Travels in western Africa, in the years 1818, 19, 20, and 21 : from the river Gambia, through Woolli, Bondoo, Galam, Kasson, Kaarta, and Foolidoo, to the river Niger

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PRESENTED BY

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TRAVEl^S

IN

WESTERN AFRICA,

IN THE YEARS 1818, 19, 20, AND 21,

FROM THE

RIVER GAMBIA, THROUGH WOOLLI, BONDOO, GALAM,

KASSON, KAARTA, AND

FOOLIDOO, TO THE RIVER NIGER.

BY

MAJOR WILLIAM GRAY,

AND THE LATE

STAFF SURGEON DOCHARD.

WITH A MAP, DRAWINGS, AND COSTUMES, ILLUSTRATIVE
OF THOSE COUNTRIES.

Quod si defieiant vires, audacia eerte
Laus erit in magnis, et voluisse sat est.

LONDON:
JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET.

MDCCCXXV.

sig^uPf iJicsif f

«. F. ffflii IIMY

WITH SENTIMENTS OF THE HIGHEST RESPECT

AND THE MOST SINCERE GRATITUDE,

THE AUTHOR OF THE FOLLOWING PAGES

HAS;, BY PERMISSION, DEDICATED THEM
TO THE

RIGHT HON. THE EARL BATHURST,

HIS majesty's principal secretary or STATE
FOR THE COLONIES.

PREFACE.

In offering to the public the following pages, it
may be necessary to state the moiives which
operated to my acceptance of that important
command, which it will be their business to
disclose. Though not born in the camp, nor
altogether educated in the field, I have beer
early taught in that frankness which generally
characterises the soldier, and, I trust, it will be
found that, in all I describe, I have never devi-
ated from strictly acting on that honourable and
faithful basis.

I had reached the shores of Africa, in my tour
of service, well remembering on my passage the
labours and researches of the informed and the
brave who perished in the exalted struggle of
benefiting their country and the benighted
Africans ; while, at the same time, I could not
help reflecting on the disappointing results which
often attend the best directed human exertions.
The brave and the scientific were gone ; their
country consecrated their labours, though par-
tially abortive ; and the enterprising mind felt
no alarm in tracing their progress, w^hile a chance

VIU PREFACE.

remained of redeeming their fate by more suc-
cessful exertions. Greece and Rome alternately
fought and conquered, and were subdued by
arms, the short summary of most nations' his-
tory, while it remained for the British Govern-
ment alone to extend their empire through the
enlightened agency of moral sway, of civil in-
stitutes, and Christian regulations, and convey
to the hapless, the neglected, and the enslaved,
the highest blessings which can dignify, improve,
or adorn man.

Warmed with those feelings, I felt an honour-
able pride in being entrusted with a command
to explore the uncultivated regions of Western
Africa. It was a task of peril, but the measure
of danger was the measure of honour ; and with
a strong distrust of my own capacity I accepted
the office of conducting the expedition. As
soon as I became acquainted with its objects, it
may be naturally supposed that I felt some un-
easiness ; but such were the measures taken by
a superior commander, now no more, that any
insufficiency on my part was compensated by
the wisdom of a gallant and enlightened officer.
The objects of the mission were not the mere
acquisition of territory, or the unfair advantage
of commerce ; they were the improvement of
science, the enlargement of trade, and the con-
sequent diffusion of increased happiness to the

PREFACE. IX

African population. The sceptic in religion,
and the would-be renovator of politics, may
think differently on this subject ; but every ra-
tional individual must feel that British life,
British talent, and British treasure, would not
be employed in such a quarter if there were
not every wish to benefit and improve the con-
dition of our degraded fellow creatures.

In undertaking this mission I was not em-
ployed to create a fabulous history, or describe
romantic scenery ; I was employed to glean and
collect facts ; to effect discovery when it was
possible y to note down nothing which might not
lead to some useful result ; and, in the end, to
draw such honest inferences as will, I humbly
venture to trust, be found throughout these
pages.

With the wisdom of all the previous plans
adopted in exploring Western Africa I have
nothing to do, and for that in which I was en-
gaged,-! only feel myself responsible as far as
the resources placed within my reach. A dif-
ficult duty was assigned me ; I attempted its
execution ; and, be the results satisfactory or not,
I can safely say that my best exertions were in
no case wanting to meet the views of those
high authorities at home and abroad who con-
fided its performance to me. If I have par-
tially failed, the failure is attributable to circum-

X PREFACE.

stances, which will be fully developed in the
sequel. I shall say nothing of my sufferings
and privations ; but after all I have witnessed, I
feel deeply impressed with the generous senti-
ments and wishes of his Majesty's Government
towards all who need their aid, and I entertain
a fervent hope that to future travellers in Africa
my humble endeavours may prove a source of
more ample success than it has fallen to my lot
to achieve.

I cannot conclude, without regretting the
premature death of my friend and companion
Staff Surgeon Dochard, who but a few months
after my return from Africa, fell a victim to the
consequences of the sufferings and privations he
endured on the missions under the command of
Major Peddie, Captain Campbell, and myself.
I particularly felt the want of that assistance in
preparing our several notes for the press, which
he was so fully able to afford me. The importance
of his notes have not, however, been altogether
lost, though they are still deprived of much of
that value which his reconsideration would no
doubt have imparted to them. Such as he left
them, they are faithfully preserved, and have
been used in the narrative with the same atten-
tion as my own.

\V. GRAY, Major.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.

TAGE

Arrival of the Expedition at Senegal — Delay there — A
Messenger despatched to Sego — Departure from Sene-
galj and Arrival at the Rio Nunez — Town of Talla-
bunchia — Major Peddie's Death — Sickness of the Men
and Officers — Departure from Robugga^ Difficulties
on the March — Arrival at the Panjetta 1

CHAPTER IL

Halt at the Panjetta— Return of Messengers sent to the
Capital — His Majesty's Answer — Great Scarcity of
Provisions — Another Messenger sent, with Presents to
the King — Captain Campbell's interview with Onier-
hoo Kano — Reports about the Intentions of the Expe-
dition— Captain Campbell goes to see the King — Ar-
rival of the Messenger from Sego — Captain Campbell's
Return — No satisfactory Answer — Illness of the Offi-
cers— Lieutenant Stokoe and Mr. Kummer sent to the
Coast — Captain Campbell decides on retracing his steps
— Departure from the Panjetta — Arrival at Kakundy
— Death of Captain Campbell — Departure for, and
Arrival at Sierra Leone — Description of Foota Jallon. 25

CHAPTER III.

Major Gray takes the Command — Departure from Sierra
Leone— Arrival at Bathurst St. Mary's— Occurrences

Xll CONTENTS.

I'AGE

there — Departure for, and Arrival at Kuyaye — De-
scription of a tribe of wandering Foolahs — Description
of Kayaye^ the surrounding Country, and Inhabitants
— Their Amusements, &c. — Visit to Katoha — The
King's Visit to us — Arrival of Camels from Senegal
— Our Guide's proposal respecting the path — My De-
cision, and Reasons — Fatality among our Animals —
Arrival of IMr. Partarrieau from St. Mary's — Arrange-
ments for Departure 43

CHAPTER IV.

The Expedition leaves Kayaye — Difficulty in procuring
Water at Jaroomy — Arrival and Halt at Coonting
— Description of that Town and surrounding Country
— Civility of the Chief — Departure from Coonting —
Deaths among the Animals, and difficulty of procuring
Carriers — Arrival at the Wallea Creek — Attempt of
some People to stop us — Pass the Creek — Cane Bridge
— Attempt at Murder by one of our native Civilians,
and his Desertion —Enter the Kingdom of Woolli —
Arrival at Madina, the Capital — Transactions and dif-
ficulties there — Description of the Town, and the
INIumbo Jumbo Ceremony — Departure from Madina,
and theft by the Natives — Arrival at Kussaye. 63

CHAPTER V.

Dej)arturc from Kussaye — Pass through the Simbani
Woods— Loss of Camels — Ruins of Muntobc — Leave
Muntobe — Arrive at Sansanding — Halt there — Our
Woolli guides leave us — Discharge of Corporal Harrop
— Arrival at Sabee, the first Tcwn of Bondoo — Loss of
Animals — Opposition on the part of our Guides to our
moving thence — Arrival at Loonchca —Death of tlie
Camels — Supply of iimvisioiis from Almamy — Mr-

CONTENTS. Xin

TACZ

Dochard sent in advance with a present to Almamy —
Departure from Loonchea — Arrival at Dachadoonga —
Difficulty and delay in carrying forward the Baggage —
Description of the Red Water, and its use — Arrival at
Goodeerri — I\Ir. Dochard returns from the Capital —
A.rrival of Almamy's eldest Son — Transactions with
Almamy and difficulty in arranging matters with him
— Departure from Goodeerri, and arrival at Boolibany,
the Capital of Bondoo 94

CHAPTER VI.

Description of Boolibany — Delays and Disappointments
there — Scarcity of Provisions — Death of Private
Pickard — My decision of passing the rains ii} the
Country, and Departure for Samba Contaye to select
a position for winter quarters — Arrival of the Expe-
dition from Boolibany — Mr. Pilkington and men left
there sick — Death of Lieutenant Burton, and Sickness
of the men — Preparations for Mr. Dochard's Depar-
ture for Sego— -Almamy's Arrival near our Camp —
Difficulties about the Guide — Mr. Dochard's Departure
— The Object of his Embassy — Mr. Partarrieau's
Departure for the Coast — Mr. Nelson's weak state
— A regular Market established — Mr. Pilkington's
Arrival from the Capital — IMr. Nelson's Death — My
own Indisposition — Deaths among the Men — Extra-
ordinary Ceremony at the Killing of a Lioness-
Lion's Attack on the Horse — Account from Mr.
Dochard — Return of the Messengers — Almamy's un-
just Conduct, and its Results 124

CHAPTER VII.

Unfortunate Aifair at Samba Contaye — Almamy's Deci-
sion— Purchase of a Slave—Arrival of the French

XIV CONTENTS.

I'Aor

Expedition at Galam — Mr. Pilkington's determina-
tion of leaving the Mission — His Departure for the
Coast — Visit to the Senegal — Conversation with Al-
mamy — Messenger sent to Mr. Dochard — Fires at the
Camp — Death of Almamy Amady 157

CHAPTER VIII.

Description of Bondoo — Extent — Boundaries — Face of
the Country — Productions — Commerce — Manufac-
tures— Government — Revenues — Religion, its influ-
ence on the Inhabitants — Their Description, Dress, and
Manner of Living — Military Equipments — Force —
Mode of Warfare— Cause of War with Kaarta — Al-
mamy's sanguinary Conduct — Attack of the Kaartans
on Boolibany 179

CHAPTER IX.

Message from Almamy — My Visit to Boolibany — Sub-
ject of Interview with him — His hostile Conduct and
peremptory demand for my leaving Samba Contaye —
The Necessity of my Compliance — Return to the
Camp accompanied by an Escort— Preparations for
the IMarch — Departure for Boolibany — Arrival there
— Almamy endeavours to make us enter the Town —
My Refusal, and Selection of a Position for the Camp
— Return of my first Messenger to Mr. Dochard~His
Misfortune and Failure —False Alarm at the Capital,
and its Consequences — Indecision of Almamy and the
Chiefs 208

CHAPTER X.

Arrival of Mr. Partarrieau from the Coast— Interview
with Almamy — Arrangements with, and Presents
made to him — His false and deceitful Conduct —

CONTENTS. XV

PACK

My determination and Retreat from Boolibany— Dif-
ficulties on the ]March— Want of Water, and breach of
oath on the part of our Guides — Enter Foota Toro —
Difficulties there— My March to, and Return from
Baquelle— Affair with the Foolahs— My Captivity-
Departure of the Party for Baquelle— My disappoint-
ment on finding the Camp deserted — My own Return
to Baquelle 219

CHAPTER XI.

Description of the Plain of Hourey — Occurrences there
— Departure and Arrival at Baquelle — Unfavourable
Accounts from I\Ir. Dochard — Kingdom of Galam. ... 248

CHAPTER XII.

Report of Mr. Dochard's Arrival in Kaarta — My De-
parture for St. Joseph, and Meeting with Mr. D. —
Return to Baquelle — Messenger sent to Sego — Arrival
of Fleet from St. Louis— Mr. D.'s Return to the
Coast, and my final Determination — Visit to St. Jo-
seph— Conduct of Almamy Bondoo — Return from
St. Joseph — State of Ajffairs at Baquelle — Depar-
ture from thence — Delay at St. Joseph — Assembly
of Chiefs, &c. &c 271

CHAPTER XIII.

Retreat from Kaarta — Difficulties and Annoyances there
— ^ Arrival at Fort St. Joseph — Delay and Occurrences
at Baquelle — Return to the Coast — Arrival at Sierra
Leone — Visit to the captured Negro Establishments... 323

Conclusion 337

Appendix 365

PLATES.

VACE

Frontispiece. Portrait of Eokari the Kartan Guide.

1. Hut at Tallabunchia 5

2. Swinging Bridge over the Tingalinta 12

3. Wandering Foolah 49

4. Kongcorong, and Kaartan ceremonial dress /)6

5. Cane Bridge over the Wallia creek 73

6. Madina, capital of WooUi 80

7. Boolibany — Capital of Bondoo 125

8. Mosque and Place of Assembly at Galam 282

9. Musical Instruments 301

IMap to face title-page.

Botanical drawings after page 396.

N. B. For the nature and amount of presents, see Ap-
pendix.

ERRATA.

Page
26

For

Tumbo read Teembo.

75

—

Sindey read .Jindey.

77

—

Somkeys read Sonikeys.

87

—

Mausafarra read Mansafarra.

103

—

85"^ 22' 6". &c. read 14M0' .->8

235

—

Thurno read Thierno.

264

—

Falutne read Fa-lemme.

Thermometer in shade 100''

TRAVELS IN AFRICA,

ETC.

CHAPTER I.

Arrival of the Expedition at Senegal — Delay there-^-A
Messenger despatched to Sego — Departure from Senegal;,
and Arrival at the Rio Nunez — Town of Tallabunchia —
Major Peddie's Death— Sickness of the Men and Officers
— Departure from Robugga — Difficulties on the March —
Arrival at the Panjetta.

It is no doubt in the recollection of many of
my readers, that an expedition destined to ex-
plore the interior of Africa, from its western
coast to the river Niger, the course and termi-
nation of which was its ultimate, and indeed
grand object, left England in the latter end of
1815, under the command of Brevet- Major Ped-
dle, of the 12th Foot, having with him Captain
Campbell, of the Royal Staff Corps, and Staff-
Surgeon Cowdrey ; the latter, an officer who had
some years before explored part of the country
in the vicinity of the Cape of Good Hc^e, and
all three fully qualified to the importance of the
service entrusted to their care.

On their arrival at Senegal in the month of

2 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

November, 1815, so many obstacles presented
themselves to the immediate departure of the
expedition for the interior, that Major Peddie,
having proceeded to Sierra Leone for the pur-
pose of consulting with his Excellency the Go-
vernor, decided on remaining at Senegal until
the ensuing year.

They had not been long there, when StafF-
Surgeon Cowdrey took iU, and in a few days fell
a victim to the climate, much regretted by his
brother officers, who were thus left without a
medical assistant, and deprived not only of his
society, but of his invaluable services as a natu-
ralist and astronomer.

To fill the situation thus left vacant, at least
in the capacity of a medical officer, I was ap-
plied to by Major Peddie; and although I felt
that I possessed few of the qualifications requi-
site to the discharge of the duties of so import-
ant a situation, I nevertheless accepted the
offer, with a determination that no exertion
should be wanting on my part to forward the
services of the expedition, which I joined at Se-
negal, in February, 1816.

Major Peddie's first step was to despatch a
messenger with a letter to the king of Sego, in-
forming him of our intention to visit him, and
begging he would send some of his chiefs to Se-
negal, to conduct us into his territories. The

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 3

person employed, whose name was Lamina, was
a native of Sego, and promised to return with
the king's answer in three months.

Captain Campbell went to Sierra Leone in
March, 1816, for the purpose of acquiring in-
formation respecting the path through Foota
Jallon, and on his return so strongly urged Ma-
jor Peddie to enter the country for the interior
from the Rio Nunez, that he decided on doing
so, and fixed the middle of November for their
departure from Senegal. The interim was em-
ployed in collecting information respecting the
countries through which we were to travel, and
selecting from the regiment serving on the coast,
a detachment of non-commissioned officers and
men fitted to the peculiarity of such a service,
and purchasing animals for the transport of the
baggage.

All these preparations being completed, we
embarked on board four vessels, hired for the
purpose, and sailed from Senegal on the 17th of
November, I8I6.

The expedition was then composed of Ma-
jor Peddie, Captain Campbell, Mr. Adolphus
Kummer, a German, as naturalist, Mr. Partar-
rieau, a native of Senegal (possessing consider-
able knowledge of the Arabic and Moorish
languages, with some of the native African
tongues), and myself, having with us a party of

B 2

4 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

soldiers and civilians, amounting to 100 indivi-
duals, and a train of 200 animals. We called at
Goree, where we remained until the 26th, when
being joined by a vessel from the Cape de
Verde Islands, having on board some horses and
mules for our use, we proceeded and arrived,
after a tedious passage of sixteen days, at Ka-
kundy, a factory belonging to a Mr. Pearce, on
the left bank of the Rio Nunez.

While waiting for the tide at the mouth of
that river, we visited a small island formed by
the alluvial matter brought down with the
stream, and collected by a ridge of rocks which
run nearly across its embouchure. It is called
Sandy Island, from its soil being almost wholly
composed of that substance. It is about a mile
in length, and from a quarter to half a mile in
breadth, having a gentle rise towards the centre,
where it is covered by a grove of palm trees.
We met on it a party of about twenty of the
Bagoo tribe, who had come thither to collect
palm wine, for the celebration of a mournful ce-
remony over one of their chiefs, who had died
a short time before. At a little distance from
the spot where we met them, there is an ar-
bour, on approaching which we were stopped,
and told the place was sacred, as it contained
their idols ; of those we could not obtain even
an indistinct view.

AHATIf'^Tlg UVT ATT TAEaAlSTUUSIHIIA .

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TRAVELS IN AFRICA. O

Tallabunchia, which we also visited, is si-
tuated on the north bank of the river, about
four miles above Sandy Island, in a plain, beau-
tifully shaded with lofty palm trees, and a
great profusion of orange, lime, plantain, and
bananas. The town is straggling and irregular,
and contains about 200 inhabitants. The
houses are about sixteen feet high, and divided,
by a partition of split cane, into two apart-
ments, one of which serves as a store for their
rice, &c. and the other for a dwelling. The
men are strong and well formed, but of an ex-
tremely savage appearance ; their whole apparel
consists of a fathom of cotton cloth wrapped
round their waists ; they practise cutting the
incisor teeth and tattooing the breasts and
arms; holes are pierced through the whole
circle of the ear, in which are inserted bits of a
coarse kind of grass. The dress of the women is
still less decent or becoming ; a strip of cotton
bound round the loins, in the shape of what
surgeons call a T bandage, is their only cover-
ing ; a band of twisted grass round the upper
parts of the thigh, one immediately above, and
another below the knee, with one over the
ankle, constituted the female ornaments. The
children were quite naked, and had large cop-
per rings hanging from the cartilage of the nose.

On the morning of the l^th. Captain Camp-

d TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

bell, who had again proceeded to Sierra Leone,
on matters connected with the service, joined us
at Kakundy, where the whole of the men, ani-
mals, and baggage were landed. We encamped
on an elevated piece of ground, cleared for the
purpose, and overlooking the factory. There
sickness soon began to prevail amongst the Eu-
ropeans, few of whom escaped without one or
two attacks of fever, and, such was their weak
state, that, on the 24th of December, it was
thought expedient to remove them about four
miles east of Kakundy, to Robugga, a factory
belonging to a Mr. Bateman, who politely gave
up his house for their accommodation. On
that day Major Peddiewas attacked with violent
fever, from which he experienced little relief
until the morning of the 1st of January, 18 17,
when, thinking himself better, he left his bed,
but was soon obliged to resume it, and in a few
hours breathed his last.

This was a sad commencement of the new
year, and the melancholy event cast a heavy
gloom on the minds of every individual connect-
ed with the expedition. It made so deep an
impression on some, that it was with much diffi-
culty they could be prevailed on not to abandon
the enterprise. Never was a man more sincerely
beloved, nor more truly regretted by all who
knew him. His remains were deposited, amidst

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 7

the heartfelt regrets of his friends and compa-
nions, on the following day, in the court-yard of
Mr. Bateman, under the shade of two orange
trees ; and an appropriate epitaph, written by
Captain Campbell, and carved on a slab of na-
tive mahogany, was placed on his grave.

The day previous to his death, the expedition
was joined by Lieutenant Stokoe, of the Royal
Navy, and Hospital-assistant Nelson. They were
accompanied by Lieutenant M*E.ae, of the
Royal African Corps, and Thomas Buckle,
Esq.* ; the latter was sent by his Excellency,
Sir Charles McCarthy, to afford every facility to
our departure from Kakundy, and was the bear-
er of presents to Mr. Pearce (the nominal king
of Kakundy having no power whatever in the
country), without consulting whom nothing is
done in that river even by the European traders.

Lieutenant M'Rae, hearing on his arrival of
Major Peddie's illness, and the little hope we en-
tertained of his recovery, came forward with the
most disinterested zeal, and told Captain Camp-
bell that if his services were likely to be of any
use to the expedition, he would readily accom-
pany it ; indeed he left Sierra Leone partly with
that intention : and notwithstanding the great
want of officers in that garrison at the time, and

^ Member of the Council of Sierra Leone.

8 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

that he filled some very important situations,
his Excellency, with that alacrity he had all
along shewn to comply with whatever was cal-
culated to forward the views of the expedition,
most willingly agreed to his proceeding, should
his services be required. After Major Peddie's
death, they were considered very acceptable,
and he was immediately added to our number.
He did not, however, long survive our lamented
commander ; he was attacked with fever, for
the first time since his arrival on the coast, on
the 13th of January, and died on the 21st,
deeply regretted by us all.

The convalescents, and in which condition
were nearly all the Europeans, being in a very
debilitated state, were moved forward, under
the care of Mr. Nelson, to the borders of the
Foota country, on the Tingalinta river, whence
they might be easily sent back were they not
sufficiently recovered by the time the whole
might have moved forward.

We left Robugga in the afternoon of the 1st
of February, and after a most fatiguing march
of four hours reached Harrimakona, a small
slave village belonging to a Mandingo chief,
named Kirra Mahomadoo, who lives near Ka-
kundy.

On the morning of the 2d, Lieutenant Sto-
koe was added to the sick list, and being unable

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 9

to render any assistance, rode forward to the
Tingalinta. We left Harrimakona at two, p. m.
and got on tolerably well until we arrived at a
difficult pass in a wood, where those in front dis-
turbed a swarm of bees, which made so violent
an attack on both men and animals, that all
were thrown into confusion. On my being
made acquainted with the cause, I considered it
a very frivolous excuse for allowing the horses
and asses to run about in all directions, throw-
ing off their loads ; and was reprimanding the
men for their carelessness, when I was attacked
by so dense a swarm of those insects, that I was
obliged to retreat, and suffer the mortification of
exhibiting myself in the same predicament with
those I had just been reproving. It was sunset
before the bees dispersed, or we could collect
the animals, many of whom suffered severely,
from the bees getting into their eyes, ears, and
nostrils ; one of our best horses di^d on the
spot, and some of the asses were unable to rise
from the ground. We reached the Changeballe
stream at nine o'clock, but the darkness of the
night, and the difficulty of the passage prevent-
ed our crossing.

From the number of animals stung by the bees
on the 2d, we were in a bad state for travelling
on the morning of the 3rd ; the third and fourth
divisions, however, moved forward to the Tinga-

w
10 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

linta^ leaving the second and first, which arrived
about noon from Robugga, at the ChangebalJe,
where we found it necessary to halt, until the
arrival of some animals from the divisions in
advance enabled us to move, in the cool of the
evening, to the Pompo stream, where we passed
the night.

The following morning, we started at eight,
and at ten reached a fine stream, the Falgori,
which we were more than an hour in crossing.
The difficulty did not arise from the depth of
water, but from the acclivity of the hill on the
east bank, up which some of the animals could
not carry their loads without the assistance of
two men. After passing this hill we entered a
barren rocky waste, over which we travelled, for
nearly twelve miles, without meeting water.

We were here met by Mahomedoo Maria-
ma, a messenger sent by Major Peddie from Se-
negal in the preceding August, with a letter to
the Almamy or king of Teembo. He was ac-
companied by' Abdul Hamed, one of Almamy's
brothers, and three other chiefs, with their
wives and attendants. We reached the Tingalin-
ta village at four, p. m. and encamped for the
night on the east side of a hill overlooking the
river. The men were all extremely fatigued,
and, although we had only travelled thirty miles,
we had all had four days' hard work, in conse-

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 11

qiience of the difficulties of the path, and the
accidents among our animals. The general ap-
pearance of the country we travelled over was
extremely barren, and our course south-east.
We found that the convalescents sent forward to
the Tingalinta with Mr. Nelson, were still in a
very weak state, and the scarcity of rice under
which we laboured, tended to keep them so.
We were in hourly expectation, however, of a
supply from Kakundy. A little milk was all we
could procure at the village which takes its
name from the river, and contains about 100 in-
habitants, principally slaves, belonging to Mr.
Pearce, who has allowed them to settle there for
the purpose of cultivation, and to keep up an
intercourse with Foota Jallon. The rice, to the
amount often men's loads [ten cwts.], arrived on
the 8th, and eight of those men, natives of the
neighbourhood of Kakundy, were engaged to
carry loads to Laby.

On the morning of the 9th, Abdul Hamed
informed Captain Campbell it was Almamy's
orders, that a white man should be sent on in
advance to Teembo, to explain to him the object
we had in view in entering his dominions, and
at the same time forbidding our nearer ap-
proach until he should be perfectly satisfied on
that subject. I took the opportunity of offering
my services to go with an interpreter, to make

12 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

any arrangements with that chief which might be
thought necessary, but Captain Campbell did
not conceive it requisite to send an officer; and,
therefore, despatched one of our native Ser-
jeants*, who had been before employed by the
governor of Sierra Leone on similar occasions.
He left us on the 10th of February, and was ac-
companied by Abou Baccary, one of the princes
in Abdul Hamed's train.

In the evening, the animals and baggage were
removed across the Tingalinta, which, at that
place is about 110 feet wide and from two to
three deep, with a bottom of small round peb-
bles. At a little distance below the ford was a
swinging bridge, composed of cane and bark
ropes, by which it was attached, at about twenty-
four feet above the water, to the branches of the
trees which grew on the banks, and afforded
during the rainy season and periodical floods, a
safe, though apparently slight and tottering,
passage for people on foot.

We were in motion at three o'clock on the
morning of the 12th, but the Kakundy people,
who had been hired as carriers, refused to cross
the Tingalinta, assigning as a reason that they
were afraid of being seized, and retained as
slaves by the Foolas, who had some years be-

* WiUiam Tuft.

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. IS

fore obliged them to quit that country, which
formerly belonged to themselves. This delayed
us a considerable time, and it was not until
eleven o'clock that we left the ground on which
we passed the night. The path by which we
travelled was so extremely rugged and broken,
that we had much labour and difficulty in keep-
ing the animals from lying down under their
loads. This arose from their not being shod,
and from never having travelled on so hard a
soil before ; that in the vicinity of Senegal and
Goree being a light moveable sand. On reaching
a place where the path separates, one branch
leading direct to Teembo, and the other to
Laby, a halt was made until Captain Campbell
came up, when, after some conversation between
him and Abdul Hamed, he ordered us to follow
that leading to Laby, in opposition to the advice
of the prince. The reason assigned by Captain
Campbell for his choice, was the expectation of
the assistance of the chief of Laby, who had
considerable power and influence in that quar-
ter. At one, p. M. we passed a small stream *
running north, and which, from the steep,
rocky, and narrow nature of the path leading to
and from its banks, occupied much time. At
six, the rear reached the halting-place, which

* Diudilicouric.

14 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

was situate on the ridge of a rising ground, about
two miles east of the stream, but so extremely
barren that we could not find, for a considerable
distance round us, a single blade of grass for
the animals. Here again some bees, that were
flying about in search of water, fastened on the
animals' backs as soon as the pack-saddles were
removed 5 but on this occasion, we applied some
dry sand, which absorbed the profuse perspira-
tion that evidently attracted the thirsty bees, and
by this means we got rid of our troublesome visit-
ors. Abdul Hamed made himself very useful
during this day's march, and on finding that we
expressed ourselves sensible of his attention,
he presented Captain Campbell with his bow and
arrows, modestly insinuating that a musket in
return would be most acceptable ; and this was
given him.

It was eight o'clock on the morning of the
13th, before the rear moved forward. We
marched over a gently descending plain for a
mile and a half, when we came to a small
brook named Calling Ko. The asses were as
usual stubborn, and evinced a most determined
dislike to wet their feet, which caused us much
trouble and loss of time. The country here be-
gan to wear a more fertile, or, rather, a less
barren appearance. It was thinly sprinkled with
large trees and shrubs, and produced an abund-

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 15

ance of better grass than we had met before.
We halted for the night at another small brook,
a short distance from the Calling Ko, having
abandoned during the day's march six asses and
one bullock.

On the following morning, we started at eight
o'clock, and, in about twenty minutes, passed a
fine brook called Sappacourie, running--««».jy/v"/-
the path more rocky and difficult than before.
At eleven we perceived, distant about a quar-
ter of a mile to the right, a broad lake, thickly
skirted with wood ; it is called Silla Dharra *.
At noon, we passed another smaller lake, and at
one, p. M. arrived at the Cogan, a beautiful
stream, which we crossed, and halted for the
night on its eastern bank. It is about fifty yards
wide, two feet deep, and runs rapidly to the
north, over a rough stony bottom.

Though we were at work at three o'clock on
the morning of the 15th, it was eleven before
the last division left the top of the hill. The
path led us over the most barren country I
ever saw, until three, p. m. when we entered a
rich valley, in which, at some distance to our
right, stood a small town, the first we passed
since we left the Tingalinta. At half after four,
we arrived at the Serriwoomba, where we were

* A Mandingo word, signifying " a prosperous journey."

16 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

obliged to halt, in order to cut a passage through
the thicket of cane, which covered its banks.
We were all so much fatigued that we could
scarcely keep our eyes open ; indeed many of
the men fell asleep on the path. A few shots
were fired, to apprise the inhabitants of the
neighbouring villages of our arrival, and in
about two hours, they made their appearance
from different directions, bringing corn, rice,
and pistacios for sale.

Both men and animals were so much ex-
hausted, that it was found necessary to halt un-
til the 18th, when we moved forward at eight,
A. M. and, travelling east for about two miles up
hill, we passed a deserted town, from which we
continued marching on a level barren plain for
six miles, and then descending gently for
about four miles more, we arrived at the Ru-
ling, a fine sti'eam running nne. We crossed
it, and halted on its eastern bank for the night.
We had scarcely unloaded the animals when the
long dry grass to windward of our position was
set fire to, and nothing but the greatest exertion
on the part of the men could have prevented it
from destroying the whole of our baggage.

It behoves travellers in that country to be ex-
tremely guarded in their choice of a halting-
place, for the path generally lies through grass
six or seven feet long, and so dry at that season.

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 17

that the smallest spark of fire is sufficient to set
it in a blaze for miles. One of our animals that
had not come up with the rear, lay down with his
load, within range of the burning grass, which
soon communicated with some gunpowder, and
blew the whole to pieces. On the morning of
the 19th, we moved forward at eight o'clock.
The first hour's march lay along the side of a
steep hill, rendered doubly difficult for the ani-
mals by being covered with small rough stones.
At ten we descended to a plain, and crossed
three small brooks, the first running nne. and
the two latter s. and by w. Several of the
European non-commissioned officers and sol-
diers were so ill during this march, that they
lay down under some trees on the path-side. I
prevailed on two of them to move slowly for-
ward, but the others requested to be allowed to
rest until the cool of the evening. My own
horse, and every animal in the division, were so
heavily laden, that we could not afford them any
assistance. At one, p. m., we began to ascend
some rocky hills, where we were obliged to
abandon three animals. At the bottom of those
hills, Y/e passed the dry bed of a rocky water-
course, and, shortly after, had considerable dif-
ficulty in crossing another of the kind, near
which we halted, in a small valley by the side
of a brook called Bontong Ko.

18 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

On the 20th, a messenger was despatched
with small presents to Almamy and the men in
authority about him, and to advise him of our
approach. He was accompanied by a young
chief, one of the prince's suit, likewise the bear-
er of a message to the king from his brother.
Finding it impossible, with the assistance of all
the carriers we could procure, to move the
whole of our baggage with any degree of regu-
larity or safety, we decided on abandoning our
two small field guns, with their shot and grape,
and, having buried them about three feet beneath
the surface, we made a fire, to conceal where
the ground had been broken. By this means
we got rid of three very heavy loads. Captain
Campbell thought it better to dispose of them in
that way than to make a present of them to Al-
mamy, for although it was not likely he could
make any use of them, yet the very circum-
stance alone of possessing such destructive en-
gines, and of having received them from us,
might induce those nations with whom he occa-
sionally wages war (and through which we were
likely to travel), to entertain unfavourable opi-
nions of us.

When about to move on the forenoon of the
20th, the prince commenced a long palaver with
Captain Campbell on the subject of our proceed-
ing without giving him previous notice. It had

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. IQ

never been done j and why he should have ex-
pected it on this occasion, was no less matter of
surprise than his haughty language and de-
portment. After much conversation, little of
which was relevant to the question, he consent-
ed to our moving, which we did at four, p. m.,
and ascending a steep hill, so closely covered
with cane that we had more difficulty in passing
it than any former part of our path, the dry
leaves of the cane with which it was covered,
rendered the ground so slippery, that the men
with difficulty kept their feet; and that nothing
might be wanting to complete our confusion,
the Foolahs set fire to the dry grass and roots,
in which the place abounded. We fortunately
escaped without any injury, save the loss of two
asses that lay down unable to move further. It
was dark when we began to descend the east-
ern side of the hill, which, from the animals fre-
quently falling, occupied two hours. We reached
the Poosa, a small stream, at eleven, p. m., and
encamped on its banks. Our want of the means
of conveyance was every day, nay every hour, be-
coming more distressing ; carriers could not be
procured for all the loads of the animals that
died or were abandoned ; we therefore destroyed
two of our tents and a large quantity of flints
and musket balls.

The prince, observing Captain Campbell seat-

c 2

20 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

ed on a mat outside his tent, approached the
spot, accompanied by one of his attendants,
named Salihou, and, without further ceremony,
seating themselves near him, began to destroy
a portion of the vermin with which even royalty
in that country is covered. They opened a con-
versation on the dangerous part of the country
we were then in, and the difficulty of preventing
the natives from robbing and otherwise annoy-
ing us, adding that we should not have left the
Bontong Ko without consulting them.

Although we were aware that the object of all
this was to induce Captain Campbell to make
the prince a present, he nevertheless took no
notice of them. Salihou then, taking hold of
the prince's trowsers (which, by the way, were
in very bad repair), and holding them up, asked
if it was a fit dress for the brother of Almamy to
appear in before the white people ? But even this
failing to produce the desired effect, they closed
the conversation, and, at the same time, their
more disgusting occupation.

On the following morning, we left the Poosa
at nine o'clock, and at eleven, entered a valley
of great beauty and fertility. The light co-
loured sandy and rocky soil, which, with little
variation, we passed over since entering the
Foolah country, here changed to a rich dark
mould 5 hills on all sides, rising gently one

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 21

above another, and covered with large clumps
of trees, bounded this luxuriant spot. Having
passed it, we entered a deep gully, in the bottom
of which the brook Lagoody runs to the ne.
The path on both sides is extremely broken and
rocky, forming a nearly perpendicular precipice
of about one hundred and sixty feet ; down
which two of the animals, a horse and ass, rolled
into the brook, and, strange to say, received
little or no injury. We soon reached the plain
of Parow^ell, where we encamped for the night.
During this march, one of the Foolah carriers
absconded with a portmanteau, containing seve-
ral articles of value, and, although the prince
sent one of his men in search of him, he effected
his escape unmolested.

On the morning of the 28rd, we moved for-
ward at eight o'clock. In half an hour we
passed another deep ravine, and crossed a plain
about a mile long, from whence the path conti-
nued along the side of a hill, rising to a ridge,
of steep ascent ; the east side being very steep,
narrow, and rocky. It was so broken before the
last division reached, that we were obliged to
make much use of the pickaxe, in order to
clear a passage for the horses, one of which
fell over the precipice, and was much hurt. We
continued descending, until we arrived at the
Koba stream, running north, over a rocky bot-

22 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

torn ; here we encamped for the night. We were
all much fatigued, and one of our sick, being
unable to walk, was most cruelly treated by
some Foolahs who were hired to carry him.
They obliged him to walk to the Parowell,
where, had he not met Mr. Stokoe, who lent
him his horse, he must have sunk from weak-
ness and fatigue. When he reached the camp,
he was so much exhausted, that his pulse was
scarcely perceptible, and he was covered with a
cold clammy perspiration.

We left the Koba at eight o'clock on the
morning of the 24th, and, passing some large
unconnected lumps of rock of from ^ve to
twenty feet perpendicular height, crossed the
Yangally, a small stream running to the east
over stones and small gravel. Soon after, we
entered a valley, which, although an apparent
good soil, bore no marks of cultivation. It is
bounded on the right by bold rocky cliffs, be-
hind which, at no great distance, rise a chain of
lofty mountains running se. and nw. At two
p. M. we crossed a small brook that joins the
Dunso, and shortly after heard the noise of the
waterfall, which we were informed was caused
by the junction of that river with the Thoominea.
At three, we reached the former, running with
great rapidity to the nnw., and having crossed
it at a ford about thirty yards wide, halted for

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 23

the night. At about four miles ne. from our
camp, was a lofty perpendicular rock of sand-
stone, bearing a strong resemblance to the ruins
of a cathedral.

We left the Dunso at half after seven on the
morning of the 26th, and travelled through a
valley bounded by lofty mountains and perpen-
dicular cliffs of sand- stone. At eleven, we passed
a small stream running e. by s., and in an hour
after arrived at the Kankeenhang stream, run-
ning N. by w., where we encamped.

In consequence of some hesitation on the
part of the prince to accompany us farther, un-
til, as he said, a white man had visited Almamy,
we halted at the Kankeenhang until the 2d,
when, not being able to procure a sufficient
supply of rice or other provisions, we moved
forward, much against the advice of the prince,
who plainly told us we were doing so altogether
on our own responsibility.

A march of four hours, rendered extremely
painful and tedious from the swampy nature of
part of the path, and a no less number than
fourteen streams crossed, brought us to the
Panjetta river, which we also crossed, and halt-
ed on its east bank. Abdul Hamed, on seeing
us cross the last, thought we were going to con-
tinue our march ; and, although he had been
told that such was not our intention, he would

S4 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

not allow the Foolah carriers to move their loads
from the west bank. Our own men soon reme-
died the evil, much to the temporary annoyance
of the prince, who, on seeing us encamp, ex-
pressed his regret at having doubted us. Our
situation was now become truly alarming 5 a
scarcity of provisions had existed for some
days, and on the 3d the men had none at all :
and as the prince could not be prevailed upon
to allow our moving from the Panjetta, until
the king's sanction could be obtained, Captain
Campbell determined on sending Lieutenant
Stokoe, with presents to him and two of his
principal chiefs, requesting permission to pass
through the country without any further delay.

25

CHAPTER II.

Halt at the Panjetta — Return of Messengers sent to the
Capital — His Majesty's Answer — Great Scarcity of Pro-
visions— Another Messenger sent, with Presents to the
King — Captain Campbell's interview with Omerhoo Ka-
no — Reports about the Intentions of the Expedition
— Captain Campbell goes to see the King — Arrival
of the Messenger from Sego — Captain Campbell's Re-
turn— No satisfactory Answer — Illness of the Officers
— Lieutenant Stokoe and Mr. Kummer sent to the Coast
—Captain Campbell decides on retracing his steps — De-
parture from the Panjetta — Arrival at Kakundy — Death
of Captain Campbell — Departure for, and Arrival at
Sierra Leone — Description of Foota Jallon.

When Lieutenant Stokoe was about to move,
on the morning of the 4th of March, Sergeant
Tuft and Abou Baccary, the messengers sent
to the king from the TingaHnta, made their ap-
pearance, and informed Captain Campbell that
having delivered the presents, and made known
to his majesty the purport of their message, he
told them that he could not permit us to pass
through Foota Jallon until he had consulted his
chiefs, to whom he could not address himself
on th^ subject before Captain Campbell thought
fit to make them suitable presents : the messen-
gers also said, it appeared that many unfavour-

26 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

able reports, respecting the objects of the expe-
dition, had been made to the king, who never-
theless expressed himself well disposed towards
us, and said he should be extremely sorry if any
thing unfortunate happened to us in his terri-
tories.

The arrival of those messengers, and the re-
sult of Tuft's interview with the king, rendered
it necessary, in Captain Campbell's opinion,
that Tuft should return to Tumbo in the place of
Lieutenant Stokoe. A dispute now arose be-
tween Salihou, who was to have accompanied
the latter, and Abou Bacary, as to which of them
should be Tuft's companion. The latter insist-
ed that Almamy directed him to attend all mes-
sengers from Captain Campbell, and the for-
mer, knowing that whoever went must receive
some present, urged his claim with much obsti-
nacy. It was at length determined that both
should go, in consequence of the prince not
wishing to entrust Abou Bacary with his com-
mands. Although from Salihou's conduct we
could not expect him to report very favourably
of us, yet he had been so troublesome, and his
wife, a sister of Almamy's, so beggarly and im-
portunate, that we were glad to get rid of them.
We were now in the district of Laby, the chief
of which (who, as before stated, has much in-
fluence in the country) sent one of his head men,

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 27

named Mode-Duran, to remain with us, and
prevent our being imposed on by the natives of
the surrounding villages.

Sergeant Tuft, being furnished with large
presents for the king, and a host of chiefs, mi-
nisters, and favourites, left us on the 5th, to
meet his majesty at Pappadarra, a village near
Laby, where he was assembling his army, for
the purpose, as was reported, of invading the
Gaba country, on the southern bank of the
Gambia. We were reduced since our arrival
at the Panjetta, to a very small daily allowance
of provisions, and from which there appeared
no prospect of relief, at least as far as we could
foresee ; a pint of rice between four men was
our usual ration, and even that scanty pittance
failed us on the evening of the 6th.

In this state we could not have remained long ;
and although we were daily enabled to purchase
enough from the natives to keep body and soul
together, yet our sufferings were great indeed.
The health of the Europeans was rendered
worse than it had been, in consequence of their
eating unripe fruit, and even that they could
not procure in sufficient quantities to satisfy
their appetites.

On the 7th, a chief named Omerhou Kano
arrived at our camp, and having seated himself
with all pomp imaginable under a tree at a short

28 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

distance from it, where he was surrounded by
his followers to the number of three hundred
armed men, sent to summon Captain Campbell to
appear before him. This was complied with,
when, after the usual compliments, he stated
that he had been sent by Almamy to ascertain
and make a faithful report on the state and num-
bers of the expedition, and the objects it had in
view in entering the country, which he said the
king suspected had all been misrepresented by
the former messengers. This he repeated several
times, and concluded by advising us to wait
with patience until he returned to Almamy,
when arrangements agreeable to our wishes
would be effected. He left us on the 8th, after
having examined with the most scrutinizing cu-
riosity every thing in or about our «amp.

Every day brought us some messenger from the
king, but none of them were the bearers of any
satisfactory answer. One stated that we were or-
dered to return to Kakundy, and another, that
the king had received a letter from Mahomedoo
Mariama, informing him that our object in en-
tering the country was the subversion of their
religion, for which purpose we had provided
ourselves with machines that could kill at any
distance, and that we were accompanied by one
hundred large dogs, each able to fight one hun-
dred men. These, with other similar reports,

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 29

were in circulation ; but it is scarcely possible
that a being of the most ignorant and unsophis-
ticated nation on earth could believe them.

On the 13th, Sergeant Tuft, who was still at
the king's camp, sent Brahima to inform Captain
Campbell that as there did not yet appear any
probability of obtaining permission to proceed,
he recommended that he should himself see Al-
mamy, with as little delay as possible ; and it
appearing to Captain Campbell, as well as all
the other officers, that some decisive answer
should be obtained from the king, he left the
camp on the morning of the l6th, accompanied
by Mr. Partarrieau, and four men (natives) with
a train of carriers, amounting in all to about
eighteen persons ; they were soon followed by
the prince and his suite. They had not gone
long when we received a letter from Lamima,
the messenger sent to Sego from Senegal in
1816, apprising us that he, together with some
men from the king, were on their way to meet
us. It was time that some decisive step should
be taken : our animals were dying fast ; provi-
sions were extremely scarce ; and the wet sea-
son had that evening set in, by visiting us with
a heavy shower of rain, which lasted for an
hour, and proved that our huts were not calcu-
lated to secure us from a wetting.

