Note 132 — CHAP. LXVIII.

I will give, in this place, some particulars as to the court of Hamda-Alláhi; حَمْدَ اللَهِ the name is written by the natives. Mohammed Lebbo ruled from A.H. 1241 to 1262; his son Sheikho (pronounced also Seko) Áhmedu, till 1269. This is the chief whom M. Faidherbe (Revue Col. 1857, p. 279) calls Balógo, a Mandingo name, which means nothing but “war chief.” Sheikho Áhmedu, in spite of the opposition of a strong party, was succeeded by his young son Áhmedu. All the members of the royal family live together in one and the same courtyard, which has something of a round shape, the yard of the chief himself forming the centre, and those of the four surviving sons of Mohammed Lebbo, viz. ʿAbd Alláhi, ʿAbd e’ Salám, Hámidu, and ʿAbd e’ Rahmán, lying opposite each other around the wall. Of these uncles of the sheikho, ʿAbd Alláhi is the richest, and is said to possess a great amount of gold, 1700 slaves, 1900 head of cattle, 40 horses, and 20 boats on the river.