noon
And we went forward next day all in excellent spirits , all eager to enter the unknown land . A few days ' march from the mystic mountain of Nauri we approached a little town called Imigu , but found it had been sacked and burned , evidently by Arab slave-raiders , who , Omar said , were constantly descending upon the towns and villages on the border of his land . At evening we went over the ruins of what not long ago must have been a populous trading town , saw how wanton had been the destruction , and judged from the heaps of bleaching bones how terrible had been the butchery of its inhabitants . At dawn , however , we moved forward again , but at noon , while we were descending a beautiful fertile valley Kona stopped suddenly , gazed around wonderingly , and then halting his men addressed them , telling them that they were about to enter a country wherein no stranger had ever before set foot , and urging them to patiently face any difficulty they found in their path , and to offer sacrifices of food to the fetish to give them strength to surmount all obstacles . Omar , with folded arms , stood by and listened . When Kona had finished he raised his hand , saying : `` Men of the Dagomba . You have guided us to the furthermost limit of the earth as known to you ; in fact to the point where your knowledge of this land ends and mine commences .