Captain Campbell did not return before the

30 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

27th, and then without having obtained any-
very satisfactory answer from Almamy, whom
he met at a village called Dhoontoo, on the eve
of commencing a campaign against some of the
neighbouring chiefs. He said, that being
obhged to lead the army himself, and consider-
ing his reputation at stake for our safety, he
could not allow us to proceed during his ab-
sence, which would not be long, and as he un-
derstood we had lost the greater number of our
animals, he had given directions that we should
be provided with men to carry our baggage to
Woonde, a town near Laby, where we were to
await his return. On the following morning, the
prince returned, accompanied by Sergeant Tuft
and thirteen carriers, which not being near half
the number required, having lost eighty-five ani-
mals since we left Robugga, the prince said
the remainder would soon follow ; and imme-
diately ordered all strangers, except Foolahs, to
quit the vicinity of our camp. The object of
this we could not ascertain, but it deprived us
of many persons whom we had found extremely
useful in collecting provisions for the party.

In this state we remained until the 7th of
April, when we were for a moment inclined to
think that a sufficient number of carriers would
be furnished us, by the arrival of another party
of men for that purpose, but we were much sur-

I I I lilTvlv UllUhl-li

travels' i^ ^■i^iiCA^{\'^^ 31

prised and disappointed to find, that on the fol-
lowing day, not only those, but the thirteen who
came with the prince, had decamped without
any previous notice of such being their inten-
tion. Abdul Hamed despatched one of his fol-
lowers, on the 9th, to recal them, but as they
did not obey the summons, — he sent, on the
10th, to request Almamy to issue fresh orders
concerning them.

Brahima, who had been absent from the camp
for some days, watching Almamy's manoeuvres
(by Captain Campbell's orders), returned and
informed us that many debates had arisen,
and various proposals been made with respect
to what conduct they should pursue towards the
expedition. Some of the chiefs proposed plun-
dering us, to which Almamy would not consent,
but said we should pay well before he would al-
low us to pass. A third party insisted that the
country was already polluted by the presence of
so large a body of Cafirs*, and that their offence
against the will of their prophet, in allowing us
to pass, with such valuables as we possessed, to
their enemy, the king of Sego, who was himself
a Cafir, would be much aggravated. By this it
was evident that the general feeling on the sub-
ject of our going to Sego, was not favourable,

* Infidels.

32 travels" IN AFRICA.

and that if we should succeed at all, it would
probably be at a period when the advanced state
of the season must render our doing so ex-
tremely difficult, if not wholly impracticable.

Our situation was daily becoming more alarm-
ing ; provisions were not only scarce, but al-
most impossible to be procured even in small
quantities, and at exorbitant prices ; and sick-
ness increased rapidly since the rains set in.
Captain Campbell, Lieutenant Stokoe, and Mr.
Kummerwere added to the list since the 12th ;
the two latter continued to decline until the
26th, when, seeing no chance of their imme-
diate recovery, they were prevailed on to return
to the coast. Mr. Kummer left us on that
day, and Lieutenant Stokoe on the 28th. The
mode adopted for their conveyance (for they
were unable to ride ) was cradles, or long bas-
kets of cane, at each end of which was a loop,
or long handle, for the purpose of receiving a
pole, that served the same use as the pole of pa-
lanquins, and supported a curtain to defend
them from the rays of the sun. Two men could
easily carry one of these with a person of ordi-
nary size in it, but, in order that no delay
should arise from want of carriers for them-
selves or their baggage, five accompanied each.

On the 2d of May, Lamina, accompanied by
one of the chiefs, named Abou Hararata, and

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 33

a long train of attendants, came to the camp^
and informed Captain Campbell that Almamy
sent them to say he had given permission to La-
mina, in consequence of his being the messen-
ger of the king of Sego, to conduct us through
the country by whatever path he chose, and
had also given directions to Abou Hararata to
collect carriers for the conveyance of our bag-
gage. This, however plausible in w^ords, was not
acted upon, and as nothing could be obtained
from them but promises which they never in-
tended performing, with the view of detaining
us until the state of the country, occasioned
by the rains, would prevent us moving in any
direction. Captain Campbell, who was himself
very ill, came to the decision of retracing his
steps to the coast, and made known the same to
Almamy, who sent us word that, although we
were returning, it was not his desire that we
should do so, as his country was open to us
in any way we wished. This was his last effort
to detain us, but, finding it would not answer,
he ordered that we should be provided with
carriers.

It was not, however, until the 18th of May,
that a sufficient number were collected, and even
then, we found so much difficulty in putting
them to their work, that we were obliged to

D

34 TRAVELS IN AFRICA,

hold out to them promises of large rewards on
their arrival at Kakiindy.

Our retreat was by far more painful and dif-
ficult than our advance 5 the carriers required
more attendance than even the fatigued and sulky
asses ; and what with the sick men and officers,
my time and exertions were so completely taken
up, that I found myself, on the 20th of May, in
a state that rendered me unable, however will-
ing, to afford myself the assistance, so many
others wanted from me.

From that date to the 1st of June, I remained
in a state of insensibility to the objects around
me, and was conveyed, in a basket similar to
those already described, to the house of Mr.
Bateman, where, on coming to my senses (an
event which those about me did not expect), I
was informed of Mr. Rummer's death, and the
departure of Lieutenant Stokoe for Sierra Leone.

Captain Campbell, who, although a little bet-
ter than I was, still continued very weak, wished
on the 10th to proceed down the river, for the
purpose of hiring a vessel to convey the expe-
dition to Sierra Leone, but he was in that state
which I conceived must, in case of his moving,
prove of serious consequence, and I therefore
persuaded him to remain quiet, and send Mr.
Nelson in his place.

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 35

On the ISth, I again visited him, and was
sorry to find him worse, so much so, that he
could not speak to me, and so debihtated that
I much doubted the possibiHty of his recovery.
My fears were unfortunately but too well
grounded ; he breathed his last on the following
morning, sincerely regretted by every indivi-
dual of the expedition. We deposited his re-
mains on the 14th, by the side of those of his
highly- valued friend and companion. Major Ped-
dle, amidst the tears and lamentations of all
present, and which were greatly aggravated by
the painful recollection of the untimely death of
our former and much-beloved commander.

Thus ended the mortal career of two distin-
guished officers, who, in the prime of life, and
scorning a state of inactivity at home, entered on
an enterprise of the most difficult and truly for-
lorn nature; and who, by their anxiety and exer-
tions for the advancement of the arduous ser-
vice committed to their care, fell early victims
to that inhospitable climate, leaving their bones
in the sands of Africa, a sad memento of their
own melancholy fate, and of the unfortunate
issue of the expedition under their command.
To express my own feelings on that occasion,
would, indeed, be impossible ; the service lost
a gallant officer, and I lost a sincere friend.

d2

36 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

The sick, who were left at the Panjetta,
joined us in safety, and, in order to avoid starva-
tion at Kakundy, and to obtain that relief and
rest of which we were all so much in want, we
sailed immediately for Sierra Leone, where we
did not arrive until our provisions were nearly
exhausted, and then, with the loss of two men
and nearly all our remaining animals.

On landing at Free Town, his Excellency Sir
Charles McCarthy omitted nothing that could
tend in any way to relieve our wants and suffer-
ings, and it is with particular satisfaction that I
take this opportunity of offering my gratefid ac-
knowledgments for his marked kindness and at-
tention to myself.

Lieutenant Stokoe, on whom the command
then devolved, as soon as he had recovered from
the effects of his late illness and fatigues, al-
though in the depth of the rainy season, set out
by the Port Logo path, with the intention of
going to Teembo, in order to enter into arrange-
ments, if possible, with Almamy, and obtain from
him hostages for the free and unmolested pas-
sage of the expedition through his country to
the Niger. In this, however, he failed, and re-
turned to the colony, to wait until the ensuing
dry season would admit of his endeavouring to
penetrate by some other route j but he, like his

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 37

predecessors, was not doomed to see his projects
realized, and died at Sierra Leone, after a few
days' illness.

Foota Jallon, of which Teembo is the capital,
is a country of considerable extent, lying be-
tween the Sierra Leone and Gambia rivers. When
it was in the possession of the aboriginal inhabit-
ants, the Jallonkeas, it bore the name of Jallonk,
which has been gradually softened into Jallo, to
which was prefixed the name of Foota, signify-
ing together the Foolahs of Jallo, or Foota Jallo.
The Jallonkeas are now subject to the Foolahs,
who conquered the country, under the direction
of a family from Massina, consisting of the fa-
ther, two sons, and a few followers. One of
the sons was a Mahomedan priest, and gradually
gained such influence among the Jallonkeas,
that he converted many of them to his own
faith, and by means of his wealth (of which he
is said to have possessed much), strongly at-
tached them to his interest. A few years en-
abled them to make so many converts to their
religion, and their riches procured them so much
favor, that they planned and carried into exe-
cution the subjugation of the Jallonkeas, at least
of such as would not embrace the Mahomedan
faith ; and the usurpation of the supreme go-
vernment of their country, the first exercise of
which was, to oblige those who still adhered to

38 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

paganism, to pay them a yearly tribute or quit
the country which had for ages been their own.
From that family is descended the present
Alinamy. Karamoka Alpha was the first Al-
mamy of Teembo, and was surnamed Moudoo, or
the great, being at the same time acknowledged
as the chief Iman and defender of their religion.
He was succeeded by his son, Yoro Padde, sur-
named Soorie, at whose death the regal power
was assumed by Almamy Saadoo, who was de-
posed by Ali Bilmah and Alpha Salihou, and to
whose sanguinary intrigues he afterwards fell a
victim. Salihou was next proclaimed king, and
distinguished his reign by a succession of pre-
datory excursions against several Cafir or pagan
tribes of the neighbouring states, many of whom
he destroyed, plundered, or rendered tributary.
He was succeeded by Abdulahi Ba Demba, who,
having a dispute with Ali Bilmah, sent him in
irons to Bondoo, where he vainly thought he
could not injure him ; but Ali Bilmah contrived
to keep up a secret communication with his
friends, and was eventually instrumental in re-
moving his tyrannical sovereign from the throne,
which was next occupied by Abdoolghader. Ba
Demba then retired to Toogumba, a village at
some distance north-west of Teembo, and, with
the assistance of a few friends, assembled an
army lor the purpose of attempting to regain his

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 39

crown, which Abdoolghader on his side prepared
to defend ; for which purpose the latter marched
with a large army to give Ba Demba battle and
decide the affair. The latter, aware of his own
inferiority in point of number, retreated 5 but,
being pursued and overtaken by his enemies,
was killed, together with one of his sons. In
an affair which then took place on the banks of
the Tingussoo river, his second son would have
shared the same fate, had he not been protected
by Abdoolghader, who considered himself se-
cured in his possession of the crown, by the
death of the father, and he has reigned unmo-
lested to the present time.

The Foolahs, according to their own account,
have had possession of Foota Jallo for about
sixty years. The government is of a mixed
kind, partaking more of the nature of a republic
than a monarchy, and is composed of the states
of Teembo, Laby, and Teembee, with their
dependencies. Almamy, although he has the
chief power, cannot decide upon any thing of
importance to the country without the consent
of those chiefs, each of whom has a voice in
the cabinet.

The religion is Mahomedan, and so strict is
their observance of its ceremonies that they pray
regularly five times every day, and should any
one be prevented by unavoidable engagements

40 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

from attending to his devotions at the stated
periods, he must compensate for it by repeating
the whole ceremony the exact number of times
he omitted it.

Their manufactures are the same as those of
Bondoo, as will be described hereafter. The ve-
getable productions are indigo, cotton, rice,
maize, yams, cassada, shalots, andpompions; and
their fruits are oranges, lemons, plantains, ba-
nanas, tamarinds, and nittas, or the locust fruit;
the latter is a kind of mimosa, very much resem-
bling the tamarind tree. The flowers or blossoms
are produced at the extremities of the branches,
and are succeeded by pods similar to those of a
garden bean, with the exception of their being
from nine to twelve inches long, and one broad;
each pod contains from nine to twelve black
stones, resembling those of the tamarind in size
and shape, but are enveloped in a fine farina-
ceous powder of the appearance of sublimed sul-
phur. Its taste is not unlike liquorice-root pow-
der, and, when mixed with milk, affords a very
palatable and nutritious diet ; and although some
of the men, who swallowed the stones of this
fruit? were affected with sickness at stomach,
bad as our situation was from the scarcity of
provisions, it would have been exceedingly ag-
gravated, had the nittas not been ripe before we
left the Panjetta.

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 41

The men are of the middle stature, well-
formed, very active and intelligent, and are
dressed nearly in the same manner as those of
Bondoo ; the cap is of a different form, and most
frequently made of scarlet cloth ; they wear
sandals, and usually carry a long cane or spear.
Thus equipped they strut about, with all the air
and affected dignity of men of the first conse-
quence. They are characterised by a high de-
gree of cunning, duplicity, self-interestedness,
and avarice ; to gratify which they are neither
deterred by shame nor fear. This renders it ex-
tremely difficult for strangers to guard against
the crafty devices they have recourse to in all
their dealings of whatever kind, or to elude the
rapacious advantages they are always on the
alert to take of them, either by imposition or
theft.

The women are good figures, have a lively and
graceful air, and prominent features, much re-
sembling the European. They are at great pains
to preserve their teeth of a pearly white, by
constantly rubbing them with a small twig of the
tamarind tree, which is an admirable substitute
for the tooth-brush. They are, like all other
African females, extremely fond of amber, coral,
and glass beads, which they bestow in profiision
on their heads, necks, arms, waists, and ancles.

The commerce of Foota Jallon may be di-

42 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

vided into two heads; namely, first, that in
slaves, now nearly extinct, at least as far as ex-
portation is concerned, in consequence of the
constant surveillance of the British cruisers on
the coast, and the unremitted exertions of the
government of Sierra Leone to lead the people
of that country to a more intimate connexion
with the colony, and a more valuable employ-
ment of their time, in cultivating and bringing
into our market there the other productions of
their own and surrounding countries, which may
be considered as the second head under which
their commercial pursuits can be classed. The
Rio Nunez and Pongas, which were formerly
infested by slave dealers and their emissaries,
are now freed from the odious burden of such a
party, and those who still retain factories there,
although they would smile at the revival of that
unnatural trade, see so little prospect of its ever
again being open to them, that they begin to
think of other and less nefarious means of
amassing wealth.

43

CHAPTER III.

Major Gray takes the Command — Departure from Sierra
Leone — Arrival at Bathurst^ St. Mary's — Occurrences
there — Departure for, and Arrival at Kayaye — Descrip-
tion of a tribe of wandering Foolahs — Description of
Kayaye, the surrounding Country, and Inhabitants—
Their Amusements, &c. — Visit to Katoha — The King's
Visit to us — Arrival of Camels from Senegal — Our
Guide's proposal respecting the path — My Decision, and
Reasons — ^Fatality among our Animals — Arrival of Mr.
Partarrieau from St. Mary's — Arrangements for Depar-
ture.

Such was the state of the expedition, when, in
the month of November, 1817, 1 volunteered my
services to conduct it. Mr. Dochard, who was
second in command, had been despatched some
time before, on board a transport to the Cape
Verde Islands, to procure animals, and from
thence proceed to Bathurst, St. Mary's, river
Gambia j but although Mr. Stokoe had packed,
previous to his death, and sent forward with that
officer, a part of the baggage, much yet remained
at Sierra Leone in a confused state, the arrang-
ing and packing of which, together with select-
ing from amongst the men who composed the
former expedition, such as were both willing and

44 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

able to proceed on a second attempt, and equip-
ping them, occupied so much time that it was
not before the 14th of December, 1817, that we
sailed, on board the colonial brig Discovery,
from Sierra Leone for the Gambia.

We had been but a week at sea, when we for-
tunately found that the casks, which contained
the water for our use, and that of eleven
horses, were in so leaky a state that a few days
more would have left us without a drop. This
obliged us to put into the Isles des Loss, where,
with the assistance of a Mr. Lee, then resident
there, we soon remedied the evil, and again put
to sea.

A strong north-west wind, and a heavy sea,
opposed our progress for several days, and, as if
all things combined to retard us in the very first
stage of our proceedings, the brig sprung a leak,
and nearly carried away her mainmast in a squall.
In this state, with constant work at the pumps,
we were kept out until the 13th of January,
when we reached Cape St. Mary's, with only
one day's half allowance of water on board. Our
horses (one of which died) were reduced to the
very last stage of want, having subsisted, for se-
veral days, on a little rice and biscuit dust, with a
very small quantity of water.

On landing at Bathurst, St. Mary's, I found
Mr. Dochardhad arrived there from the islands,

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 45

where he could not procure more than ten
horses and six mules, and he was in such very bad
health, and apparently so ill calculated to under-
go a second series of the exposures, privations,
watchings, and disappointments incident to such
a service, that I almost despaired of his being
able to accompany me.

He had, a few days before my arrival, de-
spatched Ensign Pattoun a second time to the
islands, in order to procure if possible a few
more horses.

I proceeded myself to Goree, to endeavour
to obtain a few of any description at the towns
on the opposite main. I so far succeeded as to
purchase seven horses, and was fortunate enough
to meet there fifteen camels that had been pur-
chased at Senegal, by Governor McCarthy's or-
ders, for the use of the expedition, and had ar-
rived there the day only before I intended leav-
ing it.

On my return to the Gambia, I found Ensign
Pattoun had arrived, having purchased eighteen
horses ; but as we had not yet a sufficient num-
ber, I sent Ensign Burton, of the Royal African
Corps (who had volunteered to accompany the
mission), up the river, to try if any could be pro-
cured there. I was, in the mean time, enabled
to collect a few on the island, and having de-
spatched Mr. Nelson on the l6th of February,

46 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

and made all the necessary preparations, we left
Bathurst on the 3rd of March.

On our voyage up the river, we called at
Tendebar, where we were enabled to pur-
chase three small horses. I also landed at Ka-
wour in the Salum country. The ground for some
distance in the vicinity of this town, bore the
marks of cultivation, but at that season was com-
pletely destitute of verdure ; the soil, which was
a mixture of brown mould and light-colored
sand, appeared good ; a few small onions were
the only vegetable I observed growing, and
those were regularly watered morning and even-
ing.

The town is a considerable one, and may con-
tain from 500 to 800 inhabitants. Their huts
are composed of cane reeds and long dry grass,
and are very neat and comfortable. The natives,
who are a mixture of Jaloffs and Soosoos, are a
peaceable inoffensive race, and are chiefly en-
gaged in trade, except when the approach of
the rains summons them to the corn and rice
grounds.

We lost one of our native soldiers in conse-
quence of a slight cut in the hand, which caused
mortification ; the existence of which, and of
cold spasms and rigours, deterred Mr. Dochard
from performing amputation.

The country in the immediate vicinity of the

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 47

river, is very low, and bears the evident marks
of inundation during the rains. It is much
wooded, some of which is large, and no doubt
fitted for general use.

The hippopotamus and alligator are to be
found in great numbers in the river, and are
hunted by the natives, who make use of their
flesh as food, and consider it a delicacy. The
river swarms with a great variety of fish, but the
natives are either unacquainted with the proper
mode of taking them, or too indolent to take
advantage of so valuable a supply, at least to
the extent they might.

Soon after leaving Kawour, I went on shore
on the right bank of the river, with the inten-
tion of walking to Yani Maroo, accompanied by
Lamina, and two of my men armed. At about
half a quarter of a mile from the water-edge,
we came to a range of hills, running parallel
with the river. On ascending them, I found they
were flat on the top to a considerable distance,
and covered with wood and long dry grass ;
they were composed of a red compact clay, light
sand of the same colour, and large masses of
red sand-stone. At the foot of one of the hills
forming this range, I observed some small huts,
in the vicinity of which was feeding a herd
of black cattle, but I could not discern any
people. I therefore descended to the huts.

48 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

where I found an old man, the only person
there. He, with much apparent apprehension
for his own safety, desired me to keep off, which
requisition he seemed determined to enforce,
for he laid hold of his bow, and snatched up
one of a few arrows that were lying at his side
on the ground. By means of my interpreter, I
endeavoured to- explain to him his fears were
without cause, and that chance only, not inten-
tion, led us to his retreat. This, however, did
not convince him ; he still desired us to keep off.
A little tobacco, and a few beads, in exchange
for which we requested some milk, induced him
to think more favourably of us. It was, neverthe-
less, with much difficulty I convinced him of his
error, and prevailed on him to go in search of
his companions, who, on our approach, had ran
into the woods, driving their cattle before them.
In about fifteen minutes, he returned, and in a
few more, the whole tribe made its appearance.
The women and children, however, could not
be induced to approach nearer than three hun-
dred yards of us. Their numbers did not exceed
four men, as many women, and ten or twelve
children ; the latter totally naked. They are of
a dark copper colour, and belong to the Dhyan-
gele tribe, the chief of which resides in a wilder-
ness of three days' journey, lying in latitude 14°
and 15% between the kingdoms of Joloff and

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 49

Bondoo. There they always remain during the
rains, at which time they find a sufficiency
of pasturage and water for their cattle, but are
obhged to wander in search of both after Janu-
ary 5 the banks of the rivers are their last re-
source. Their appearance is extremely filthy
and poor. They subsist chiefly on milk, a little
corn, which they obtain in exchange for butter
when in the vicinity of towns, and such game
as they can kill.

Their only furniture consists of a few mats to
lie on, some wooden bowls and calabashes, and
a few leather bags ; the latter serve them as
churns, and to carry water in when encamped
at a distance from where it is to be found.

Their dress is very plain, being nothing more
than a piece of cotton cloth, about two and a
half yards long and three quarters wide, wrapped
round the waist, and descending a little below
the knees, with another of the same kind thrown
over the shoulders. The men wear a cotton
cap besmeared with grease, to which is some-
times added, by way of ornament, the end of a
cow's tail, died blue or red. Like all other pa-
gans, they are very superstitious, and wear a
great number of grigres, or charms, round
their necks, arms and legs. They are inordi-
nately fond of red cloth, which they make use
of in covering those charms. Their weapons are

E

50 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

long spears, bows and arrows, and occasionally a
long gun. They are good marksmen with all
these, and seldom throw away a shot ; but this
arises more from the difficulty they find in ob-
taining powder, ball, and small shot, than from
any dislike to miss their mark.

We also visited the town of Yanimaroo. It is
beautifully situated at a short distance from the
river-side, on an elevated spot, thinly sprinkled
with large shady trees of the mahogany kind,
and interspersed with evergreens and other
shrubs, and a great number of that kind of palm
from which is extracted the palm wine.

The greater proportion of the inhabitants are
pagans ; a few, however, profess the Mahome-
dan religion, retaining many of their pagan su-
perstitions. The latter are much respected, and
enjoy a considerable degree of influence over
their unenlightened brethren. The soil about
Yanimaroo is a light yellow sand, mixed with
stiff clay of the same colour, except where there
are groves of palm trees, and then it is invariably
a dark, rich, vegetable mould, mixed with a
light red or white sand.

There are, on the banks of the river, a little
above Yanimaroo, a great number of the self-
consuming tree. We never saw any of them o^
fire, nor yet smoking, but their appearance would
lead a person to suppose they had been burnt.

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 51

On our arrival at Kayaye, we landed our
men, animals, and baggage, and encamped on
an elevated spot between the river and the
town, which are distant from each other about
half a quarter of a mile.

Mr. Bellaby, a British merchant resident
there, accommodated us with a large mud
house, which served at the same time as quarters
for the officers, and a store for some of our bag-
gage.

Kayaye is but a very small and insignificant
village, and is remarkable for nothing but its si-
tuation, and the residence of a Mulatto lady,
who possesses considerable influence in the
country. The town does not contain above fifty
huts ; its inhabitants are all either relatives to,
or dependants on Madame Eliza Tigh, whose
name the place takes, being called by the na-
tives Tigh Cunda, or the town of Tigh. The
people of Kayaye, and the neighbouring towns,
are a mixture of Mandingoes and Sousous ; the
former from a country in the interior so called,
and the latter from the south bank of the
river. They are chiefly engaged in trade and
agriculture, and are a very shrewd active race,
subject to the king of Katoba, and professing the
Mahomedan religion ; but I believe the greater
proportion of them do so, not from any religious
motive, but in order to ensure to themselves that

E 2

62 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

protection which the followers of Mahomet in-
variably meet with, wherever they go in their
trading excursions. Caravans from the interior
frequently stop there, on their way to the settle-
ments on the coast, and dispose of their goods
to the masters of some of the small trading ves-
sels from St. Mary's, or to the native merchants,
who carry on at tliat place, and the towns lower
down the river, a very considerable trade in
gold, ivory, and bees' wax ; in exchange for
which they receive fire-arms, powder, India-
goods, coral, amber, glass beads, iron, tobacco,
rum, and cutlery.

The dress of these people is far from being in-
elegant or inconvenient : the men wear on the
head a white cotton cap, very neatly worked
with different coloured silks or worsteds ; a close
shirt of white cotton, with short sleeves, next
the skin, covers the body from the neck to the
hips, and is surmounted by a very large one of
the same materials, with long loose sleeves, not
unlike a surplice ; this descends below the knees,
and is embroidered, in the same way as the cap,
about the shoulders and breast. The small-
clothes, which are very roomy above, descend
about two inches below the knee, where it is
only sufficiently large not to be tight. This part
of their dress is generally blue. They wear their
hair cut close, and make use of none of the

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 53

grease or rancid butter of which the JolofF men
are so lavish. Sandals or slippers protect their
feet from the heat of the sand, and from thorns;
and complete the catalogue of their wardrobe.

The dress of the women is neither so decent
nor so clean. The body, from the waist upward,
is almost always naked, except when enceinte ,
in which case a sort of short chemise, without
sleeves, covers the neck and stomach. They
plat their hair neatly into a profusion of small
braids, but are so lavish of butter or palm oil on
them and their skins (which are generally of a
very fine black) that they cannot be approached
without experiencing the very unpleasant effects
of such anointings, rendered doubly offensive by
the addition of profuse and constant perspira-
tion.

The huts and yards of these people are ex-
tremely clean, and, although small, are compa-
ratively comfortable. The walls of both are, for
the most part, composed of split cane formed
into a sort of wicker work resembling hurdles.
The roofs of the former are conical, and covered
with long dry grass, fastened on with a small
line made from the inner bark of the monkey-
bread tree. On the whole, their houses have a
very neat appearance.

The amusements of these people are confined
to dancing and music, which take place almost

54 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

every fine evening at a late hour, in the centre
of the village, where, when the moon does not
afford them light, a large fire is made for that
purpose.

The young of both sexes, dressed in their
gayest attire, attend on these occasions ; a ring
is formed by them and the spectators, and the
former dance in regular succession by pairs.
The instrument which accompanies this dance is
called a ballafo *, and affords better music than
might be expected from such rude materials ; it
is composed of cane and wood, in the following
manner. A frame, three feet long, eighteen
inches wide at one end, and nine at the other, is
made of cane, split very thin, and supported at
the corners, about nine inches from the ground,
by four upright sticks of nearly an inch diame-
ter ; across this frame are laid twenty pieces of
hard wood, diminishing in size in the same pro-
portion progressively, from one end to the other,
as the frame to which they are slightly attached
with thin twine. Under each of these cross
pieces, is suspended an empty gourd, of a size
adapted to the tone of note required, having a
hole in the part where it comes in contact with
the stick, and another at the bottom ; the latter
is covered with a thin piece of dried sheep's gut.

* See figure Ij plate 9.

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 55

It is played on with two small sticks, by a man
who sits cross legged on the ground, and is ac-
companied by one or more small drums.

I also observed here a sort of amusement, or ra-
ther inquisitorial exhibition, called by the natives
Kongcorong. It was thus : a man, covered from
head to foot with small boughs of trees, made his
appearance in the afternoon near the town, and
gave notice to the young women and girls that
he would pay them a visit after sunset. At the
appointed time he entered the village, preceded
by drums, and repaired to the assembly place,
where all were collected to meet him with the
music and singing. He commenced by saying
that he came to caution the ladies to be very
circumspect in their conduct towards the whites,
meaning the men of the Expedition, and related
some circumstances, with which he said he was
acquainted, little to their credit : — but, as it was
his first time, he would neither mention names,
nor inflict the usual punishment, namely, flog-
ging. He, however, would take advantage of
the first opportunity which they would be impru-
dent enough to afford him.

All he said was repeated by the girls in a
sort of song, accompanied by the music and
clapping of hands. Every one who had any
thing to fear from his inquisitorial authority,
made him a present j and I observed that not

56 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

one of the girls withheld this proof of their fear
of his tongue, or of their own consciousness of
guilt. He remained with them until near mid-
night.

An instance of the manner in which the
young men of that country obtain wives, also
came under our observation. One of the inha-
bitants of the neighbouring villages, having
placed his affections, or rather desires, on a
young girl at Kayaye, made the usual present of
a few colas to her mother, who, without giving
her daughter any intimation of the affair, con-
sented to his obtaining her in any way he could.
Accordingly when the poor girl was employed
preparing some rice for supper, she was seized
by her intended husband, assisted by three or
four of his companions, and carried off by force.
She made much resistance, by biting, scratching,
kicking, and roaring most bitterly. Many, both
men and women, some of them her own rela-
tions, who witnessed the affair, only laughed at
the farce, and consoled her by saying that she
would soon be reconciled to her situation.

Soon after our arrival at Kayaye, we paid a
visit to the chief, or, as he is there called, the
king of Katoba. He resides at a town of that
name distant from Kayaye about twenty miles
north. The road or path to it lies over a flat un-
cultivated country thinly covered with brush

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 57

wood and stunted trees. The soil, for the most
part, is an ocre-coloured clay intermixed here
and there with small fragments of ferruginous
stone, which, in several places, makes its appear-
ance above the surface in the form of large rocks.
Some small eminences are entirely composed of
this rock, which the natives say contains a large
proportion of iron, but, from the facility the river
affords them of procuring an abundant supply
of that metal from the English merchants, they
do not now think it worth the trouble of extract-
ing. The blacksmiths of the country say, that
it is more malleable than English iron, and better
suited to all their wants, were the process of ob-
taining it not so difficult.

The king received us hospitably, and, on being
made acquainted with the purport of our visit,
promised every protection and assistance he
could afford us, adding that whenever we wished
to proceed on our journey, he would furnish
us with a guide to WooUi.

On our way to this town, which is a walled
one, of no very great extent or respectable ap-
pearance, we passed only two small villages, one
of which is about a mile from Kayaye, and is
solely inhabited by Mahomedan priests (bush-
reens).

From the very great want we were in of a
sufficient number of animals, to transport our

58 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

baggage, in consequence of the death of all our
camels and some of our horses, since our arrival
at Kayaye, and the difficulty, nay impossibility,
of procuring a supply there, we had determined
on leaving behind us a large proportion of it,
and moving without delay ; for which purpose
it became necessary to open the greater number
of the packages, to select the most valuable ar-
ticles. This had scarcely been begun, when Mr.
Partarrieau, whom I had sent from Bathurst to
Senegal to purchase camels, arrived, bringing
intelligence that he had despatched a moor,
named Bon-ama, from that place before he had
left it, with ten camels and five horses, whom I
rnight expect to see in a few days, as he was
coming by the shortest land route from Senegal,
namely, through Kayor and Salum.

All preparations being made, we only waited
the arrival of Bon-ama, who not making his ap-
pearance on the 15th, I began to apprehend that
some accident had happened, either to himself,
or the animals. The 17th, however, brought him
to Kayaye, having had two of his horses killed
by lions, and been obliged to leave two of the
camels sick at a village about fifteen miles from
us. His arrival at that moment was particularly
fortunate, as it enabled us to take forward the
whole of our baggage, and a good supply of rice,
which we had just received from St. Mary's.

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 59

On the 18th, the king, whose presence we had
requested, in order to make him a present, ar-
rived, accompanied by about fifty people, armed
with guns and spears. He was himself mounted
on a most wretched animal in the shape of a
horse, and was attended by a troop of drums
and singing people (JallikeasJ, making a most
hideous attempt at instrumental and vocal mu-
sic, intended to inspire their royal master with a
high idea of his own dignity.

In a few minutes we went to see him ; he
was seated in a small hut, surrounded by his
followers, but the place was so crowded and in-
tolerably hot (not to say any thing of the impu-
rity of the air) from tobacco smoke, and other
vapours, that we were obliged to request he
would move to one of our huts. This being done,
we mentioned to him our intention of leaving
Kayaye in a few days, and requested that he
would appoint a guide to conduct us to Medi-
na, the capital of WooUi. He made some objec-
tions, of an irrelevant nature, but at length con-
sented, in consideration of a present, amounting
to about one hundred bars in baft, muslin, coral,
amber, tobacco, scarlet cloth, and a pair of pis-
tols. He was drunk and extremely vociferous.
The interview, however, terminated amicably,
and his majesty was present at a dance which
the inhabitants of the village brought forward

60 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

in honour of his arrival, and in order to amuse
him.

We had seen several of the chiefs of Western
Africa, both moors and negroes, but never saw
any so wretchedly poor and unlike what he in-
tended to represent as this man ; he is intole-
rably fond of rum, and would be for ever drunk
if he could obtain the means of being so ; his
last demand was for two bottles of it, which I
gave him. He left us on the 19th, in a state of
excessive inebriety, as were most of his follow-
ers.

Aware of the great respectability Bon-ama,
in his character of Mahomedan priest, would
enjoy in all the countries in the interior, and of
his having before offered his services to Gover-
nor McCarthy, we endeavoured to prevail on him
to accompany us to Sego, Tombuctoo, or fur-
ther, but it was not without much difficulty and
objection on his part, together with the pro-
mise of a very large reward, that he could be
induced to do so. He, however, at length agreed,
in consideration of a recompense of five hun-
dred pounds British, to accompany us to Tom-
buctoo or Jinne, but no sum, however large,
or other advantage, he said, would induce him
to go further. He made it a previous article in
his agreement, to be allowed to return to Cayor,
to arrange some private affairs, and promised to

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 61

join US in Bondoo. We did every thing in our
power to induce him to give up this point, but to
no effect: it was his sme qua non. We bought a
camel from him, and hired two moors, who came
along with him, to conduct and have the care
of those animals as far as we went.

Lamina, our Sego guide, told us, on the
20th, that it was now time he should inform us,
that as he was sent by the king of Bambarra, to
conduct the expedition to that country, he felt it
his duty to say, that the road leading through
WooUi, Bondoo, Kasson, and Fooledoo, was
the only one in which he thought it safe to
take us, as there were, in all those countries,
people belonging to his master waiting to es-
cort us ; that he had himself received from those
in Bondoo, a horse to ride, and six asses to
carry his baggage. As there appeared nothing
in this request but what was fair, and, as we
conceived (in case of any unforeseen delay, we
should be obliged to make a halt during the
rains), that Bondoo, from its high situation and
its vicinity to the river Senegal, would be most
advantageous for that purpose, we acceded to
his proposal, and were moreover induced to take
this step in consequence of the very high and
upright character we were taught, by Mr. Par-
tarrieau, who had been before in that country,
to entertain of Almamy Isata, the king : the re-

60. TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

suit will prove how much our informant was
himself deceived in his opinion of that man, and
how little confidence can be placed in any in-
formation but that obtained by the most strict
self observation, in all matters connected with
this unfortunate country.

Our means of transport decreased daily ; we
had lost since the 2d, one camel, one mule, and
four horses, and there was no possibility of pro-
curing any at Kayaye ; the camels left on the
road by Bon-ama, had not yet come up, although
we had despatched a man to bring them. Every
thing, however, being ready, we fixed the 25th
for our departure.

G3

CHAPTER IV.

The Expedition leaves Kayaye — Difficulty in procuring
Water at Jaroomy— Arrival and Halt at Coonting —
Description of that Town and surrounding Country-
Civility of the Chief — Departure from Coonting — Deaths
among the Animals, and difficulty of procuring Carriers
— Arrival at the Wallea Creek— Attempt of some People
to stop us— Pass the Creek — Cane Bridge— Attempt at
Murder by one of our native Civilians, and his Desertion
—Enter the Kingdom of Woolli — Arrival at Madina,
the Capital — Transactions and Difficulties there — De-
scription of the Town, and the Mumbo Jumbo Ceremony
— Departure from IMadina, and theft by the Natives —
Arrival at Kussaye.

The first division * left Kayaye on the morning
of the 27th, at seven o'clock, and the second
and third t followed immediately after. I did
not myself leave Kayaye until evening, in ex-
pectation of the arrival of the camels. This not
taking place, I moved forward, with the part of
that division v/hich was ready, and left Mr.
Partarrieau, with two loads, to await the arrival
of those left behind by Bon-ama, and to follow
me as soon as possible. We travelled along
nearly east at the rate of two miles an hour over

* Having twenty-two animals' loads,
t With nineteen each.

64 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

a flat country thinly covered with baobabs, ta-
marinds, rhamnus lotus, and other fruit trees,
within a short distance of the river ; between us
and which lay a low tract of land, annually inun-
dated, where rice is cultivated by the natives
when the water retires after the periodical rains.

About nine, p. m., we reached a small village,
called Jaroomy, where I found that Mr. Doch-
ard had halted the front divisions in order to
await our coming up. During this short march,
one of the horses died, and another was left be-
hind, unable to move.

Here difficulties began to present themselves ;
the chief of the village refused to allow water to
be drawn from the wells, without receiving
payment for it, to which Mr. Dochard, very
prudently, would not submit, sending the ani-
mals to the river, which was distant about two
miles. This convinced the fellow that he was
wrong; and he came in the evening to apo-
logize, by saying, that he was afraid the wells
would be run dry by us. He was told his ex-
cuse was a bad one, and his conduct was such
as would prevent us from giving him any thing.

The country, for some distance round this
village, has the marks of cultivation ; there were
some extensive cotton and indigo plantations ;
and, although no rain falls at that season, they
looked green and well. The soil, though sandy.

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 65

appeared good, and well fitted to produce all
tropical grains, vegetables, kc, in perfection.

We left Jaroomy at six o'clock on the 26th,
and travelled east over a gently ascending coun-
try, beautifully wooded, until half-past seven,
when we came to a small town called Jonkacon-
da, inhabited by Bushreens, and very prettily si-
tuated on a little hill under the shade of some
few large trees, somewhat resembling the horse
chestnut, except that the trunk is covered with
large sharp protuberances in the shape of thorns.
It produces a quantity of silky cotton, in pods
of an oval shape, about five inches long and
four in circumference 5 these burst when ripe,
and contain each about half an ounce of this
cotton. The natives do not make any use of it;
they prefer the common cotton, from which they
manufacture all their clothes. There the path
turned a little to the south of east, and led us
over a country similar to that already men-
tioned, with this difference, that the wood was
rather closer.

At half after eight, we reached another small
village (Lemaine), the chief of which, a good-
looking young man, was very civil, and made us
a present of some palm wine, in return for which
we gave him three bars in amber beads, &c.
He paid us a visit at our bivouac under some
shady trees. He was attended by about fifteen

66 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

people, preceded by a Jallikea, singing man,
vociferating the praises of his master, who, al-
though very communicative and good-humoured,
did not seem to have a mean idea of himself.
The river is distant from this village a mile
and a half, ssw.

After a few hours' rest to the men and ani-
mals, and of which all were much in need, par-
ticularly the horses, we moved forward at two,
p. M., and reached Coonting at half after five,
all much fatigued. We passed two small vil-
lages, likewise, at the foot of some hills, and dis-
tant from each other about two miles and a half.
Their general appearance was extremely neat
and comfortable, and the ground about them ap-
peared well cultivated. Some large enclosures
of cotton and indigo, were extremely well-look-
ing, and shewed much regularity. The path,
for the most part of the way, was extremely
narrow and inconvenient, in consequence of the
closeness of the wood, which is low and stunted,
the soil being a mixture of dark red sand, and
small iron stone gravel, large masses of which
rose above the surface in all directions. The
face of the country was, in general, covered
with low wood, except in the vicinity of the
towns, where it has been cleared, either for the
purpose of cultivation or for fuel.

Coonting is a considerable town, partly sur-

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 67

rounded with a mud wall, about six feet high.
It is in three divisions, each separated from the
other by a clear space of about two hundred
yards, in which stand some fine large evergreen
trees, in whose shade the natives spend the
most part of the day, engaged in conversation,
playing a game somewhat resembhng draughts,
at which they are very clever, and sleeping, a
very general recreation in that country. Here
also is held the assembly of the head men and
chiefs, when any matter of importance requires
their attention. Each of those divisions is go-
verned by a head man, who is under the con-
trol of a chief, subject to the king of Katoba,
The town is pleasantly situate in an extensive
plain, and bears the marks of cultivation to a
considerable distance, surrounded on all sides,
except the sw., by gently rising hills, covered
with wood. The town is plentifully supplied
with water of a good quality, from wells nine
fathoms deep, at the bottoms of which is a stra-
tum of solid rock.

Here we decided on waiting the arrival of
Mr. Partarrieau with the camels, as the place af-
forded an abundance of forage and water for
the animals, and an opportunity of procuring a
small quantity of rice, pistacios, cassada, and
small beans, for ourselves. The chief priest of
the town paid us a visit, making a present of a

F 2

68 TRAVELS I*N AFRICA.

fowl and two bottles of milk, or, as they call it,
giving us service, that is a complimentary visit,
which we returned in the evening. We found
him seated in a large circular mud hut, sur-
rounded by about twenty-five boys, from the
age of seven to fourteen, learning to read and
write Arabic. The Koran was the only book
from which they were taught, and their educa-
tion was generally considered completed when
they could read and expound any passage in
it. The most of the people there are Mahome-
dans.

The old gentleman received us kindly, and
conducted us to the Alcaid, or chief, a venera-
ble looking old man, who, on our informing him
of the object of our travelling in his country,
said that he perfectly recollected seeing Mr.
Park when he last went to the east, but was ex-
tremely sorry to hear he never returned to his
own country, a fate which he prayed to God
might not be ours. We made him a small pre-
sent, and one to the priest, for which they ap-
peared very grateful. Two of the European
and one of the native soldiers had attacks of in-
termittent fever this day, but were nevertheless
able to come on.

Mr. Partarrieau joined us in the afternoon,
bringing with him only one camel; the other
having died before it reached Kayaye, he was

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 69

obliged to hire men to carry that proportion of
the baggage left behind, which was intended as
a load for it.

We left Coonting at four o'clock on the morn-
ing of the S8th, and travelled east. Two of
the horses were unable to rise from the ground
this morning, and were left to their fate. At
about a mile from Coonting, we entered a
thicket composed of underwood and cane, which
was so close that we were obliged to cut down
the branches and some trees, for a considerable
distance, in order to admit of the camels pass-
ing with the loads. The face of the country
begins to rise here considerably, and to be di-
versified by hill and dale — the former high and
covered with wood, and the latter apparently
very fertile. The soil, too, changed from light
sand to a hard yellow clay, intermixed with
small quartz pebbles. For about two miles the
road led us over hilly and broken ground within
a few yards of the river side.

At mid-day we reached a small walled town,
Kolicorri, but which had such a wretched ap-
pearance that we were deterred from halting
at it ; we therefore continued our march ese.
about two miles further, when we arrived at
Tandicunda, a very respectable town, defended
by a strong stake fence interwoven with thorny
bushes, and wholly inhabited by Bushreens. Two
more of the horses gave up during this march,

70 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

and were left on the path in a dying state. To
transport the loads of those animals we were
obliged to hire carriers, a sufficient number of
which we had much difficulty in procuring.
Our own men were obliged to assist. The town
of Pisania, which formerly stood within a short
distance of Tandicunda, was then a heap of
ruins, having been some years since abandoned
by Mr. Amsley, in consequence of the annoy-
ance he frequently experienced from the people
of Bondoo and Woolli. Its situation was ex-
tremely beautiful, being close to the river- side,
on an elevated spot shaded with large trees, and
most conveniently placed for commercial pur-
poses.

We left Tandicunda at five o'clock on the
morning of the S9th, and travelled to the east,
over a country beautifully diversified, to Samee,
a small walled town containing about a hun-
dred and twenty huts. The inhabitants are
Sonikeas or Pagans. Dyeing with indigo is here
carried on to some extent. About a quarter
of a mile to the south-east, by a small creek
or branch of the Gambia, its water good and
plentiful, we halted, under a large tree, which
afforded the most grateful shelter to all from the
excessive heat of the sun. One of our moors
had so severe an attack of remittent fever as to
be unable to keep up ; one of the native civi-
lians was left with him.

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 71

When the intense heat of the sun had dimi-
nished in a small degree, we again moved for-
ward to the ene.- over an open and well -culti-
vated country. We saw, at a short distance, on
the right of our path, a Foolah encampment.
Some of the women and children, the latter en-
tirely naked, came close to the path,, and stared
with astonishment at our white skins, and not
less so at the camels, which appeared to excite
much v/onder. The animals were much fatigued,
and many of them in a very weak state. We
arrived at Jindey, a small village situate on an
eminence, within less than a quarter of a mile
west from the Wallia Creek. Here we halted
under some large trees south of the village, for
the night, having travelled to-day about fifteen
miles. We had scarcely placed the tentmills,
and retired to rest, when one of our guides came
from the village to say, that a number of Foo-
lahs had just arrived there, and from some part
of their conversation he had overheard, he was
inclined to think they had an intention of en-
deavouring to steal some of our horses during
the night. Had such really been their wish or
not, I cannot say, but the morning arrived with-
out any attempt of the kind being made. It was
more than probable our guide only circulated
such a report, in order to make his attention to
our interest appear to greater advantage, and

72 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

which he, naturally enough, supposed would en-
title him to, or at least, induce us to give him, an
adequate reward.

