I wrote yesterday a despatch to Government, requesting letters of recommendation to be sent up to me in Kordofan, pointing out the route of Egypt as the probable one by which I shall return to the Mediterranean. I had a long dispute with Overweg about the letter _ghain_, which he persists in pronouncing like a strong _k_. Yusuf was called in, and declared that the _ghain_ was the letter which distinguished Arabic from all other languages. In Kailouee Tuarick there is no _kaf_ or _ghain_. These Berber dialects have, however, the hard _g_ in a thousand words, and have also the _k_ in a great number of cases, but the hard _g_ and the _t_ are the consonants most frequently occurring. The Haussa has also the _g_ hard, as in _magaree_, "good;" and a great number of words with the sound _tsh_, as _doutshee_, a stone or mountain.
The Fellatah language is said to resemble the Kailouee; in other words, to be a Berber dialect. If this be the case, the Fellatah people are probably of Berber extraction, and not Arab, as they are vulgarly supposed to be. This is a question requiring still further investigation. Others, again, say that the Fellatah language is quite different from the Tuarick. Overweg thinks Islamism was introduced into Bornou by the Shoua Arabs, who are found in Bornou in great numbers. The Fellatah, he thinks, received Islamism by way of Timbuctoo, from Moors and Arabs trading to that city from Morocco. There is considerable probability in both these opinions.
_15th._--Four or five days after the approaching Eed, or festival, half the people of Tintalous will go for salt, and the other half prepare for their annual journey to Soudan with En-Noor.
The inhabitants of Damerghou are reported to be half "_Kohlan_," blacks, and half Kailouees. It is the Kailouees in the neighbourhood of Damerghou who infest the borders and routes of Bornou. En-Noor is now very quiet, and there is a chance that he will not come down upon me for more money.
According to the Fezzanees, Tuat is thirty days from Aisou and thirty-three from Taghajeet (short days). Ghât is forty short and thirty long days from Tintalous or Asoudee. Bilma is fourteen long and seven short days from Tintalous or Asoudee. There is no direct route from this (Tintalous) to Timbuctoo; from Sakkatou there is, however, a short route to Timbuctoo, and it is said to be a safe one. The number of days here mentioned are merely general numbers; they vary according to the good state of the camels, or the disposition of the people, or certain accidents on the road.