Note 60 — Chapter XXXV · THE MEETING OF THE WATERS.—THE BÉNUWÉ AND FÁRO.

I heard the name pronounced in this way, but lower down it may be pronounced Bí-nuwé. However, I have to remark that Mr. Petermann changed the é into an í, from mere mistake; and I do not know whether the members of the Chádda expedition had sufficient authority for writing the name in this way. The word belongs to the Bátta language, where water is called “beé,” or “bé”; but in kindred dialects it is called “bí.” “Nuwé” means the mother; and the whole name means “mother of water.” The name, therefore, properly is of the feminine gender.