The chief of Wallia (a province of Katoba,
but over which the king has little control)
lives about five miles south of this place. As he
was a person of some consequence in the coun-
try, and might be of use, we sent him our com-
pliments, with a present of eight bars in tobacco,
amber, and beads, and, having made the chief
of Jindey another, we moved towards the Creek
at six o'clock on the morning of the 30th, but
had not proceeded one hundred yards, when
the horses in front were stopped by some people,
stating that they were sent by the Wallia chief,
to say, that unless we would pay him his regular
customs, in the same way as the vessels which
ascend the river on trading voyages, we should
not be allowed to proceed. We laughed at the
idea of three or four men saying they would not
allow us to pass, and told them we had already
despatched a messenger to their master, with a
present, and to which we would make an addi-
tion of four bars for themselves. This was not
satisfactory enough, and they again insinuated
that we should not move until the chief himself
should arrive. We ordered the whole to halt, and
the men to load their muskets ; we asked where
were those people who wished to dispute our pas-

'3 ' "I

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. ^S

sage ? None appearing, we moved on without
further molestation to the Creek, which we
reached in about twenty minutes. The tide
was nearly full, but still running up at the rate
of about a mile per hour.

There is over this creek, which is about two
hundred and sixty feet wide, four feet deep, with
clay and mud bottom, a cane bridge, supported
by two rows of forked stakes, on which are laid
cross pieces ; these are covered with small
pieces of Bamboo, which, further strengthened
by being interwoven with the smaller branches
of the cane, affords a safe, though shaking pas-
sage for two or three people on foot. The banks
of the creek are covered with a kind of man-
grove, some acacias, and a great number of the
mimosas. Having -unloaded the animals, and led
them through the water to the opposite side, the
men waded across, carrying the baggage on their
heads, which was completed without any acci-
dent in about an hour. From the eastern bank,
where we halted to cook dinner and give the
men an opportunity to wash their clothes, I had
a very good view of the bridge, the village, and
the surrounding country ; the latter, though
much parched from the total want of rain for
many months, and the almost continued in-
fluence of the dry east wind, accompanied by a
scorching sun, has not altogether lost its ver-

74 TRAVELS IN AFKICA.

dure. Great numbers of evergreen trees and
shrubs, afford a pleasing and refreshing relief to
the eye, wearied from beholding a light coloured
sand reflecting the rays of a vertical sun unob-
structed by clouds. The thermometer stood at
97° in the shade, open air, and at 80° in the water,
which is very muddy, though sweet and good.
There were fish in the creek, for I saw them
rise. We do not know what species, but from
the skeleton of one which had been devoured by
a hawk, we concluded some of them to be cat-
fish.

This creek joins the Gambia about Rve miles
from where we crossed it, and is navigable for
boats to twice that distance above the bridge,
where, on both sides of it, are situate towns
with which an advantageous trade in all the pro-
ductions of the country might be carried on.

At half after four, the object of our halt being
effected, we marched for Pakeba, distant three
miles and a half, where we arrived at six, and
halted for the night. The whole distance from
the creek to this town is well cultivated j some
enclosures of cotton and indigo had a flourishing
appearance. The town is a small one, contain-
ing about one hundred and fifty huts, and de-
fended by a strong mud wall, seven feet high,
and a stake fence outside. The inhabitants are
Sonikeas or Pagans, and are subject to Katoba,

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. ^S

at least nominally so ; for in Africa, the further
a town is removed from the capital, the less con-
trol the king has over it, and, in almost all
cases, those towns are exclusively governed by
their own chiefs.

Our animals were daily diminishing in num-
ber, and there had not as yet appeared any op-
portunity of replacing them ; four horses died,
or were abandoned as useless, since our depar-
ture from Tandicunda, and many more would,
I feared, soon follow. We had, however, but

^ not without much difficulty, procured a few
carriers from among the natives ; and some of
our own native soldiers and civilians took for-
ward that part of the baggage for which we
had no other means of conveyance.

One of the men from the Wallia chief came
to our bivouac in the evening, and told us that
his master was extremely sorry for what had
taken place in the morning, and particularly so,
as his people had no orders to that effect ; he
had only sent them to request that we might re-

5f main at Sindey until ten o'clock in the forenoon,
at which hour he intended coming to pay us his
respects.

We were enabled here to purchase two bul-
locks, together with a small quantity of rice and
corn. The former cost fourteen bars each ; value
about one pound sterling.

76 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

We left Pakeba on the 1st of May, at six in
the morning, and travelled ne. by e. until
nine, when we reached Sandoo Madina. The
path good, over a sandy soil, mixed with small
iron-stone gravel, thinly covered with thorny
underwood and dry grass. Two more horses
were abandoned at Pakeba, as useless, and one
left behind on the path. Our moor continued
very unwell. In addition to fever, he had a very
severe pulmonic attack, and on the whole so
weak, that I almost despaired of his recovery.

At three in the morning, previous to leaving
Pakeba, we were alarmed by screams, appa-
rently of some person in agony. We imme-
diately repaired to the spot, accompanied by
some of the watch. There we found the wife of
Yarra Comba, one of the native civilians from
Sierra Leone, weltering in her blood, having re-
ceived three very severe wounds on the head
from her husband, who, exasperated at her re-
fusing to desert with him (a step, he told her,
he was about to take), and fearing, we supposed,
that she would give the alarm, after thus bru-
tally attempting to seal her lips, by taking her
life, made his escape ; in accomplishing which
he succeeded, being favoured by a dark night,
and an intricately wooded country.

The wounds appeared to be all but fatal ; the
exterior membrane of the brain, was visible in

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 77

one of them, and the other two were very deep.
When every attention in the dressing, &c., had
been paid, and I found that there was no hope
ofgettingholdof the savage who inflicted them,
I sent her to the chief of the town, to whom we
gave ten bars for her support, until she might
be able to return to Kayaye. As an inducement
to make this man act kindly to her, we gave
him a further sum of ten bars for himself, and
offered a handsome reward for the apprehen-
sion of her husband.

About three miles before we reached this
town, we observed some stones of curious form
and composed of red sand-stone, in which were
encrusted small silicious pebbles. They had
much the appearance of broken pillars j some
were standing upright, and others lying flat on
the surface. From the space inside them, and its
form, which was an oblong square, we are in-
clined to think they must, at some former pe-
riod, have supported a roof. The largest of
them is as four feet in circumference, and seven
feet high.

Sandoo Madina is a very small walled village,
inhabited by Jomkeys, and is subject to Katoba,
but more immediately under the control of the
Wallia chief, who is himself nominally subject
to the former. This subjection is however not
easily defined : a slave running away from one

78 TRAVELS IN AFRICA,

finds an asylum with the other, who (on both
sides) does not hesitate to acknowledge his hav-
ing kept him in despite of the other's remon-
strances.

At a short distance to the nw. is a small un-
walled Bushreen town called Coota Cunda; the
water good and plentiful, and every appearance
of extensive cultivation.

We received a visit from the chief of Jam-
baroo, a small independent province of JalofF
WooUi, situate about fifteen miles north of this
village. We bought from him a small strong-
horse for eighty-five bars in amber and coral,
the value of which did not exceed five pounds
sterling. We made him a small present.

Corporal Richmond, a native, was added to
the sick list, with a severe pulmonic attack.
Some of the men who have had slight attacks of
intermittent fever appear to recover rapidly ; on
the whole, the health of the party might be
then considered good. Mr. Nelson was the only
one of the officers who was at all delicate ; Mr.
Pilkington was recovering rapidly.

Having left Sandoo Madina at four o'clock in
the morning of the 2d, we had a pleasant march
to the next town, Fodia Cunda, the first of
Woolli, which we reached at half after nine,
having passed the ruins of two towns, both de-
stroyed by the people of Bondoo in their wars

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 79

with this country. The animals travelled very
badly, being too heavily loaded, and which could
not be avoided, in consequence of the very ra-
pid decrease of their numbers, and the impossi-
bility of replenishing them ; five died or were
abandoned this day's march.

We here procured a plentiful supply of milk
and butter, such as it was, and more than a suf-
ficiency of corn to give the horses, camels, &c.
as much as they could eat, and which they were
much in want of, not having had more than one
good feed since we left Kay aye. The country
about this village, although much parched, was
beautifully picturesque, being thickly covered
with wood, and agreeably diversified by hill and
dale. There were numbers of wandering Foo-
lahs with large herds of cattle, in the vicinity
of this village : those people supply the inha-
bitants of the towns who keep no cattle them-
selves with milk and butter, in exchange for
which they receive cotton cloths, glass beads,
and tobacco.

From Fodia Cunda I despatched Lamina, our
Sego guide, to the town of Slatee Modiba, to
request him to meet us at Madina to-morrow ;
this man being a relative of the king's, with
whom he has considerable influence, advising
him in all affairs of importance, and well known
to Lamina, we considered it right to secure his

80 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

interest, by sending him a small present, and
holding out the promise of a suitable reward,
should he act in compliance with our wishes.

We left Fodia Cunda at six, on the morning
of the 3d, and travelled east, at a smart pace,
over a flat country, little wooded and for the
most part cultivated ; the soil was of a darker
colour, and contained more mould and clay than
any we had seen since leaving Kayaye. We ar-
rived at Madina at nine, and bivouacked under
a large tree, about five hundred yards north of
the town.

Madina is a respectable walled town, contain-
ing about two hundred and fiitj huts, and from
eight hundred to a thousand inhabitants, all So-
nikeas; it is the capital of the kingdom of Wool-
li, and the residence of the king. Outside the
walls is a strong stake or palisade fence, about
^ve feet high, which gave to the place the
appearance of a large fortified redoubt. The
interior of the town was beautifully shaded with
large trees of the fig and palm kind, and altoge-
ther had a very good outward appearance.
There are three gates to it ; tw^o in the north,
and one in the east, which are shut every night.
The interior of the town does not at all accord
with its external appearance, being filled with
small round grass, and mud huts jumbled toge-
ther without any regard to order or regularity.

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 81

and between which are heaps on heaps of filth
of every description. The house of the king is
separated from those of his subjects by a mud
wall about nine feet high, and stands nearly in
the centre of the town ; that of his son, and some
of the chief men are similarly inclosed, but the
walls of the latter are not so high. Two wells si-
tuate within the wall at the east end of the town,
of tolerably good water, supply the inhabitants
with that necessary article in sufficient abun-
dance. The ground, to the extent of half a mile
all round the town, was cleared, and bore the
marks of cultivation. A few large shady ever-
green trees, scattered over this plain, relieves
the otherwise fatiguing prospect of such ah ex-
tent of arid surface. At a short distance to the
south, lay a large Bushreen town, called Barra
Cunda, which might contain from one thou-
sand to one thousand five hundred inhabitants,
and was surrounded by a slight stake fence, in-
terwoven with thorny bushes, which is the only
defence the followers of Mahomet in this coun-
try adopt. This arises from their not engaging
in war, and never meeting with any other at-
tack from an invading army than on their pro-
visions, with which they are in general abun-
dantly supplied, being more industrious and
more abstemious than the Pagans ; a large pro-
portion of whose corn, rice, &c., goes in the

G

82 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

purchase of inebriating liquors. The dress of
the latter also is neither so good nor so cleanly
as that of the former, which is, almost inva-
riably, white or blue. The Sonikeys are careless
about their dress or persons, and what with
smoking, drinking, and dirt, they are the most
filthy set we ever saw.

We observed hanging on a stake, outside the
walls of the town, a dress composed of the bark
of a tree torn into small shreds, and formed so
as to cover the whole body of the person wear-
ing it, who is a sort of bugbear, called Mum-
bo Jumbo, that occasionally visits all the Man-
dingo towns, for the purpose of keeping the
married women in order. I have been told that
the husband who has occasion to find fault with
one of his wives, for here every man has as many
as his circumstances will admit, either puts on
this dress himself, or gets one of his friends to
do it, and having made known his intended visit
to the town, by shrieking and howling in the
woods near it, arrives after sunset at the as-
sembly place, where all the inhabitants are
obliged to meet him, with music, singing, and
dancing, which continues for some hours, and
terminates by his seizing the unfortunate wo-
man, and flogging her most unmercifully in
presence of the whole assembly, who only laugh
at this horrid performance. We have never had

TRAVELS IN AFI{ICA. 83

an opportunity of seeing this ourselves, but
have heard it from so many, and with sucli
corroborative exactness of description, that we
have no doubt of its existence to a much greater
extent of blind savage superstition than has
been described to us.

Immediately on our arrival, we sent to apprize
the king, and requested to be informed at what
hour he could receive our visit. We were, how-
ever, told that he was then drunk, and could
not be seen on business.

Slatee Modiba arrived, bringing us a present
of a fine bullock. He also told us the same
story, but said he hoped the evening would find
the king in a state to receive us.

At length, about five in the afternoon, we
went, accompanied by Mr. Burton, Lamina, and
Sergeant Tuft ; the latter served as interpreter.
We found his majesty (if we may so prostitute
the title), seated on a low wooden stool, outside
the walls of his house, surrounded by all the
great men of the town, who, with himself, did
not appear to have entirely recovered from the
effects of their morning's debauchery. Having
made him a small present, which it is the cus-
tom of this country to do, previous to addressing
the king on our business, we told him in as few
words as possible, the object we had in view^ in
travelling through the country, and the advan-

G 2

S4f TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

tages its inhabitants would derive from the exist-
ence of a friendly and direct intercourse with the
English, who, should no serious difficulties pre-
sent themselves, would soon make trading voyages
into the interior, and furnish them with all Eu-
ropean merchandize at a much cheaper rate than
they could at present procure them. The only
answer we received, was made by his friend Mo-
diba (for he did not say a word himself), and,
although expressed in many words, and in very
ambiguous terms, might be construed into this,
that he always thought the English were tlie
friends of Africa, and would do every thing in
his power to facilitate the attainment of their
wishes.

As nothing but the common routine of a for-
mal visit of ceremony could, consistent with
their customs, take place at the first interview,
even had the king been compos mentis, we were
obliged to take our leave without anything more
having been said as to the terms on which we
might expect his protection. Modiba, however,
told us he would take care that no rum should
be drank by Mansa ^' in the morning, previous to
our seeing him, and requested we would shew
him the present we intended to give ; which we
promised to do, when it could be ptepared,

* Title of the kings of WoolH.

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. S5

During the night, one of the natives made an
attempt to steal something from one of the tents,
and would have succeeded, had not Sergeant
Major Lee, observing the bale stirring, fired in
the direction, but I believe without effect. This
served, at least, to deter others from a similar
attempt.

Having selected the present, consisting of am-
ber, coral, bafts blue and white, silver, guns, &c.,
in all amounting to upwards of five hundred
bars, thirty pounds sterling, and submitted them
to the inspection of Modiba, who appeared to
be pleased with them, we waited on the king
on the morning of the 4th, and were shewn into
the inner inclosure of the palace, which was, if
any thing, more filthy than the rest of the town.
Here we found him seated on a lion's skin, to
which were attached a number of grigris, under
the shade of a miserable hovel in the shape of a
balcony, outside the door of his bed-room, sur-
rounded by four or five of his head men or mi-
nisters; and, notwithstanding Modiba's promise
to the contrary, the rum bottle had been in use,
to what extent we cannot say, but he, on this
occasion, favoured us with his conversation,
asking several questions about our country, the
Expedition^ its object, &c. ; all which we an-
swered as briefly and explicitly as possible.
When the present was laid before him, he conde-

86 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

fecended to smile at tlie amber, but on looking at
die dollars and coral for some time, with an air
of the greatest indifference, he said sometliing
to his own people, and told us that he would not
accept of so trifling an offer from such great
men, particularly as he had been told we had
given more to the king of Katoba, whom he
looked on as a very petty chief indeed. Modiba
said much to induce him to take it, but to no ef-
fect. We therefore returned to the camp leaving
him, great as was his avarice, paying more at-
tention to the rum bottle than what had been
going forward.

While we were talkino; to Modiba on the best
means of satisfying Mansa, and at the same
time those about him, the former made his ap-
pearance, coming from the town, attended by
about fifty people singing and beating drums.
He seated himself under a tree, at a short dis-
tance from our camp, and sent Modiba, who
had gone to meet him, to let us know he came
to pay his respects. When we went to him, he
beckoned me to sit beside him, which I did in
apparent good humour ; after the usual saluta-
tions, he begged a piece of muslin to make a
dress. This was complied with, when he said,
he had brought a bullock for supper, but added
that we did not shew ourselves inclined to think
well of him, in giving hun so poor a present.

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 87

This, with a great deal more noisy irrelevant
matter from himself and attendants, took up
nearly half an hour, much to our annoyance.
He ended, however, by telling us that he had
left tlie settHng of the affair to Modiba, and re-
turned to the town.

In order that more time should not be lost
here, we made an addition to the former pre-
sent of forty-five bars, coral and dollars, and
gave it to Modiba to present, as all we would or
could give him. He was then drunk, and not
to be seen.

In a short hour after this, Mausafarra, the
king's eldest son, came galloping from the town
into our camp, attended by five or six people,
armed with guns and spears, and, apparently in
a great rage, said that he was offended at our
not paying him our respects in person, and, al-
though we might think little of him, he was, ne-
vertheless, of as much consequence in the coun-
try as his father. We endeavoured to pacify him
by appearing in good humour, and was going to
give him our hands, when he rode off, in as
great a hurry as he came, having first made one
of his men throw down a pile of our arms, which
was standing near them. He was not contented
with this indifference on our part, and shortly
returned on foot, attended as before. The first
person he met was Private Robinson, lying on

88 TRAVELS IN AFJilCA.

the ground. To him he gave two or thi^ee kicks,
and would have fired his musket at him, had he
not been prevented by some of his own people.
On this occasion, w^e, with much difficulty, kept
our temper, but as the fellow w^as beastly drunk,
and we were aware of the serious consequences
that might arise from any violence offered to
one of the royal family, we overlooked the in-
sult, and merely directed the men to st-and
to their arms, and take no notice of him. He
did not like the appearance things bore at that
moment, and went off as before.

The people of the town, seeing us pay such
httle attention to the insult offered by their
prince, no doubt thought they might follow his
example with impunity, and therefore endea-
voured to run away with every thing they could
lay their hands on. This was too much. We
could bear it no longer, and ordered the men to
load and fall in, and, as it was nearly sunset, we
had the whole of the baggage removed to some
distance from the tree we had been sitting un-
der, and placed triple sentinels. While the men
were employed at this, the natives stole two
horses, one ass, a bullock, and a goat. The
horses, ass, and goat were recovered, but the bul-
lock we never heard of.

A strict watch during the night prevented
the possibility of any attempt at theft, and on

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 89

the morning of the 5th, Modiba came at an
early hour, to say that the king was not satisfied
at the addition made to the present, and, unless
we gave him more, he would send his people to
help themselves. Entreaties were to be borne
with, but threats, and of this nature too, required
decisive steps. We consequently directed Mo-
deba to let the king know he might come as
soon as he pleased, when we should be ready to
give him the reception his appearance might
merit. The bugles then sounded to arms ; the
animals were collected ; and the men formed a
hollow square round them and the baggage.

Modiba, who was more than astonished at our
answer and preparations, went off without saying
a v/ord ; but returned in a few minutes, to re-
quest we would give him ten dollars for himself,
in part payment of two horses we had purchased
from him the day before, and for which he had
agreed to take an order on the Commissariat
Officer at St. Mary's, River Gambia. This we
complied with, and are satisfied he gave them to
Mansa. We however did not let him know, that
we thought so. At length we were informed
that guides would be provided for us, and we
might proceed in the morning. In the evening,
Mansa sent us a bullock, in place of the one
which was stolen.

The guides joined us in the morning of the

90 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

6th, and all things being ready, we commenced
moving from Madina, that nest of thieves ; but
the front division had scarcely left the ground,
when an immense mob collected, in order
to plunder if possible. Messrs. Dochard and
Partarrieau remained with the camel division,
which was to bring up the rear, and had much
difficulty in keeping the natives from actually
forcing some things out of our men's hands. A
small medicine-chest was purloined by one of
them, who had run some distance with it before
it was missed. Private Ferrier overtook and
knocked the fellow down, and would have shot
some others who came to his assistance, had not
Mr. Dochard prevented him by laying hold of
his firelock. Such a barefaced and determined
set of thieves we never met.

We travelled se. and by e. thirteen miles, to
the village of Bambako. The path this day was
over a hard yellow clay soil, mixed with small
quartz pebbles, and much broken into deep ruts
by the rains ; the whole distance, to within a
quarter of a mile, covered with loose brushwood
and a few large trees of the acacia species.

Corporal Pickard, a European, was so ill as
to be unable to walk, and private Richmond, a
native soldier, was nearly as bad ; they were
carried forward on two of the officers' horses.
Bambako is a very miserable village indeed, not

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 91

containing more than twenty huts of the poorest
description : the situation of it, however, in
some measure made up for its wretched appear-
ance ; it was on the summit of an elevated plain,
beautifully covered with some of those large
trees which bear the cotton, already mentioned,
and a great number of baobabs, tamarinds, and
palm trees ; and it is plentifully supplied with
good water, from wells twelve fathoms deep.
We were able to purchase there one horse, two
asses, three goats, and some corn for the ani-
mals. The horses and asses were a very wel-
come and necessary supply at that moment, as
we had lost by death, during the day's march,
three horses.

We passed the night there, and moved for-
ward to the ssE. at seven on the morning of
the 7 th. The soil and appearance of the coun-
try the same as that of the preceding day's
march. The path was not so much broken, and
the animals travelled better. We reached Ca-
nope at eleven, a. m., where we halted in order
to refresh the men and animals, and to purchase,
if possible, a few asses, which we were told by
our guides were here in great numbers. Large
prices, in amber, coral, and blue baft, induced
the natives to sell us seven very good ones. We
had much difficulty in procuring water here, not
in consequence of any want of it at the place.

92 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

but because the people would not allow us to
approach the wells, alleging that it was their
property, and we must pay for it as well as for
the other commodities of life. Remonstrance,
and an inclination to force on our part, together
with the interference of our guides, at length
obtained it ; not, however, before it was much
wanted.

We left that inhospitable village at three, p.
M., the same day, and travelled in the same di-
rection over a very finely diversified country,
for two hours, when we arrived at a small vil-
lage called Kussaye, or Metofodia Cunda, hav-
ing passed, about two miles before it, the ruins
of a very large walled town, called Maja Cunda.
This was formerly the residence of Modiba, the
man who assisted us at Woolli, but was de-
stroyed and abandoned by him, in consequence
of the surrounding soil not producing good
crops ; it is very light and sandy, and mixed
with lumps of a stiff white clay, having much
the appearance of pipe-clay.

The occurrences at Madina, the hurry at
leaving it, and the very great want of means of
conveyance which we experienced, together with
the confused state of the baggage in conse-
quence of such want, and the indisposition of
some of the men, induced us to determine on
halting here for a day, in order to set all things

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 93

right : we therefore took up our bivouac under
the shade of some large trees outside the town,
the chief of which was extremely kind and at-
tentive to all our wants, inasmuch as his cir-
cumstances would admit.

94

CHAPTER V.

Departure from Kussaye — Pass through the Simbarri
Woods — Loss of Camels — Ruins of Muntobe — Leave
Muntobe — Arrive at Sausanding — Halt there — Our
Woolli guides leave us — Discharge of Corporal Harrop
— Arrival at Sabee, the first Town of Bondoo — Loss of
Animals— Opposition on the part of our Guides to our
moving thence— Arrival at Loonchea — Death of the
Camels — Supply of provisions from Almamy — Mr. Do-
chard sent in advance with a present to Almamy — De-
parture from Loonchea — Arrival at Dachadoonga — Dif-
ficulty and delay in carrying forward the Baggage — De-
scription of the Red Water, and its use — Arrival at
Goodeerri — Mr. Dochard returns from the Capital — Ar-
rival of Almamy 's eldest Son — Transactions with Al-
mamy and difficulty in arranging matters with him — De-
parture from Goodeerri, and arrival at Boolibany, the
Capital of Bondoo.

Having put the baggage in order, and fed the
animals well on pistacio tops and corn, since
our arrival here, we moved forward at six
o'clock on the morning of the 9th, at a slow
rate to the ene., over a much wooded coun-
try, until noon, when we halted at the ruins of
a town called Bantanto, in the Simbarri woods,
where the well, though very deep, thirteen
fathoms, was still in repair, and supplied us

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. ^S'

with great plenty of water, but of a bad taste and
smell, occasioned by its not being much used.
Mr. Nelson, Corporal Pickard, and Privates
Nicholson and Richmond had attacks of fe-
ver since the evening of the 7th ; with these
exceptions, the party continued to enjoy good
health. We could not say as much for our
animals : three horses died since our arrival at
Metafodia Cunda, and more than one half
of the remaining ones were unable to carry
their loads, for the transport of which it was
found impossible to procure a sufficient number
of carriers from among the natives : some of
our own African soldiers, however, very cheer-
fully supplied their places, and we managed,
in one way or other, to take all forward, but
not without considerable trouble and fatigue.
The many men we were obliged to employ as
carriers, left the animals without a sufficient
number to guide them and keep their loads
from falling off, an occurrence which took
place at every twenty yards with some one or
other of them. The asses we had procured on
the path were very good, but whether we did
not understand the proper way of loading them,
or that our bales, from being nearly round, were
ill calculated to sit steady on their round backs,
we could not determine 5 it appeared, however,

96 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

something was wrong, the consequence of which
was much trouble and delay.

We moved from Bantanto at six o'clock on
the morning of the 10th, but one of our camels
having been either stolen, or strayed from the
place where they had been feeding, I remained
behind with that division until four, p. m., up
to which time a fruitless search had been made
for it in all directions. I then went forward
alone, leaving Mr. Partarrieau to wait until the
following morning, in hopes of recovering it, as
it was a loss we could but badly afford at that
moment.

I joined the front at the ruins of Montobe, at
nine o'clock. The situation of this town, which
must have been a very large one, is beautiful : it
was in two parts, that where we halted being
the smallest, and built on a hill shaded with
fine large trees, the other is in the centre of
an extensive plain, bearing the marks of cul-
tivation, surrounded on all sides, at the dis-
tance of nearly a quarter of a mile, by woods ;
both are plentifully supplied with water, from
wells only three or four feet deep, but which,
in consequence of being neglected, had fallen in
so much that we were obliged to clear them out
before a sufficient quantity of water could be
obtained. The soil appeared to be better than

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 97

any I had before seen ; it was composed of dark-
brown mould, intermixed with white sand and
sand-stone. The walls and many of the houses
were both strongly and well built with yellow
clay, raised from about four feet below the sur-
face, and intermixed with cut straw or withered
grass and cow-dung.

It was destroyed about twelve months before
by the people of Bondoo, in one of their plun-
dering excursions, and many of its inhabitants
were either killed or made prisoners (slaves), a
fate but too common in this country, w^here the
strongest party always finds an excuse for mak-
ing war on the weaker, not unfrequently carry-
ing off whole towns of miserable inoffensive
beings, without either any previous intimation
of their hostile intentions, or indeed any cause
given by those wretched objects of their avari-
cious encroachments. On all such occasions,
the only object in view is the attainment of
money, as they call it, and in this they suc-
ceed by selling their unfortunate fellow-crea-
tures, and, what is still more unnatural, their
compatriots, to slave-dealers.

A multitude of ideas, bringing with them the
conviction of how much Englishmen, and in-
deed all civilized nations, are favoured by Di-
vine Providence, in enjoying freedom and se-
curity against such unwarranted and barbarous

H

98 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

practices, rushed on my mind, as we surveyed
the silent and awful remains of some human
bodies which lay outside the walls of this once
respectable and no doubt happy town, the in-
habitants of which were torn by unrelenting
savages from that native spot, so dear to all
mankind. Even the strongest ties of nature
riven asunder, and all this to gratify the brutal
desires of some neighbouring tyrant, or to enrich
a set of savages, who are daily exposed to a
similar fate themselves, at least as long as they
can find people ready to purchase their unna-
tural booty.

Mr. Partarrieau not having come up, we left
Muntobe at six o'clock on the morning of the
11th, and travelled slowly to the east until
noon, when we reached Sansanding, a small
town, the last of the kingdom of WooUi, beau-
tifully situated on an eminence surrounded by
high grounds, through the valleys of which winds
a branch of the Gambia, now nearly dry j its
banks are covered with cane, acacias, and mi-
mosas, which afforded us an agreeable shelter
from the intense heat of the sun. Here we de-
cided on halting one day, in order to i%st the
animals, particularly the camels, which were
become very weak for the last two days, owing
to an insufficiency, indeed a scarcity, of that spe-
cies of food on which they are used to feed. One

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 99

gave up on the path, and died in a few hours,
which the moors said resulted from having eaten
some poisonous weed in which that country
abounds. The men also wanted the opportunity
of washing their Hnen, which this place afford-
ed. We eagerly took advantage of it as a great
distance of uninhabited country (which from a
want of water it was necessary to get over as
quick as possible) lay between us and the frontier
town of Bondoo. Private Pickard, too, was so
ill as to be unable to ride, and was left on the
path, under the shade of a tree, until the after-
noon, when we sent eight men with a hammock
to bring him up. He had, however, before they
reached him, recovered sufficiently to come for-
ward on Mr. Partarrieau's horse. The camel
lost at Bantanto was stolen by one of the king
of WooUi's people, and was traced as far back
as Kussaye by our men who went in search of it :
the thief, however, effected his escape with his
prize, leaving Mr. Partarrieau with only one
camel to bring up the two loads. The asses,
although heavily loaded, travelled well, and
were, if properly managed, better adapted to this
service than either horses or camels.

Our guide refused to accompany us beyond
this town, giving, as a reason, his fear of being
detained in Bondoo, should he enter that coun-
try. I was sorry for it, as the fellow^ really was

H ^

100 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

very accommodating and attentive ; but no en-
treaties could induce him to go on. 1 believe
he was afraid that if we got him into one of the
towns in Bondoo, he would be detained until our
camel should be returned. In this he was de-
ceived ; for although such a step had been talked
of by tUe officers as likely to have a good effect,
we never had the least intention of doing so. I
therefore dismissed him with a present of twen-
ty-two bars.

We here discharged Corporal Harrop, a na-
tive of Woolli, who had been sold as a slave,
when very young, and liberated by some of the
British cruizers on the coast. He met his mo-
ther at Medina, and expressed a wish to remain
there, a refusal to comply with which we were
aware would be useless, as he had it in his
power to desert, and thereby deprive us of the
opportunity, which was thus offered, of acting
in a mannfjr likely to convince the people of
that part of the interior, that our intentions to-
wards them were liberal and humane. The man
himself seemed very thankful, and said he would
never forget the English, to whose settlements
on the Gambia he would return, in order to lay
out the money we had then given him as pay
and allowance up to that date. He took a cor-
dial farewel of all his companions, and returned
to Medina with the guide, to glad the heart of

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 101

an aged mother, who no doubt looked on her
son as one risen from the dead.

We tasted some drink made from honey and
millet, somewhat like mead ; but from its acidity,
acquired by fermentation, and the non use of bit-
ters in its composition, it had a very unpleasant
effect on the stomach.

Having purchased here six asses, we started
at six o'clock in the forenoon of the 13th, and
entered the wilderness, through which we tra-
velled at a smart pace to the east until near mid-
day, when we came to a watering place in an
open space in the woods, which bore evident
marks of inundation during the rains, and was
said to be the resort of large herds of elephants,
which come thither in search of water. This
was evidently the case, as their foot-tracks were
visible in all directions ; indeed, one of our
men, who had gone some distance from the
path, said he had seen two of them.

A town belonging to Woolli formerly stood
here ; but little or no proof of its having ever ex-
isted now remained. We however took advan-
tage of the only one, namely, the shade of the
large trees which are in or near all the towns we
have seen in Africa. It is called Sabee Looroo.

As the distance from this last place to the
frontier of Bondoo was destitute of water, and

102 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

too great to attempt marching it in the. heat of
the day, without a plentiful supply of that ne-
cessary article, we moved forward at six in the
evening, having filled all our soofroos*, and
marched very expeditiously in an east and by
north direction, through wood, until half after
ten, when we were obliged to halt, in conse-
quence of its being very dark, and many of
the animals being much fatigued and consider-
ably in the rear. Four horses were left in a dy-
ing state, and Mr. Pilkington and four men re-
mained with their loads, until asses could be
sent to bring them up : they did not arrive at
our bivouac until day-light the following morn-
ing. We lost six horses during that march, and
were likely to lose more every day : our provi-
sions, too, were becoming scarce; but the pros-
pect of being able to replenish all our wants in
Bondoo, did not allow things to appear as bad
as they really were.

We reached Sabee at seven on the morning
of the 14th, and took up our position on an ele-
vated spot to the NE. and distant about half a
quarter of a mile from the town, which is a very
large one, walled, and situated in an extensive
plain, gently rising to the ese., in which direc-
tion it is bounded by mountains : through it

* Leather bags.

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 103

runs a small watercourse, now nearly dry, and
which the natives call the Neerico.

The inhabitants of this town are all Mahome-
dans^ who are Surrawoollies, and came originally
from Kajaga or Galam : they appeared a mild
inoffensive race, and were not only better clothed,
but cleaner in their persons than the people of
WoolU. Their provisions, also, were in greater
plenty. We purchased from them three asses,
three small bullocks, and a goat, together with
some fowls, milk, butter, and eggs. Latitude of
Sabee, by meridian altitude, sun's lower limb,
85° 22' &' ; thermometer, in shade, 14° 10' 58".

They cultivate, on the banks of the Neerico,
in moist places,, a sort of tobacco, which is of a
small growth and a pale green colour, bearing a
yellow blossom : it is manufactured into snuff,
in which state alone that sort is used. They
also cultivate a larger kind, more resembling the
American tobacco in size and colour : this bears
a white blossom, and when dried is used in
smoking. These, with millet, maize, two other
varieties of corn, rice, cotton, indigo, and a few
small onions and pompions, are the productions I
noticed here, and for which the ground appeared
w^ell adapted.

When we were about moving on the morning
of the 15th, Masiri Cabba, a man who had come
from Bondoo to Lamina, and joined us at Ka-

104 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

yaye, came to say that a messenger had just ar-
rived from Almamy, to direct that we should
not advance further into his country, until we
had sent a person to him. As we conceived
this to be all a plan between Masiri Cabba and
Lamina, for we saw them talking together a few
minutes before, we paid no attention to it, and
moved on, at half after six, to the south of east,
over a fine open country, much cultivated, and
more diversified by hill and dale than we had
before met with : we reached a large straggling
village, Jumjoury, situate on a rising ground,
without any defence whatever. There appeared
to be large quantities of cotton grown here, and
the plantations looked in fine order. The chief
here made us a present of a goat and some cous
cous, in return for which he received double
their value : indeed, taking those presents is a
bad plan, but it would be wrong to insult those
people, and they would certainly regard a refusal
of any thing offered by them, only in such a
point of view. We purchased here two fine
sheep, £ve goats, and some corn.

Having left Jumjoury at six, on the morning
of the l6th, and travelled east over a fine, open,
and, for the most part, well cultivated country,
to Deedey, a small village, which we passed,
and arrived at Loonchea, lying ese. from the
former. The camels travelled badly this day ;

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 105

one died shortly after our arrival, and the re-
mainder looked very sickly. We halted under
some large trees on the side of a considerable
gully or ravine, having a mud bottom, at that
time dried up, but which, during the rains, was
the bed and course of a torrent running to the
ssw.

The supply of rice we brought from Kayaye
was here exhausted, with the exception of a few
pints, and we had not as yet been able to pro-
cure a sufficiency of either cous cous or meal to
make a full allowance, for two days. The only
provisions we could find here was a little milk
and some fowls.

One of the camels, having every appearance
of approaching death, was killed, and the meat
made use of by our men. We tasted it, and
found it as good as any beef we could procure.
This gave a sufficiency for the day.

The chief of the town called on us in the af-
ternoon, and told us that he had received direc-
tions from Almamy to provide us with some
corn, which he was ready to deliver ; but, as it
was not in a state to be made use of, we request-
ed him to have it converted into cous cous and
meal, which he undertook to have done. The
necessity we were under of waiting for this sup-
ply, and the loss of three of our camels by death,
since our arrival here, obliged us to make a halt.

106 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

I had also determined on sending Mr. Dochard
from this place to the capital, in order to see
Almamy, and arrange with him for our passage
through his country, and his protection and as-
sistance while in it.

I accordingly despatched him on the morning
of the 18th, accompanied by Masiri Cabba
Dharra (one of the king of Sego's men), and
four of our own people. He took with him
some large amber as a present for the king.

Having received from the master of the town
a quantity of cous cous and meal, sufficient for
six days, and divided the loads of the three ca-
mels that died here among the remaining ones
and the other animals, we moved forward at five
in the afternoon to the ene. over a flat country
much intersected by the dry beds of torrents,
the banks of which are covered with acacias and
mimosas : one of them was very deep, and so
difficult to pass, that most of the asses fell and
threw their loads, which delayed us some time.
One of the camels died on the path ; this also
delayed us considerably, and we did not reach
Gongally until near midnight, all very much fa-
tigued. In the course of the forenoon of the
19th, I purchased two asses, being all that I
could induce the inhabitants of this town to part
w4th, although they had many more, and the
prices I offered were large. I was therefore

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 107

obliged to hire some more carriers ; a most
troublesome mode of transport, for it required
a good look-out to prevent those fellows from
running away with their loads. We left Gon-
gally at four in the afternoon, and arrived at
Dachadoonga, after a very fatiguing march of
three hours and a half, over a much broken coun-
try covered with wood. The chief of this town,
which is a small one, is married to one of Alma-
my's daughters.

The few remaining horses, and the camels,
were become so weak as to be unable to carry,
and we had not yet been able to purchase a suf-
ficient number of asses for the whole of the
baggage ; I therefore sent Mr. Burton forward
to Goodeerie, on the 20th, with as much of it as
all the asses would carry, and directed him to
send them back next morning to bring forward
the remainder, but from some mistake of their
guides, or from having straggled too much, they
took different paths, which led them all (with
the exception of two or three) much out of their
way, and it was not until eight o'clock in the
afternoon of the 21st, after despatching La-
mina to conduct them into the right path, that
the asses returned. Having purchased three
very good asses here, we left it at seven o'clock
on the morning of the 22d, and arrived at Ga-
nado, another small village, at eleven. Messrs.

108 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

Nelson andPilkington had gone on to Goodeerie,
when, not finding any of the party, they returned
to Ganado, where we passed the night, and lost
four horses and (six) all our sheep, in conse-
quence of their having eaten the leaves of a
tree (called Talee, by the natives) which is com-
mon throughout this country. It is a strong
poison, and has a very sweet taste. The pagan
natives of some parts of Africa, make use of an
infusion of the bark of this tree to ascertain whe-
ther a person among them, suspected of witch-
craft, be guilty or not. The accused is obliged
to drink a quantity of this liquor, and which,
according to its strength, sooner or later pro-
duces nausea, vomiting, and pain in the stomach
and abdomen, and not unfrequently terminates
in the death of the person ; in which case he
is considered to have been guilty: but should
the person recover, either in consequence of
the weakness of the dose (sometimes arising
from a large bribe administered to the person
who made it), or a great strength of constitution
and timely antidotes, he is declared innocent.
This horrid method is seldom practised by the
Mahomedan natives of Africa.

On the morning of the 23d, I again sent
forward Mr. Burton (being the only officer now
with me, able to do duty) to Goodeerie, with all
the asses, loaded, and directions to send them

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 109

back to me in the evening. He left us at four
o'clock, and the asses returned at nine the same
afternoon. The country about this town is
really beautifully diversified with hill and dale,
both covered with wood, some of which is very
large. At a short distance to the se. is the
dry bed of a stream which, during the rains,
runs to the sw. and joins the Gambia. The in-
habitants here had commenced preparing their
corn and rice grounds, in consequence of the
very great appearance of approaching rain for
the last two or three days, during which we had
some thunder and lightning, accompanied with
a perfect calm and intense heat of the sun and
atmosphere.

Little trouble is indeed necessary in this
country for the purpose of cultivation; the
ground is merely cleared of the old corn stalks,
and such weeds and young wood as have sprung
up during the dry weather ; all which are
burnt, and the ashes strewed on the surface.
Small holes are then made in the ground, distant
from each other about a foot or eighteen inches,
and two or three grains of corn dropped into
each, which is filled by pushing a portion of the
earth and the ashes before mentioned into it. In
this state it remains, until it arrives at about two
feet above the surface, when the ground be-
tween is hoed up and cleared of weeds, a pro-

110 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

cess which takes place as often as the growth
of the weeds renders it necessary, and which,
in this country, wiiere vegetation is so rapidly
going on during the rains, grow apace.

We left Ganado at seven o'clock on the
morning of the 24th, passed two small villages,
situated in an open and well cultivated country,
and reached Goodeerie at noon, having met an
immense host of black monkeys, who, on our ap-
proach, set up a hideous barking noise, and
scampered into the woods. Some of them were
as large as a mastiff dog.

Goodeerie is a small straggling village, inhabit-
ed by Surrawoollies and Foulahs. Masiri Cabba,
who is chief of it, accommodated us with a suffi-
cient number of huts to shelter both the men
and baggage from rain, which was fast approach-
ing. As I feared it was likely we should have
to remain a few days here, in order to the ar-
rangement of matters with Almamy, I cheer-
fully accepted his offer, and now, for the first
time since our leaving Kayaye, we entered and
took up quarters inside a town.

I was here informed that Almamy was not at
the capital when Mr. Dochard went there, and
that it was probable he might have to wait there
some time before he could see him, as he was
absent on some business connected with the
war between him and the people of Galam.

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. Ill

Mr. Dochard, however, arrived on the ^st,
without having seen Almamy. He was accom-
panied by Almady Gay (one of Ahuamy's ne-
phews), who was sent to procure for us a supply
of bullocks and corn. Almamy sent Mr. Dochard
word that he was extremely glad to hear of our
arrival in his country, and would give us every
assistance and protection in his power as far as
Foolidoo, to which country we should be ac-
companied by one of his chiefs, who would be
a sufficient safeguard to us. He further request-
ed that we would remain where we were until
he could come to see us, which should be in a
very few days. The prospect of being thus de-
layed even for a few days, as I then thought,
was irksome in the extreme, as the rains were
fast approaching, and, in the space of another
month, travelUng would become, if not wholly
impossible, at least very difficult and dangerous.
But so it was, that attempting to move through
this country without having first arranged mat-
ters with Almamy, would have been madness.
We were therefore obliged to submit with pa-
tience.

Since our arrival here, we were beset by a
multitude of beggars of all descriptions. Princes
and their wives without number, came to make
to us trifling presents, with the hope of receiving
in retiuni double their value, and tlieir attendants

112 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

were not less troublesome. Goulahs, or singing
people, who in Africa always flock around those
who have any thing to give, no doubt thought
this a good opportunity to turn to good account
their abilities in music, and we were continually
annoyed by their horrid noise. Dozens of them
would, at the same moment, set up a sort of
roaring extempore song in our praise, accompa-
nied by drums and a sort of guitar, and we
found it impossible to get rid of them by any
other means than giving something. They were
not, however, to be put off with a trifle. People
who lived by that sort of gain, and not unfre-
quently received from their own chiefs presents
to the amount of several slaves, were not to be
put off with trifles, particularly by persons with
(apparently to them) so much riches as we had.
The consequence was, we were in a continual
state of uproar with those wretches. Never did
I find my patience so much tired as on those oc-
casions.

On the 31st a man arrived from Boolibany,
to say that Almamy would be at Goodeerie on
the following day, but it was not until the 5th
of June that we heard any thing more of him.
During this time we were plagued out of our
lives by a host of his nephews, nieces, cousins,
&c. all begging.

On the 5th, Saada, Almamy's eldest son, ac-

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 118

companied by two of his majesty's ministers
and three other grandees of the country, came
to announce his father's arrival at a small town
of the same name as this, distant about five
miles east. They made some objections to call
on me first, and I would have waved all cere-
mony in favour of the expediting in the least our
business ; but Lamina said it was their place to
call on me : they were the bearers of a message
from Almamy, and to deliver it they must come
to me, and not I to them. This they did, and
entered on the business with all the indifference
and hauteur imaginable. Sanda himself would
not uncover his mouth or nose, which he had
closely wrapped up in a part of his turban which
hung down, for fear he might inhale the air
breathed by an infidel. Many words, expressed
in a strangely slow and authoritative manner,
went to say that Almamy had arrived, and
would see me whenever I wished to call upon
him, or w^ould come himself to see me if I pre-
ferred it. The former I adopted, as I was aware
that his presence here would draw around us a set
of beggars, whose importunities would be insup-
portable, and therefore decided on going, with-
out delay, to see him. Messrs. Dochard and
Partarrieau accompanied me. Lamina, Masiri
Cabba, and one of my own men to act as inter-
preter, composed the whole of our attendants.

114 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

On our arrival at the village, we had to wait
nearly half an hour before we could obtain an
interview. After the usual compliments of sa-
lutation, &c., I explained to him, by means of
my interpreter, in as few words as possible, the
object we had in view in travelling through his
country, and requested that we might be de-
tained as short a time as possible. He said that
we might depend on his doing all in his power to
forward our views, and that the time of our stay
chiefly depended on ourselves. By this he meant
to say, that if we paid him handsomely, he would
allow us to pass. He said much about the
trifling nature of the present I sent him by Mr.
Dochard, insinuating that it was scarcely lit for
one of his Goulas.

