad.

The Beddoomahs are another tribe who inhabit extensive and rugged
islands, in the interior of the lake, amid its deep waters, which
they navigate with nearly a thousand large boats. They neither
cultivate the ground, nor rear flocks and herds, while their manners
appeared to Major Denham, the rudest and most savage observed even
among Africans--the Musgows always excepted. They have adopted as a
religious creed, that God having withheld from them corn and cattle,
which the nations around enjoy,