We took the hint and requested that people
might be sent to receive the present I intended
for him. These were soon nominated, and with
them and Saada, who was sent to remain with
us (as Almamy said, to see we were well treated,
but^ we believe, as a spy on our actions), we re-
turned to our quarters*

Having laid out a considerable present,
amounting to more than ten times that given
to the king of Woolli, we showed it to the per-
sons sent for that purpose, on the morning of
the 6th, and made Saada a very handsome pre-
sent indeed, for which he appeared very thank-

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 115

fill, but said that we should first settle with his
father. We were asked if what we had laid be-
fore them was intended merely as service (as
they call it), meaning thereby a present or dou-
ceur, or as all we intended to give him ; and
we answered that we intended it as the full
amount of present. To which they replied, they
were only directed to receive service, that
was then shewn, and objected to, as too small.
After much conversation on both sides, with-
out being able to arrange with those fellows, we
determined on again going to Almamy, to en-
deavour to settle with him personally. In this,
however, we were deceived ; he was, if possible,
more difficult to please than his ministers, and
told us, that as we did not choose to act in com-
pliance with their wishes, he should not wait
where he was any longer, but return to his
house, where we might come to see him when
we thought proper to act consistently with,
what he considered, our duty, namely, the in-
creasing of the present ; that as all the sur-
rounding kings were averse to our going to the
east, and even his own chiefs did not like it, he
was taking a great responsibility on himself in
allowing us to do so. This, and much more of
the same nature, too tedious to mention, closed
the interview. We therefore, to avoid more dc-

i^

Il6 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

Jay, determined on giving those insatiable ras-
cals as much as we could afford, and thereby, if
possible, get rid of them. The rains had already
commenced, and no time was to be lost, which
could, in any way, consistently with the future
safety of the expedition, be avoided.

Having selected an enormous present, we
despatched Mr. Partarrieau to lay it before
his majesty, and it was not until the 9th that
he returned, having, in some measure, satisfied
the avaricious appetite of the great man, who,
however, still said much about receiving six
bottles of gunpowder and a musket for each
ass load ; and insinuated that he had been in-
formed we had loads composed entirely of gold
and silver. Fresh demands were continually
made, and we were not able, before the 13th,
finally to settle with him. This was done by
our giving him an order on the Gambia for one
hundred and twenty bottles of gunpowder,
twenty common guns and a blunderbuss.

He came to see us in a friendly way, as he
said, on the 14th, accompanied by a host of mi-
nisters, chiefs, &c., who all expected no doubt
to receive something. On this occasion he ap-
peared to be perfectly satisfied with what had
been given him and his followers, and promised
we should have a guide wherever we wished to

TRAVELS JN AFRICA. 117

move, and in whatever direction we pleased*
This, however, we could not obtain until the
17th, and then he would not listen to our pur-
suing any route but that through Kasson, the
chief of which country was his friend, which we
knew to be the case, but we feared he was only
too much so, and ready to put in execution any
plan Ahiiamy might devise to annoy and delay
us, and ultimately frustrate the object we had
in view.

Notwithstanding Almamy's having sent his
nephew to procure supplies for us, since our arri-
val at Goodeerie we had been very scantily sup-
plied with provisions, although large prices were
offered, and men sent in all directions to collect
corn, rice, or any kind of food that could be pro-
cured.

A fine moor boy, about eight years of age, a
slave, was sent us by the king, to purchase bul-
locks with, but hungry as we were we preferred
remaining so, to eating that procured at the ex-
pense of liberty to a fellow-creature, who, from
his horrified appearance, no doubt thought we
were going to eat him. He spoke the language
well, by which means we explained to him the
happy change that hadtaken place in his situa-
tion, but he did not appear to believe it for
some days.

In some instances the princes and chiefs who

118 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

flocked round us in hopes of receiving presents
(and they invariably got something, but which
was not as great as they either expected or
could have wished), prevented the natives from
bringing to market even the scanty supply
which their reduced means at that time of the
year would have enabled them to do.

For several days we submitted to a very
scanty allowance indeed, and we had no appear-
ance of obtaining a more plentiful supply by
any other means than that of arranging matters
to the satisfaction of Almamy, which we were at
length (by means of considerable presents to
him and his followers) enabled to do. Indeed
the latter, a set of cringing liars, and aJl either
Goulas (singing people) or Bilos (blacksmiths),
were as difficult to be pleased as their master,
with whom they had such influence that no
matter was decided on, or step taken, without
their advice, and whose interest it was absolute-
ly necessary to purchase, though, I believe, to
little purpose ; as they will make the fairest pro-
mises to attain their end, and then betray their
benefactor ; or, at least, in their private confer-
ences with Almamy, give him advice directly
contrary to that expressed as their opinion in
public, and by no means conducive to the at-
tainment of our wisJies. No sooner was one
promise made by him and them, on the proviso

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 119

of receiving a present, and those terms complied
with on our part, than some contrary construc-
tion was put on the same, and we were left to
devise such other means of attaining our object
as the moment might suggest. It is really im-
possible for a person not conversant with such
affairs, or acquainted with such people, to have
any idea of the irksome and perplexing nature
of their duplicity and falsehood, or of the situa-
tion a man finds himself placed in, when depend-
ent in a great measure on their will and plea-
sure for the common necessaries of life.

Such was our situation on the l6th, when we
went to Almamy's residence, in order to endea-
vour, by any possible means, to gain permission
to choose our own route. But in this, however,
we were unfortunately not able to succeed, and
consequently submitted with an apparent good
grace, for any other line of conduct would have
tended to no good purpose j telling him that we
would be ready to move on the 18th, and as he
seemed to think he could protect us more effec-
tually in that road than any other, we requested
that guides might be immediately appointed to
conduct us. This was directly complied with ;
when we returned to our huts, and made the
arrangements necessary in consequence of so
long and unpleasant delays.

We left Goodeerie at half after five in the

120 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

evening of the 18th June, and halted for the
night at the village where Almamy had been.
We were under the disagreeable necessity (now,
for the first time,) of leaving one of the party
behind (Private Pickard), who was reduced to
such a state of debility and emaciation from dy-
sentery, that he was not only unable to ride, but
reported, by Mr. Dochard, as unlikely to reco-
ver. Two men were left with him, and direct-
ed, in case of his getting better in a few days,
to bring him forward to Booiibany, where we
intended halting, to procure provisions ; and in
case of his death to bury him, and follow us with
as much expedition as possible. A supply of the
means of procuring subsistence was given them,
and I really felt much at abandoning to his fate
one of the most active and useful men we had.

Messrs. Nelson and Pilkington were also in a
very bad state of health, and many of the Euro-
pean soldiers, although not decidedly unwell,
were occasionally complaining of headaches and
pains in their limbs, indicating the approach of
fever and dysentery.

Much rain had already fallen, and vegetation
was going on most rapidly in consequence of the
intense heat of the sun and humidity of the soil.
To the north of Goodeerie, was a range of high
hills, covered with wood, and running from ne.
to sw. About half way between where we left

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. V2l

and it, we crossed the partly dry bed of a tor-
rent, which, at this time, comes from some hills
lying south of east from our path, and running,
with many windings, to the west of north, to
empty itself into the Senegal.

We left Goodeerie (there are many towns of
the same name in that district, named after a peo-
ple who came from a town in Galam formerly so
called,) at seven o'clock on the morning of the
19th ; and after a march of five hours and a
half to the north of east, over a well cultivated
and thickly inhabited country, we arrived at a
large town, or rather a large collection of small
villages, called Baigh Baigh, beautifully situated
on eminences rising gently on either side of a
narrow valley, in which ran a considerable tor-
rent of water, collected by the neighbouring
hills, and contributing to the periodical over-
flowing of the Senegal. The corn grounds
were beginning to look green, and the entire
face of the country, which had for some months
presented a most arid and fatiguing prospect,
was now progressively assuming all the varied
gaiety of spring. The natives, too, were busily
employed in cultivation, which, in Africa, is in-
discriminately carriedon by men and women.

Many of our men did not come up before
night. The march was a long one, and the day
excessively hot and calm, with every appearance

1^2 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

of rain, of which we had a smart fall during the
night.

On the following morning, we moved for-
ward to the north of east, over a gently rising
country, beautifully diversified by hill and dale,
and thickly covered in every direction with
small villages, in the vicinity of which, cultiva-
tion appeared to be carrying on to a considerable
extent. We crossed, about five miles west of
Boolibany, a range of small hills, running nearly
north and south, covered with stunted under-
wood, and composed of a dark brown stone re-
sembling volcanic eruption, and having a strong
magnetic attraction. One piece, bearing a high
metallic polish, drew to it small needles from
the distance of three quarters of an inch. From
those hills the natives procure a large supply of
iron, which they esteem much for its goodness,
and which is extracted from the ore, or stone
containing it, in the manner mentioned by Mr.
Park.

We readied Boolibany at noon, and were
accommodated with huts in the town, a divi-
sion of which was given up entirely for our use,
and from which Almamy, who paid us a visit in
the afternoon, desired us to keep off the mob,
in the same way we should do were we in an
English fort. This, however, we found much
difficulty in accomplishing against a host of vi-

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 123

sitors of all ages and descriptions, coming to
see, for the first time in their lives, a white man.
Shortly after our arrival some of the king's
wives sent us two or three large calabashes, full
of fine milk and cous cous, which was not at all
a despicable present.

Many of the great men of the town paid us
visits of ceremony and curiosity ; all which we
would have most willingly dispensed with, but
they were not to be sent off in a hurry, and we
were often reduced to the necessity of walking
out of our huts, in hopes of their doing so too.
But even this did not always succeed, and we
were necessitated to submit wdth an apparent
good grace to their importunities for presents.
I do believe they thought that asking alone was
necessary to the filling of their pockets with am-
ber, &c., and covering their backs with silks,
bafts, &c. ; for the procuring of all of which they
seldom brought any more valuable articles than
a little milk, or some rice, or corn. Indeed we
wanted nothing else, but the miserable handfuls
which they presented, were scarcely worth the
trouble of receiving, mucli less giving more than
the value in return.

124

CHAPTER VI.

Description of Boolibany — Delays and Disappointments
there — Scarcity of Provisions— Death of Private Pickard
-—My decision of passing the rains in the Country, and
Departure for Samba Contaye to select a position for
winter quarters — Arrival of the Expedition from Booli-
bany— INIr. Pilkington and men left there sick — Death
of Lieutenant Burton, and Sickness of the IMen — Prepa-
ratiims for INIr. Dochard's Departure for Sego— Almamy's
Arrival near our Camp — Difficulties about the Guide —
Mr. Dochard's Departure — The Object of his Embassy —
Mr. Partarrieau's Departure for the Coast — Mr. Nelson's
weak state — A regular Market established — Mr. Pil-
kington's Arrival from the Capital — i^Ir. Nelson's Death
— My ownlndisposition — Deaths amongst the Men — Ex-
traordinary Ceremony at the killing of a lioness — Lions'
Attack on the Horse — Accounts from i\Ir. Dochard — Re-
turn of the Messengers — Almamy's unjust Conduct, and
its Results.

Boolibany, the capital of Boiidoo, stands in
an extensive plain at the foot of a range of
rocky hills, which are distant from it about a
quarter of a mile east : to the west, the dry
bed of a considerable torrent winds along the
plain, and, in the season of the rains, conducts
the water, which descends in a thousand streams
from the hills, to the Faliuie and Senegal.

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 125

Here is the residence of the king, or Alma-
my, but it is by no means so large a town as we
expected to see in the capital of so thickly in-
habited a country. The number of souls do
not exceed fifteen or eighteen hundred ; the
greater number are either the relatives, slaves,
tradesmen, or followers of Almamy, or those of
the royal family.

The town is surrounded by a strong clay
wall, ten feet high and eighteen inches thick * ;
this is pierced with loop-holes, and is so con-
structed that, at short intervals, projecting
angles are thrown out, which enable the be-
sieged to defend the front of the wall by a flank-
ing fire, and answers all the purposes of defence
where nothing but small arms is made use of.

The gates, of which there are five, and some
of the intermediate parts of the wall, are sur-
mounted by small embattled turrets, nine or ten
feet square ; those are likewise pierced with
loop-holes, and give to the place a better forti-
fied appearance than any town we had before
seen.

Within these outer walls, at the west end of
the town, and surrounded by stronger and high-
er ones of the same materials and form, are the

* It waS;, when we saw it, in bad repair, not having been
rebuilt since it was partly destroyed by the Kartan army in
I8I7.

126 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

palaces of Almamy, his son Saada, and his ne-
phew Moosa Yoro Malick, all joining each
other, but having no internal communication.

The mosque, by no means a good one, stands
in an open space in the south-west end of the
town. It was in very bad repair, being nearly
destitute of thatch. It is a large oblong clay
building, lying east and west, the walls about
nine feet high, and the roof, which is com-
posed of rough timber, is supported in the cen-
tre by three strong forked stakes, about eight-
teen feet high. The ends of this roof extend
five or six feet over the walls, on which it rests,
and is there supported by forked stakes five feet
high, forming a sort of piazza. Public prayers
are performed in it five times a day, with the
greatest apparent devotion.

The town is divided by streets, or more pro-
perly lanes, which are very narrow, dirty, and
irregular. The outside of the walls too, in con-
sequence of the want of public places of conve-
nience, is nothing but a continued heap of filth,
which emits, particularly during the rains, an
overpowering and unpleasant effluvia.

The huts or houses are of different forms :
some entirely composed of clay and rough tim-
ber, are square and flat roofed ; others are
round, having the walls of the same material as
the former, but are covered with a conical roof,

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 1^7

formed of poles and thatched with long dry
grass ; the third and last are entirely composed
of wood and dry grass, in the form of a half
splaire. The doors of all are inconveniently
low, particularly the latter, which is rendered
the more unpleasant by its serving, at the same
time, as door, window, and chimney.

Those of Almamy, his son, nephew, and some
of the princes, display the same variety of form,
and, with the exception of being larger, are
equally inconvenient. The interior of each of
these palaces may contain about an English
acre, divided, by low clay walls, into several
small courts, in some of which are the chambers
of their wives and concubines, and in others the
magazines of arms, ammunition, merchandize,
and corn. The exterior walls are about thirteen
feet high, and are lined, nearly all round in-
side, with a range of square clay hovels, serving
as cooking places, stables, slave rooms, and
other stores, all which have flat roofs, where,
in case of attack, a number of armed men, the
best marksmen, are placed, and being there de-
fended by that part of the outside walls which
rises above the roofs, in form of parapets, they
can do much against an attacking enemy.

At a short distance to the sw. are situated the
ruins of a town nearly as large as Boolibany, and
of which it at one time formed a part j but was

128 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

destroyed by the Kartan army in one of tlieir
attacks on Almamy — which must have been san-
guinary, as the ground for a considerable dis-
tance round it is thickly strewed with the now
whitened bones of the slain, whose bodies were
allowed to putrify on the spot where they fell,
or be devoured by the birds and beasts of prey.

The mother of the boy given to us by Alma-
my, came to our huts to see her son, w^hom we
had by this time so convinced of his real situ-
ation, that he implored us on his knees and with
tears in his eyes to work the same change in his
unfortunate mother's situation, who together
with his brother, an infant, were in the most de-
plorable state of slavery, in the possession of
Moosa Yeona Malick. The poor woman herself
was too much pleased with the respectable ap-
pearance of her son, and with the account he
gave her of the comparative happiness of his
present situation, to prevent a gleam of satisfac-
tion from making itself evident, through the
otherwise truly miseiable and desponding evi-
dence of her feelings but too strongly depicted
in her face and actions; the former being bathed
in tears, and the latter more becoming of a per-
son imploring assistance or protection from the
divine, than a human being.

It is needless to say we promised her every
exertion in her favour, and fulfilled the promise,

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 129

but alas ! without effect : — the answer we got
from her inhuman master to an offer of three
times the value of a prime slave, or indeed any
price he might demand, was " that it was much
fitter for us to make him a present of the son,
who would thereby be enabled to enjoy the so-
ciety of his mother and brother."

The poor woman was a constant visitor at our
huts, where she every day got one good meal,
but it would have been useless to give her any
thing else, as her master would not have left it
(let it be of never so little value) with her.

Since our arrival at Boolibany we had been as
badly supplied with provisions as at Goodeerie.
Almamy made us a present of a bullock, but we
found it impossible to purchase any, and as to
rice or corn it was extremely scarce and dear.
So small was the quantity of milk purchased that
the officers were stinted to a few spoonfulls each,
which, with as limited a quantity of rice, meal,
or meat, constituted our daily bill of fare.

To add to the unpleasantness of our situation
nearly all the European soldiers were affected
with fever or dysentery, two of the officers,
Messrs. Nelson and Pilkington, were likewise ill,
and we found it impossible to obtain from AI-
mamy the fulfilment of his promises. At one
time he would say he was preparing for us some
provisions ; at another, that he was only waiting

K

130 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

the return of a messenger he had sent to ascer-
tain the state of the path by which we were to
travel, and with many such frivolous excuses he
put us off from day to day until the 23rd of
June, when he appointed a guide, and told us
we might depart when we pleased. Preparations
were made for moving on the following morning,
and we had determined that not a moment
should be lost in getting out of Almamy's power.
We were however again to suffer disappointment
and delay, for the same night at a late hour Al-
mamy sent his son Saada, to let us know that in
consequence of his having received information
of the destruction of several of the towns of
Kasson by the Kartans, he could not allow us
to proceed until he had sent a messenger to as-
certain its truth. I endeavoured to shew Saada
that I thought better of the report, and said that
I would, if Aim amy allowed me, go on even with-
out a guide ; but it would not do : he said his
father (who now considered us his friends and
strangers) dare not permit us to run into danger
when he could prevent it. This was a very plau-
sible excuse no doubt, but we were aware that
the whole was a plan to keep us in his country
as long as he could. We nevertheless told Saada
that we would wait a day or two longer in order
to give his father's messenger time to return.
The men who had been left at Goodeerie to

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 131

take care of Pickard returned on the 23rd,
having committed his body to the earth at that
place on the 21st, the day of his death.

On the 25th, not hearing any thing of the
messenger's return or any more reports about
the circumstance, I and all the officers waited
on Almamy, to endeavour, if possible, to obtain
leave to proceed. We found him seated in a large
straw hut, in one of the inner courts of his palace,
surrounded by some of his ministers and chiefs.
He evaded giving a direct answer to our request,
by relating some of his youthful achievements
in a very jocular strain, until the call to prayers
obliged us to leave his royal presence, and re-
turn as we went, to submit to delay and disap-
pointment for another day, which, however,
only made things appear as less likely to be ar-
ranged to our satisfaction than they had hitherto
been. He asked those about him many ques-
tions respecting the path through Kasson to
Foolidoo, which he seemed to be well ac-
quainted with, and made much objection when
we had told him the disappointment we expe-.
rienced in his conduct to us, and the seeming
disinclination on his part to forward our views,
notwithstanding his promise to do so in conse-
quence of the very large and handsome presents
we had given him and his people. His son Saada
told us "there was no use in much words, but

K 2

132 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

that, if we would satisfy Almamy, he should sa-
tisfy us," which was merely hinting, if we would
give Almamy presents until he should say he had
enough, we should be then allowed to proceed.
We did not pretend to understand his meaning,
and finding that nothing was to be obtained from
them, we left the place, in order to consult with
the officers, and decide on the step to be taken.
After taking into consideration the then ad-
vanced state of the season, the illness of almos
the whole of the Europeans, and the reduced
state of our means of subsistence, in consequence
of the very great expenditure incurred to replace
our animals (all those we had on leaving Kayaye
having died), and the exorbitant presents to
Almamy and his chiefs, ministers, &c., we came
to the determination of remaining in Bondoo
until after the rains, and sending forward an
officer to Sego, to apprize the King of our being
stopped by Almamy, and to ascertain beyond a
doubt his intentions towards our intended en-
trance into his country. A train of incidents,
as tedious to relate as uninteresting to peruse,
occurred between our making known to Al-
mamy this our intention, and our establishing
ourselves at Samba Contaye^, which we were

* A small village, about twenty-seven miles north from
Boolibany, and fifteen miles from the Senegal, at BaguUe, a
village of Lower Kajaga or Galam.

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 133

enabled to do, after much toil and trouble, by
the 17th of July.

Our position was on an elevated plain, lying
about half a quarter of a mile west of the village,
between us and which ran a copious stream of
water, occasionally swollen to a considerable size
by the rains. Around a clear spot, of about two
acres, we erected several huts. We soon found,
however, they were neither sufficiently solid
to withstand the violence of the tornados, nor
well enough thatched to keep out the rain, in
consequence of which the men were continually
getting wet, and falling sick. Mr. Burton and
Mr. Nelson, and nearly all the Europeans, were
labouring under fever and dysentery. On the
18th, the former was reduced to the very last
stage, and Mr. Pilkington, and three men, were
so ill when we left Boolibany, that they could not
be moved. Had we been able to continue our
journey to the east, those officers and men must
have been left behind ; and to this, unpleasant
^s it might have been to our feelings, we must in
that case have submitted. Mr. Burton's suffer-
ings, however, were of short duration ; he died
on the 19th, having been only a few days ill.
This sudden and melancholy event appeared to
Cast a gloom over all, and, when his remains
were committed to their last abode, every Euro-
pean present shewed evident symptoms of ap-

134 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

prehension that such might be his own fate in
a few days.

As it was necessary that the officer we in-
tended sending to Sego should be accompanied
by a guide and messenger from Almamy, I had,
previous to leaving Boolibany on the 20th, ob-
tained a promise from him that he would come
to Samba Contaye in a few days, and bring with
him a person fitted for that service. He did
not, however, m.ake his appearance until the
21st, when I was informed that he had arrived
at Wooro Samba, a small village, or rather farm,
belonging to one of his own relations, about a
mile south of our camp. There I w^ent to see
him, when he immediately named a person to
accompany Mr. Dochard * to Sego, and said
that it would be my business to clothe and sub-
sist him during the journey, which of course
I made no difficulty in consenting to.

On the following day, the guide came to our
camp, and having said much about the unplea-
santness of such a long journey, the dangers
and privations to be encountered, &c., told me
that he wished some stated reward to be held
out to him on his return, in default of which he
would not go. Although I was much astonished

* In addition to its being his own wish to proceed on this
service, he was the only officer then capable of so hazardous
an undertaking.

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 135

at this declaration, I thought it better to let him
vsuppose it was my intention to give him some-
thing, and therefore said, that the nature and
amount of his reward must altogether depend
on his own conduct, and his exertions to forward
our business, which, if he did to my satisfaction,
he should be well rewarded. He, however, did
not like this mode of payment " after his trouble
was over''; insinuating that I might then give
him little or much as I wished, and that, more-
over, it was quite " optional with him whether
he went or not, as he was no slave of Alma-
my's".

I went immediately to mention this affair to
the King, and to request that another man
might be appointed, as I neither liked the man-
ner nor appearance of the first. He very good
humouredly said that the fellow was a fool, and
therefore not fit to accompany Mr. Dochard,
and he would immediately send to Boolibany
for one of his own people to replace him. But
as it was likely that two or three days would
elapse before he could be ready, I told the
King that Mr. Dochard should move on to-
wards the frontier, which, before he reached,
the man might no doubt overtake him. This
being arranged, I next informed Almamy, it was
my wish to send a person to the coast, in order
to procure, with as little delay as possible, the

136 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

articles I had promised to him, and some few
things I was myself in want of; and as my mes-
senger purposed going to Senegal through the
Foota Toro country, I wished him to give let-
ters of recommendation to the chiefs there, in
order to ensure his safety while in it, and also
requested him to appoint some person to accom-
pany Mr. Partarrieau, and remain with him un-
til his return. All this he very readily con-
sented to, concluding upon this, as on all other
occasions, by asking for something or other ; a
little tobacco was then the object of his wishes,
and with them I complied.

On my return to the camp I found that Mr.
Dochard had completed all his preparations, and
was only waiting my presence to move forward.
His party consisted of one sergeant, seven rank
and file, one civilian, and his own servant, to-
gether with Lamina and two of his people. He
took with Iiim a very handsome present for
Dhaa, the king of Sego, and some inferior, yet
respectable ones, for his chiefs ; these, together
with a small tent, two trunks of his own, and
some provisions, loaded five asses, at least suffi-
ciently so to admit of their travelling with expe-
dition. The most active, wilhng, and well con-
ducted men were selected for this service ; and,
although the prospect of a journey of several
hundred miles through a country oflering many

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 137

difficulties, both from the disposition of the na-
tives and the advanced state of the season, was
sufficiently gloomy to make the bravest despond,
and the most sanguine entertain doubts of suc-
cess,— they nevertheless all appeared cheerful
and happy in being selected to the service.

To Mr. Dochard's own discretion and judg-
ment I left altogether the means, as well as
mode, of entering into arrangements with Dhaa
for our passage through, and protection in his
country ; and from my knowledge of Mr. Do-
chard's extreme anxiety and determination to
bring (inasmuch as lay in his power) our enter-
prize to a happy conclusion, I felt satisfied that
I could not have entrusted this service into more
able or patient hands ; the latter being an ac-
complishment most necessary, indeed indispen-
sably so, in that country.

The party left the camp on the 23d, at four
o'clock in the afternoon. I accompanied them
some distance, and, when taking leave of them,
I felt that I had myself more occasion to appre-
hend their never returning than they appeared
to entertain; indeed I felt, when giving Mr.
Dochard the parting shake of the hand, that 1
was bidding adieu for ever, as it were, to the
nearest and dearest friend I had in the world.
In order to induce Lamina to forward our views
(it Sego, and to conduct himself with kindness

138 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

and attention to Mr. Dochard, and the men
with him, I made him a handsome present, and
gave him an account of the reward which had
been promised to him, in case of his fulfilhng
the terms of his engagement, an advance of
merchandize to the amount of fifteen pounds
sterling.

Although I had my doubts as to this man's
being a servant or officer of the king's, I was
nevertheless aware that much depended on his
reports in the country respecting us, and there-
fore endeavoured, by all means within my power,
and consistent with prudence, to keep the fel-
low in our interest. His wife, too, who travelled
in his train, received many small presents from
us, and on this occasion was dashingly equipped
for the journey, in order, as Lamina said, not to
reflect discredit on those white men belonging
to a Great White King, with whom they had
been so long associated.

My next object was to despatch Mr. Par-
tarrieau (the only person holding the rank of
an officer then in good health) to the coast, to
procure the articles for Almamy, and a supply
of merchandize for the use of the expedition,
which so long a halt had rendered absolutely ne-
cessary. Almamy still remained at Wooro Samba,
where I paid him another visit, and made him a
small present. On the 25th, he informed me

TBAVELS IN AFRICA. 139

that he was going to a village about five miles
Nw. from our camp, to arrange some matters
relative to the succession of a chief, where, as
the place lay in Mr. Partarrieau's road, he could
meet him. The same day he visited the camp,
and received from him a letter to the Almamy
of Foota Toro, which would ensure Mr. Par-
tarrieau a safe passage through that country.

Mr. Partarrieau having received my instruc-
tions how to act during his absence, and such
letters and other papers as I was sending to
England and the coast, left the camp the 27th
July. His party consisted of two soldiers, four
civilians, and two moors. I furnished him with
some small presents for Almamy and the chiefs
of Foola.

On the same day I sent a party of eight na-
tive soldiers, with a sergeant, to the capital, with
directions that, if Mr. Pilkington should not be
well enough to ride his horse, they were to con-
struct a litter, and bring him forward.

Mr. Nelson was daily getting worse, and the
soldiers, seven in number, left on the sick list by
Mr. Dochard, had no appearance whatever of re-
covery. One died on the S^d, and some of the
others appeared likely soon to follow him. All
that could be done, situated as we were, was done
for them. The disease, however, was stronger
than the remedies, and they continued getting

140 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

worse every day. In prescribing for them, I was
assisted by Private Kenyon, who, from having
served seven years as orderly man in the hospi-
tal at Senegal, had become acquainted with the
medicine susually administered ; in some cases,
I had recourse to the remedies made use of by
the natives of Africa, and whenever tliose were
resorted to in time, the disease soon gave way.
The rains were then so frequent and heavy, that
scarcely a dry day occurred once in the week,
which had a very strikingly bad effect on the
health and spirits of all. The plentiful supply
of provisions, however, which we were enabled
to procure since our arrival at Samba Contaye,
in some measure alleviated our sufferings; and a
little labour, with more solidity in the materials
employed, provided us with huts, if not as com-
fortable as we might have wished, at least suffi-
ciently so to afford us shelter from the inclemen-
cies of the season.

A regular market for the purchase of corn,
rice, milk, butter, eggs, fowls, and game, was
established, and well attended by the inhabit-
ants of all the surrounding villages, to the dis-
tance of seven or eight miles ; and were it not
that the prospect of remaining in a state of
inactivity for so long a time as some months at
least, added to the uncertainty of the result of
Mr. Dochard's mission to Sego, and the sickly

TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

141

state of the Europeans, we might have been
comparatively happy.

Mr. Pilkington arrived from Boolibany on
the 29th, and although he was much better than
when we left him, he was still in so weak a state
as to be unable to take any exercise, and con-
sequently was incapable of affording me society
in my excursions through the country. Mr.
Nelson, too, continued to decline, and on the
6th of August, he was reduced to a complete
inanimate skeleton ; in this state he remained
until the 9th, when he breathed his last, with-
out a struggle. His remains were buried close
by the side of Mr. Burton's, under the shade of
two large tamarind trees, about four hundred
yards west of the camp.

My feelings on this occasion (whether from
a weak state of body in consequence of some
attacks of fever which I had lately experienced,
or from other motives, I cannot pretend to say)
were so much affected, that I could with difficulty
witness the last sad offices to the remains of one
of my companions, who, without disparagement
to the others, was by no means the least worthy
or useful member of the expedition. The conse-
quence of this was, I had a severe relapse,
which confined me to my bed for three weeks ;
at the end of which time 1 could scarcely stand
upright.

142 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

On my recovery, I employed myself in learn-
ing the Foolah language, and making frequent
excursions to the adjacent towns, as the wea-
ther, which was then not quite so wet, permitted.

Our supply of provisions, such as they were,
continued abundant ; and having completed a
strong fence round the camp, we were, in some
degree, defended both from the encroachments
of the wild beasts, which nightly serenaded us,
and the not less troublesome daily visits of the
inhabitants of the town ; whom, previous to the
fence being made, we found impossible to keep
out of our huts, and from which, on their de-
parture, some one thing or other was always
missing.

The fever and dysentery still continued to do
their work of destruction. Private Watzer died
on the 19th ; Fallen on the S2d ; and Corporal
Howell on the 25th of August, and many more
vere fast declining. To divert, as much as pos-
sible, the minds of the men from reflecting on
the scenes of death around them, I had recourse
to amusements and employments of all kinds.
Hunting the game in which the country abound-
ed, afforded an ample range for those, who w^ere
able to partake of it, to employ their time to
advantage. Wild hogs, antelopes, guinea fowls,
and partridges, were constantly brought in. Du-
ring one of our excursions we met, and sue-

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 143

ceeded in killing, a large lioness, which had, for
some time, been disturbing the neighbourhood
of the village. On this occasion, we were accom-
panied by some of the inhabitants of Samba
Contaye, one of whom gave the first wound to
the animal ; in consequence of which he was
disarmed by the rest of his companions, and led
prisoner (his hands tied behind his back) to the
town, at whose outer approach they were met by
all the women, singing and clapping hands. The
dead animal, covered with a white cloth, was car-
ried by four men on a bier constructed for the
purpose, accompanied by the others of their
party, shouting, firing shots, and dancing, or ra-
ther playing all sorts of monkey tricks. As I was
not a little surprised at seeing the man, whom
I conceived ought to be rewarded for having
first so disabled the animal as to prevent it from
attacking us, thus treated, I requested an expla-
nation; and was informed that being a subject
only, he was guilty of a great crime in killing
or shooting a sovereign, and must suffer this pu-
nishment until released by the chiefs of the
village, who knowing the deceased to have been
their enemy, would not only do so immediately,
but commend the man for his good conduct. I
endeavoured to no purpose to find out the origin
of this extraordinary mock ceremony, but could
only gain the answer, frequently given by an

144 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

African, *' that his forefathers had always done

so."

This, with a hyena, shot by a sentinel when
attempting to take away one of our asses, were
the only animals of the kind killed by us. In a
few nights after this, we were surprised by three
lions, which, in despite of the strength of our
fence, and of the centinels, who fired several
shots at them, forced their way into the camp,
and succeeded in mangling one of our horses,
which was tied to a stake within fifteen yards of
our huts, in such a dreadful manner, that 1
thought it best, by means of a pistol ball, to. put
an end to the poor animal's sufferings.

Those animals are very troublesome, particu-
larly at the time of year when the corn and
grass, being nearly the lieight of a man, afford
them means of concealing themselves near the
towns, and of making nightly attacks on the
herds of black cattle and goats belonging to the
natives, who keep up large fires in the folds,
and occasionally fire off their muskets, to deter
them from approaching ; — but in this they do
not unhappily always succeed.

Not having heard any intelligence of Mr.
Dochard since his departure, I began to be un-
easy for his safety, and thought of despatching
a person in the direction he went, in order to
ascertain, if possible, how far he had got, w^hen

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 145

I was agreeably surprised by the arrival of one
of his men whom he had sent back from Kasson
with letters, giving an account of his transac-
tions since his departure, and requiring some
suppUes. He stated that on the 25th he reached
Nayer, a town of Bondoo, on the banks of the
Fa-lemme, distant from Samba Contaye thirty-
four miles ; there he had to await the arrival of
Almamy's guide, who joined him on the 27th,
but having then refused to proceed unless pro-
vided with a horse and a fine dress, which ar-
ticles Mr. Dochard neither could nor would
give him, he returned. Mr, Dochard gave him
a note to me, but the fellow did not dehver it,
nor did I see him until I met him by accident
at Boolibany some days after ; when he told me
that he had received a letter from Mr. Dochard,
in which was contained an order on me for a
new dress, but that he had lost it in crossing the
Fa-lemme; this I knew to be false, and told him
that I could not take his word. Almamy had
then sent another man to join Mr. Dochard,
who crossed the Fa-lemme on the 27th, and ar-
rived at Mamier,the residence of Hawah Demba,
a prince of Kasson, on the 1st of August, having
found much difficulty in crossing some streams
running to the Senegal, and being much dis-
turbed by wild beasts. He stated this place to be
upwards of eighty miles from the Fa-lemme, and

146 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

to be a very small village, the occasional residence
of that prince, who had tlien been there some
weeks, and who detained Mr. Dochard under
the pretence of not having received a sufficiently
large present, until the 17th, on which day he
again moved forward accompanied by one of
Hawah Demba's men, sent to escort him into
Foolidoo, about four miles from Mamier. He
ascended some steep and rugged hills, from the
top of which he had a fine view of the Senegal,
distant about a mile to the north. On descend-
ing into the valley, he travelled over a solid bed
of rock for more than a mile, when he reached
an extensive plain lying along the banks of the
river, by the side of which he travelled through
villages and large corn-grounds, until he arrived
at Savusuru, another town of Kasson, Here he
met a division of Hawah Demba's army, going
on a plundering excursion into some of the
neighbouring states. It was his intention to
leave Savusirie on the following day, but it rained
so incessantly, and the innumerable brooks and
rivers he had to cross were so swollen, that he
could not move before the 21st, and even then
he dia so contrary to the advice of the natives,
which proved to be well founded, as he had not
travelled above four miles when he came to a
stream called the Tangina, running into the
Senegal, and so deep and rapid that to attempt

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 147

crossing it without canoes, of which there were
Done at the place, would have been madness ; he
was therefore, however reluctantly, obliged to
return to a small town called Jamoonia, about
a mile from the river.

Here he remained, in consequence of the con-
tinuance of rain and the still swollen state of the
river, until the 25th, during which time he, to-
gether with some of his men, had a severe attack
of fever, but on that day were sufficiently re-
covered to attempt crossing the stream, then re-
duced to nine feet water, and in which they suc-
ceeded, by felling a large tree which stood on
the bank, and when down reached across, form-
ing a passage sufficiently solid to admit of the
baggage being carried over on the men's heads :
the animals swam across with much difficulty,
owing to the rapidity of the stream. The re-
mainder of that day's journey was rendered ex-
tremely difficult and tedious, by the marshy
nature of the ground over which their path
lay. They halted for the night at a walled
town called Dhiamu, having passed several small
villages during the day. On leaving this place
they had another considerable stream to cross j
it was much wider than the former but not so
deep, having only from three to five feet water,
with a rough stony bottom. The path on the
other side was good and solid : in the vicinity of

l2

148 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

it were several extraordinary high rocks, bearing
in their form more the appearance of art than
nature. They halted for that night at Tenakie,
a large walled town belonging to a prince named
Sego Amadi, who calls himself king, and in
which light he is treated by the people of his
own town, and by them only. The town is situate
in a fertile valley, surrounded by high rocky
mountains. Here again a very great fall of rain,
and the importunities of the chief for customs
and presents, with the usual threat of not being
allowed to pass without paying, obliged him to
halt until the 29th, when he reached and crossed
the Bangayko, a considerable stream running
north ; having been obliged for nearly a mile
previous to reaching it to travel through a marsh,
in which the animals and men sunk up to their
knees, and over which the latter carried the loads
with difficulty. Mr. Dochard's own horse was
obliged to be carried through on poles. The
march of the 30th was not less fatiguing than
that of the 29th ; low swampy valleys, and liigh
rocky hills, were in their turn to be waded
through or scrambled over. They passed the
night at a small village, situate in a valley be-
tween too high hills, on the highest of which,
accessible by only one narrow and rugged path,
the chief of the town had his residence, from
whence he had an uninterrupted view of the

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 149

surrounding country to a considerable distance,
and where he dwelt in perfect security from
his enemies : this place is called Moosa Care.

The huts in which Mr. Dochard and his men
were accommodated, being badly thatched, let in
the rain, which fell in torrents during the night,
and put out their fires, the smoke of which,
although exceedingly unpleasant in itself, had
the good effect of keeping off the sand-flies and
musquitoes, which at that time of the year are in
swarms in all low situations, and render it im-
possible for any person not defended by smoke
or close curtains to sleep. Indeed the former,
although the most unpleasant, is by no means
the least effectual remedy, particularly against
the sand-flies, which are so small that it is next
to an impossibility to keep them out with the
closest curtains.

On the morning of the 31st of August, he
moved forward at seven o/ clock, and travelled
without halting over ground similar to that of
the two last days, until three in the afternoon,
when they reached a river called the Gooloo-
kucko, which it was impossible to pass without
the assistance of canoes, and that could not be
procured nearer than a village six miles from the
opposite bank ; but all were so much fatigued
that none would venture to swim the river that
night in search of one : they were therefore

150 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

obliged to halt, and secure themselves as well as
one small tent enabled them. They found it
necessary to keep up large fires during the night
to deter the wild beasts, which infest that country
in vast numbers, from approaching too near.
They were not a little disappointed, on the morn-
ing of the 1st of September, to find that the per-
son who had gone to the village returned, accom-
panied by a number of men carrying large cala-
bashes, intended to serve the purpose of canoes —
even one of which useful articles those people
were not provided with. With much difficulty,
and not without considerable danger, particu-
larly to those who could not swim, of whom Mr.
Dochard was one, they effected the passage of
this river, which was 150 yards wide, and very
deep and rapid.

The manner in which this navigation is carried
on is not at all calculated to inspire confidence.
One of these large calabashes is placed in the
water, and filled with whatever articles are to be
transported, two men then go into the water and
taking hold of it, one on each side, swim on,
pushing it or rather dragging it between them.
When a person who cannot swim is to be taken
over, he lays hold of the calabash with both hands,
one on each side ; this supports him from sinking,
while a man swims with him, and pushes the ca-
labash forward. In this manner Mr. Dochard and

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 151

two of his men, who could not swim, were ferried
over the rivers, much to the amusement of the
inhabitants of the country, who, in common with
all the natives of the interior parts of Africa,
think that we live in the water, and are therefore
much astonished when they see any white man
who cannot swim.

They reached a small scattered village, Dia-
perey, on the bank of the Bafing, at a late hour,
and having passed that night and the following
day there, in order to rest the animals, crossed
the river, which being at that place 500 yards
wide, and extremely rapid, they found much dif-
ficulty in doing, and at so late an hour, in con-
sequence of heavy rain all the forenoon, that
they could only reach a small town of the same
name as the latter, distant about half a mile
from the river, where they passed the night.

On the 4th they reached Sambula, a town of
Kasson, having passed several small villages
during the day, and travelled over a country
more open and elevated than that of the three
former days.

In crossing the last river, nearly all the bag-
gage was wet, the canoe having been upset. This
rendered it necessary to have the trunks opened,
and the things in them dried ; from which, on re-
packing, it was found that a parcel containing
dollars was missing, and as they belonged to

15^ TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

Lamina, the guide, who had given them to Mr.
Dochard to keep for him, and who would no
doubt demand them at Sego, it became abso-
lutely necessary that they should be replaced.
To effect this, Mr. Dochard despatched one
of his men, accompanied by one of Lamina's,
back to me, giving, as I before said, this account
of all that had taken place since his leaving
Samba Contaye up to the 7th of September.

In that short march he experienced all the
difficulties which the state of the country at
that time of the year, and the disposition of the
natives, could possibly throw in his way to im-
pede his progress. He appeared, however, thus
far to have surmounted them all, and to have
been going on as well as might be expected.

The men who came from him had taken more
time to perform this journey than would have
been necessary had they both been swimmers.
This was not the case, his own man did not
swim at all, and the other could do so but bad-
ly. To obviate, therefore, a similar delay in
his receiving the articles he required, I selected
a man to replace the former, and having made a
small parcel of the dollars, together with some
amber and beads, secured well with tarpaulin,
and provided the men with means of subsist-
ence till they could overtake Mr. Dochard,
I despatched them on the 21st of September.

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 153

Affairs were going on very amicably between
Almamy and myself, since the moment of Mr.
Dochard's departure, until the early part of Oc-
tober, previous to which I had purchased some
horses and asses; a step, I told Almamy some
time before, I should be obliged to take, in or-
der to replace those I had lost by death, &c., to
which he then made no objection.

The last purchased was a fine Arabian mare,
brought to me by a man from Foota Toro,
whom I had, early in the preceding month, com-
missioned to that effect. In a few days after
the arrival of this animal at our camp, Almamy
sent one of his vassals to let me know, that in
consequence of my having purchased several
horses without previously asking his permission,
he expected I would pay him a custom or duty
thereon, and until I might think fit to do so, he
had given directions that none of the inhabitants
of the country should dare, under any pretence
whatever, to bring provisions to us. On this,
as on all other occasions of messengers to me
from Almamy, the chief of the town, Osman
Comba, was present, but could not, in answer to
a question of mine respecting the nature and
amount of such custom, say more than it was
the first time he had ever heard of any such
custom being demanded by Almamy. Several
of the oldest inhabitants of the town were ap-

154 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

pealed to as to the justice of the demand. Their
answer was, that they were not aware of any
such custom having been before paid in Bon-
doo, but that Ahuamy, as chief of the country,
might, on all occasions, demand such tribute or
duty as he thought proper.

Osman called me aside, and told me, that had
I only bought the small horses and asses of the
country, Almamy would never have asked a
duty from me, and which, he said, was evident
by his never having done so before I bought
this mare ; but she being so fine a creature, he
was jealous of seeing her in my possession, and
although he could not, in any justice, demand
a duty, he took advantage of the circumstance
to occasion a disagreement between us, to
arrange which, he supposed I should either give
him the mare in question, or find it necessary to
make him a present likely to answer his purpose
as well. The former I of course would not listen
to ; not that I fixed any particular value on that
animal more than another, but I was aware that,
had I yielded to his wishes on this occasion, I
could not be safe on any future one of this kind.
I therefore told his messenger, who was extreme-
ly haughty and impertinent (all which I bore
with extreme sang froid), to return and let his
master know I should send a person to speak
with him on the subject in a few days. The

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 155

fellow, with much reluctance, left our camp,
and appeared evidently disappointed at not
going home loaded with presents.

Although I was satisfied that Almamy had
sent this fellow with some message to me about
the horses purchased, I doubted his having given
orders to the people of the country not to bring
provisions to us, and therefore delayed sending
any one to see Almamy until I might be enabled
to ascertain, by a few days' experience, if the
market would be attended as usual. No altera-
tion appearing for three days, I sent Charles
Jow to Boolibany, to inform Almamy of what
his messenger had said, and, in case he had
been instructed by him to bring that message,
to say I felt very much annoyed at such treat-
ment, particularly as it appeared to me he did
it merely to get something from me which was
not his due, and to prevent me from replacing
those animals which had died and were stolen in
his country.

On his return the following day, he brought
for answer, that Almamy insisted on getting a
duty, the amount or nature of which he would
not specify, but if I did not give what pleased
him, I might eat my merchandize, and he
would eat his corn, meat, &c. I again waited a
few days, to see whether his threats, with respect
to the market, would be put in execution, when,

156 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

finding a little milk was the only article offered
for sale, and that after sunset, and at exorbitant
prices, I was reduced to the necessity of endea-
vouring, by means of a considerable present, to
make peace with him. This, however, took some
time, and put me to much inconvenience in
sending messengers to him.

Although I had a month's corn in store, I
conceived it much better to arrange matters
thus, than remain at variance with a man who
had so many opportunities of annoying me, and
who, the longer I resisted him, would become
the more difficult to be satisfied.

The present amounted to three hundred and
fifty bars, being nearly double what I had paid
for the mare. Thus is a man, when in the
power of these chiefs, subject to every species
of imposition and insult, both of which it would
not only be improper, but unsafe, to resent
on some occasions.

157

CHAPTER VII.

Unfortunate Affair at Samba Contaye — Almamy's Decision
—Purchase of a Slave — Arrival of the French Expedi-
tion at Galam — Mr. Pilkington's determination of leav-
ing the Mission — His Departure for the Coast — Visit to
the Senegal — Conversation with Almamy — Messenger
sent to Mr. Dochard— Fires at the Camp — Death of Al-
mamy Amady.

Another circumstance occurred during this
month, which, although wholly accidental, was
by no means calculated to inspire the natives
with a friendly feeling towards us, and would, I
feared, previous to its being arranged, have only
furnished Almamy with a second opportunity of
falling out with us. In this, however, I was for-
tunately mistaken, as he not only judged the
affair impartially, but expressed his sorrow that
I should have punished the man even by con-
finement for a few days.

It was on the morning of the 25th, when sit-
ting outside the door of my hut, half asleep from
extreme debility, I was aroused by the report of
a musket within the fence of the camp, followed

158 TRAVELS IN AFRICA,

by the shrieks of women and the bustle of my
men running from all quarters, where they had
been either on duty or amusing themselves, and
seizing their arms. Such preparations on their
part led me to suppose we had been attacked.
I therefore ran into my Imt for my arms, and
without delay proceeded to the spot where all
seemed to be directing their steps.

On my arrival at the place where the market
was usually held, under the shade of a large aca-
cia, about two hundred yards outside our fence,
I found a woman lying dead, a musket ball
having passed through her head. She had just
disposed of a little corn, and was sitting on the
ground in the crowd, tying up a few beads she
had received in exchange, when she received
the fatal wound.

On my inquiring by whom it was done, one
of my own men (Shaw, a black soldier), an-
swered from within his hut, that it was his rifle
which went off while he was cleaning the brasses
of it. Some men of the town who were present,
and armed, as they always are, shewed symp-
toms of wishing to take steps of retaliation,
under the impression, no doubt, that it had been
done designedly. One or two Marabouts, who
were also present, and on whom I called to as-
sist me in preventing unnecessary effusion of

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 159

blood, persuaded them to desist, assuring them
that every satisfaction would be given. My
first step was to order Shaw into confinement,
and send for Osman, to consult what was ne-
cessary to be done. On his arrival at my hut,
where the Marabouts were awaiting him at my
request, I stated the unfortunate occurrence
precisely as it had taken place, pointing out to
him the position of the deceased in the market,
and that of the prisoner in his hut, through the
side of which, being composed of straw, the
ball had passed.

The Marabouts fully corroborated my state-
ment, by relating every circumstance with the
most minute exactness, and gave it as their
opinion, that the thing occurred wholly by acci-
dent : but as the deceased was a slave belonging
to some of the inhabitants of a neighbouring
village, it would be necessary for me to send a
person to acquaint them with the affair, and de-
spatch without delay a messenger to Almamy,
requesting him to have the business tried and
decided on immediately. Both these injunc-
tions I complied with at the moment, and gave
the prisoner into the hands of Osman, who ex-
pressed a wish that I might keep him myself,
which I could have done, but I preferred acting
otherwise, as I was aware that the inhabitants

160 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

of the country at large, and particularly those
people to whom the woman belonged, would be
more satisfied by his being in their own hands,
at least in those of one of their chiefs. The
poor fellow himself, was at first much frightened,
and would, I am convinced, have willingly given
up his own life to restore that of the woman,
were it then possible. Osman told him, although
the accident was of an extremely unpleasant na-
ture to all concerned, and particularly to him
(Shaw), it was, nevertheless, one which so
purely evinced the hand of the Almighty God,
that he had nothing to fear, as he was sure Al-
mamy would see the thing in its proper light,
and judge accordingly.

The following morning, the men, both free
and slaves, of the village to which the unfortu-
nate woman belonged, came to our camp, to the
number of sixty or seventy, all armed, and in a
very haughty manner demanded justice, which
one of them, an old man, who appeared to be
their speaker, said was nothing more than hand-
ing over the prisoner to them, to be treated as
they might think fit ; as in this case, the law
said, " when one slave," in which light they
looked upon all my men, both black and white,
*' killed another, the survivor became the pro-
perty of the person to whom the deceased be-

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. l6l

longed, who might either kill, sell, or keep
him."

I had much difficulty in persuading them that
all my men were as free as myself, and that I
could not now take any step, until I had re-
ceived an answer from Almamy, to whom I had
sent a messenger. Osman, who had heard of
their arrival, came up at that moment, and find-
ing them much inclined to add violence to in-
solent language, ordered them, in a very pe-
remptory tone, to return to their village, and
leave the settlement of the affair exclusively to
him, who alone, from its having happened in
his district and with his strangers (meaning us),
had the right of interfering. Although they
went away immediately, I was sorry to see them
do so with so much reluctance, and with such
evident dissatisfaction at the unfortunate affair,
as well as at the indifferent reception they met
with. I therefore requested Osman to accom-
pany them for a short distance, and endeavour
to convince them that it was my wish to render
every satisfaction the laws of the country de-
manded, and make the owner of the deceased as
ample recompense as it was in my power to do.

In a few minutes, the old man, who acted as
their speaker, returned with Osman, and com-
ing into my hut, offered me his hand, which I
accepted, and sat down, telling me that he was

M

l62 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

perfectly satisfied with my conduct in tliis af-
fair, and would wait patiently and peaceably for
Almamy's decision ; and to convince me of the
truth of what he asserted, he would send the
women of his village to the market as usual to-
morrow.

The messenger to Almamy did not return be-
fore the evening of the 28th, when he was ac-
companied by one of his ministers, a chief priest,
or, as they call it, Alpha or thierno, bringing his
sovereign's decision, which, although conveyed
in many more words than necessary, merely
went to say, as it appeared to Almamy and his
good men ^% as they call his chiefs and ministers
(a very ill-placed appellation), that the woman
came by her death accidentally, I had nothing
more to do than procure a slave woman of as
nearly the same age of the deceased as possible,
and hand her over to Osman. Almamy also
desired Alpha Mamadoo to say, that he was ex-
tremely sorry I should have thought it necessary
to put my child, meaning Shaw (for so he al-
ways called all my men) in prison, from whence
he now desired him to be released.

I represented to Alpha the dislike I had to
any thing like purchasing a fellow creature, and
requested that I might be allowed to give the

* Imbev mojubov.

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. l6S

value of a prime slave. In this, he said, he Could
not interfere ; that what he had told me was by
order of Almamy, and he could not alter it ;
but should the man to whom the slave belonged
wish to take the value in merchandize, he was
certain Almamy could have no objection. Much
entreaty on my part, added to the promise of a
present, would no doubt have had the desired
effect, were it not that the owner of the deceased
was afraid, in case he should accept of mer-
chandize, that Almamy would persuade, nay
force him, to give it to him in purchase of a
slave, which, most probably, he might never re-
ceive.

I was, therefore, reduced to the disagreeable
necessity of employing a person for the sole
purpose of going round the country in search of
a woman slave, and which he, with much diffi-
culty, procured, not in consequence of the
scarcity of those poor wretches in the country,
but of the enormous price demanded, arising no
doubt from their knowledge of the obligation I
was under of providing one without delay.

This transaction I could not bring myself to
negotiate, as the idea alone of deahng in human
flesh was more than sufficiently disagreeable to
allow me to see the poor wretch, who, although
only changing master, and, from what I could
learn, getting a good for a bad one, was never-

M 2

l64 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

theless a slave bought and sold. Osman, who
had no scruples of that kind, very willingly un-
dertook to do it for me, and I have no doubt
made something by it.

Thus terminated an unfortunate affair which,
although wholly providential, was certainly of
such an unpleasant nature as to cause deep re-
gret to all our party ; but which did not appear
to make any more impression on the minds of
the natives, than if the deceased had been a bul-
lock ; so little is the life of a slave noticed in
that country.

The weather had then begun to be more set-
tled and dry, and the sick, with the exception of
three Europeans (a sergeant and two privates),
were improving rapidly. The approach, too, of
the dry season, which was daily making itself
more evident, and the hope of being thereby
enabled to resume our march to the east, in a
great measure alleviated the disagreeable na-
ture of our halt, which had then become ex-
tremely irksome to all. The arrival of the
French trading fleet from St. Louis, at Galam,
commanded by an officer whom I had the plea-
sure of knowing at Senegal, and who, on his
way to Boolibany, had called to see me, also
tended, in a great degree, to give new vigour to
our proceedings. The idea alone of having
near, if not with us, people of our own colour.

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. l65

with whom we may occasionally associate, af-
fords a pleasure which none but those who have
experienced the absence, can duly appreciate.
I was the more pleased at this arrival of the
French to settle near us, for such was their in-
tention, as Captain DechasteUeu told me he had
it in command from the officer administering
the government at St. Louis, to afford me every
service it might be in his power to do ; and, in
justice to those officers, I must say that, on all
occasions, I received the most cordial assistance
from them.

By this fleet I received information that Mr.
Partarrieau had arrived at St. Louis, but, in
consequence of illness and some difficulties he
met with in passing through Foota Toro, he did
not reach there in time to forward to me, by
those vessels, some articles of merchandize I
wanted for myself, or the things promised to
Almamy. This, however, was not of much con-
sequence, as I was in hopes that his knowledge
of the want I must soon be in of the articles sent
for, and of my anxiety to continue my march
towards Sego, would urge him to make his ut-
most endeavours to 'expedite the service he had
been entrusted with, and join me without unne-
cessary delay.

Mr. Pilkington, who was rapidly recovering
from the effects of the fever he had at Boolibany,

166 TRAVELS IN AFRICA;

expressed so strong an aversion to accompatiy
the mission any further, and appeared so deter-
jnined on returning to the coast, that I found it
necessary to consent to his doing so, being aware
that with such a feeUng on his part, his future
services (were I to oppose him) would not be
satisfactory. Private Nicholson too, who had la-
boured for several months under chronic dysen-
tery, and was reduced to a perfect skeleton, re-
quested the like indulgence, and was in like man-
ner permitted to return ; and as I was informed
by Captain Dechastelieu, that one of his vessels
would return to St. Louis in a few days, I took
advantage of an invitation from him, in the
name of the other officers of his fleet, to repair
to Conghell, a town of Galam, on the banks of
the Senegal, (about fourteen miles from our
camp), where they then were, in order to obtain
a passage for them, and which was offered by the
officer commanding the vessels, in the most hand-
some manner, before I had time to ask it.

On my return to the camp, I apprised Mr.
Pilkington of the readiness expressed by the of-
ficer commanding the French vessels to accom-
modate him in every way possible, and, having
placed in his charge some effects belonging to
the deceased officers, directed to his Excellency
the Governor of Sierra Leone, he left the camp
on the 4th of November, accompanied by the

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. . l67

sergeant-major, whom I sent to receive some
refreshments, which Captain Dechastelieu very
kindly offered to supply me with for myself and
men, and of which we were much in want, to
remove the ill effects and remains of fever and
dysentery, from which none had escaped.

Almamy, who was about paying a visit to the
vessels, sent a messenger to me on the 7th of
November, to request I would accompany him,
and name a day for the purpose. Although I
was by no means satisfied with his conduct
towards me, and would willingly have dispensed
with his company, I nevertheless suppressed
my feeling of dislike to his royal presence, and
consented to meet him at my own camp, on
any day he might choose. The messenger was
evidently afraid of my refusal, and had re-
quested Osman to use his influence with me to
yield ; but this, from my ready compliance,
was now unnecessary. This, no doubt, arose
from a consciousness, on the part of Almamy,
of his having treated me badly, and of the ne-
cessity there now was of his inducing me, by
such a mark of what he thought royal favour,
to forget the past, and sound his praises with
his new visitors, with whom he fancied I had
great influence, and who, he thought, would pro-
portion their presents to the report I should
make of him. I am satisfied that such was Al-

168 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

mamy's idea j but he was much deceived, as I
was determined that his conduct towards me
should be clearly stated to those officers, in order
to put them on their guard in their transactions
with him. He arrived at a small village near our
camp on the 11th, and on the following morning,
I accompanied him to Guinion, a village of
Bondoo, within about four miles of Conghell.
During the ride, we had much conversation on
the subject of the arrival of the French at Ga-
1am, and, on a report which he said he had re-
ceived by letter from Senegal, as to the inten-
tions, not only of their expedition, but of mine,
both of which had been stated to him to be fit-
ted out for the purpose of affording assistance to
his enemies the Kartans. I endeavoured to as-
sure him that, although Europeans in general re-
gretted to see so much warfare going on in
Africa, it was, nevertheless, very immaterial to
them whether the one or the other were vic-
torious ; and, that the only object the king of
England (for whom I could vouch) had in view,
was the civilization of Africa, and the introduc-
tion of commerce on a more extensive and libe-
ral scale than at present existed. He, however,
insinuated that he believed all Europeans to be
more the friends of the pagan, than the Moslem
inhabitants of Africa y in consequence of the
more ready conversion of the former to Chris-

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 169

tianity ; and, without taking into consideration
the difference between the two nations, he ad-
verted to an engagement which he said he knew
had been entered into between the commandant
of Senegal, when that place was in possession of
the French several years before, and Daisey,
the king of Karta, who had sworn an inviola-
ble oath that neither himself nor his successors
would ever give peace to the countries lying be-
tween them and St. Louis, until a woman with
a basket on her head could travel unmolested
from one place to the other. It was to no pur-
pose I endeavoured to convince him that such
an improbable arrangement had never been en-
tered into between any European governor of
Senegal and his enemies ; and I likewise as in-
effectually brought forward to support my as-
sertion the friendly intercourse which had so
long subsisted between the several English go-
vernors of Senegal and himself, and the very
handsome and rich presents he, as well as his
predecessors, had received from them and the
vessels trading in the river. To all this he only
answered in a general way, and finishing with
the usual African expression of " All is in the
hands of God."

He was extremely ill, and so weak that he
could not sit on his horse without the assistance

170 TRAVELS IN AFKICA.

of two men, who walked on each side, and on
whose shoulders he placed his hands.

The country over which we travelled was
thickly inhabited and well cultivated, the corn
w^as then ripe, and the natives were busily em-
ployed in getting it in.

Almamy having halted at Guinion, I left him
there, and went on to Conghell, w^here I was cor-
dially w^elcomed by the French officers, one of
whom. Captain Dechastelieu, was very ill, in
consequence of which and my wish to return to
the camp as soon as possible, I only remained
two days with them, during which time they had
moved to Baquelle, another town of Galam,
about six miles lower down the river, where they
intended building a fort, and forming a commer-
cial establishment. This spot, being centrically
situated between Foota, Bondoo, Gidemagh,
Karta, Kasson, and Bambouk, was admirably
calculated for such a purpose. The Moors too of
the Dwoiish tribe, who were great gum-holders,
would there find a more convenient market for
that as well as all the other productions of their
country than at the marts lower down the river.
On my return to the camp, I called to see Al-
mamy, and make him a small present. I found
him extremely ill, lying on a mat, in the centre
of a small hut, surrounded by three or four of
his favourites, who were all conscious of his ap-

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. I?!

proaching end, and were endeavouring to get
from him all they could before that event should
take place. Soon after my entering the hut, he
ordered them all to leave him as he had something
particular to say to me. When they had gone
out, he called me to his bed-side, by no means an
agreeable situation, and placing his mouth to my
ear, said, " They are all rogues ; I did not know
it before. I see I must soon die, but when I am
gone, many, who now fear me, will then wish
me back to no purpose." He next asked me
what I thought of the French, my new friends,
as he called them ; and, on receiving a favourable
report, expressed his astonishment that people,
who were so lately at war with each other, could
so soon be such good friends.

Having explained to him the reason of my
not being able to present him with the articles
which I had promised at Goodeerie, with which
he appeared well satisfied, I made him the small
present, and, taking leave for the last time, re-
turned to the camp, where I found all had gone
on well during my absence.

The length of time that had again elapsed
since I had heard from Mr. Dochard made me
very uneasy on his account, and induced me to
despatch a person to gain, if possible, some in-
telligence respecting him, or, in case of his hav-
ing got to Sego with his party in safety, to fol-

17^ TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

low him thither, and bring back such letters
as Mr. Dochard might have to send me. The
person I selected for this purpose was a man
named Bakoro, a native of Nyamima, who had
been left by Lamina to officiate in his place as
the messenger of Dha, and who, from his re-
spectability and know^ledge of the country, could
travel through it with less difficulty than any of
my own men. I also sent with him as a compa-
nion, in case of accident, a man named Ismeina,
who had been attached to the mission as a car-
rier ; and in order that the journey might be
performed as quickly as possible, I furnished
them with a horse each, and, having provided
them with a few articles of merchandize to en-
able them to procure provisions, and make small
presents to those chiefs or others who might as-
sist them on the road, they left the camp on the
S5th November, and promised to make all pos-
sible haste.

The weather had for some time assumed that
settled mild state which, in that country, always
takes place after the rains, and is so admirably
adapted for travelling. I regretted exceedingly
that the absence of Mj . Partarrieau, and of those
supplies I had sent for by him, prevented my
taking advantage of it by moving slowly on with
the w^hole expedition in the direction of Sego.
I was then however so sanguine in my hope that

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. l^S

the middle of December would bring him back
to me, that I looked forward to that period with
patient suspense, which was rendered the more
supportable by occasional visits to the French
officers, who, in common with myself, had to la-
ment the loss of some of their companions from
the effects of the late season, and were them-
selves so constantly subject to fever and ague,
that they had not been able to commence their
operations for the building of their fort, in the
selection and purchase of a spot for which they
had hitherto found as much difficulty as I had
in the prosecution of my journey.

The latter end of December was fast ap-
proaching, and no information had been received
by me respecting Mr. Partarrieau, whose delay
so long beyond the time I expected caused me
many sleepless nights and uneasy moments ;
this, added to the uncertainty I was in with re-
spect to Mr. Dochard's proceedings, had such
an effect on my spirits that, had I not enjoyed
the advantage of the occasional and agreeable
society of the French officers at Baquelle, I
must have sunk under the load.

The Christmas which I spent at Baquelle
rolled over without any intelligence from him,
and the first day of January 1819, being that on
which I had fondly hoped to prosecute my jour-
ney eastward, found me at Samba Contaye with

174^ TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

as bad prospects of being able to do so during
that month as in the preceding.

A circumstance, too, took place in the early
part of December, which tended materially to
render my situation more unpleasant, not to say
alarming, than even the former state of suspense
and anxiety could possibly have done 5 this was
a fire which broke out in one of the huts occu-
pied by the men, and must have inevitably con-
sumed the whole camp and baggage, were it not
for the timely exertions of the men and the pro-
vidential existence of a calm, which had only
succeeded a strong breeze a few minutes before.
From the precautions which had been always
taken to prevent such an accident, I was the
more astonished at any thing of this kind oc^
curring, and from the impossibility of ascertain-
ing by what means the hut took fire, the men
who occupied it being all out, I began to suspect
that some evil-disposed person had done it ; this
however was only surmise, unsupported by any
evidence whatever : but what made it the more
suspicious was the position of the hut, which
w^as a long distance from the cooking-place, and
the nearest to our store. Two days, however, had
only elapsed when it again took fire in the same
way, and was entirely consumed, but as the wind
was then blowing strongly from the east, the
store, which was in that direction, again provi-

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. IJS

dentially escaped being totally destroyed, for
had the fire once communicated with it, ail exer-
tions to save any thing must have been rendered
ineffectual, by the parched state of the straw or
long grass of which it was entirely composed,
and the quantity of gunpowder which was in
almost every package ; a circumstance that
alone would have deterred every person from
approaching it had it taken fire, and in the
event of which we should have been deprived
of the very means of subsistence.

Almamy Amady had continued to decline
daily since his return from the Senegal, and died
on the 8th January, leaving the succession
which, consistent with the law and custom of
the country ought to descend to the eldest male
branch of the family, to be disputed by three
persons; one, his own cousin, Malick Samba To-
many, being the lawful heir, and two of his ne-
phews, Tomany Moody and Moosa Yeoro, all
men advanced in years, and each possessed of
considerable influence in the country. Moosa
Yeoro, however, was at first unwilling to oppose
the right heir, and would have certainly declined
doing so, both from motives of respect for the
person, who was much older than himself, and
want of confidence in his own popularity, had
not Tomany Moody induced him to it by proffers

17^ TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

of his support, and threats of commencing a civil
war in case of his refusal.

The reason which led to this line of conduct
on the part of Tomany Moody, was founded on
a circumstance which had occurred some years
before, and which was nothing less than that
Tomany, who had always been a haughty, vio*
lent, and powerful prince, had, in a dispute with
the brother of Malick Samba Tomany, caused
him to be murdered, and feared, if Malick came
to the throne, he would revenge himself on him
for the death of his brother, if not by taking his
life at least by seizing on his property, and oblig-
ing him to leave the country which he was in
hopes of one day reigning over himself, and
which he would really now do through MoosaYe-
oro, who would only be a mere instrument in his
hands : thus in Africa, as in all other parts of the
world, does self predominate, and lead men to
act parts little creditable to themselves, or pro-
fitable to the cause which they pretend to sup-
port.

The election did not take place until the 20th
of the month; and although the opposing parties
were near coming to blows on the occasion, the
whole affair was terminated in a more peaceable
manner than is generally the case in Africa,
where the interregnum is almost always taken

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 177

advantage of by the evil-disposed, to commit all
manner of crimes, and for which they cannot be
punished, as, during that period the laws are not
in force in consequence of the non-existence of
a king, with whom they also are considered de-
funct.

A few days after his election, I paid him a
congratulatory visit, accompanied as usual by a
present. He received me with marked attention
and hospitality, and told me that I might now
depend on his doing every thing to forward my
views, to which he was bound by a request to
that effect of the late Almamy a short time be-
fore his death.

He was not attended by the ministers of the
late king, for they attached themselves to Saada
in hopes, no doubt, of drawing from him all the
treasure left him by his father, about the divi-
sion of whose slaves a dispute arose between
him and the new Almamy, in consequence of
Saada' s not wishing to give him that proportion
of them which he was desired by his father to do.
The chief slaves too, like the ministers, prefer-
red remaining, and for the same reason, with Saa-
da, and consequently advised him not to submit
to Almamy's demand. The time however was
not far distant, when both ministers and slaves,
being disappointed in their expectations from
Saada, left him, and attached themselves to Al-

N

178 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

mamy, who, glad of the opportunity of en-
rolling in his cause such powerful personages,
received them in a manner calculated to bind
them, at least for a time, to his interest ; for
there, like elsewhere, " money makes the mare
go", and which, as long as he could command,
would ensure him their services.

179

CHAPTER VIII.

Description of Bondoo — Extent — Boundaries — Face of the
Country — Productions — Commerce — Manufactures—'
Government — Revenues — Religion^ its influence on the
Inhabitants — Their Description, DresS;, and Manner of
Living — Military Equipments — Force — Mode of War-
fare— Cause of War with Karta — Almamy's sanguina-
ry conduct — Attack of the Kartans on Boolibany.

Bondoo, which is situate between 14"* and 15°
latitude north, and 10" and IS" longitude west,
is bounded on the north by the kingdom of Ka-
jaga, on the south by Tenda and Dentilla, on the
east by the Fa-lemme, Bambouk and Logo, and
on the west by Foota Toro, the Simbani Woods,
and Woolli ; its greatest extent from east to
west does not exceed ninety British miles, and
from north to south sixty.

The whole face of the country is in general
mountainous, but particularly so in the northern
and eastern parts. Those mountains which are
chiefly composed of rock are small, and for the
most part thinly covered with low stunted wood,
little of it being fit for any other use than that
of fuel.

The valleys, wherein are situated the towns

N 2

180 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

and villages, are for the most part cleared for the
purpose of cultivation, to which the soil, being
a light sand mixed with brown vegetable mould,
seems well adapted. Innumerable beds of tor-
rents intersect these valleys in all directions, and
serve during the rains, being dry at all other
times, to conduct the water collected by the high
grounds to the Fa-lemme and Senegal. Great
numbers of tamarinds, baobabs, rhamnus lotus,
and other fruit-trees, are beautifully scattered
over these valleys, which are rendered still more
picturesque by the frequent appearance of a
village or walled town, in whose vicinity are al-
ways a number of cotton and indigo plantations.

The proportion of land cultivated is small,
but sufficient to supply the inhabitants abun-
dantly with all the productions of the country ;
these are corn in four varieties, together with
rice, pumpions, water-melons, gourds, sorrell,
onions, tobacco, red pepper, pistacios, cotton,
and indigo.

The commerce, and in which the greater pro-
portion of the inhabitants are engaged, consists in
the exchange of the cotton cloths manufactured
in the country, and the superabundance of their
provisions, for gold, ivory, and slaves brought
thither by the people of Bamboak, Kasson, and
Foota Jallon ; and for European merchandize,
such as fire-arms, gunpowder, India goods,

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 181

hardware, amber, coral, and glass beads, with
ail which they are supplied by the merchants in
the Gambia and Senegal.

The manufactures, although few, are well cal-
culated to supply the natives with clothing, the
different articles of household furniture which
they require, together with implements of hus-
bandry, carpenters', blacksmiths', and leather
workers' tools, and knives, spear and arrow
heads, bridle bits, stirrups, and a variety of small
articles, such as pickers, tweezers, turnscrews,
&c. ; all which, taking into consideration the very
rough materials and tools employed, are finished
in a manner which evinces much taste and in-
genuity on the part of the workmen, who, in all
cases, work sitting on the ground cross-legged.

The people of those several trades are by far
the most respectable of the class which I have
met with in i^frica; so much so, that the minis-
ters, favourites, and officers are chiefly chosen
from amongst them 5 but this, I believe, arises
in part from their being more finished courtiers
and flatterers than are to be met with amongst
the other classes of the people.

The government of Bondoo is monarchical,
the whole authority being vested in the hands of
the almamy or king. He is, however, in most
cases, guided by the laws of Mahomet, which
are interpreted by the Imans, or chief priests.

182 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

who, being much in his power, and from exam-
ple and habit of a crouching mean disposition,
in all cases where his Majesty's interest is con-
cerned, decide in his favour.

The revenues, which are solely the property
of the King, at least wholly at his disposal, are
considerable, and consist in a tenth of all agri-
cultural produce, and a custom or duty paid by
the travelling merchants who pass through the
country. This latter amounts to seven bottles
of gunpowder, and one trade musket, or their
value in other articles, for each ass load of Eu-
ropean goods ; and must be accompanied by a
present to the king and his head men. A refusal
on the part of any of those merchants to com-
ply with the exorbitant demands of these people,
would inevitably lead to their being plundered, '
and probably to personal ill treatment. This,
however, seldom takes place, as those merchants
always endeavour, by some means or other, to
conceal the most valuable part of their goods,
cither about their persons or in the house of
their host, (whom it is also necessary, to bribe)
before they entrust the remainder to the inspec-
tion of tlie people appointed by the king for
that purpose.

He derives also considerable emolument from
a tenth of the salt imported from the coast by
the natives of the country, and from an annual

* TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 183

custom, or tribute, paid him by the Senegal
Company's vessels trading in the river, and the
French Government establishment at Baquelle,
where, as will appear in a subsequent article on
Galam, he has of late years acquired consider-
able influence and authority.

The peace offerings and presents from all
those who have any business to transact with
the king, or favour to ask from him, although
not limited to any particular amount, do not
compose the least valuable part of his income:
slaves, horses, cattle, poultry, rice, corn, cotton
cloths, gold, and indeed all the productions of
the country, are incessantly presented as dou-
ceurs.

The religion is Mahomedan, but its precepts
are not so strictly attended to in Bondoo as
in some of the other states of Western Africa.
There are mosques of one kind or other in every
town ; some of them, however, are nothing more
than small square spaces enclosed with stakes,
and kept cleanly swept. Here, as in all the
others, prayers are publicly said five times every
day ; the usual Mahomedan ceremonies of ab-
lution, &c., are attended to. When praying,
they strip off all implements of war, or recepta-
cles of money, tobacco, or snuff, and make use
of a string of beads or rosary, which they count
frequently after each act of devotion. This

184 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

consists in facing the east, and bowing the body
several times, so as to allow the forehead to toucli
the ground, at the same time repeating some
short prayers from the Koran, and frequently
ejaculating the name of the Prophet in the most
apparently devout manner.

Had Almamy Amady, in embracing this reli-
gion, bad and unsound as it is, been actuated by
any other principle than that of self-interest,
and the desire of attaching to his cause the
people of Foota Toro and Jallon, he might have
(at least by personal example) inspired his sub-
jects with a reverence for the divine character,
and an inclination to please him, by a just and
upright line of conduct, to both which they are
entire strangers ; evincing, in all their concerns,
both among themselves and with their neigh-
bours, a low deceitful cunning, which they en-
deavour to cloak by rehgious cant. In fact, I
have never seen a people who have more of the
outward show of religion with less of its inward
influence.

There are schools in almost every town, for
the instruction of those youths who intend mak-
ing theMahomedan religion their profession, and
in the principles and practice of which, and
reading and writing Arabic from their sacred
book, the Koran, tliey are solely instructed.
Numbers and their uses are unknown ; they

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 185

can scarcely add two simple numbers together
without having recourse to the usual African
methods, namely, counting the fingers, or mak-
ing strokes in the sand. The student or scholar
is, in all cases, the servant of his teacher, w^ho
may employ him in any menial capacity what-
ever. They go about, when not at their lessons,
begging, and sewing the country cloths together,
for any w^io may want to employ them : the
produce of those callings are brought to the
master, wlio is always a priest, and appropriated
to his use.

The people of Bondoo are a mixture of Foo-
lahs, Mandingoes, SerrawoUies, and JolofFs, re-
taining, however, more of the manners and cus-
toms of the first, and speaking their language
exclusively. They are of the middle size, well
made, and very active, their skin of a light cop-
per colour, and their faces of a form approach-
ing nearer to those of Europe than any of the
other tribes of Western Africa, the Moors ex-
cepted. Their hair, too, is not so short or
woolly as that of the black, and their eyes are,
with the advantage of being larger and rounder,
of a better colour, and more expressive. The
women in particular, who, without the assistance
of art, might vie, in point of figure, with those
of the most exquisitely fine form in Europe, are
of a more lively disposition, and more delicate

18G TRAVELS IN AFRICA,

form of face than either the Serrawollies, Man-
dingoes, or JolofFs. They are extremely neat
in their persons and dress, and are very fond of
amber, coral, and glass beads, of different co-
lours, with which they adorn or bedeck their
heads, necks, wrists, and ancles profusely; gold
and silver, too, are often formed into small but-
tons, which are intermixed with the former on
the head, and into rings and chains worn on the
wrists and ancles. They always wear a veil
thrown loosely over the head : this is manufac-
tured by themselves from cotton, and is intended
to imitate thin muslin, at which they have not
by any means made a bad attempt. The other
parts of their dress are precisely the same as that
already described to be worn by tjie inhabitants
of Kayaye, and, with few exceptions of silk and
printed cotton which they obtain from the coast,
are entirely of their own manufacture. They
are exceedingly fond of perfumes of every kind,
particularly musk, attar of roses, or lavender, but
they can seldom procure these, and therefore
substitute cloves, which they pound into pow-
der, and mix up with a kernel, having something
the flavour of a Tonquin bean, which they like-
wise reduce to powder, and, with a little gum-
water, form it into beads about the size of a
common garden pea. These they string and
hang round the neck ; they sometimes string

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 187

the cloves themselves, and wear them in the
same manner ; but the way in which they prefer
wearing them is sewed up in small bags made of
rich coloured silk, a number of which are hung
round the neck. The hair, which is neatly
braided into a profusion of small plaits, hangs
down nearly to the shoulders, and is confined
(together with the strings of amber, coral, and
beads, which decorate it) round the forehead
with a few strings of small beads by the young
girls, and, by the married, with a narrow strip
of silk, or fine cotton cloth, twisted into a string
about as thick as a finger. To complete their
dress, a pair of large gold ear-rings dangle al-
most to touch the shoulders, and, in conse-
quence of their great weight, would tear their
ears were they not supported by a little strap of
thin red leather, which is fastened to one ear-
ring by a button, and passes over the top of the
head to the other. The w^alk of these ladies is
peculiarly majestic and graceful, and their whole
appearance, although strange to a European ob-
server, is far from being inelegant.

The dress of the men, with the exception of
being smaller and more convenient, is precisely
the same as that of the people at Kayaye. Blue
and white are the favourite colours. With the
rich, the manufacture of the country is replaced
by India bafts and muslins, both which are em-

188 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

broidered neatly with different coloured silks or
worsteds round the neck, and down the back
and chest. The cap, which is always white, is
of a very graceful form, and is also embroidered,
but with white only. The Maroboos, and men
advanced in years, wear white turbans, with
red or blue crowns, occasionally a hat made of
a sort of rush or grass, having a low conical
crown, with a broad rim. When on horseback,
or going to war, the large sleeves of their gowns
are tied together behind the neck, being brought
over the shoulders; and the bodies, which would
be otherwise extremely inconvenient from being
very loose, are secured round the middle with a
girdle, which, at the same time, confines their
powder horn and ball bag on the right side, and
their grigri, or amulet case, on the left. These
are all suspended by strong cords of red, yellow,
or green silk or worsted, and are crossed in the
same manner as the belts of our soldiers. A
dirk, about nine inches or a foot long, hangs at
the right side from the running string or strap,
which, at the same time, serves to tighten the
trowsers above the hips. A single, or double-
barrelled gun, completes their equipment in ge-
neral y some of the princes and chiefs, however,
add a sword, confined at the right side by their
girdle, and one or two pistols which hang dang-
ling in thin leather holsters, variously coloured,

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 189

at the pummel or front horn of their saddle.
One leather bag, to contain water, and another,
a small store of dried cous cous, for their own
provision, together with a nose bag, and a fetter
of the same material, for their horse, make up
the catalogue of their marching baggage, and
are all fastened, by leather straps, to the back
part of the saddle, which is at best but a bad
one, being chiefly composed of pieces of wood,
tied together by thongs of raw cow hide, and
which, when wet, stretches so as to allow the
wood to come in contact with the horse's back,
and wound it in a shocking manner.

The disposable force of Bondoo from all the
information I could collect, does not exceed from
500 to 600 horse, and from 2000 to 3000 foot.
When Aim amy finds it necessary to call this army
to the field for the protection of the country,
or with the intention of invading the territories
of some of his neighbours, he repairs with his own
immediate followers to some village at a short
distance from the capital, and there beats the war
drum *, which is repeated by each village, and

* This is composed of a large wooden bowl^ nearly three feet
diameter, covered with three skins, one of which is said to
be that of a human being, another a hyena's, and the third,
or outside one, a monkey's ; this latter is covered with Arabic
characters and passages from the Koran. See fig- % pi- 9.

190 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

in this manner the call to arms is circulated over
the country.

The chief of each town or village with as lit-
tle delay as possible assembles his followers (or
division, if it may be so called), and proceeds
to head-quarters, where those chiefs consult
with the king on the plan of attack or defence.
No regular division of the army takes place, nor
is there any provision made for its support or
equipment ; each man provides for himself such
means of support, arms, and ammunition, as
he can afford, and so badly are they furnished
with the two latter, that when 1 saw the army
assembled, a great many indeed had no other
weapons than a knife and a bludgeon of hard
wood. On some occasions, a favoured few receive
two or three charges of powder and ball with a
couple of flints : and in some very solitary in-
stances indeed, his majesty confers marks of his
royal favour on one, by a present of a horse, and
on another a gun. Provisions they find as they
can, and woe to the stores and cattle of that town
where they are assembled for any time.

Whenever the object of the campaign is not
decided on within a few days, the least effective
persons disappear, and may be said to reduce the
whole force one-third, and even then many
might be found, who remain with no other ob-

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 191

ject in view, than that of begging from Almamy ;
amongst those are generally the priests and gri-
ots, or goulas.

When the king decides on sending a part on-
ly of the army to plunder the frontier towns of
some neighbouring state, a chief to command
the party is selected from amongst his own rela-
tives, or favourites, and few (if any) but the
immediate followers of the k^'ng and the chief
chosen to command, or rather conduct this
party, accompany it. Their destination is
known only to the king, his ministers, and the
commander, who seldom imparts to any of his
attendants until they are close to the scene
of action. The general object of these detach-
ments is, the attack of some small town or vil-
lage, the inhabitants of which, together with
their cattle, they carry off. Sometimes, how-
ever, information of their coming reaches the
village in sufficient time before them, to enable
the women and children to retreat towards the
interior of the country, taking with them the
cattle, and leaving the men to oppose the ene-
my, who not unfrequently come off with the loss
of one or more of their party, and the failure of
their attempt.

Several of these parties were sent out during
our stay in Bondoo, and with one or two excep-
tions, came ojff victorious, if the word can be

19^ TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

made use of with propriety, in describing the
exploits of a horde of plunderers, whose chief
object is invariably the obtaining of slaves, for
whom they always find a market, either with the
travelling merchants of the country, or the Se-
negal vessels at Galam.

AVoolli, Tenda,Dentilla, and Bambouk, are the
frequent scenes of these unnatural depredations,
and in their turn often furnish Almamy with
ample means of procuring supplies of arms, am-
munition horses, and the different articles of Eu-
ropean merchandize in demand in his dominions.
To the frequency of these predatory excursions,
and the insecure nature of the lives and proper-
ties of the inhabitants in consequence, may be
attributed, in a great degree, the desertion of
many of the frontier towns in those states, and
their subsequent occupation by the Bondoo
people, who of late years have extended their
dominions considerably in these directions.

Bondoo in its turn has often been attacked
by its more powerful neighbours, and suffered
dreadfully, but an instance of retaliation on the
part of those weak states rarely occurs.

Many of the natives of Kayaye, Joloff, and
Woolli, have settled in Bondoo, and embraced
the Mahomedan faith. Their towns are chiefly on
the western frontier, and are preeminent for their
extent, riches, and productive cultivation. The

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. IQS

most effective division of Almamy^s army is en-
tirely composed of the Joloff and Woolli people,
who are proverbial for bravery. The greater
number of those of Kayaye being priests are ex-
empt from the field by the payment of a large
yearly present to Almamy, who, in addition to
the present, often trespasses, in the form of a
request (but which they dare not refuse), on
their stores of provisions and their herds of cat-
tle, with both which they are better supplied
than any other class of people in that country.
But this is not the only advantage they possess,
for they enjoy a degree of respect and inde-
pendence even in their connexions with the
princes, who look upon all belonging to them
as sacred, Almamy alone, being the head of
the church, daring to infringe on their rights
and privileges.

Bondoo has been, for some years, involved in
a war with the king of Karta, which arose, as most
of the wars in Africa do, in an act of aggression
in this case on the part of Bondoo, to explain
which, it will be necessary to detail, at some
length, the circumstances which led to the
act itself. This will, at the same time, serve to
give a just idea of the politics of those people,
and to prove how well they are versed in the
principles of self interest and aggrandizement,

o

194 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

the natural consequence of the comparative state
of civiUzation to which they have attained.

About forty years previous to the time we
visited Bondoo, Abdoolghader, a Mahomedan
priest, and chief of a tribe of Foolahs that had
come from Massina, and settled in Toro (then
ruled by the Dileankey family), made so many
converts to this faith among the people of that
country, and acquired such influence with them,
that he succeeded in leading them to dethrone
that family, and proclaim him king or almamy.

At the time Karta was invaded by the Sego
Barabarras, and its chiefs, and many of the in-
habitants obliged to leave it for a short time, a
large detachment of them, under the command
of a prince, arrived at Galam, where they were
well received, and whence they despatched mes-
sengers to Abdoolghader to apprize him of their
intention to put his hospitality to the test, but
which they were prevented from doing by his
assembling his army, and marching to attack
them. They, having received early information
of his intentions, left Galam, and, on their re-
turn to Karta, destroyed some towns belong-
ing to Gedumah, in revenge upon the inhabit-
ants of that country for having refused to assist
them against their Sego enemies.

The chief of one of those towns, an Iman, of

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 195

considerable respectability in the country, called
on Abdoolghader, at his camp in Bondoo (where
he made some stay, with a part of his army,
after the retreat of the Kartans), and preferred
a complaint against Sega, the reigning chief of
Bondoo, for having assisted the Kartans in the
destruction of his town, and carried oiFhis wife
and daughter, both of whom he added to the list
of his concubines, and for having destroyed his
religious books, written by himself, and said to
be so voluminous as to be a sufficient load for
an ass. He expatiated on the enormity of these
crimes, and called on Abdoolghader, in the
name of God and their prophet, to obtain for
him the satisfaction to which he conceived him-
self so justly entitled.

Abdoolghader being himself a Mahomedan
prelate of the first rank, and anxious to give
every proof of his attachment to his religion,
immediately summoned Sega to appear before
the laws of Mahomet. This prince, whether
from being too well aware of Abdoolghader's
power to force his compliance, or from being
badly advised by some who wanted to compass
his fall, made his immediate appearance before
the angry monarch, who, without hearing half
what Sega had to say in his defence, judged the
afiair against him, and sentenced him to be ba-
nished to Toro, where he was to be taught how

o 2

196 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

to live 5 but, on their departure from Marsa*,
they had not gone one hundred yards from the
walls, when Sega was barbarously murdered by
some of Abdoolghader's followers, and his body
thrown, without further ceremony, into a ravine.
A prince, named Amadi Pate, was chosen
(by the influence of Abdoolghader) to succeed
the deceased, to whom he also was an inveterate
enemy. This step was taken contrary to the
wishes of a powerful party in Bondoo, under
the command of Amadi Isata, a brother of the
deceased, and caused a civil war, which termi-
nated in the death of Pate, and the succession
of Isata, who was assisted, during the struggle,
by Samba Congole, a prince of Upper Kajaga or
Galam. Amadi Isata's first step was to secure
himself from the attacks of Abdoolghader, by
attaching to his cause the Kartan king, to whom
he agreed to pay a yearly tribute of a moulo t
of gold, and who was himself anxious for an op-
portunity to revenge himself on Abdoolghader,
who, on hearing of this act of Isata's, assembled
part of his army, and marched towards the fron-
tier of Bondoo, where he remained several days
in anxious expectation of the arrival of the re-

* The town of Bondoo^ where Abdoolghader had been so;-
journing.

t A measure used in Africa for corn, and containing about
two quarts.

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 197

mainder of his forces, under the command of
their several chiefs. He was, however, sadly
disappointed ; for they were so averse to his
government, and anxious for an opportunity to
throw off their allegiance to him, that, instead of
joining him, they prepared to oppose his return.
Abdoolghader being thus foiled in his in-
tended attack on Isata, and incapable, from the
very limited number of his attendants, to re-
sume his authority at home, crossed the Sene-
gal, and sought refuge amongst the Gedumah-
as, where he remained for some time, but was
at length recalled by some of the chiefs of Toro,
who, having chosen another king during his ab-
sence, and disapproved of his conduct, also were
now glad to have a man of such acknowledged
abilities as he was, to head them in forcing the
other, named Moctar Coodega, from the throne.
On his return to Toro, he was accompanied by
a small army, under Hawah Demba, a prince of
Kasson, and a few Gedumahas. They reached
Woro Sogee, a small village of Toro, where they
were attacked and beaten by the friends of Moc-
tar Coodega. The check they received, in their
first step, threw such a damp on the ardour of
those who solicited his return, that they were
not only afraid to join him, but actually declared
against him, which obliged him to return to his
friends the Gedumahas, amongst whom were

198 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

several of the Dileankeys, whose country had
been usurped by this very man, and to whom
he was so obnoxious that, finding his life in dan-
ger, he was obliged to leave that country. He
then repaired to Moodeerie, a town of Galam,
inhabited by priests.

About that time, Almami Isata had entered
into an alliance with the chiefs of Foota Toro,
and of a part of Kajaga, to annihilate Abdool-
ghader, who, from his great reputation as a
Maraboo, was much respected and feared in the
country. Modiba, the king of Karta, who, as
I before said, wished for such an opportunity,
brought a considerable force to their assistance.

Hawah Demba, who was with Abdoolghader
at Moodeerie, seeing so many powerful chiefs
assembled for the purpose of attacking his
friend, feared his own safety, and- advised him
to seek shelter in the desert amongst the Moors,
where, from the scarcity of water, so large an
army could not follow him. This advice he re-
jected, and was deserted by Hawah Demba, who
returned to Kasso. Abdoolghader repaired to
Goorick, a town of Toro, there to await pa-
tiently the arrival of his enemies, and defend
himself to the last with the few followers, whom
even all the reverses he had met with could not
deter from sharing with him his last adversities.

Almamy Amadi, accompanied by the Kartan

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 199

army, and part of his own, soon met him, when
a bloody, though unequal conflict, ensued, end-
ing in the death or capture of every one of Ab-
doolghader's men. He himself descended from
his horse, and sat down on the ground to count
his beads and say his prayers, in which situation
he was found by Almamy Amadi, who, having
saluted him three times in the usual manner
without receiving an answer, said, ** Well ! Ab-
doolghader, here you are ; you little thouglit,
when you murdered my brother, Amadi Sega,
that this sun would ever dawn on you; but,
here, take this, and tell Sega, when you see
him, that it was Amadi Isata sent you" ; and,
drawing out a pistol, put an end to his exist-
ence. He is said to have received the ball with
all the indifference imaginable. He was up-
wards of eighty years of age.

When Modiba, king of Karta, was informed of
this, he was so exasperated that he told Amadi
Isata that, were it not that he was his friend in-
deed, he should treat him in the same way,
and recalled to his recollection the noble con-
duct of Damel*, king of Cayor, when the de-
ceased had fallen into his hands. To wash out
the stain, Modiba desired that Bondoo should
pay him as much gold as would fit in Abdool-
ghader's scull, when divested of its flesh and

^ Park's First Travels.

SOO TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

brains by boiling ; but this very circumstance,
and the haughty language used by Modiba on
the occasion, was one of the prominent reasons
for the breach between these two chiefs.

A general peace, or cessation of hostilities,
which followed this barbarous act, did not last
long.

The people of Foota, fearing that Amadi
Isata's connexion with so powerful a pagan chief
as Modiba would militate against the advance
of the Mahomedan faith in Bondoo, and might
ultimately lead the Kartans into their country,
called a general assembly, and required the at-
tendance of Amadi Isata and Samba Congole.
The former obeyed the summons, but the latter,
either not wishing to go, knowing the object of
the assembly, or not thinking himself safe in do-
ing so, sent one of his brothers.

The Foota chiefs proposed that all parties
should break off intercourse or alliance with the
Kartans (whose assistance they were not now
in want of, in consequence of the death of Ab-
doolghader), and collectively oppose their again
entering those countries on any pretence.

Almamy Amadi smarting under the disgrace
hje felt at Modiba's treatment of him, for his
brutal conduct to Abdoolghader, and finding
himself strengthened by this alliance with Toro,
readily consented, and pressed much the neces-

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. ^01

sity of the Galam prince's following his exam-
ple. To this, however, Samba's brother would
not consent, assuring the assembly that Samba,
and the part of Kajaga under his control,
would never break their alliance with the Kar-
tans as long as they conducted themselves to
his satisfaction. The assembly broke up; but
Almamy Amadi displeased with Samba for his
non-compliance with the terms of Toro, and
wishing, in consequence, for an opportunity to
fall out with him, granted to some of the Bon-
doo people a piece of corn-ground in Samba's
territories, and, when remonstrated with, gave
an answer not at all satisfactory.

This, added to some difference which arose
shortly after about a horse, gave Samba such an
opinion of Almamy's injustice and wish to quar-
rel, that he sent him word not to meddle with
his affairs in future.

In this state things remained until the year
1815, when Modiba sent his messengers to Bon-
doo to receive the customary tribute, which was
refused by Almamy, and who, to crown his
other barbarous atrocities, put to death the two
chief messengers, and sold all their attendants
as slaves, with the exception of one, whom he
sent back to let Modiba know that the only tri-
bute he might ever expect to receive from him,

202 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

would be bullets from the muskets of Bon-
doo.

Almamy, however, did not give the messen-
ger time to reach Modiba's town in Karta, but
assembled his army and marched to Kasson, for
the purpose of being joined by the forces of
Hawah Demba, and entering Modiba's territo-
ries with as little delay as possible.

Modiba, being advised of this movement, also
assembled his army, and, instead of waiting to
receive Almamy, left a detachment to defend
the frontier, and made forced marches to Dra-
manet, where he crossed the Senegal, and rested
a few hours in order to give Samba time to col-
lect his forces and accompany him.

On entering Bondoo they found nearly all the
villages had been deserted by the few men Al-
mamy had left behind, and the women and chil-
dren ; they, therefore, met no opposition until
they arrived at Boolibany, and even then so lit-
tle resistance was made, that they soon laid the
whole town in waste, with the exception of Al-
mamy's palace, which was so resolutely defend-
ed by a handful of men that all attempts to re-
duce it proved fruitless.

They had, however, made a great number of
slaves, particularly women and children, and
had collected immense herds of black cattle,

TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

203

sheep, and goats, together with an abundant
supply of corn for their horses, all which they
secured within the half-ruined walls of a part
of the town ; and, having repaired that part of
them, and supposing that Almamy would never
dare to face them, sat down to amuse themselves
with their captive ladies, occasionally sending
small parties in different directions through the
country to collect cattle, corn, &c., and pick up
all stragglers. In this state they thought of no-
thing but plunder, in their pursuit of which, and
their wanton and barbarous cruelties to the poor
defenceless inhabitants who came within their
merciless grasp, they expended their small store
of ammunition.

Modiba, whose avarice was as great as his
cruelty, made many attempts to reduce Alma-
my's palace, but always failed, in consequence
of an ill-judged, threat to all those he brought
against it, that if any of them should lay hands
on the smallest particle of the treasure he fan-
cied it contained, he would take off their heads.
This, instead of urging his men to great ex-
ertions, had the very opposite effect^ and deter-
red them from exposing their lives for an object,
the attainment of which could be of no advan-
tage to a people who enter the field of war from
no other motive than that of acquiring riches.
The consequence was, the chiefs gave it as their

204 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

opinion the thing was impossible, and dispersed
themselves through the country in search of
every thing they could remove.

It was in this situation that Almamy, who got
intelligence of Modiba's leaving Karta for Bon-
doo, found them on his return (a circumstance
so unexpected by the Kartans that they did not
even secure the prisoners they had taken by send-
ing them to Toobab-en-Cane* whence Almamy
could never have recovered them), and succeed-
ed in gaining possession of his own palace, be-
ing but feebly opposed by those who remained
as a sort of body-guard over Modiba.

In this situation both armies remained some
days, exchanging shots from the turrets of their
respective stations, but the Kartan army hav-
ing totally expended their ammunition, and a
supply sent for to Toobab-en-Cane not having ar-
rived, Almamy made so spirited and determined
an attack on their position, that they were un-
able to withstand it, and retreated in the utmost
confusion, leaving such an immense number of
stragglers all over the country, so ignorant of what
had taken place, that the very women of Bon-
doo made some of them prisoners, all of whom,
on this occasion, and in retaliation for similar
conduct on the part of Modiba towards every

* Samba Cougolc's Town.

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 205

male his army had taken, were inhumanly but-
chered. This affair took place in the spring of
I8I7.

Early in the following year Almamy, taking
advantage of the absence of the Kartan army,
laid siege to Toobab-en-Cane, having first fruit-
lessly attempted to storm two of Samba's towns.
So active were the besiegers, that the besieged
found it impossible to obtain water from the river,
although distant only thirty yards from the walls
of the town, and so great was their want of that
necessary article, that they dug wells within the
walls upwards of forty feet deep.

Samba, feeling that a much longer continuance
in that state must become insupportable from the
want of provisions, contrived means to despatch
two horsemen by night to demand relief from
Modiba, and, in eight days after, four hundred
horse made their appearance on the opposite
bank of the river.

Almamy supposing the whole Kartan army
had again made its appearance, did not think
prudent to wait their nearer approach, raised
the siege, and retreated to Lanel, a strong town
of Samba's, commanded by his brother-in-law,
who basely gave it up, allowing the enemy of the
country to defend himself in it.

When the Kartans had crossed the river, they
advised Samba to attack Almamy without delay,

206 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

and accordingly marched, amounting with his
force to about nine hundred or one thousand
men. On theh' arrival before the town they
found Almamy so well defended, not only by
the strong mud walls of the place, but his su-
perior numbers increased by the men of it, that
they thought it impossible to dislodge him, and
returned to Toobab-en-Cane to wait the arrival
of a large body of foot which was hourly ex-
pected from Karta. Almamy, on his side, sent
to require reinforcements from Toro and Hawaii
Demba, but nearly a month elapsed before the
reinforcements on either side arrived.

Samba's army was then composed of all his
own men, the Gedumahas of three towns on
the right bank of the river, the Kartan army,
and a detachment under Saferi, a prince of Kas-
son, in all amounting to about two thousand five
hundred or three thousand men.

Almamy's, which was said to be nearly dou-
ble that number, consisted of his own army,
strong detachments from Foota Toro, and
Lower Kajaga, and a considerable body under
Hawah Demba, who was nephew to Saferi, and
the same who has been mentioned before.

They met in April 1818, when a bloody con-
flict ensued, ending in the defeat of Almamy,
who made a hasty retreat to Foota Toro, leav-
ing upwards of a hundred muskets on the field.

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 207

The Kartan horse immediately entered Bon-
doo, where they again laid every thing waste
that came in their way, and, making some pri-
soners, returned to their home.

Almamy, on his side, did every thing in his
power to induce the chiefs of Foota Toro, to
employ all their force, and oblige Samba to quit
his own country, and retire to Karta. They
were, however, too well aware of the difficulty
of such an undertaking, and, instead of giving
him any hopes of assistance from them, advised
him strongly to think rather of making peace
with that chief than to prolong a war, the issue
of which must be very doubtful. A general
assembly was consequently called to meet at
Marsa, and one of the Foota chiefs was sent to
commence a negociation with Samba for peace,
which was concluded during the time we were
in the country.

208

CHAPTER IX.

Message from Almamy — My Visit to Boolibany — Subject
of Interview with him — His hostile Conduct and per-
emptory Demand for my leaving Samba Contaye — The
Necessity of my Compliance — Return to the Camp ac-
companied by an Escort — Preparations for the March —
Departure for Boolibany — Arrival there — Almamy en-
deavours to make us enter the Town — My Refusal^ and
Selection of a Position for the Camp — Return of my
first Messenger to Mr. Dochard — His Misfortune and
Failure — False Alarm at the Capital, and its Conse-
quences— Indecision of Almamy and the Chiefs.

The month of January, 1819, also rolled over
without any intelligence from either Mr. Do-
chard or Mr. Partarrieau, and what could detain
the latter from joining me, or prevent the for-
mer from sending some person to make me ac-
quainted with his proceedings and their result at
Sego, I was at a loss to conjecture. Had the lat-
ter, however, either joined or forwarded the sup-
plies which I was so much in want of, I would
have endeavoured to reach Sego with the whole
expedition, and try if it were not possible, by
some means or other, to obtain Dha's permission
to erect boats, and embark on the Niger, but to

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. QOQ

Imve gone there without the means necessary to
induce him and his chiefs to forward my views
would have been fruitless work.

Another reason, too, prevented me taking this
step without waiting Mr. Partarrieau's return,
namely, the impossibility of leaving Bondoo
without paying to Almamy the articles promised
his predecessor, and which, even with the assist-
ance of the French officers at Galam, I could
not have accomplished.

To add to these difficulties, one of a still more
unpleasant nature, and attended with circum-
stances which clearly evinced a change in Al-
mamy's intentions towards us, occurred early in
February.

One evening, on my return from Baquelle,
where I had gone to procure some beads from
the French merchants for the purchase of pro-
visions, I found at the camp a messenger from
Almamy to request my immediate attendance at
Boolibany, where he had some business of such
importance to communicate that he could not
entrust it with any of his people.

What this might have been I could not readi-
ly imagine, but from some words that escaped
from the messenger, I was inclined to think it
was some information he had received concern-
ing Mr. Dochard, and which appeared the more
likely, as at that very time a large coffle of tra-

p

^10 TRAVELS IN AFRICA,

veiling merchants with slaves arrived at the ca-
pital from Sego.

My anxiety for Mr. Dochard's safety, added
to an intention I had of proposing to Almamy
to be allowed to remove my camp to Baquelle,
induced me to obey the summons without de-
lay, but my surprise and disappointment may
be more easily conceived than I can possibly
express, when, on being admitted into the royal
presence, where were assembled all the ministers,
chiefs, &c., Almamy told me that I must, with-
out delay, remove my camp from Samba Con-
taye to the capital, where, as he was in daily ex-
pectation of the arrival of the Kartan army,
I would be more secure under his own protec-
tion than I possibly could be elsewhere.

Although I must acknowledge that this speech
conveyed to my mind a very different idea from
that which he intended it to do, I nevertheless
endeavoured to hide any effect it might have
had on the expression of my countenance, and,
at the same time that I thanked him for his con-
sideration for my safety, expressed a wish, in ap^
parent good humour, to be allowed to remain
where 1 was ; as it would put me to much incon-
venience indeed, both to remove my baggage
which was then all open, and to form a new
camp which would probably not be finished be-
fore Mr. Partarrieau would return from the coast.

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 211

In answer to these remonstrances on my part,
he said that he would afford me every assistance
I might require, both in removing my baggage
and forming a new camp, if I did not wish to
take up my quarters within the walls of the
town, where I should be accommodated with as
much room as I might want.

This I decidedly objected to, from a conviction
that I would find much difficulty in again get-
ting out of it, and was about making some fur-
ther objections to the move he proposed, or ra-
ther dictated, when he ordered me to leave him,
and, in a very angry tone indeed, said he would
take no excuse whatever, as if I did not imme-
diately comply, he would force me to it.

A refusal at that moment would have been
highly imprudent as I was in his power, and
which he said he should exercise by keeping me
where I was until I should write to my head man
at Samba Con t aye, and direct him to join me
wdthout delay with all the men and baggage.
This I positively refused to do, but, as the only
means left in my power of getting out of his
hands, I promised to comply with his wishes of
moving my camp, on condition that he should al-
low me to return there immediately to make the
necessary preparations. To this he made some
objections, but finding I was determined not to
comply on any other terms, he at length con-

p 2

S12 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

sented, adding, however, that I should be ac-
companied by a strong detachment to enforce
the fulfilment of the promise I had made. This
surprised me much indeed, as in all our former
transactions he had implicitly relied on my
word ; but I must acknowledge in this instance
I did not purpose keeping it, as I had formed a
determination to make a forced march to Ba-
quelle the night of my return to the camp, and
thereby put it out of Almamy's power to serve
me such a trick again. But he was too well
aware of the advantage he now possessed over
me to trust any longer to my word, and there-
fore had recourse to the most efficacious means
of forcing me to compliance.

I really cannot give an idea of the state of my
mind during the remainder of that night; suffice
it to say that, for the first time since leaving the
coast, I began to suspect treachery, and a pre-
determination on the part of Almamy and his
chiefs to oppose our further progress. I still
however had hopes, faint ones indeed, that time,
patience, large presents, and explanatory con-
versation with Almamy in private, would obtain
the desired permission to proceed eastward.

The following morning, after waiting nearly
an hour for his highness Saada, who undertook
to carry Almamy's orders into effect, we left
Boolibany, accompanied by a party of about one

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 215

hundred horse and foot, which augmented at
every village we passed through. When about
half way, Saada, who complained much of be-
ing fatigued from the heat of the sun ! ! ! halted,
and wished me to follow his example, to which,
as I would not consent, he sent forward some of
his party with me.

Two days were spent in the preparations ne-
cessary for the march, which we commenced at
five o'clock in the morning of the 13th of Fe-
bruary. We halted that night at Gamby, and
reached the capital the following morning at
half after eight. Almamy, who, with some of
his train, came out to meet us, wished us to en-
ter the town and remain there, as he said, till
huts could be prepared for us ; but, as I would
not listen to his proposal under any pretence
whatever, he proceeded with me to select a site
for our camp convenient to water. A little emi-
nence, the summit of which was shaded by a
large tamarind tree, and within a few yards of
some wells, west of the town, from which it was
distant about two musket shots, offered more
advantages than any other spot around Booliba-
ny. We therefore, having unloaded the animals,
and arranged the baggage under the tree, com-
menced, on the following morning, to surround
our post with a strong fence of stakes and thor-
ny bushes, which, with our huts and the addi-

•214* TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

lion of a new well about fifteen feet deep, wo
completed in a few days ; during which his ma-
jesty paid me some visits, and made us a present
of a bullock, asking, however, in return, a piece of
baft to make a dress which was double its value.

We had not been long here when Alley Lowe,
the man fhad sent from Samba Contaye with
the dollars and other articles to Mr. Dochard,
returned, not having been able to pass Kasson,
where he was robbed, and from where he with dif-
ficulty escaped with his life. Dheangina, the man
who accompanied him, was taken ill with the
Guinea worm at a very early part of their march,
in which state he remained so long unable to
move, that Alley Lowe endeavoured to prose-
cute the journey alone, but in which he unfortu-
nately failed. He had neither seen nor heard any
thing of Bakoro or the man I sent with him ; I
was therefore in hopes they had been able to
pass 5 but alas ! those hopes soon vanished, and
I had the mortification of seeing them return
in a short time equally unsuccessful. Their
case however was not that of Alley Lowe, who
would have got on if the possibility of his doing
so had existed.

They had idled so much of their time at the
towns and villages they passed on the road, that
their stock of articles for the purchase of provi-
sions was soon exhausted, and they were reduced

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 215

to the necessity of selling one of their horses to
procure subsistence. Ismena, too, had been ill
some time; but Bakoro, who was well and might
have gone on without him, had he felt the least
inclination to do so, squandered both his time
and money until the means of proceeding were
completely exhausted.

This second failure in the attainment of an
object I had so much at heart, and the impossi-
bility which presented itself of inducing any of
the natives of the country to imdertake such a
voyage, had I even promised them the whole
baggage of the expedition, added to my anxiety
for the arrival of Mr. Partarrieau, had such an
effect on my spirits that I could with difficulty at
times force myself to take the exercise necessa-
ry for my health, which, in spite of all those
annoyances and the effects of the late season,
continued unimpaired.

The month of March was spent in anxious
suspense on these subjects, and in visiting the
country about Boolibany, which is beautifully
diversified by hill and dale thinly covered with
wood.

Almamy during this month received a hasty
report from the north-east frontier that the Kar-
tan army was within a day's march of the ca-
pital, where the utmost confusion prevailed in
consequence of the inhabitants from all the

216 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

neighbouring villages having fled to it for pro-'
tection. So great was the crowd that many could
not find room to lie down in the streets.

On one occasion when all the women were
busily employed drawing water from the wells,
where were also many of the men endeavouring
to procure for their horses a share of the scanty
and muddy supply they afforded, the alarm was
given by some people who had been attending
herds of cattle to tlie eastward of the town, from
which direction they were seen running in the
utmost confusion, the altercations at the wells,
and the busy scene going on there, soon closed
by one of a still more extraordinary and con-
fused nature. The supposed approach of the
enemy was no sooner made known amongst
them, than they all, as if by magic, dropped
their jars, calabashes, and leather bags, and ran
with all their might to the nearest gate of the
town, which, being rather narrow, was so much
crowded, that an old man and a girl about eight
years of age were trampled to death.

A council of war, composed of some of the
princes and their followers, withAlmamy at their
head, assembled between our camp and the
town. I attended to witness their proceedings,
wliich were carried on with the utmost contempt
to the rules of order or regularity ; every one pre-
sent proposing yome plan of his own, and rt^ject-

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 217

ing that of his companions. I had been all this
time sitting on horseback unobserved by Alma-
my, who had scarcely said a word on the sub-
ject. When he perceived that I was present he
beckoned me to approach him, and, with much
earnestness and anxiety depicted on his counte-
nance, asked my opinion, which I hesitated in
giving ; but being requested by the whole coun-
cil to do so, I said that I thought it would be
advisable, previous to deciding on any plan either
of attack or defence, to reconnoitre for the pur-
pose of ascertaining beyond a doubt the ene-
my's strength and position, in case they were
really in the country, but which I much doubt-
ed.

My opinion was favourably received by the
whole assembly, but nobody could be found to
undertake the task which to them was a new one.
Saada, although a young man, and better mount-
ed than any other person in the town, was the
first to refuse. At length a JolofF man, one of
Almamy's suite, offered to undertake it, if his
majesty would provide him with a horse, and
appoint some person to accompany him. The
horse was brought, but not even one of the
king's slaves could be found willing to go — the
Joloff man therefore set off alone. He had not
been gone an hour when it was found that the
alarm had been given by Saada's herdsman, who.

218 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

seeing such crowds about the wells, knew if he
did not adopt that means of driving them away,
he should not be able to procure water for the
cattle during the day, and, although the death
of the man and girl killed at the gate was, in
addition to the false alarm, the consequence of
his cleverness, he was nevertheless permitted to
escape with impunity — nay, he was not so much
as called to an account for his conduct. Saada
was so pleased with his slave's adroit stratagem,
that he not only laughed at the affair, but, when
spoken to by the friends of the deceased, told
them they were rightly served. The scene of
confusion and uproar which for several days ex-
isted at Boolibany, from the immense numbers
of people who flocked to it for security from
the unwalled towns, was beyond any thing I
had ever witnessed. It, however, ended in a
scarcity of provisions which necessitated them
to return to their homes.

219

CHAPTER X.

Arrival of Mr. Partarrleau from the Coast — Interview with
Ahnamy — Arrangements with^ and Presents made to him
— His false and deceitful conduct — My Determination
and Retreat from Boolibany — Difficulties on the March
— Want of Water, and breach of oath on the part of our
Guides — Enter Foota Toro — Difficulties there — My
March to, and Return from, Baquelle — Affair with the
Foolahs — My Captivity — Departure of the Party for
Baquelle — My disappointment on finding the Camp de-
serted—My own Return to Baquelle.

On the 30th of April I received a letter from
Mr. Partarrieau, announcing his arrival at Balla,
whence he could not move in consequence of
the loss of a great many of the camels, until I
should send some men and asses to his assistance.
I therefore despatched without delay eleven
men with thirty of the latter, and, having ob-
tained from Almamy one of his nephews as a
guide for them, they left the camp at an early
hour the following morning.

About nine o'clock that night, Almamy paid
me a private visit, and, after many congratula-
tory words on the safe arrival of my friend (as
he called him), said he wished to be informed
whether the articles I had promised to the late

220 TRAVELS IN AFRICA,

Almamy were to become his property or that of
Saada, who contested that he alone had a right to
them. When I had told him that it was to the
Almamy of Bondoo I had promised them, and to
whom only I could give them, he took me by
the hand, and said that he then felt convinced I
was really his friend, and he should therefore
forward my views in every way he could, adding
that if I remained two days in Bondoo after Mr.
Partarrieau's arrival, it should be my own fault.
This last speech however said nothing more than
if I satisfied his avarice he would be my friend;
but to me this was nothing new, for ever since I
had entered the country I found that those peo-
ple were actuated by no other principle than
that of self-interest and ingratitude.

As I had found some difficulty in procuring
a sufficient supply of provisions at the capital,
on the 3rd of May I sent a sergeant and one
man to Samba Contaye to purchase corn, rice,
and cattle, and went myself with four men to
assist in bringing up the caravan with Mr. Par-
tarrieau. On the following morning I met them
at Patako, a small village about thirty miles wsw.
from the capital, which place we reached on the
6th at 9 p. m. During Mr. Partarrieau's march
from the coast he experienced the kindest treat-
ment from the kings of Kayor and JolofF, and
was accompanied by a chief from the latter.

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. ^^1

On the morning of the 7th we waited on AU
mamy, whom we found seated in a small store-
room attended by only two of his slaves. After
the usual exchange of compliments, I informed
him of Mr. Partarrieau's arrival, and that of the
present I had promised to his predecessor, which,
together with one I purposed giving himself, I
wished to deliver without delay, and in a few
days continue my journey, adding, that I trust-
ed he would now prove himself to be the friend
he so often professed ; to which he answered that
he was ready to forward my views in any way
I might require.

The JolofF chief then addressed Almamy, say-
ing he was directed by the Bourba Joloff to tell
him, that in handing us over to his care and pro-
tection he requested we might be treated in the
same manner by him (Almamy), as Mr. Partar-
rieau was by his master and Damel, the king of
Kayor, and at the same time to inform him that
we were the messengers of a very great white
king, who had it in his power to reward those
handsomely who merited it from him, or to pu-
nish any who should ill-treat his messengers,
whose only object in visiting Africa was the es-
tablishing of a friendly intercourse between the
two countries. In answer to this, Almamy made
a long speech, which he ended by promising
that his conduct should be such towards us as

22^ TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

would merit not only the approbation of the
white king, but of all the surrounding chiefs of
Africa.

Plaving told Almamy that I wished him to
send persons to receive the presents I intended
giving him (which he promised to do without
delay), we returned to the camp. Those persons
did not however arrive till near midnight, when
it was too late to begin such an affair, particu-
larly as I had determined that not an article
should be removed before I should be satisfied,
by an agreement drawn up in Arabic and signed
by Almamy, that the assistance and protection
I might require, while in Bondoo and in the pro-
secution of my journey, would be afforded.

It was not till the 9th that I could arrange
with them the amount of the presents and the
form of agreement, when, the latter being sign-
ed by Almamy and some of his chiefs, the for-
mer were delivered*, together with a handsome
double barrelled gun, which was sent by his Ex-
cellency Sir Charles Mac Carthy as a pledge of
his esteem for Almamy.

With this paper in my possession, and the hi-
therto apparent inclination of Almamy to com-
ply with its contents, I conceived that nothing
remained to prevent our departure, and there-

* For the form of agreement and amount of presents, see
Appendix, Articles 6 and 7-

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. S^S

fore having made every preparation necessary, I
went (on the evening of the 10th of May) to in-
form him that it was my wish to proceed the fol-
lowing morning to Baqiielle, where, with some
assistance from the French, in the way of paint,
rope, &c., of which I wag in want, to put my
baggage in a proper state to withstand the rains,
I intended making my final arrangements. But
I was sadly disappointed when he told me that
he could not allow me to go there, as the people
of that country, although at peace with him, were
not his friends. I endeavoured to no purpose
to convince him that in going there my only ob-
ject was what I had just stated, and not to inter-
fere in the concerns of Bondoo, where I had al-
ready been but too long detained.

From that day until the 21st, every means
which I conceived at all likely to obtain permis-
sion to proceed, were tried without effect ; pre-
sents were given to all the chiefs * unknown to
each other, in order to induce them to urge Al-
mamy to compliance, and I even offered to leave
hostages in his hands for my return (after I had
arranged my baggage) to Boolibany, whence I
would take my final departure for the Niger. All
would not do. The only thing he would listen to
was that of our immediately following a path in

* Article 7, Appendix.

2S4i TRAVELS IN AFRICA*

which we should not only have to contend witli
a number of petty princes, all his friends and in
league with him to oppose our progress, but
where it would have been impossible to procure
provisions, and extremely difficult to travel, in
consequence of the number of rivers to be
crossed.

All this, added to his having assembled his
army in front of our camp, and prevented us
for a whole day from drawing water from the
wells, and his having in every instance broken
liis promise, nay oath, bore such convincing
proofs of his hostile intentions that I at length
determined on endeavouring to gain my point
by indirect means, and therefore told him it was
my intention to return to the coast through the
Foota Toro country.

My object in adopting this plan was the possi-
bility that presented itself of being able (when I
had once left Bondoo) to change the direction of
march from west to north-east and thereby gain
the Senegal, and, by crossing it, both get out of
the power of Almamy, and reach Baquelle un-
molested.

From Baquelle I could have travelled in safe-
ty to Karta, where I was in hopes of meeting
some people from Mr. Dochard, and of receiv-
ing permission from Modiba, king of that coun-
try, to proceed to Sego.

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. SS5

In addition to Almamy's other acts of injus-
tice and falsehood, he had given orders that the
people, whom I had sent to Samba Contaye to
purchase provisions, should be arrested and put
in irons, and I had much difficulty indeed in ob-
taining their release.

We left Boolibany on the 2M May at half af-
ter six in the morning. We were accompanied
by Almamy and part of his suite as far as Lewa,
a village, near which we halted for the night.

Here again we were to experience the du-
plicity and falsehood of this chief, who, not
contented with the delays and inconveniences
to which he had already subjected us, would not
now give us the guides he at first named, and
who were the only two of the princes we had
found worthy of confidence, but appointed two
men whom we had never before seen, and who
(were we to judge from their appearance) were
ready to comply with their sovereign's order in
any way. When I remonstrated on this further
palpable breach of honour, he said that he could
not then dispense with the presence of two of
his war-men (generals) but would allow one of
them to accompany the guides he had named^
and directed the other (who was the very man
we wanted) to quit our camp. This person,
named Omar Moosa, a nephew of Almamy's,
was so indignant at this peremptory order, that

Q

226 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

he told his royal uncle he should not be ordered
by him or any other man in Bondoo, and would
not leave our camp until he pleased, and then,
coming to our tent, told us to be cautious as to
the path we took, for it was Almamy's instruc-
tions to the guides to conduct us into Upper Ferlo,
a province of Bondoo on the south-west frontier,
so badly supplied with water that the inhabitants
were frequently obliged to leave it during that
time of the year : he also advised us not to move
from Lewa until Almamy should return to Boo-
libany, when all those who accompanied him,
and were attracted by the hopes of being able to
plunder us of something, would leave us. This
timely information, and the loss of nearly all our
camels, induced me to remain at Lewa until the
morning of the 24th, having, the preceding night,
destroyed all the men's old clothing, and furnished
them with new. Some musket-balls and other
articles of little value, amongst which were nearly
ail my own and Mr. Partarrieau's clothes, were
also destroyed in order to lighten the baggage
as much as possible.

Incredible as it may appear to a person unac-
quainted with those people, it is equally true
that Almamy, when about leaving us on the
evening of the 23d, came with all possible com-
posure to wish us a safe journey, and requested
me to give him a small present, which he could

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 2^7

keep in remembrance of me. Such was the im-
pudent and teasing importunity of this man that
he obtained one from me merely to rid myself
of such an unwelcome visitor. When gone, we
found he had made free with a snuff-box of Mr.
Partarrieau's which was laid on the mat on
which we were sitting : this, although of little value,
evinced a disposition on his part to turn his
abilities in that way to every possible advantage.

We left Lewa at six o'clock in the morning,
and, having travelled west over a dreadfully
parched and uncultivated country for twelve
miles, we reached Giowele, a miserable village,
at ten, w^here a scanty supply of water was, by
means of a large price, purchased for ourselves
and the animals.

At a late hour in the evening I called one of
our new guides, named Doka, to my tent, and,
having drawn from him an acknowledgement
that he had received Almamy's directions to
conduct us by the path leading into Upper Ferlo,
I pointed out to him another lying more norther-
ly, through a village called Dindoody, whither,
in case he would consent to conduct us in safety,
I would make him a handsome present. He ob-
jected, on the ground that he feared the other
guide would not listen to it, but we told him to
leave that to us, which he did. Macca, w^ho was
one of those guides chosen by myself, readily con-

Q 2

228 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

sented to our proposal, and, on the morning of
the 25 th, he led us into a path in the very opposite
direction from the one pointed out for us. A
march of eleven miles nw. brought us to the vil-
lage of Gwina, where we halted close to the
wells, which supplied us with excellent water
without any difficulty.

Private Dohonoe, who had been affected with
dysentery since his arrival from the coast with
Mr. Partarrieau, was so ill during the last two
days' march as to be barely able to sit on horse-
back.

As we were about to move on the morning of
the SGth, an armed party of about forty men
came running into our camp. They were met by
our guides, who conducted them to me, when
their leader said they had been sent by Almamy
to ascertain the truth or flilsehood of a report
which was in circulation of our having quarrelled
with our guides, and refused to follow the path
appointed by him. We referred them to Doka
and Macca, who assured them the report was
false. I did not believe they were sent by Al-
mamy, but I had strong reason to suppose they
were assembled by the guides with a view of de-
terring us from following the path we were pur-
suing. I was the more certain of this being the
case from my having received information that
they had set on foot a false report of one of the

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 2^9

princes having an army at a short distance watch-
ing our movements. An account was brought us
in the afternoon by one of our own men (who
had been at the village and overheard some con-
versation ), that it was the intention of the men in
this posse, headed by our guides, to attack us
during the night. Improbable as it appeared, I
placed triple centinels, and kept on foot myself the
whole night, which we passed very quietly, and,
at half after six the following morning, moved
forward to the north. We had not proceeded, how-
ever, above three miles, when a tornado came on
so rapidly and violently from the ese. that we had
scarcely time to secure the baggage by covering
it with green leafy boughs of trees. It conti-
nued raining nearly an hour and a half, when,
having cleared a little, we resumed our march
to the west of north for two hours ; this brought
us to a small miserable village called Gari-Eli,
where we halted for the night. Dohonoe was so
ill when we moved in the morning that he was
unable to sit upright. I was therefore obliged
to leave him in care of the chief of Gwina,
with means of subsistence, and directions, in
case of recovery, to send him to Baquelle.

We had not been long at our bivouac, when
another nephew of Almamy's, named Amady
Samba, made his appearance, and said he was
sent by his uncle to enforce compliance with his

230 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

orders respecting the path, but to which I only
answered that I would not pursue any path but
that I was then foil owning. On this he went off
apparently much displeased, for which I cared
the less — as I was determined not to listen to the
tales of those soi-disant messengers, who haunted
our march, merely in hopes of exacting some-
thing from us, or plundering (if occasion pre-
sented itself) from our baggage.

We left Gari-Eli at half after six on the morn-
ing of the 28th, and travelled ten miles north
by east, over an extremely close country to Bokey
Guiley, a small village. There we halted for the
night, and had considerable difficulty in obtain-
ing a supply of muddy water, the only quality
which the place afforded.

When loading the animals the following
morning, Macca sent one of his satellites to
say that as he was ill and could not accompany
us if we moved; he requested us to remain at
Bokey Guiley until the following morning. As
I was aware that this was an excuse dictated by
Amady Samba to detain us, so I refused to
comply, and, having sent Mr. Partarrieau to urge
Macca's coming on, we moved forward at se-
ven o'clock, but had not proceeded above a mile
when one of the men who accompanied Mr.
Partarrieau came running in a great hurry to let
me know that the people of the village, at the

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. ^31

instigation of our guides, seemed inclined to
oppose his following the caravan. I immediately
selected one sergeant and fifteen men, and had
proceeded about a quarter of a mile towards the
village, when I met the guides and Amady Sam-
ba, (and, in a few minutes after, Mr. Partarrieau,)
who informed me that many objections were
made to his joining me, in accomplishing which
he had nearly come to blows with the guides and
villagers.

Shortly after this, a large bullock which had
been bought at Gari-Eli, and conducted since it
left that place by a Foolah hired for the purpose,
having nearly killed one of our men, was order-
ed to be shot, which was not effected until many
shots had been fired at him. This circumstance
so trivial in itself was nearly the cause of very
serious consequences, as the men of the villages
in the vicinity of our road heard the shots, and,
knowing that we had nearly fought with our
guides in the morning, thought that such was
then actually the case, and came running up from
all quarters ready for action, — which they were
with difficulty prevented from commencing by
the intercession of Macca. Many of them, how-
ever, accompanied us to Dindoody, where we
arrived at noon, having travelled ten miles nne.
Although the day was excessively hot, and
both men and animals were much in want of wa-
ter, we were obliged to endure the privation, hav-

^32 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

ing a well within a few yards of our bivouac ; but
this we were not allowed to touch before seven
o*clock in the evening, and, having paid dearly
for the indulgence, we found also, on return-
ing from the well to tie up the asses for the night,
that two of them had been stolen. Macca pro-
mised to have them restored, but we never saw
them afterwards.

It appeared to me that our guides were at
the bottom of all this hindrance from water and
objections to the path, in which the inhabitants
of all the towns we passed through joined them,
(but particularly those of Dindoody, where we
spent tlie whole of the 30th in palaver with them),
I conceived it better to make them a large pre-
sent ^ to induce their acting in compliance with
our wishes, to which they consented, binding
themselves by an oath on the Koran, to which,
although little regard had been paid by Alma-
my, I trusted, however, that they would remain
faithful.

We therefore again set forward to the ne., and,
in about two hours, reached a small village call-
ed Loogoonoody, where we found that the oaths
of our guides were of as little avail as that of
their sovereign and his ministers, for we were
again obliged to pay for water before the inha-
bitants would allow us to approach their wells.

* Article 9, Appendix.

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 235

We were met here by two men who stated
themselves to be messengers sent by the chiefs
of Foota Toro to conduct us into that country j
but, as the path they pointed out led too much
to the west to answer our purpose, we signified
to them that it was our wish to proceed more
eastward, to a town called Gawde Bofe, where
we proposed remaining until a person whom we
should send to consult with the chiefs of Toro
could return. To this they would not consent,
and intimated that if we did not comply with
their wishes they had orders to oppose us.

As I was well aware of the difficulties we
should experience in travelling through that part
of Foota, at a moment when the lawless disposi-
tion of the inhabitants was completely divested
of any restraint by the existence of an interreg-
num of some duration, which arose from dissen-
sions among its chiefs, I thought it more ad-
viseable to move back from Bokey Guiley, where
I should be certainly out of the power at least of
the people of Foota, who were even more to be
dreaded by us than those of Bondoo : and I was
also in hopes that my returning there, would by
our appearing to have more confidence in our
Bondoo guides, induce them to act more honour-
ably towards us. I was however deceived, for, dur-
ing the return to Bokey Guiley, which was part-
ly performed by night, we were .robbed by them

234 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

of two asses with their loads and many small
articles.

From the first to the fourth of June was spent
in fruitless endeavours to arrange matters with
these two parties, who at length became jealous
of each other, and, by that means, afforded us
an opportunity of turning their differences to our
advantage. As it was from the Foota people we
had most to apprehend, we proposed their con-
ducting us to Gowde Bofe, where we promised
to remain until the return of our messenger
whom we intended sending from that place with
them to their chiefs; but told them that in case
they did not consent, I would destroy the whole
of my baggage, and fight my way to Baquelle.
This had the desired effect; they acceded to
our proposal, and the Bondoo guides, finding
that we would no longer listen to them, de-
camped.

Thereupon we left Bokey Guiley at half after
five on the afternoon of the 4th, and, having
halted for the night at Dindoody, at eight the fol-
lowing morning reached Loogoonoody, whence
we despatched one of our own men, accompa-
nied by two of the Foota people, with a small
present^ to the chiefs of that country, request-
ing them to appoint two or more of their re-

* wirticle 10, Appendix.

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 235

spectable personages to meet us at Gowde Bofe,
in order to make arrangements for our passing
through their country; (which in truth was not
at all my intention), but I took that step in order
to make the Foota people suppose we really did
purpose entering their country, and thereby lull
their suspicions about our going to Baquelle.
These people left us on the 5th, and on the fol-
lowing morning at ^ve o'clock, we moved in an
easterly direction over a parched and barren
country until near ten, when we reached Siendoo,
a considerable town, where we had as usual much
difficulty in obtaining a supply of water, and
where we were met by a strong detachment of
armed men, whose chief informed us that he was
sent by Thurno Bayla (the chief of Hourey, a dis-
trict of Foota) to oblige us to take the path to
his own town. This I positively refused to com-
ply with, and told them if they felt inclined to
carry their orders into effect I was ready to re-
ceive them. They removed to a short distance
from our bivouac, and remained under arms all
night, the greater part of which was spent by us
in endeavours to arrange matters amicably with
them, but which we found a most difficult affair;
for what they at one moment consented to, they
refused the next. At length it was settled that
we should send one of our guides with one of
them to Goude Bofe, to know if the chief of

236 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

that village would allow us to remain there, as we
had proposed, until the return of the messenger
from Foota. They returned at a late hour the
same evening, 7th, bringing for answer that
Thierno Amadoo had consented to receive us as
friends at his village, where we might remain as
long as we wished. This did not appear to
please the other chief and his party, who went
off grumbling.

I made small presents to all who interested
themselves in our behalf at Seindoo, and, hav-
ing passed a comparatively quiet night, left it
at half after six on the morning of the 8th June,
and reached Looboogol at nine ; but here we
found such difficulty in obtaining a very li-
mited supply indeed of water the first day, that
the men had scarcely enough, and the animals
none at all.

Thierno Bayla, the chief who had sent the par-
ty to Seindoo, came to Looboogol on the 9th,
attended by a large body of horse and foot. He
paid us a visit in the course of the day, and de-
manded to be made acquainted with our inten-
tions in entering the country. I told him that
having been deceived and plundered by Alma-
my and the princes of Bondoo, I had decided
on returning to the coast through Foota j but, as
there was no reigning Almamy in that country,
I did not think it safe to enter it without per-

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. ^3?

mission from the chiefs, to whom I had de-
spatched messengers, whose return I intended
awaiting at Gowde Bofe.

He objected to our going there, and expressed
a wish that we should accompany him to his
own town, which lay about twenty-five miles in
the opposite direction to that we wished to pur-
sue. On our refusal he went off to the village,
and, having directed that none of the inhabitants
should dare to supply us with a drop of water,
stationed several small parties at short distances
round our camp, to enforce the strictest com-
pliance with this order, and to watch our move-
ments.

A tornado with heavy rain, which would at
any other time or under any other circumstances
have been an unpleasant visitor, was now the
thing most to be wished for, as it would have
served the double office of supplying us with
water, and of driving from their posts those par-
ties, who, not supposing we would (or rather
knowing we never did) travel during the rain,
would still have abandoned their posts, and have
gone to the village, in which case (having pre-
pared every thing to enable us to move in a mo-
ment), we would have loaded the animals, and
taken the direct road to Baquelle, which we com-
puted to be distant about forty miles. Judge then
our disappointment when a tornado, which bore

238 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

ev^ery appearance of an approaching deluge of
rain, blew off without a drop. It was about six p. m,
when our situation became extremely unpleasant,
not to say alarming. The animals had no water
since the 7th, and the men who had but a scanty
supply on the 8th, had none at all on that day,
the 9th, and how to procure it without proceed-
ing to extremities alone remained to be decided
upon. I had too many invalids and weak animals
to authorize my forcing my way to Baquelle with
such incumbrances and in absolute want of wa-
ter ; and to destroy either the whole or even a
proportion of my baggage and animals, was an
act which I conceived should be my last resource.
In this dilemma I determined on going myself
to Baquelle, in order to obtain twenty or thirty
men from the French vessels then there, and
return with them immediately, either to force
our way to that place, or, by the appearance of
such a reinforcement, to intimidate the natives
into compliance with my wishes. I left Mr,
Partarrieau in command of the party, with direc-
tions to endeavour by any means to keep those
people at arm's length, and procure a supply of
water until my return, which I settled should be
at a late hour on the evening of the 12th. I
was accompanied by two of the native soldiers.
We left the camp at half after seven, and, hav-
ing passed two villages during the night and an-

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 239

Other at day-break, arrived at Tuabo, the capital
of Lower Galam, at eight on the morning of the
10th, whence we proceeded without delay to
Baquelle, which we found to be more than fifty
miles from Looboogol.

I met a most cordial reception from the
French officers and merchants, who, being in-
formed of the object of my visit, said in the most
handsome manner that I should have every
assistance in their power.

At Baquelle I met Isaaco *, the same individual
who accompanied Mr. Park in his last attempt.
He proposed accompanying me on my return to
Looboogol and bringing with him three of his
own men, whom I furnished with arms for the
purpose. I received fifteen volunteers from his
Most Christian Majesty's brig Argus, and five
from the Senegal Company's vessel trading there,
and, having hired eight moors with eleven car-
rying bullocks for the transport of water, left
Baquelle in a boat at half after two in the even-
ing of the 11th, and landed at Jowar, a town of
Galam, on the south bank of the Senegal, at
half after seven, having found much difficulty
in passing the shallows, which had then only
eighteen inches water. The moors and their bul-

* Properly called Siacco.

S40 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

locks crossed the river at Tuabo, and arrived
about half an hour before us.

We remained at Jowar until two o'clock on
the morning of the 12th, when, being favored by
a fine moonlight night, and having loaded the bul-
locks with soofras of water, we commenced our
march to the w^est of south until daylight, when
w^e passed two small villages, and soon after ar-
rived in sight of Gowde Bofe, where Isaaco
(to whom being lame I lent my horse) proposed
going to gain some information with respect to
Mr. Partarrieau's movements, and give water to
the horse. I pointed out to him the improbabili-
ty of his again finding us, as we did not pursue
the beaten path, but he assured me he could, as
he knew all that country well*

At half after nine we passed the village of
Gangele, and soon entered a wood which I knew
to be the same I had traversed the evening I
left the camp, and which was not more by my
reckoning than three or four miles from us. It
was then noon, and exceedingly hot, but as, by
continuing our march, w^e should reach the camp
at too early an hour, we halted in the woods, and
sent two men back to Gangele to procure some
water, and, if possible, a guide to conduct us by
the shortest path to the camp. We waited their
return with impatience until half after three,

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 241

when the atmosphere to the east became over-
spread, and bearing every appearance of an ap-
proaching tornado. I moved back slowly towards
the village, with the hope of meeting them, but
the tornado came on with such rapidity and vio-
lence, that all was soon complete darkness, and
the path, which was previously not very distinctly
marked, now became imperceptible. We con-
tinued marching east for some time without meet-
ing the men, to whom I began to fear some-
thing unpleasant had happened ; but nevertheless
we marched on in hopes of meeting them as long
as we could perceive our way by the compass.
During the violence of the rain, four of the men
with the moors, and three bullocks, separated
themselves from the remainder of the party, and,
although I fired several shots as soon as I dis-
covered they were not with us, I did not again
see them.

It being quite dark at eight o'clock, we halted
in the woods and lighted a fire, at which we
spent the night, and half dried our clothes which
were completely drenched with the rain ; and at
daylight the following morning again moved
forward to the east, and in about an hour heard
the lowing of cattle in that direction ; fifteen
minutes more brought us clear of the wQod,
when we perceived a village at a short distance.
On our arrival at it we were informed that Mr.

R

242 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

Partarrieau had removed from Looboogol to a
village about four miles from where we then were.
Having procured a guide we moved on at a
smart pace, and soon arrived in front of the vil-
lage, where were assembled a number of armed
men apparently waiting our arrival ; for on our
approaching them, they desired us to keep off^
and would have proceeded to force had not our
guide told them our intentions were good.
One of the villagers, apparently a chief, then
came forward, and, offering me his hand, invited
me to the shade of a tree, where we were no
sooner arrived than surrounded by a crowd of
armed men, who without further ceremony at-
tempted to tear the clothes off my men's backs,
and their arms out of their hands. This sort of
treatment was too rough to be borne with sang
froid. My men, eleven in number, therefore
made some resistance, and removed in a body
to a short distance from where I was stand-
ing, but had scarcely moved when the war-
cry was set up by the Foolahs, and afire of mus-
quetry opened by them on my men, whose arms
were almost useless from the rain of the preced-
ing night, and consequently they w^ere unable to
make the resistance they might otherwise have
done. Three of them were already wounded, as
were three of the Foolahs, when Thierno Bayla ar-
rived from the village and offering me his hand

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. S4S

said, that if I would go quietly with him, no one
should molest me. I complied, as resistance
would have been vain ; but notwithstanding all
he could say or do, the rabble endeavoured to
tear my clothes from my back, and my sword
from my side. Bayla to no purpose endeavoured
to keep them off. They were become so out-
rageous, that three of them snapped their guns
at me, but, from the careless manner in which
they did it, I doubted their being loaded.

On entering the town, we were conducted into
a hut, and a man placed at the door to keep off
the crowd. By that time Mr. Partarrieau had
been informed of what had taken place, and
came to the hut where we v/ere. He informed
me that Isaaco had arrived only the day before,
and, having informed Bayla that I was coming
with an army, and left my horse in his hands, re-
turned to Baquelle. He next told me that he
had agreed with Bayla to be allowed to go to the
village of Fadgar, about ten miles from Gowde
Bofe, and there await the return of our messen-
gers from Foota. The first thing however to be
thought of was my own release and that of the
men with me, and for that purpose Bayla accom-
panied Mr. Partarrieau to the camp, where it was
settled that we should be permitted to go that
evening or the next morning, and that all tjie

R 2

244 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

things taken from me or the men would be re-
stored on our arrival at Fadgar.

We left our prison at seven in the morning of
the 14th, as I supposed to go to our camp, but
were not a little surprised at finding that it was
not the intention of Bayla to permit our doing
so. I demanded of him the fulfilment of his
promise, but the only answer I received was an
order to mount a miserable looking horse, held
by one of his followers. To refuse would have
been useless. Bayla was mounted on mine, and
attended by about one hundred armed men. We
moved towards the camp, where all were ready
to move, and apparently waiting our arrival ;
but we were not allowed to join them. Having
marched at a very smart pace until two p. m., we
reached a large straggling village, which on en-
quiry I found to be called Samba Jamangele,
and distant twelve miles west of Fadgar, the
place agreed on, and whither Mr. Partarrieau
was gone. This annoyed me a little, but there
was now no remedy, except patiently awaiting
the issue.

On our approach to the village, we were met
by the women and children, who came forth in
hundreds to welcome the return of their hus-
bands, fathers, brothers, &c. Many of the young
men and boys, who had never apparentlv seen a

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 245

white man before, approached me, and after ex-
amining my face with evident surprise and fear,
favoured me with the epithets of * unbeliever',
*son of a hog', * hater of God', and * offspring of an
unlawful connexion'. One old woman, apparently
very short-sighted, and no doubt mistaking me
for one of the people of the village, approached
my horse's side, and was in the act of giving me
her hand, when she perceived mine to be white,
and, shrieking, she almost fell to the ground with
fright.

Bayla, who had gone to Fadgar with Mr.
Partarrieau, called in the afternoon, and told me
that he would call again the following morning,
and allow me to return with my men to our
camp. But his promises were made to be broken ;
I did not see him until the l6th, when he ap-
pointed a person to conduct us to Fadgar.

I left Samba Jamangele at two o'clock on the
morning of the 17th of June, and arrived at the
camp at half after five, which, to my astonish-
ment, I found deserted. The tents were stand-
ing, and some weak asses, and other articles
which would necessarily impede their march,
were left behind.

The idea that they had gone for Baquelle,
and what place they must at that hour have been
near, could alone compensate for the disappoint-
ment I felt at their unexpected absence.

246 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

Bayla's men, who appeared more taken up
with searching the tents, and every thing else
they could lay their hands on, in hopes of find-
ing money, as they call it, than with the de-
parture of the mission, wished me to follow Mr.
Partarrieau's steps, which I would willingly have
done could I have prevailed on even one of
them to accompany me. But the hope they en-
tertained of finding some valuables in the camp,
was too sanguine to admit of their leaving it ; in
consequence of which I declined doing so, as I
was not only ignorant of the path, but aware
that the inhabitants of the first village I might
come to, finding me unattended by any of Bayla's
people, would stop me, and most probably treat
me worse than he had done. I therefore proposed
our immediate return to Samba Jamangele, where
I should endeavour so to arrange matters with
Bayla, as to obtain from him permission to pro-
ceed, and guides to conduct me to Baquelle.

It was some time before I could prevail on
these people to return with me, they were so
absorbed in their work of plunder, but that,
not turning out as well as they expected, they
gave up with much apparent disappointment.

On our return to Samba Jamangele, a man
was sent to acquaint Bayla with what had taken
place, and to request, at my desire, that he would
come without delay to arrange matters for my

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 247

departure and that of my men. He called on me
in the evening on his return from Fadgar, whi-
ther he had gone to secure such things as were
left behind by Mr. Partarrieau, and promised
that he would appoint people to conduct us on
the following morning to Baquelle, where he
had been told, that Mr. Partarrieau with the
whole party had arrived in safety.

In this, as in all other instances of promises
made by this man, I was disappointed, but to
which, from its almost daily occurrence, I was
become nearly insensible.

I saw nothing of him until a very late hour
on the night of the 20th June, when, by means
of a small present of two gold rings which I had
with me, and the promise of a few other things
by the return of the man he should send with
me to Baquelle, I induced him to name a per-
son for that purpose, and to fix the following
morning for our departure.

248

CHAPTER XI.

Description of the Plain of Hourey — Occurrences there-
Departure and Arrival at Baquelle — Unfavourable Ac-
counts from IMr. Dochard — Kingdom of Galam.

The village of Samba Jamangele, which is of
considerable extent, is one of many which com-
pose the district of Hourey, and is, with all the
others, situate in an extensive plain of that
name, the view of which is finely terminated in
the south and west by a range of hills covered
with wood. To the north are a few isolated hills,
and to the east the eye loses itself over a gently
undulating surface of some miles thinly sprinkled
with large trees.

The inhabitants, whose numbers do not ex-
ceed 3000, are descended from the Foolahs
(who some years since possessed themselves of
that country) and such of the former proprietors
and their vassals as embraced the Mahomedan
faith. They are governed by Bayla, who is a priest
and a minister of the council of Foota, which is a
sort of republic, headed by an almamy, but who
reigns only during the pleasure of the council,
and it is not at all uncommon to see this chief
changed two or three times within one year.
These people have every appearance of being

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 249

comparatively happy. A very small share of field
labour supplies them over-abundantly with rice,
corn, and all the other vegetable productions of
the country ; vast herds of cattle afford them milk,
butter, and occasionally meat, and what with
their poultry and game, they are seldom without
some addition to their cous-cous.

They do not cultivate as large a quantity of
cotton as their Bondoo neighbours, but are well
supplied with clothing both by them and the
French merchants at Senegal, in their commu-
nications with whom they have invariably acted
with the most base self-interestedness and du-
plicity, not unfrequently terminating their dif-
ferences in the assassination of a master of a small
vessel, or the plunder of his cargo.

Here again does the pernicious effect of the
Mahomedan faith make itself evident ; for those
people are taught by their priests to regard the
murder of an infidel, or the destruction of his
property, as a meritorious act in the eyes of their
prophet : — but of this in another place.

We left Samba Jamangele at two o'clock on
the morning of the 21st of June, and after a
most fatiguing march of eight hours we reached
a small village called Bunjuncole, where we
halted until half after two.

We were hospitably received by the chief of
the village, whose wife, having been a concubine

250 TUAVELS IN AFRICA.

of the late almamy of Bondoo, amongst other
royal visitors, received a small present from me
on our first entering that country, and in re-
turn for which she now gave us a reception that
evinced a sense of gratitude, which was rendered
doubly acceptable by the situation we were then
placed in, and the rare occurrence of such a
return for the many many presents I had made
while in that country.

We reached Jouar at six in the evening, and
would have proceeded that night to Baquelle,
had I not been so fatigued from having walked
the whole way, near fifty miles, that when I was
once seated, I found it impossible to move far-
ther. On the following morning (the master of
Jouar, at whose house we passed the first com-
fortable night since we left Boolibany, and
whose mild and hospitable behaviour formed a
pleasant contrast with the insolent and unfriendly
treatment we had so lately and so generally ex-
perienced at the hands of Bayla and Almamy,
having accommodated me with a horse for my-
self, and procured another for Charles Jowe,
who had voluntarily remained with me ever since
the unfortunate affair of the 13th, we proceeded
along the banks of the river to Baquelle, where
I arrived at half after nine, and was cordially
welcomed by the French officers, and Mr. Par-
tarrieau, who (not expecting that Bayla would let

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 251

me go so easily) were concerting measures for
my release and that of the men with me, but
these were now rendered unnecessary.

On the following morning I gave to the men
who accompanied me as guides, half a piece of
baft each, and in fulfilment of my promise, de-
livered to them for Bayla, a present, amounting
to fifty bars or thereabouts. They were thankful
for the former, and seemed surprised on receiv-
ing the latter, for they decidedly thought I should
decline giving any thing, at least, so consider-
able as what I had done, when once removed
from the power of their master.

The men since their arrival at Baquelle had
been encamped on the north bank of the river,
and had commenced forming huts on that side ;
but I found the situation so low, and liable to
inundation during the rains which had then so
completely set in that the river had risen some
feet, that I took up another and better po-
sition on the south bank, on a rock, elevated
about sixty feet above the river, and surrounded
partly by the then unfinished walls of the French
fort, and partly by the half demolished ones
of a part of the town of Baquelle, which for-
merly stood there. In taking up this position
I was also influenced by a report which was
in circulation that Almamy Bondoo had pri-
vately assembled a large force at Conghel, for

25^ TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

the purpose of attacking our post on the oppo-
site side of the river. In settling ourselves in
our new quarters we received the most ready
and cordial assistance from Messrs. Dupont and
Dusault, and the gentlemen of the Senegal
Company's vessels then trading there, and which
was most acceptable at that moment, as a great
many of our native soldiers were affected with
Guinea Worm, and the Europeans were so fa-
tigued from the effects of the late retreat, that
they were unable to do much.

Almamy, who was not yet satisfied with
throwing difficulties in the way of my progress,
thinking that I should without delay take the
road through Kaarta, made preparations to op-
pose me ; but here I would have put his abilities
to the test, as I should have ascended the river
in boats, had not the state of the season, and
the losses we had experienced in our retreat
from Bondoo, and particularly that from Fadgar,
rendered it imprudent, nay impossible, to pro-
ceed.

The uncertainty I was in with respect to Mr.
Dochard's proceedings at Sego, although of a
very perplexing nature, would not then have
prevented my moving on towards that place,
and which I would have attempted, had not the
foregoing insurmountable difficulties presented
themselves.

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 253

The S8th of June brought letters from him
bearing date 10th of May, which, however, gave
no prospect of a favourable answer from the
king.

He informed me that he reached Dhaba, a
town of Bambarra, on the 9th of November, where
Lamina left him, and went forward, accompanied
by Private Wilson, to acquaint the king with his
arrival, and promised to be back in ten days at
farthest. It was not however until the 21st that
Wilson returned. He stated that Lamina, who
left him at Sego Korro, and went to see the king
at Sego See Korro, despatched him to acquaint
Mr. Dochard that his brother, who was the king's
treasurer and receiver of customs, having died
three days after his arrival there, he could not
return until his affairs should be settled. This
although unpleasant news was to be borne with,
for it was useless to attempt putting those people
out of their usual routine of business.

In this state of anxious suspense he remained
until the 12th of December, when he moved
forward to Ko, a small village within a few miles
of Nyamina, where he arrived on the 9th of
January, 1819 ; and on the 11th received a
message from the king to halt at Ko until he
should see people from him. Those people did
not, however, make their appearance until the
14th February, when Lamina, accompanied by

854 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

three of the king's men, arrived, and stated that
they were sent by his majesty to apologize for
having detained Mr. D. so long, and to see the
present he brought for him. Mr. Dochard imme-
diately complied with their request ; when each
article was strictly examined, and seemed to
give much satisfaction, but they said that Dha
had directed them to be also submitted to the
inspection of a Bushreen, who would see them
on the following day.

This man made his appearance on the 15th,
and having examined the present in the same
way as the others had done, and expressed his
approbation of the different articles, left Mr.
Dochard to deliver it to the persons sent by
Dha, whose orders they said it was that Mr.
Dochard should go to Bamakoo, and there re-
main until he should decide on what answer to
give in reference to the business which brought
the " white people " to Bambarra.

Mr. Dochard in vain made many objections
to moving so far from Sego, to which the only
answer given was, that " It was the king s orders,
and must be obeyed." They stated, however,
that his reason for acting in that manner was his
fear that his enemies (the Massina Foolahs)
would hear of the arrival of the whites.

This said nothing : and all that could be done
wus to comply. Mr. Dochard, therefore, on the

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 255

17th, moved towards the river, where a canoe
was to be in readiness to conduct them to Ba-
makoo. He reached Cumeney on the south
bank of the Niger (having crossed it in canoes)
on the 18th February, and on the same day
ascended the river, then nearly half a mile
wide.

In their progress they were much impeded by
the falls, which had then very little water on
them ; and having passed several towns on each
bank, reached Kooli-Korro on the 20th, and
arrived at Manaboogoo, at noon on the 21st.

The population of Kooli-Korro, which is a
considerable town, is entirely composed of mur-
derers, thieves, and runaway slaves, who live
there exempt from the punishment their crimes
merit in consequence of their wearing about
their persons, a stone (taken from a hill in the
vicinity of the town), and which, from a super-
stitious belief amongst the Bambarras, would
immediately kill any one who should touch them;
and such is the dread entertained of this place,
that the very name must not be mentioned in
presence of the king.

As the river was not at that season navigable
any higher up, they disembarked, and marched
to Bamakoo, where they were accommodated
with huts.

Lamina, who with one of Dha's men accom-
panied Mr. Dochard to Bamakoo, being directed

256 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

to acquaint his majesty with our views in entering
and our wish to pass through his country, and to
request that he would, as soon as possible, give
his answer, returned to Sego on the 26th, pro-
mising to use his influence with the king in our
favour.

It was not until the 25th of April, 1819, that
the man (Dhangina) I sent with Alley Low%
from Samba Contaye, in Sept. 1818, reached
Baraakoo, with my letters to Mr. Dochard, who
up to that period had not received any decisive
answer from Sego, although he had repeatedly
sent messengers requesting to be made ac-
quainted with the cause of the delay, which he
was led to understand arose from the unsettled
state of the war with the Massina Foolahs.

That was saying nothing to our purpose : but
as patience and perseverance offered us the only
chance of success, both Mr. Dochard and myself
were determined to make every sacrifice to the
attainment of the object the British government
had in view.

In this state of anxious suspense did things
remain with me at Baquelle, whence I de-
spatched Dhangina a second time with letters
and supplies to Mr. Dochard. The effects of
our late retreat began to make themselves evi-
dent in the health of the party ; many of the
Europeans (one of whom was killed by lightning
on the 20th of June) were dangerously ill with

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. <257

fever and dysentery, and more than half the
native soldiers, as I have already observed, were
partially crippled by the Guinea-worm, which
had visited Mr. Partarrieau so severely, that he
was confined to his bed for some weeks.

The chiefs of Foota having been made ac-
quainted with the manner in which we had been
treated by Bayla (who had neither consulted
with them on that occasion, nor divided with
them what he had received and plundered from
us), and supposing that such was the cause of
our not pursuing the road through their country
to the coast, and consequently of their not re-
ceiving large presents, &c., were actuated by a
feeling of jealousy, which led them to request
we would give to their messengers (who arrived
at Baquelle on the 8th of July) a detailed ac-
count of his conduct towards us, and the losses
we had sustained in consequence, all which,
they promised, should be laid before the tribu-
nals of the country, and judged impartially.

Although I felt convinced that these chiefs
were only acting from an impulse of self-interest,
which they knew would, in some degree, be gra-
tified by the presents, which their apparent
efforts to render me satisfaction for the inju-
ries received at the hands of one of them,
would draw from me, I nevertheless thought
it a fit opportunity of putting their justice to

s

558 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

the test, and (if decided in our favour) of proving
to the people of that part of the country, that
although we had been treated ill by Almamy
Bondoo and this chief, their conduct had been
contrary to their own laws, and as such dis-
graceful only to themselves. I was in hopes
also that a favourable decision in this case would
lead to an investigation of Almamy Bondoo's
treatment of us, and induce him, if he had any
honor left, to evince it in making restitution for
the losses we sustained in his country.
1 I therefore delivered to the messengers a
etter to those chiefs, in which I gave the infor-
mation they required, and requested their im-
mediate decision, and having made them a small
present each, and appointed Charles Joe to ac-
company them, they left us on the 19th of July.
The month of August passed over without
any remarkable occurrence, save the death of
one of the European civilians (Hudson), who
died of fever on the 14th.

On the 12th of September, I paid a visit to
the Tonca of Tuabo (the capital of Lower Ga-
1am), and made him a small present. The river
was then so swollen that its banks were no
longer capable of containing its waters, which
had completely overflowed all the low grounds
in its vicinity, and destroyed a large proportion
of the corn that was just then coming into ear.

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 259

Many of the towns had suffered much in their
walls and houses, which being wholly composed
of clay, w^hen once wet tumbled to the ground.
The view of Tuabo at that moment was pecu-
liarly striking : it had all the appearance of a
floating town, rendered the more picturesque
by being beautifully shaded with dates, tamarind,
and other large trees. The inhabitants were in
the utmost consternation lest it should rise
higher, in which case they would have been
obhged to leave the town.

It is impossible to convey an accurate idea of
the grandeur of the scene. The Senegal, which
is there nearly half a mile wide, and then higher
than remembered by the oldest inhabitant of
the country, was hurrying along at the rate
of four miles an hour, covered with small float-
ing islands and trees, on both which were seen
standing large aigretts, whose glaring white
feathers, rendered doubly so by a brilliant sun,
formed a pleasing contrast with the green reeds
around them, or the brown trunks of trees
whereon they stood.

The mountains on either side of the river, to
whose bases the inundation reached, (forming an
extensive sheet of water, on the surface of which
appeared the tops of trees nearly covered,) were
clothed with the most luxuriant verdure, and,

s 2

260 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

although not very high, added much to the rich-
ness of the scene.

On tlie evening of the 7tli of October, Charles
Joe returned from Foota, bringing witli him the
animals, and some of the articles belonging to
the mission, which had been left at Fadgar, and
gave the following account of his embassy.

On his arrival at Chuloigne, the capital of
Foota, he was obliged to wait until the election
of an Almamy took place. This delayed him six
weeks j when Thieno Biram, a known friend
to Europeans, was chosen, and a general assem-
bly of the chiefs then present called, before whom
the affair was brought, and, after much discus-
sion, given against Bayla, who was declared to
have committed a crime worthy death, but
which, in this instance, should be mitigated into
banishment from the country. Bayla endea-
voured to excuse himself, by saying, that he was
instigated to treat us as he had done by Almamy
Bondoo ; whose letters to that eifect he was go-
ing to produce, when he was told by Almamy
Foota, that, as he was not a subject of Bondoo,
nor amenable, in any way, to the laws of that
country, he was unwarranted in carrying into
effect the orders of its chief, who should have
been ashamed of his conduct towards us.

It was also decreed by the assembly, that every

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 26l

thing which had either been given to Bayla as
presents, or lost in the country from his mis-
conduct, should be restored or paid for, and that
all those who assisted him should receive one
hundred lashes, or pay the ransom.

Such things as Bayla had then with him —
namely, my horse, sword, and a gun he had re-
ceived as a present — were delivered to Charles
Joe, who, without delay, proceeded on his re-
turn, accompanied by Almamy's brother and
son, who received orders to restore every thing
they could find belonging to the expedition, and
to escort Charles Joe to Baquelle. All this they
did, and brought with them the articles men-
tioned* ; but, as many others were still missing,
I lost no time in furnishing Almamy's brother
with a list of them, and having made him and
those with him presents, despatched them. They
promised to use their utmost endeavours to find
those things, but I never saw them again, which
arose, I believe, in a great measure, from Al-
mamy Biram having been soon deposed.

The latter end of November approached with-
out any intelligence from Mr. Dochard, or the
arrival of the fleet (from Senegal), from which I
was in hopes of being able to procure a supply
of the merchandise I stood in need of, to enable

* Article. 31. Appendix.

262 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

me to move forward. To remedy the former, at
least as much as lay in my power, I despatched
another messenger to Sego on the 9th of De-
cember ; but to procure the necessary supplies
without the arrival of vessels from the coast was
impossible : I was therefore obliged to wait until
all things should combine to render my moving
likely to be productive of any benefit.

In addition to the deaths already mentioned
since our arrival at Baquelle, wehad to deplore the
loss of two of the most useful, and hitherto most
healthy Europeans of the mission ; the one a ser-
geant (Duffy), and the other a private (Dodds),
of the royal African corps. Nearly all had suffered
more or less from the effects of the rains which
ceased about the latter end of October, leaving
behind them, however, swamps and stagnant
pools, not less deleterious in their effects on the
constitution than the former, and certainly more
immediately unpleasant, by the effluvia arising
from such putrid reservoirs of the vegetable mat-
ter, which in that country so profusely abounds
in all low situations.

Our animals too, particularly those not bred
in the country, died rapidly. We had lost since
our arrival three camels, six horses, and eight
asses.

We found much difficulty in procuring an
adequate supply of provisions during the rains.

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 263

in consequence of the war between Senegal and
Foota and of some misunderstanding between
Almamy Bondoo and the officer commanding
at Baquelle ; and, to add to this difficulty, the
Tonca of Tuabo, at the instigation of Almamy
Bondoo, put a stop to the supplies from some of
his towns, and seized a boat which had been
employed purchasing corn from the people of
the towns on the river side. As a pretext for
such conduct he said that " the whites^ his tribu-
taries,'^ had not made him sufficiently frequent
and handsome presents, or, in other words, had
not fully satisfied his avarice.

This man who was very old and much debili-
tated in mental as well as bodily faculties, was
controlled in all his actions by a relation of his
own, who was one of those that first caused
dissentions in the country, and sanctioned Al-
mamy's views on it ; which, in this instance, he
was most effectually forwarding, by partly
cutting off our supplies. In fact every means
were resorted to by Almamy and his asso-
ciates to oppose not only our further progress^
but the French works at Baquelle, where he was
aware the existence of such an establishment
would materially weaken his authority, and
eventually place that country in its former re-
spectability. He had another reason for not
favouring a permanent factory (at least on the

264 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

principles of that carrying on there) in Galani,
namely, the facility it would afford his enemies^
the Kaartans, and the inhabitants of the upper
state, of procuring supplies of arms and ammu-
nition : in fact, had he been able to do as he
wished, not an article of European merchandize
would have passed Bondoo, nor an article of
the production of any of his neighbours have
found its way to a European market.

The kingdom of Galam* extends from within
a few miles of the cataract of Feloo in the east
(where it is bounded by Kasson), about forty miles
west of the Falume to the N. Geercer creek,
which divides it from Foota j on the south it is
bounded by Bondoo ; and is at present com-
posed of a string of towns on the south or left
bank of the Senegal. It formerly extended seve-
ral miles in the direction of Bondoo, Foota, and
Bambouk, but has of late years diminished to its
present insignificant state, in consequence of
dissentions amongst the different branches of the
royal family, and the encroachments of their
enemies. It is divided into upper and lower ; the
river Fa-lemme t is the line of separation. The
upper is governed by the Tonca of Maghana;
and the lower by the Tonca of Tuabo ; those
towns being the capitals to their respective divi-

* Called Kajaaga by the natives,
t Signifying ^' small river."

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. ^65

sions, and neither acknowledging the supremacy
of the other, although formerly, and of right, it
belonged to the former, near which are the
ruins of Fort St. Joseph, The succession to the
crown is not hereditary ; it descends in a regular
line to the eldest branch of a numerous family
called Batcheries, who are the undisputed chiefs
of the country.

The face of the country is very mountain-
ous, and much covered with wood, a large
proportion of which is well adapted to common
uses. Its vegetable productions are the same as
those of Bondoo, from which country it differs
in nothing save its proximity to the river, and its
partial inundation during the season of the rains.

The commerce, like that of Bondoo, consists
in the exchange of the productions of the
country for European goods. Those are again
exchanged with their neighbours of Kaarta,
Kasson, and Bambouk, for gold, ivory, and slaves,
who are in their turn sold to the French vessels
from Senegal.

Their manufactures, although nearly the same
as those of their neighbours, have the advantage
of them in some respects, particularly that of
weaving and dyeing the cotton ; and whether it
be that the humidity of the soil on the banks of
the river is more congenial to the growth of the

266 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

cotton and indigo, or that the manufacturers are
more expert, I cannot say ; but certain it is, that
they can dye a much finer blue than I have be-
fore seen in Africa. The process is precisely
the same as that mentioned by Mr. Park to be
followed by the inhabitants of lindey near the
Gambia,

Their dress and manner of living is also nearly
the same as those of the people of Bondoo. The
former is made rather larger in the same shape,
and the latter is more frequently seasoned with
fish, in which the river abounds. They are pro-
verbially fond of animal food, which, although
arrived at a higher degree of keeping than
would please the palates of our most decided
epicures, would not be rejected by them. I have
seen a dead hippopotamus floating down the
river, and poisoning the air with its putrid va-
pours, drawn to shore by them, and such was
their love of meat, that they nearly came to
blows about its division.

From a state of Paganism these people are
progressively embracing the Mahometan faith ;
but many still despise its tenets, disregard its
ceremonies, and indulge freely in the- use of
strong liquors. Some towns are wholly in-
habited by priests, who are by far the most
wealthy and respectable members of the com-

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. S67

munity. There is a mosque in every town,
and the times of worship are strictly attended
to by the priests and their converts.

From the long existence of a state of commer-
cial intercourse (which has been but partially in-
terrupted by Foota) between these people and
the inhabitants of Senegal, arises a degree of
respect which is invariably paid by them to all
Europeans who visit their country ; and although
the exorbitant demands of the chiefs for presents
(now called customs) sometimes cause alterca-
tions and temporary quarrels between them, they
must nevertheless be considered as more friendly
to Europeans than any other of the surrounding
tribes. Whether this proceeds (as some pretend
to think) from their being more in the power of
the vessels which come up to trade at their
towns (all which are situate on the river side,
and exposed to much damage from the smallest
piece of cannon, in case of misconduct), or
from a mild and peaceable disposition, I will
not venture to decide positively ; but I think I
should not labour under a very great error, in
saying that the many advantages they derive
yearly from such an intercourse (and of which
they acknowledge themselves sensible), leads
them, like the mass of mankind, to consult their
own interest ; and to forward which they must
in some cases submit to the desires (at all times

^68 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

not very honourable) of those who trade with
them. They profess an attachment to and claim
relationship with the inhabitants of Senegal, and
if hospitality can in any degree prove the sin-
cerity of the former, it must be allowed they
have such attachment, as the house of a Serra-
wolli, and every thing it contains, is at all times
at the service of the poorest inhabitant of that
place.

Their local situation and the advantages they
derive from it, render them enemies to the peo-
ple of Bondoo, who have nothing to do with the
river except through the medium of their country;
hence, the great exertions of the late Almamy
Amady to subjugate the nation, and which he
maybe said to have in some degree accomplished;
for he, by one means or other, gained such au-
thority amongst them, that of late years the ves-
sels trading in the river were obliged to pay him
a large present before they could pass Yafrey*.
He also succeeded in sowing the seeds of discord
between the chiefs of the upper and lower States,
the latter of whom he contrived to attach to his
own cause, or at least so much so that when Al-
mamy attacked the former, the latter, although
closely related, afforded them no assistance.
Since the death of Almamy and the arrival of
the French to settle at Galam, they appear to

* A large town ten miles west of the Fa-lemme.

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. ^69

be progressively approaching to their former
respectabiHty.

The population of Galam has increased con-
siderably within the last two years, in conse-
quence of many of the inhabitants of the Gedu-
magh towns on the north bank of the river hav-
ing settled there, being obliged to quit their own
country by the Kaartans, to whom they were
tributary, but whose exorbitant demands they
had for some years declined complying with,
thereby bringing on themselves either slavery
or the absolute necessity of quitting their
homes.

Great numbers of dates are grown in all the
towns, which are beautifully shaded with large
trees of the fig and other kinds, and being well
walled, have a more respectable appearance than
might be expected from people whose means
are so limited.

Their amusements, animals, household furni-
ture, and musical instruments are the same as
those of Bondoo ; but the people themselves are
neither so lively in their manners, nor so appa-
rently active in their occupations as those of that
country. A Serrawolli is seldom seen to run j a
grave and sober deportment, and an apparent in-
difference to all matters characterize those peo-
ple. In stature they are large, and in make

TJO TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

more robust, yet less elegant, than the Foolahs.
Their colour is a jetty black, which they are
at much pains to preserve (particularly in the
dry season) by using a profusion of rancid
batter. The women are, if possible, more fond
of gaudy articles of dress than their neighbours,
and will make any sacrifice at the shrine of
finery.

271

CHAPTER XII.

Report of Mr. Dochard^s Arrival in Kaarta-— My Depar-
ture for St. Joseph, and Meeting with Mr. D. — Return
to Baquelle — Messenger sent to Sego — Arrival of Fleet
from St. Louis— Mr. D.'s Return to the Coast,, and my
final Determination — Visit to St. Joseph — Conduct of
Almamy Bondoo — Return from St. Joseph — State of
Affairs at Baquelle — Departure from thence — Delay at St.
Joseph — Assembly of Chiefs, &c. &c.

On the 30th of June I was informed by a Serra-
wolli merchant, who came direct from Dhy-
age, the capital of Kaarta, that Mr. Dochard
had arrived at that place from Sego : but as I
had found those people so little worthy of credit
on most occasions, I doubted the correctness of
his statement, particularly as he said he had
seen Mr. Dochard, but brought no letter from
him, although he was aware he should see me
sooner than Mr. Dochard could himself. An op-
portunity offering, however, for my going to
Fort St. Joseph, by a boat, on board which one
of the French officers was proceeding to that
place, I took advantage of it, in order to ascer-
tain beyond a doubt whether Mr. Dochard had
arrived, and if so to request Samba Congole to
despatch a messenger without delay, to render
him any assistance he might require.

272 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

I left Baquelle on the evening of the 6th of
June, and arrived at Fort St. Joseph at seven the
following evening, when I was agreeably sur-
prised on finding that Mr. Dochard had reached
there on the 4th, but in so bad a state of
health from a violent and protracted attack of
dysenter)% that he could scarcely rise from the
mat on which he was lying to give me his hand,
and which I apprehended he could not long live
to do. Although there was no occurrence, next
to that of being able to prosecute my journey,
which I sighed for more ardently or impatiently
than the return of my friend and companion,
I was but half gratified by finding him so ill.
He was dreadfully emaciated, but in good spirits,
and expressed a conviction that a little rest, and
the satisfaction he felt at meeting us all in com-
paratively good health, would soon restore him.

My impatience to become acquainted with the
result of his embassy was so great that he ob-
served it, and immediately imparted to me the
unpleasant intelligence that the only answer he
could obtain was, " that until the war termi-
nated Dha could not allow us to pass." So that
after waiting nearly two years for what this king's
messenger informed us would be granted the
moment we arrived in the country, we were
now told if we wished to await the issue of a
war (and in which the Bambarras were by no
means successful), we should obtain it. It now

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 273

then remained for us to decide what steps we
should take, under all the circumstances of our
case, as most likely to afford prospects of success:
but before coming to any determination, it was
necessary to wait the arrival of the vessels from
Senegal to obtain the supplies we so much wanted.

The first object, however, was to remove Mr.
Dochard to Baquelle, for which purpose Lieu-
tenant Dusault (although not ready to return
himself) politely lent his boat

On our arrival on board His Most Christian
Majesty's brig, the officer commanding (Lieu-
tenant Dupont, to whom, as well as to his com-
panion, I shall ever feel indebted for their at-
tention to myself on all occasions) added an-
other link to the chain of obligations by w^hich I
was already bound to them, in offering Mr.
Dochard accommodation on board his brig,
where Lieutenant Dupont politely said, no ex-
ertions of his to alleviate Mr. Dochard's pre-
sent sufferings, and, if possible, erase the re-
membrance of the past, should be wanting.
This offer, like all others from those gallant of-
ficers, was made with such really cordial warmth
of heart, and such an evident wish on the part
of Lieutenant Dupont to minister personally to
my friend's wants, that, although it was taking
from myself the pleasure I had anticipated, I
complied ; and having supplied him as well as
my poor wardrobe would allow with clean linen,

Qj4< TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

left him to take that repose of which he was so
much in need.

As Mr. Dochard had left Bambarra without
Dha's permission, and liad left behind him three
of his men wlio had been at Sego for some time
previous to his leaving Bamakoo, I feared that
Dlia might suppose I had abandoned the hope
of prosecuting my journey, and although he had
not as yet sanctioned our passing, I was in
liopes tliat the cause assigned for not doing so
(namely, the war with the Massina Foolahs)
miglit soon be removed by its termination, and
afford us the long wished-for opportunity of
following up the object we had in view. In or-
der therefore to assure Dha that, although Mr.
Dochard had left his country without his know-
ledge, we had not relinquished our proceedings
there, I despatched one of my own men, a na-
tive of N'Yamina, with a letter to him and his
ministers, accompanied with small presents,
requesting them to take especial care of the
men left at Sego by Mr. Dochard, and to send
me, with as little delay as possible, a decisive
answer : my man accompanied a native mer-
chant, named Usufe (a cousin of Isaaco), who
was going on a trading voyage to Sego, and to
whom I promised five pieces of baft, in case he
should render my messenger such assistance as
he might require. They left Baquelle on the 3rd
of August.

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 275

Mr. Dochard continued extremely low, and
what with the effects of the complaint he had
been so long labouring under, and frequent at-
tacks of fever since his return, he was reduced
to that state from which I much doubted the
possibility of a recovery. He did not, however,
entertain the same apprehensions, and this alone
enabled him to support his complicated suffer-
ings, much aggravated by the state of the sea-
son, which was very wet and sultry.

On the 28th of August, a steam -boat arrived
from St. Louis, having a few days before
parted from the fleet, which experienced much
difficulty and opposition in passing the Foota-
Toro country, where the inhabitants (who- were
armed with muskets, and had formed intrench-
ments on the river side for the purpose,) attacked
the vessels, on board which several men were kill-
ed and wounded, and one of the Galam Com-
pany's sloops sunk in consequence of the confu-
sion. It was not, however, until the 21st of Sep-
tember that the fleet made its appearance, when
having fruitlessly endeavoured to procure the
supplies wanted, I saw the utter impossibility
of proceeding with the whole expedition, and
therefore came to the determination of sending
to the coast Mr. Dochard, Mr. Partarrieau,
and all the men, except fifteen, with whom I
decided on making another attempt to proceed.

T 2

^76 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

Mr. Docharcl wished much (notwithstanding his
enfeebled state of health) to accompany me,
but I could not in justice to him, to my own
feelings, or indeed to the service in which I
was so warmly engaged, comply with his re-
quest. I was thus reduced to the very last
effort ; and however reluctantly I parted with
those officers and men who had been my com-
panions in privations, difficulties, and anxiety
since 1818, I felt a satisfaction in saying to
them that the circumstances I was then placed
in could alone induce me to dispense with the
services which on all occasions, and in the most
trying cases, they had rendered with so much
cheerfulness and patience. When selecting
from the party such men as I conceived best
adapted to the peculiarity of the service we were
about to enter on, nearly every man volunteered
to accompany me to the very last moment ; but
my means were then reduced to so limited a
compass, and the necessity of proceeding with a
small party In such circumstances so decidedly
imperious, that I could not accept of their fur-
ther services, and therefore chose fifteen, among
whom was my sergeant-major (Lee), a man,
who to the strictest sentiments of honor add-
ed those of cool determined bravery and a
strong impulse to render every possible assist-
ance in bringing our service to a favourable
termination. All the others were men of co-

loim Pithpr fsnldipr*: nf fhp African rnrns nr in-

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. ^77

habitants of Senegal ; of the latter was Charles
Joe, a mulatto of respectable connexions, and
a man who had in many instances evinced much
devotion to the interests of the expedition, and
firm attachment to my person. Many of his
friends then at Baquelle used all their influence
and persuasion to induce him to leave me. He
told them, however, that he had given his word
never to desert the cause, and he would not
break it.

Having made all the preparations necessary
for the departure of those officers and men, they
embarked on the 29th of September on board
the fleet returning to St Louis, the command-
ant of which, Mr. Le Blanc, received at his ta-
ble Mr. Dochard. The vessels did not sail un-
til the 30th ; I accompanied them to Tuabo.
On taking leave of my companions my feelings
were such as I am unable to describe. I leave
those who have themselves parted from friends
whom they had every probability of never see-
ing more, to judge what mine must have been ;
suffice it to say, that my spirits for the re-
mainder of that day were at their lowest ebb.

From that unpleasant state of mind I was
awakened by the reflection that the step I had
taken was the only one which offered any pro-
spect of success. I took advantage of a boat
going to Fort St. Joseph on the 5th of October,
for the purpose of soliciting the interest of

^78 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

for my passage through that country. Contrary
winds and strong currents prevented my arriv-
ing there before the 8th, when having made
known to Samba the object of my visit, and
made him a small present, he assured me that I
might depend on his forwarding my views in
every way he could ; he also agreed to send a
party of horse to escort me from Baquelle, which
place I purposed leaving in November, On my
return to Baquelle, I found the French com-
mandant, Mr. Hesse, in dispute with the Tou-
ca of Tuabo, who having made some demands
for customs, with which the former did not
think right to comply, declared hostilities. An-
gry words and threats on both sides, however,
were alone resorted to, and continued to the
18th, during which time I was busily employed
in making preparations for our march. These
being completed, on the 31st of October I de-
spatched a messenger to demand the promised
escort from Samba, whose brother arrived at
Baquelle on the 6th of November, accompanied
by four horsemen and ten foot. He informed me
that having some business of his brother's to
transact at Tuabo, he could not be ready to re-
turn before three or four days.

Almamy Bondoo, who by some means got in-
formation of my intended movement, and sup-
posing that we should proceed by water to Fort
St. Joseph, posted a strong party at Yafrey to

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 279

oppose our passage ; thus proving that he had
all along been determined to prevent our pro-
ceeding eastward. He was, however, misin-
formed, for although I intended (and did take
advantage of a boat going to that place) to send
all my baggage thither, I had determined on
proceeding with the men and animals by a path
on the north side of the river, where we should
not meet any of the people of Bondoo, and few,
if any, of any other tribes, as all the towns on
that side had been either destroyed by the
Kaartans, or deserted by their inhabitants. Al-
mamy's arrival with his army at Baquelle, pre-
vented Dhyabe ^ from returning as soon as he
otherwise would have done : I was therefore
compelled to wait for him until the l6th, having
sent off my baggage on the 9th.

We left Baquelle on the morning of the 17th,
and travelled ese. until six p.m. when we
halted for the night, all much fatigued, at a pool
of muddy water in the woods. The country
over which we travelled was low and flat, much
covered with wood, and bore the marks of the
late inundation. We met several herds of wild
hogs and antelopes, and saw the recent foot-
marks of the elephant and hippopotamus in the
vicinity of the small creeks we crossed. The
following morning we moved forward in the

* Samba's brother.

280 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

same direction until we came to the river, along
the north bank of which we continued our
march through deserted and ruined towns until
three p.m., when we reached Goosela, a small
walled town of Gidumagh, at which we halted
for the night.

Goosela is one of a few Gidumagh towns
which remain on the north bank of the Senegal,
tributary to the Kaartans and Moors, and which
makes itself very evident in the miserably
wretched and poverty struck appearance of the
inhabitants, whose numbers do not exceed one
hundred and fifty. It is situate on an elevated
spot about 500 yards from the river.

A march of two hours along the banks of the
river brought us opposite Fort St. Joseph, on the
morning of the 19th, at eight o'clock, when ca-
noes having been provided by Samba Congole,
we crossed without delay, and found our baggage
safely deposited in a square mud building in his
yard, where I was myself accommodated with
quarters.

My first object was to despatch a messenger
to Modiba, requesting that one of his confidential
servants might be sent without delay to conduct
us into that country. One of Samba's brothers
was selected for that service, and proceeded on
the 1st of December with directions from Sam-
ba to make as little delay as possible.

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 281

Fotigue, the man whom I sent, in company
with Isaacco's brother, to Sego in August, ar-
rived at Fort St. Joseph on the 3rd of December
without having been able to proceed farther
than Dhyage, in consequence of the inundated
state of the country between Galam and Kasson.
They lost every thing they had, in crossing
one of the innumerable torrents which intersect
that country during the rains, and where he, as
well as his companions, must have perished had
it not been for the timely and providential as-
sistance rendered them by a canoe belonging to
Safere, a prince of Kasson, which accidentally
passed by the tree where they had been perched
for two days without food or the prospect of
release. He stated having seen a Moor at
Dhyage who came from Sego, and informed him
that at the time of his departure the men left
there by Mr. Dochard were on the point of
being despatched, in company with one of Dha's
people named Sitafa, to meet me.

The 1st of January 1821, now arrived, but
without the appearance of the messenger : I was
informed, however, by some native merchants
who arrived from Kaarta, that he was on the
point of leaving it.

On the 11th I witnessed at Dramanet an as-
sembly of the chiefs of Upper Galam, on the oc-
casion of nominating a new Touca, and to regu-

282 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

late some matters relative to the then state of that
country. I accompanied Samba Congole, who
was attended by his brothers and the chiefs of
Maghana and Magha-doo-goo.

On our arrival at the Bentang or assembly-
tree, near which is situate the mosque, by far
tlie most respectable edifice I have seen in the
interior, we were presented with mats, on
which we took our seats among a large crowd
of spectators and chiefs, who were, like our-
selves, all seated.

The Tonca, whose arrival all appeared an-
xiously awaiting, soon approached the place, pre-
ceded by a number of drums and singers, mak-
ing a horrible noise. His majesty was on horse-
back, dressed in yellow, with a large gold ring
in each ear, and followed by about one hundred
men armed with muskets. When he dismounted
a mat was spread for his accommodation near
the trunk of the tree, and the place sprinkled
with water from an earthern jar by an old wo-
man ; this was intended to sanctify (or in other
words to drive away any evil spirits from) the
place. This ceremony, which was performed
with much apparent awe and profound silence,
being finished, and the Tonca being seated, the
proceedings commenced by a griot or bard pro-
claiming in a loud voice the object of their
meeting, and desiring that all those who had any

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 283

thing to say on the subject, should do so. Each
chief then paid his respects to the Tonca, by
calHng aloud his surname (Batchirie) and wish-
ing him a long and prosperous reign. The chief of
Dramanet, who is a priest and styled Almamy,
spoke much. He said that, during the late wars
with Bondoo, many of the chiefs present had
either abandoned their towns to the enemy and
taken refuge in those on the west side of the
Faleme, there remaining inactive spectators of
their country's fall, or openly assisted in its de-
struction, which their base conduct had so nearly
completed that it became absolutely necessary
they should adopt some deciave measure for its
defence. He called on them to take example by
the hitherto unsubdued resistance made by Samba
Congole and the chiefs of Maghana and Magha-
doo-goo, who preferred risking their own lives
and the liberty of their families to a galling and
disgraceful subjection to their enemies : that
the time was now arrived when an understand-
ing must be established between them ; and he
advised them strongly to return to their duty,
rebuild their towns, and support with him and
his colleagues a war which threatened their
very existence. Tonca and Samba spoke in
their turn to nearly the same purpose. The
end of each sentence spoken by the former
was followed by two or three strokes on a

5284 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

drum, and every word the latter said was re-
ceived with applause. All was carried on in a
manner that would not reflect disgrace on the
most enhghtened senate. One person only
presumed to speak at a time, and that in a low
voice, and the person speaking never received
any interruption before he announced his having
finished, which, as well as all that each had said,
was repeated in a loud and distinct voice by the
respective bards, or griots of the chiefs.

I witnessed a sinailar assembly at Bondoo, but
it was by no means conducted with similar regu-
larity, or respect to good order. The assembly sat
three hours, and was dismissed by the Tonca
informing the chierfs that having heard all that
was advanced on either side, it remained for
those to whom thej proposal of acting in unison
with the others for their country's good was made,
to decide whether they would do so or abide the
consequences, which he hinted might not be very
pleasant, as the king of Kaarta had made known
his determination,, '* God willing", to visit their
country in the coujse of that year.

I was much a^stonished at the shrewd re-
marks, specious motives, and expressive lan-
guage used by some of the chiefs present. Al-
maney Dramanet;, a man advanced in years,
possessing considerable influence in the country,
and, as he said, "' only answerable to God and

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 285

his country for his actions", used every argu-
ment, and brought forward every instance of the
noble conduct of their ancestors, to induce such
as had deserted the cause, to re-embrace it with
hand and heart. He expatiated at much length
on the disgrace in the eyes of the world, and the
sin in the eyes of God, upon the line of conduct
they had adopted towards their country and
their relatives would inevitably draw down on
them ; and as an excitement to a return to
their duty, he painted in very pleasing colours,
the happy and respectable state of that country
whose chiefs and inhabitants, having successfully
used their joint endeavours to defend it from the
encroachments of an inveterate enemy, enjoyed
the fruits of their labours, with the satisfaction
of a good conscience, and the comforts of a so-
cial and quiet life.

I could quote numerous other similar argu-
ments made use of by many of them, but as I
suppose the object that I had in view in doing so
at all is gained by what I have just stated, I shall
not weary my reader with unnecessary matter, and
shall therefore merely say that these people are
far from being that savage unsophisticated race
of mortals, which they are by many supposed to
be ; and, in my humble opinion, want but long
and uninterrupted intercourse with enlightened
nations, and the introduction of the Christian

286 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

religion, to place them on a level with their more
wealthy northern fellow-creatures.

Samba's messenger did not return from
Kaarta until the 26th of January, at so late an
hour that, although my anxiety to be made ac-
quainted with the result of his embassy was
great indeed, I was obliged to exert my patience
until the following morning, when Samba came
with him to my hut, and informed me that, after
waiting several days for an answer from Modi-
ba, he at length received one to the following
effect, that a guide should be appointed imme-
diately to conduct me to Kaarta, and that every
assistance and protection I might require should
be afforded me as far as Modiba's arm (influence)
extended. This was (as far as words went) good ;
but the guide had not arrived, and although the
messenger was told he should join him before he
passed the frontier (where he waited two days for
him), he did not make his appearance. The mes-
senger, however, said that I might expect to see
him in a few days. Patience again : for without it
nothing was to be done. On this occasion however
(at least with regard to his coming) it was not
much tried, for he arrived on the S8th instant,
after telling me that Modiba had sent him to con-
duct me to Kaarta, where I should be received
and treated as the friend of Samba. He said
that in consequence of the wilderness througli

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 287

which our path lay being infested at that
time by several bands of robbers from Kasson
under Hawah Demba, he could not undertake
to lead me into it, before he could (by returning
to Kaarta) bring a force to escort me. This was a
disappointment indeed. I urged him to banish
his fears on my account ; and told him that
although I well knew such robbers were on the
road, and actually murdered and robbed several
people, I was nevertheless ready and anxious to
proceed, as I felt satisfied that no party of those
people, were they even three times our number,
would dare to attack us. Remonstrance was
vain. I was obliged to submit to farther delay,
which both Samba and the Guide (Bokari ) pro-
mised should not be longer than twelve days.

This unexpected procrastination was almost
insupportable. I saw my means fast diminishing,
the fine weather as rapidly passing away, and
no more prospect of sincerity on the part of
Modiba than I had experienced from Almamy.
The hope, however, that I might be deceived in
my opinion, and that the promised day would
bring back Bokari with an escort, rendered it
passingly tolerable to one who, from constant
disappointment, had, in some measure, become
insensible to the anxiety incident to such a state ;
but to add to my annoyance on that head, I

288 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

could not get Bokari to move before the 4th of
February, in consequence of one of two Moors
who had gone in search of game for Samba,
having been murdered by the party under Ha-
w^ah Demba on the 25th of January.

However, in order that no business of mine
should delay me a moment after the return of
Bokari, I made the presents to Samba and the
cliiefs of that part of Galam, which their atten-
tion to me and their intercession with Modiba
in my behalf deservedly merited.

From the 10th of February, the day on which
Bokari promised I should see him, to the 13th
of March was spent by me in endeavours to in-
duce a travelling merchant then at Fort St. Jo-
seph, and about to proceed to Kaarta with a
large caravan, to allow me to accompany him,
to no effect. He said, he dare not bring a white
man into that country without Modiba's per-
mission. This, however, was not his motive for
refusing j he thought, and justly enough, that,
after my arrival in that country, European
goods, of which his venture chiefly consisted,
would fall in value, from the quantity I must
unavoidably give in presents and the purchase
ofprovisions.

On that day Samba, who had been absent
from his town since the preceding night, came

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 289

to tell me, that the Kaartans had gone into
Bondoo on a plundering excursion that morning,
and would no doubt be at Fort St. Joseph some
hour during the night, when, after a little rest, they
were (in compliance with directions from Modiba)
to escort me to Kaarta. This was what I wanted ;
but it was matter of much regret to me, that
they should have taken advantage of the oppor-
tunity which coming for me afforded them, of
disturbing the people of Bondoo, and of com-
mitting acts of rapine and cruelty, to which ci-
vilised nations are, thank God, strangers.
About eight, p.m. they began to make their ap-
pearance in parties of from ten to twelve horse-
men, and continued doing so until midnight.

On the morning of the 14th of March, I
hastened to an interview with Samba, and the
Kaartan chief whose name was Garran, a ne-
phew of Modiba and son of Sirabo, a former
king of that country. After the usual compli-
mentary salutations, he told me by means of my
interpreter that at my own desire his father
(for so he called Modiba) had sent him with a
detachment to escort me to his country, where
I should meet with kind and friendly treatment
during my stay, and receive the assistance I re-
quired in prosecuting my journey as flir, at
least, as Modiba' s power reached. On my ask-
ing him to name an early day for our departure,

u

290 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

he said that he had some business to transact
with the chiefs of Upper Galatn, but that if once
settled, he would not give me farther delay.
He made much inquiry respecting my transac-
tions with Almamy Bondoo, and said that his
conduct to me was of a piece with all his for-
mer acts. He expressed his regret that I had
not demanded assistance from Modiba when I
found it was Almamy's intention to deceive me,
and was much surprised when I told him that,
although I was very badly treated by the
princes and chiefs of Bondoo, I did not consider
myself authorized, much less feel inclined, to
bring war into their country. As only a part of
the Kaartan force was bivouacked near our huts,
I went to the adjoining towns for the purpose of
ascertaining their numbers, which I found to
amount to about one thousand, all horse. They
had made one hundred and seven prisoners,
chiefly women and children, and had taken
about two hundred and forty head of cattle.
Many of these unfortunate beings were known
to me. The men were tied in pairs by the
necks, their hands secured behind their backs ;
the women by the necks only, but their hands
were not left free from any sense of feeling for
them, but in order to enable them to balance
the immense loads of pangs, corn or rice, which
they were forced to carry on their heads, and

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. ^91

the children (who were unable to walk or
sit on horseback behind their captors) on their
backs.

Th^ chiefs of the adjacent towns were sum-
moned to attend an assembly on the l6th of
March, when it was matter of discussion whe-
ther another attack should not be made on Bon-
doo before the departure of the Kaartans. It
was, however, decided (much to my satisfaction)
that nothing more should be done in that way,
and the 18 th of March was fixed for our departure.
Having taken leave of Samba, and returned him
thanks for his kindness in obtaining from Modi-
ba the assistance I required, I lay down at a late
hour on the night of the lyth of March, to take
a little rest ; but my impatience to see that day
break, which was about to give me the opportu-
nity of another attempt towards accomplishing
the object of the expedition, prevented my doing
so : I therefore employed the time in packing
up some dry provisions for our use until we
could reach Kaarta. At day-light we com-
menced passing the animals and baggage to the
north bank of the river, where, with the assist-
ance of a canoe, all was safely landed soon after
eight o'clock.

The animals were immediately loaded, and we
moved forward to the ese., along the bank of
the river through corn-grounds, until a quarter

u 2

292 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

after eleven, when we reached Maghem-Yaghere,
a small and miserably poor walled town, inha-
bited by a few Gidumaghs, who prefer leading
a most precarious and slave-like life under the
Moorish and Kaartan despots, to abandoning
their native soil. We halted at a short distance
east of the town, in order to await the arrival of
the army, and to adjust some loads which from
the asses' lying down under them had been dis-
arranged.

I had an opportunity of witnessing during
this short march the new-made slaves, and the
sufferings to which they are subjected in their first
state of bondage. They were hurried along (tied
as I before stated) at a pace little short of running,
to enable them to keep up with the horsemen,
who drove them on as Smithfield drovers do fa-
tigued bullocks. Many of the women were
old, and by no means able to endure such treat-
ment. One in particular would not have failed
to excite the tenderest feelings of compassion
in the breast of any, save a savage African ;
she was at least sixty years old, in the most
miserable state of emaciation and debility,
nearly doubled together, and with difficulty
dragging her tottering limbs along ; to crown
the heart-rending picture, she was naked, save
from her waist to about half way to the
knees. All this did not prevent her inhuman

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. QQS

captors from making her carry a heavy load
of water, while, with a rope about her neck,
he drove her before his horse, and, whenever
she shewed the least inclination to stop, he
beat her in the most unmerciful manner with
a stick. Had any of those gentlemen (if any
there be) who are either advocates for a revi-
val of that horrid and unnatural traffic in hu-
man flesh, or so careless about the emancipa-
tion of this long degraded and suffering people
as to support their cause (if they do it at all)
with little ardour, been witness to the cruelties
practised on this and similar occasions (to say
nothing of their sufferings in the middle pas-
sage), they would soon change their minds, and
be roused to make use of all their best exer-
tions, both at home and abroad, to abolish in
toto the slave trade, which, although it has re-
ceived a mortal blow from the praiseworthy and
truly indefatigable exertions of Africa's nume-
rous and philanthropic friends in England,
must exist as long as any of the states of Eu-
rope give it their support.

I endeavoured to purchase from Garran the
freedom of the poor old woman, but although I
told him to fix his own price, I could not in-
duce him to comply. He told me that nothing
could be disposed of before the king had seen
all that was taken. I, to no purpose, repre-

294» TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

sented to him the more than probability of this
poor creature's falling a victim to the hardships
she must necessarily undergo before she could
reach Kaarta. Those savages only ridiculed my
compassion, and asked me if I was gratified in
seeing the people of Bondoo thus punished. My
reply in the negative only excited their laugh-
ter, and drew a remark from Garran, *' That
people so sensible to the sufferings of their ene-
mies could not be good warriors." Alas ! what
an error, and what consequent scenes of distress
and misery ! !

We leftMaghem-Yaghere at six on the morning
of the 10th, passed a small village called Gakoro,
close to the river, at half after six, and arrived
at the ruins of N-gany-n-gore at noon. This had
been a considerable town, and was destroyed
about two years before by the very people who
were now escorting us. Having halted during
the heat of the day under some large shady
trees, that had formerly afforded a cool and
pleasing retreat from the scorching rays of the
sun to the inhabitants of the town, and now to
us, and the destroyers of their peace, we
moved forward at half after four in the after-
noon, and continued to do so until eight, when
w^e halted for the night at the ruins of another
Gidumagh town, called Soman Keete. The
first part of this day's march lay through corn

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 295

grounds, and open wood, close to the river side,
for about thirteen miles, ese. In the latter part
of it we were much impeded by the steep and
rocky state of the dry beds of several torrents,
which in the rainy season convey the waters
collected by the mountains in the ne. to the
Senegal, which at Soman Keete runs for some
hundred yards over a shelving bed of solid
rock, and on which there was at that season,
only eighteen inches water. On the south bank
immediately opposite, stands Dhyagh-an-dappe,
a large town of Galam.

There being no water at the next halting-
place, we filled all our soofras, and at one, p.m.
on the 20th, entered the wilderness, through
which we travelled without any path until nine,
having passed the dry beds of several streams,
and three extraordinary piles of rocks. They
were each nearly one hundred feet high, and
composed of enormous round masses of stone
(granite, I believe) heaped together in the form
of an irregular cone. They are situated in an
immense pldin thinly covered with wood, and
are at a very considerable distance from any
mountains or other eminences.

The sufferings of the poor slaves during a
march of nearly eight hours, partly under an
excessively hot sun and east wind, heavily la-
den with water, of which they were allowed

290 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

to drink but very sparingly, and travelling bare-
foot on a hard and broken soil, covered with
long dried reeds and thorny underwood, may be
more easily conceived than described. One
young woman who had (for the first time) be-
come a mother two days only before she was
taken, and whose child, being thought by her
captor too young to be worth saving, was
thrown by the monster into its burning hut,
from which the flames had just obliged the mo-
tlier to retreat, suffered so much from the swol-
len state of her bosom, that her moans might fre-
quently be heard at the distance of some hun-
dred yards, when refusing to go on she implored
her iiend-like captor to put an end to her exist-
ence ; but that would have been too great a sa-
crifice to humanity, and a few blows with a lea-
thern horse fetter, soon made the wretched
creature move again. A man also lay down,
and neither blows, entreaties, nor threats of
death could induce him to move. He was
thrown across a horse, his face down, and with
his hands and feet tied together under the ani-
mal's chest, was carried along for some dis-
tance. This position, however, soon caused
difficulty of breathing, and almost suffocation,
which would certainly soon have ended his
miserable existence had they not placed him in
a more easy posture, by allowing him to ride

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 297

sitting upright ; but he was so exhausted that to
keep him on the horse, it was necessary to have
him supported by a man on each side. Never
did I witness (nor indeed did I think it possible
that a human being could endure) such tortures
as were inflicted on this man. When he first
refused to go on, they had recourse to a mode
of compulsion which I have been told is com-
mon on those occasions, but of too disgusting a
nature to be described. I did not see the old
woman, nor could I ascertain, what had become
of her.

We moved forward at three o'clock on the
morning of the 21st, and travelled east, through
woods until half after seven, when we reached
the foot of a high range of rocky mountains,
running north and south, said by the Kaartans
to be a continuance of those which break the
course of the Senegal at Feloo, forming the falls
of that name. Their western sides are steep,
much broken, and very difficult of access ; and
their tops where we crossed them, a flat table
land thinly covered with stunted w^ood, and in
many places forming a surface of solid flat rock,
bearing a brown metallic polish, so smooth that
the animals were constantly slipping. The de-
scent on the eastern side was scarcely percepti-
ble, and as we advanced, the soil began to bear a
more fertile, and less rocky appearance. At half

298 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

after ten we reached Conian-gee, or the water
of Conian, where a town formerly stood, but
of which no vestige remained. It belonged loKas*
son, and was destroyed by the Kaartans. The
place appeared to be the resort of numerous
herds of elephants and other wild animals, drawn
there in search of water, in which, though mud-
dy and of a bad taste, the place abounded. Some
of our asses that had fallen and thrown their
loads, in scrambling up those mountains fell to
the rear, and were, with the men attending them,
attacked by so dense a swarm of bees, that the
former ran into the woods throwing their loads,
and the latter were obliged to seek safety in flight.
It was not without much labour and loss of time
that the loads were brought up, or the asses
found.

Having made a scanty meal with some of our
dried provisions, and filled our soofras with
putrid water, we moved forward to the ene.,
at ^ve PM., and, travelling through close woods
until eight, arrived at a place called Mama
Niarra, where, to our no small mortification, the
supply of muddy water w^e expected to meet
was dried into mud itself. To increase the un-
pleasantness of our situation, some of the Kaar-
tans who had gone on before set fire to the grass,
which, being to windward of us, made rapid
progress towards the spot where we had halted.

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. ^99

It providentially did not reach us, and we had
only to complain of a restless night, and much
anxiety, to say nothing of our labour in clearing
the ground around our bivouac.

Four o'clock on the morning of the S2d
again found us moving to ene. At seven we
passed the Kolle-m-bimee, or black creek, nearly
dry and running south ; it joins the Senegal a
little above Feloo. Our path then changed to
due east, and over a swampy soil through an
immense forest of lofty ron-trees^, which con-
tinued all the way to Kirrijou, the first town of
Kasson, where we arrived at half after ten.

Garran here left us, and gave us into the care
of Bojar (Modiba's eldest son), at whose town
his father wished us to remain during our halt
in that country, and whither I should have pro-
ceeded the following morning, but the men and
animals were so much fatigued, that I found it
necessary to give them a day's rest.

Kirrijou is beautifully situated on an emi-
nence overlooking an extensive plain bounded
by forests of ron-trees, and covered with the
most luxuriant verdure nearly all the year round,
except when inundated, which is the case
yearly for four months, from July to October.
Large quantities of corn, rice, ground-nuts

* Of the palm kind.

300 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

and onions are grown there, and the people are
well and abundantly supplied with milk and
butter from large herds of horned cattle and
sheep. The only disadvantage the place labours
under is the bad quality of the water, which
they obtain from wells about four feet deep, on
the borders of a narrow stagnant lake.

The chief (Safere) who with his followers and
slaves composed a part of the Kaartan forces,
received us kindly, provided us with huts, and
furnished us with an excellent supper of rice and
mutton, the first good one we had made since
leaving Galam.

I paid him a complimentary visit at his pa-
lace, where I found him seated in an open
court surrounding his own hut, but separated
from the others, composing the palace, by a clay
wall eight feet high. He was attended by a
few of his domestic slaves and favourites. He
accommodated me with a seat on his own mat,
and asked many questions about the country of
the white people, as they call us, our mode of
warfare, government, laws, and revenue, and ap-
peared much astonished at some of my answers,
particularly when I said that we fought on firm
ground and on horseback, and which he acknow-
ledged he could scarcely credit, as it w^as his be-
lief in common with all the natives of the inte-
rior, that we live exclusively on the sea in ships.

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 301

where we subsist entirely upon fish, to which
they attribute the whiteness of our skins. He
pressed me much to spend a few days with him,
and, as an inducement, said he would make his
wives and daughters exert their musical and
dancing abilities to amuse me, but my time was
too precious to be spent in amusements.

Having made Safere a small present in ac-
knowledgement of his attention to our wants,
we left Kirrijou at four o'clock on the morning
of the 24th of March, and travelled north,
through corn-grounds, until half after ^ve, on
the road leading to JaiFnoo, when we turned
off to the right, and continued marching due
east through a wood without any path until two
P.M., at which hour we reached Moonia, the
residence of Bojar, and the place named by M6"
diba for our halt. The animals were all very
much fatigued, particularly the camels, owing
to the excessive heat of the day and the rough-
ness of the latter part of our path, which lay
over hilly and broken ground covered with
sharp loose stones ; in fact, ten hours' march is
too much for either man or animals in that
country, particularly during the heat of the
day.

Bojar who accompanied us from Kirrijou, fur-

302 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

nished us, on our arrival, with an excellent din-
ner of cous cous, milk, and honey, and abun-
dance of fine water, such as we had not tasted
since we left the Senegal. Huts were provided
for our use until (as Bojar said) some could be
erected for us at a short distance from the town.
As this indicated our being likely to make a long
halt at Moonia, I made known to Bojar my dis-
pleasure at the very idea of our being detained
there long enough to admit of their completion,
and was told by him that two or three days
were sufficient for that purpose.

Anxious that a moment should not be lost
in making known to Modiba my desire of pro-
ceeding to Sego without delay, I wished to de-
spatch Giboodoo to Dhyage the day after our ar-
rival, with presents to him and his head men,
but his Majesty's drinking day being Monday,
when no business is ever transacted, I was
obliged to wait for Tuesday. Bojar who, like his
father, always made a sacrifice of one or more
days in each week to the ruby-lipped god, came
to see me, bringing with him a large calabash
of a sort of beer, made by themselves from fer-
mented corn, but which is by no means palat-
able, being more insipid than the worst table-
beer made in England, but from no bitter being

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 303

used it immediately sours and becomes intoxi-
cating, which effect it soon had on Bojar and
all his followers. They were, however, very good
humoured, and so great was the prince's wish
to make me comfortable and feel at home (as he
said) that he sent for one of his sisters and pre-
sented her to me as a companion to cheer my
idle hours, and teach me to speak Bambarran.
My want of gallantry upon this occasion was re-
marked by all present, and I was asked if I had
a wife in my own country, or if I did not think
the one presented to me handsome enough for
my acceptance. An effort to extricate myself from
a repetition of such favours, and at the same time
to avoid insulting her sable Highness, obliged
me to say that I was married, and dare not in-
fringe the laws of my country, which punished
with death any man who took unto himself
more than one wife. This answer excited more
than common remarks on the part of the prince,
who said he had been told that white women
were so completely mistresses of the men, that
the whole care and labour of supporting our
families depended on the latter, who dare not
even speak to any woman save their wives.
Another question of his, namely, should he come
to England, would the king give him one of his
daughters to wife ? drew from me an answer, of

304 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

which I much doubted the truth, but which, in
this instance, I must be excused for not adhering
to, as it would not have been proper to hurt the
pride of a man who appeared to possess not a
small share of it, at least, in his own way, and
who thought he was conferring a high favour
on the lady, let her be who she may, who might
be solicited to partake of his royal protection.
After many such questions and answers by
which time Bojar was so satiated with his Afri-
can beverage that he could not rise from the
ground without assistance), he took his leave,
and, wishing me a good night, staggered home
in company with attendants who were equally
overcharged.

Giboodoo, accompanied by Bokari, departed
for Dhyage on the morning of the S7th, and
took with him a handsome plated tureen, as
an introductory present to his Majesty, to
whom I sent my compliments, and requested
that he would name an early day for my de-
parture, and send people forthwith to receive
a present I had brought him. They returned
at a very late hour on the night of the S8th,
and were accompanied by Modiba's head ma-
raboo, and one of his chief slaves. I did not
see them before the morning of the 29th, when
they informed me that Modiba was much

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 305

pleased with the present I had sent him, and
had despatched them to see the other things I
intended giving him, and to assure me that
I should meet with no delay whatever from
him.

I laid out for their inspection the things
stated in the Appendix, and having made
them a small present each, desired them, in
laying those things before the king, to say,
that my only wish was to be provided with a
guide to Bangassi, in Foohdoo, and to be al-
lowed to depart immediately. As I was aware
of the influence some of the head slaves and
two or three of Modiba's wives had over him,
I sent a present by Giboodoo to four of the for-
mer and three of the latter, requesting them to
hupress on their royal master's mind the neces-
sity of letting me proceed on my journey with-
out delay, and promising them a farther reward,
in case they obtained for me what I wanted.,
They returned on the 1st of April, to say that
Modiba was much pleased with the present, to
which he requested 1 would add some silver, am-
ber, and beads ; but, in consequence of the road
to Foohdoo being said to be then infested by
Moorish banditti, he had despatched some horse-
men to ascertain the fact, and as soon as they re-
turned, which would be in two or three days, he
would allow me to proceed, if not by that road, by

306 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

one whereon, although there existed a scarcity of
water, we should not have any thing to fear
from robbers. This answer was perplexing in
the extreme, and, from what had already hap-
pened in Bondoo, I began to doubt the sincerity
of this chief; but still in order that obstacles
should not arise on my part, I sent him the ar-
ticles he requested, and desired Giboodoo to
say that if he would only send a party of twenty
horsemen with me to Bangassi, I would run all
risks of robbers or other impediments, and
make a farther addition to his present by the
return of those people. As nothing, however,
was to be done without securing the interest of
the head slaves, I sent them an additional pre-
sent each, in hopes of stirring them up to exer-
tions in my favour. Giboodoo took those pre-
sents to Dhyage on the 3d of April, and re-
turned on the 4th with answer, that his Majesty
was satisfied with my conduct towards him,
and would immediately settle my business to my
satisfaction. With people whose time is not very
precious, immediately often means weeks or
more ; and as I could ill brook such delay, at
least in perspective, I despatched Giboodoo to
remain at the king's elbow until he would give
a decisive answer one way or other.

In the mean time, I made presents, large and
small, to a host of royal personages, amongst

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 307

whom wefe two of Modiba's nephews, men
possessing considerable influence with him, and
to whose care I was particularly recommended
by Samba Congole. One of them named Ely,
or Ali, assured me (if such assurance valued
any thing) that he would make Modiba do all I
wanted ; but these fine promises were made
only to induce me to make more presents.
Isaaco also paid me a visit, and wished much to
be employed, but he was in too little repute,
not to say worse, with both Modiba and Dha, to
admit of my having any thing to do with him ;
the former having taken, but a few days before,
nearly all his goods and slaves from him, and
the latter was so much displeased at his leaving
Sego without his permission, that Isaaco dare
not return there. His object in wishing to have
a hand in (or, as he thought, the management
of) my affairs, was to replenish his own empty
purse, and, by having a voice in my business
before Modiba, once more ingratiate himself in-
to his good graces. That I was not more faith-
fully served by those already employed than I
should be by him, I was satisfied : but one,
and one only, advantage did Giboodoo possess
over him, namely, that of his being (through his
brother Samba) on the best terms with Modiba,
with whom I found it impossible to, communi-
cate in any other way than through this man,

X 2

308 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

who, for all I either knew or could ascertain,
appropriated a part of the presents sent by him
to his own use : but, remedy I had none.
Modiba would neither see me, nor any of my
men, in consequence of his being led to be-
lieve, by the Mahomedan priests about him,
that should he ever look on a white man he
must die. I in vain offered to send two of my
black men : it would not do ; the superstition
of those people made them all white, although
not in outward appearance, at least in inward
disposition.

Precluded as I thus was from a possibility of
ascertaining what might be the conduct of Gi-
boodoo at the Kaartan court, I took advantage
of the only resource left me, namely, that of ap-
pearing to place the utmost confidence in him,
and to hold out to him the prospect of a large
reward, should he obtain from Modiba the de-
sired escort and permission to proceed. He
returned from Dhyage on the 7th, saying, that
the king promised to settle my business without
delay, for which purpose his head maraboo
would come to me the following day : he did
not, however, make his appearance until the
10th, when, judge my surprise at being told that
Modiba was not yet satisfied with what I had
given him.

In this state of continued procrastination from

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 309

day to day, under some pretence or other, was I
delayed till the 14th, when Giboodoo, whom I
had sent to the capital with a farther addition to
the present, returned to say that the king had at
length consented to my proceeding, and would
send, in a few days, some people belonging to
Bangassi to accompany me to that place, but
complained of my not having sent him the part-
ing present. This I immediately complied
with, adding a few small articles for the head
slaves.

For some days previous to that date, great
preparations were making for the departure of
an expedition into some of the neighbouring
states. Bojar and his brothers had proceeded to
the capital at the head of their several divisions,
and nothing was to be seen but armed parties
hastening from all quarters to the general ren-
dezvous. Ali (the prince before mentioned as
a friend of Samba's), on passing through Monia,
at the head of his division, which consisted of
about six hundred horse and one thousand foot,
all armed with muskets, called at my hut to re-
turn thanks for the present I had given him ;
and to say, that on his arrival at Dhyage, he
would strongly urge Modiba to terminate my
business favourably, which, he assured me, was
all along his intention, although he had been ad-

310 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

vised to the contrary. I replied, that such
might have been the case, but I doubted it 5
and therefore desired AH to tell his uncle, that
I relied with confidence on his fulfilling the pro-
mise made me by Garran, in his name, when he
first saw me at Galam, and which alone could
have induced me to come into his country.

Giboodoo returned from the capital on the
18th, and said that the Bangassi people were to
leave it the following day, and that Modiba had
appointed Bokari to accompany me as far as
Badoogoo. This was all I wanted ; and al-
though I had been much longer detained than
I could have wished, 1 nevertheless forgot all
my disappointments in the prospect of once
more moving eastward.

The Bangassi people did not arrive until the
20th. They were introduced to me by the ma-
raboo, who said that Modiba, in handing me
over to those people, desired him to state, that
his reason for having detained me so long origin-
ated in nothing but a wish to send me forward in
safety, and which the preparations he had been
making for the war, prevented his doing sooner,
and begged me to believe that his most sincere
good wishes followed me.

It was my intention to have proceeded on the
^Ist, but that being on a Saturdayj which as well

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 311

as Sunday is looked on by the Kaartans as an
unlucky day to commence a journey eastward, I
could not prevail on either the Bangassi people
or the guide to move until Monday, when we
left Moonia and travelled ese. over a well culti-
vated and thickly inhabited country for three
hours, which brought us to the foot of a rocky
precipice, extending as far as the eye could
reach in a north-east and south-west direction.
The path by which we ascended it, was narrow
and steep, and so much intercepted with huge
fragments of broken rocks that we found it ne-
cessary to unload the asses before they could
pass. The summit presented an extensive plain
sloping gently to the east and south-east,
bounded in all directions by high distant hills,
and thinly covered with stunted under- wood.
The path which led to the sse. lay over a bar-
ren soil composed, for the most part, of a slate-
like stone, in diagonal strata, resembling in
point of colour the slates of North Wales.
The sun having set we were soon enveloped in
darkness. We however continued marching,
or rather groping our way, in the same direc-
tion until nine o'clock, when we reached a small
walled town under some lofty hills, round the
base of which the path turned to the ssw., and
soon brought us to Sanjarra, where we halted
for the night with the intention of moving for-

31Q, TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

ward the next evening, but were prevented from
doing so, in consequence of the guides having
reported the distance to the next town as being
too great, and the path which led over the moun-
tains too difficult to admit of our reaching
it that night ; and as, from the want of water
on the mountains, it would be dangerous to halt
there during the heat of the day, we decided on
leaving Sanjarra at two o'clock the next after-
noon, by which means we should be enabled to
pass all the difficult places before dark ; and
having filled our soofras, halt until the moon
should rise the following morning. More diffi-
culties, however, were at hand : for on the S5th,
we had but just commenced loading the ani-
mals, when Garran came to tell me that a mes-
senger had arrived from Dhyage with orders
from Modiba, that I should halt at Sanjarra
until I again heard from him. My surprise and
disappointment at this unexpected arrest, were
greater than I had before experienced ; for I
really thought all was arranged to the king's
satisfaction, and I was so convinced that a short
time would enable me to feast my eyes with a
view of the Niger, that I had entirely given
away to the pleasing delusion, the removal of
which completely electrified me.; but, as I
must have submitted, I did so with an apparent
good grace.

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 313

The messenger could (or most probably
would) not give me any information on the
cause of such treatment ; and as it was uncertain
when Modiba might again condescend to fa-
vour me with farther communication on the
subject, I despatched Giboodoo (who accompa-
nied me to Sanjarra) to ascertain, if possible,
what could give rise to such repeated hindrances,
and to inform his Majesty that after what his
maraboo had told me at Moonia I was the more
surprised and displeased at the present de-
tention.

He returned the following evening (the 26th),
and reported having found much difficulty
in obtaining an interview with Modiba, who
accused him, in common with me, of having de-
ceived him by not giving him his share of an
ass-load of silver, which, he said, he had been
assured by good authority I had with me ; and
until I would do so, I must remain where I was j
desiring me to consider his having given me
permission to proceed as a very great obligation,
for in doing so he was giving assistance to his
enemies, the people of Bambarra (Sego), who
(although he had acted otherwise) would most
probably treat me as they had Mr. Dochard.

This was an obstacle to be surmounted which
was utterly out of my power, at least to the ex-

314 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

tent Modiba demanded : a few dollars * were all
the silver I had ; but to convince him that was
difficult in the extreme, if not impossible. — I
however delivered to Giboodoo some other arti-
cles, which (if not what he demanded) would
at least convince him that as far as my means
went I was willing to please him, and directed
Giboodoo to say, that the ass-load supposed by
the informant to be silver, from its great weight
and small size, was our ammunition, and which
I would readily submit to the inspection of any
person he pleased. He did not return before the
29th at night, when, instead of bringing any sa-
tisfactory answer, he said that it was useless for
me to think of proceeding farther, as Modiba,
although he did not positively say I should not
go on, expressed his opinion that my doing so
could not be attended with any good, and there-
fore strongly advised my return, but directed
Giboodoo to ascertain my decision and return
immediately to acquaint him therewith. I began
to suspect that this man was deceiving me, and
therefore sent with him on this occasion two of
my own coloured men, who spoke and understood
.the Bambarra language, to be present at any
interview he might have with either Modiba or

* Seventy.

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 315

the chief slaves, for whom I again sent small
presents. The 2d of April brought them back
with as little prospect of success as before : they
did not even see Modiba, but were told by one
of the head slaves that he was very much dis-
pleased with Giboodoo for bringing *wJiite men
to his town. In vain did they shew their colour,
and state that they were natives of the interior
of Africa, the one a JolofF and the other a Jal-
lonkey : they were told Modiba would not see
either them or Giboodoo, and would send his
maraboo, who would make known to me his will
and pleasure.

This man arrived on the 3d, and informed me
that the king consented to my going forward,
but could not protect me any further than his
own frontier, from whence I was to consider
myself under the care and guidance of the Ban-
gassi prince. I complained of this breach of
the promise made me at Moonia, to which the
maraboo only answered by telling me his only
business was to repeat to me Modiba's orders.
The Bangassi prince was present and requested
that, as he had not any of his own men with him,
orders might be given to Bokari to collect fifteen
or twenty at the frontier and with them escort
us to Bangassi : to this the maraboo consented,
and having received a small present for himself

316 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

and one for his master, departed, assuring me
that I should not meet with any more opposition
in Kaarta — but of this I had my doubts.

We moved forward at half after three on the
evening of the 4th to the ene., along the foot of
the mountains which enclose the valley of San-
jarra on the south and east, and at half after five
entered a gully or ravine formed by those moun-
tains : this led us to the sse. along the then dry
bed of a considerable torrent for an hour, when
we arrived at the junction of two mountains,
where an extremely steep and rugged path was
to be ascended, and which we with much diffi-
culty and fatigue effected within an hour : it was
without exception the most difficult path I had
ever travelled. The mountains, notwithstanding
their apparent sterility, are covered with shrubs,
and in some places present the most wildly
grotesque appearance : strata of a kind of slate,
shew themselves in the ravine, the bottom of
which is covered with large stones, which from
their circular form appear to have been rolled
along by the force of the torrents. We had
scarcely reached the summit when it became
dark, and bore every appearance of approaching
rain, which obliged us to halt for the night in
the woods.

We were on foot at four o'clock on the morning

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 317

of the 5th, and marched to the ese. over a rocky
and broken path in a valley, along which we con-
tinued moving until nine o'clock, when the path
changed to the se. and in half an hour brought
us to a small walled town, Gunning-gedy, inha-
bited by Serrawoollis. We had some rain in the
morning, and the weather bore much the appear-
ance of an early wet season.

The chief of the town accommodated us with
huts, in return for w^hich I made him a small
present, and at six o'clock on the morning of the
6th of May resumed our route to the ese., and
passing the dry beds of several streams travelled
over a well cultivated country until ten, when
we reached, and halted during the heat of the
day, at Asamangatary, a large walled town, beau-
tifully situated in an extensive plain, thinly
covered with baobabs, tamarinds, and iig-trees.
The walls of the town were muchhigher, stronger,
and better constructed than I had before seen
in Africa. About half a mile from it to the south
stands a large Foolah village, in the rear of which
are seen the tops of some lofty hills from whence
the plain takes its name. This plain is famous for
its earthenware, which is manufactured by the
women, and for the large quantities of rice and
onions raised there yearly, for both of which, the
soil, a dark brown mould, is well calculated.

318 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

Here begins Kaarta, properly so called. All that
part already mentioned as such formerly belonged
to Kasso, and was conquered and taken possession
of only a few years since by Modiba, who has
subjugated not only that country but a great
part of Gidumagh and JafFnoo. We left Asa-
mangatary at four p.m. and following the same
course as in the morning, until half after six,
reached Soman tare, another walled town, formerly
the residence of Garran, and now belonging to
his cousin. It was my intention to move on early
the following morning, but Bokari requested me
to wait until the afternoon, in order to give him
an opportunity of sacrilicing to the remains of
his father who was burnt there. I would have
positively refused to comply with the request
had the fellow not made it with tears in his eyes,
I found out, however, that he had only adopted
this line of conduct to delay me until the arrival
of Bojar and a part of the army, which took
place about two o'clock on the afternoon of the
1st, on their return from Fooledoo, where they
had been sent at the request of Kanjia, chief of
Bangassi, to destroy the towns of his brother, with
whom he was at enmity, and which they did so
effectually, that eight out of nine were burnt,
and their inhabitants either murdered or made
slaves J four hundred of the unfortunate beings

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 319

passed through with Bojar's division, and I was
informed that three times that number had been
taken to the capital by the other divisions of the
army. I now found, to my deep regret, that
my fears were but too justly founded, for Bojar
had no sooner arrived than he sent for me and
told me I could not proceed any further, as they
had destroyed all the towns between the fron-
tier and Bangassi, and had rendered it impossible
not only for me, but for any force, to reach that
place.

I must here acknowledge my patience almost
forsook me. I told Bojar that his father had de-
ceived me, and had brought me into his country
with fair promises, which it was now evident he
never had any intention of performing, or he
wouldhave allowedme to proceed onmyfirst com-
ing to Moonia. Bojar then said that words were
of no avail; his father had directed him, on meet-
ing me, to bring me back with him, in comply-
ing with which I should save myself much trou-
ble. The guide and the Bangassi princes were
both present, and had been with Bojar some time
previous to my being sent for. The former, when
I called upon him to fulfil the orders of the
Maraboo, with respect to the escort from the
frontier towns, said, that his master, pointing to
Bojar, had just told me what remained for mje

SSO TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

to do, and which took out of his power the pos-
sibihty of remaining with me any longer. The
Bangassi prince, who was as anxious as myself
to proceed, in vain applied to Bojar for an escort,
and at length told me, he was sorry he was so
situated, and that he could neither afford me any
assistance, nor evencomm and the possibility of
his own return to that home which he had but
a short-time before left as the ambassador of its
chief, who was his own brother.

Here, then, vanished all hopes of being able to
pass Kaarta, and with them that of being able
to accomplish my mission, which had for three
years occupied every thought, and drawn forth
every exertion, of which either myself, or those
with me were capable.

Although this act of treachery on the part
of Modiba was in itself more than sufficient
to make us relinquish every attempt to proceed
further, and the difficulties, dangers, and priva-
tions incident to such a service in the interior
of that country of such a nature that I must
allow them, as they appear on the face of those
sheets, to speak for themselves, we would never-
theless have cheerfully gone on had not an ob-
stacle so decidedly insurmountable presented
itself in the orders of Modiba to his son, to bring
us back by force. But before I decided on re-

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 321

turning, I again waited on Bojar, and hinting
my disbelief of his father having again broken
his promise, said I would remain at Somantare,
and send one of my men to Dhyaje, to receive
the king's final orders, and requested Bojar to
accommodate us with huts in the town until
the return of my messenger, when, should Mo-
diba only say he could not protect me farther
than Kaarta, and not forcibly prevent ,my pro-
ceeding, I would go alone, at my own risk.

Bojar here got into a furious rage, asked me
if I did not consider him as Modiba's son, or if
I supposed he had less authority in Kaarta than
his father ; and said, that although I appeared
to doubt his having received orders to stop me,
he would prove to me that neither fear of me,
nor expectation from me, could induce him to
lie ; and therefore informed me, that he could
not admit of my remaining at Somantare after
himself; nor allow me to send one of my men
to Dhyaje, where, he added, some of them had
been too often already. What he meant by the
last phrase I could not imagine, nor would he
condescend to explain. I was therefore, however
reluctantly, obliged to submit, and turn my back
on the East, and the objects of my mission in
that quarter, in the anxious, though unsuccess-
ful pursuit of which I had spent so much time,

y

322 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

and to its interests so exclusively devoted my
attention.

Were I to liazard an opinion, as to the causes
of such deceitful conduct on the part of Modiba,
I fear I should be liable to error, in as much as
that I could not support any of my ideas on the
subject by proof positive. Therefore I leave
my readers to draw such conclusions as the cir-
cumstances related will enable them.

323

CHAPTER XIII.

Retreat from Kaarta. — Difficulties and Annoyances there. —
Arrival at Fort St. Joseph. — Delay and Occurrences at
Baquelle. — Return to the Coast. — Arrival at Sierra
Leone. — Visit to the captured Negro Establishments.

We commenced our retreat at half after five,
on the mornmg of the 8th of May, and at eleven
reached Guninghedy, where we halted during
the heat of the day. We were accompanied by
Bojar and his division, with their prisoners, whose
sufferings presented scenes of distress which I am
incapable of painting in their true colours. The
women and children (all nearly naked and carry-
ing heavy loads) were tied together by the necks,
and hurried along over a rough stony path that
cut their feet in a dreadful manner. There were
a great number of children, who, from their ten-
der years, were unable to walk, and were carried,
some on the prisoners' backs, and others on
horseback behind their captors, who, to prevent
them falling off, tied them to the back part of
the saddle with a rope made from the bark of
the baobab, which was so hard and rough that
it cut the back and sides of the poor little inno-

y 2

324

TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

cent babes so as to draw the blood. This how-
ever, was only a secondary state of the sufferings
endured by those children, when compared to
the dreadfully blistered and chafed state of their
seats, from constant jolting on the bare back of
the horse, seldom going slower than a trot or
smart amble, and not unfrequently driven at full
speed for a few yards, and pulled up short. On
these occasions it was to me a matter of astonish-
ment how the child could support the strokes it
must have received from the back of the saddle,
which, from its form, came in contact with the
child's stomach.

We reached Sanjarra the following morning
at half after nine, and in the afternoon was joined
by Giboodoo, who had been at Dhyaje ; he told
me that Modiba desired him to say he was sorry
the present state of the country would not ad-

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 325

mit of my passing Kaarta, but was glad I had re-
turned with Bojar, thereby preventing the ne-
cessity he should otherwise have been under of
sending a detachment after me, for the purpose
of bringing me back. I was also met at San-
jarra by a messenger from Ali, to say, that
having heard something at Dhyaje, with respect
to Modiba's intentions towards me, he advised
my moving without delay to his town, where I
might remain in safety until the king should
send people to re-conduct me to Galam. I did
not believe this ; supposing that his object was, in
thus apparently protecting me, to lay me under
obligations, from which I should be obliged to
release myself by means of presents. I neverthe-
less followed his advice, because my most direct
path led there, and I was not altogether so satis-
fied with Bojar's treatment while at his town, to
induce me to return.

Giboodoo returned to Dhyaje on the 11th, for
the purpose of paying a parting visit to his ma-
jesty. He promised to be back on the 14th, till
which day I consented to wait at Sanjarra for
him * ; but as he did not keep his time, I re-
moved to Missira on the 15th, where I was re-
ceived by Ali. Giboodoo did not join me until
the 17th, when, having informed me that Modiba
could not send people to escort us to Galam be-

* See Appendix, Article 20.

3^6 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

fore the ensuing week, I again despatched him
to tell the king that unless they joined me before
tlie 23d, I should move on before them to the
frontier.

On the 20th, the maraboo, accompanied by
Bokari, one of the head slaves, and some of their
followers, came to Missira, by Modiba's orders,
to take us to Moonia, and whither, in case I re-
fused to proceed with them, they had orders to
force me. Here then was what I had long ex-
pected, namely, to be plundered of every thing,
and which I told them they could do at Missira,
and not harass me as well as my men by travell-
ing all over the country.

The maraboo, as on a former occasion, said
he was nothing more than the bearer of Modiba's
orders, which he should carry into execution.
Remonstrance was vain, and refusal would have
been equally so (if not worse), as I plainly saw
those people were prepared to act forcibly. Gi-
boodoo arrived in tlie afternoon, and was accom-
panied by two more of the head slaves, sent by
their master on the same errand as the former.
I had however rendered their interference un-
necessary, having consented to proceed to Moo-
nia, with the almost certainty of being plundered,
and, under such a conviction, I laid out a part
of the few articles the rapacity of the Kaartans
had spared me, in redeeming from slavery two
women of Bondoo, who had been taken in the

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 3^7

affair which took place before I left Galam. In
taking this step I had two motives ; first, that
of placing out of Modiba's reach a portion at
least of my merchandize, which alone excited his
avarice ; secondly, I had in view, by sending
those women Cwho were related to Almamy Bon-
doo) to their friends in that country, to convince
that chief that our intentions towards them were
good indeed ; and however I might feel on the
subject of the treatment I met with at his hands,
I w^as, nevertheless, deeply impressed with senti-
ments of compassion for those of his people who
had fallen victims to Kaartan power. One of
All's sons was their possessor, and from him I
had much trouble in obtaining their freedom,
which was the more difficult and expensive, from
its having been his intention to add them to the
list of his concubines, whose number already
amounted to twelve.

Polygamy is carried to a frightful extent in
Kaarta. Many private individuals have ten wives,
and as many concubines ; the princes, for the
most part, not less than thirty of each, and
Modiba himself is said to have one hundred wives
and two hundred concubines ; and I verily be-
lieve that one-third of the free inhabitants of
Kaarta are of the blood royal.

We left Missira at six on the morning of the
22d, and reached Moonia at ten, but had scarcely

32S TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

unloaded the asses, when Bojar sent to inform
me that his father insisted on my paying the
customary duty on the merchandize I had
brought into the country, in the same proportion
as paid by the native merchants, and desired to
have my immediate answer, which I gave, by
saying, that I now plainly perceived what their
object was in bringing me back to Moonia ; and
that as I would not willingly give any thing more
to them, in the way of either customs or presents,
and was not able to prevent them from taking
what they wished, they might do so when they
pleased. In about half an hour they came to
our huts, and having examined all our baggage
minutely, appeared much disappointed and sur-
prised in not finding a large quantity of silver,
amber, and coral, and a great number of fine
guns, all wliich they said Modiba had been told
I had in abundance. Their disappointment was
so great that they walked off to the town with-
out taking a single article. The maraboo was
much confused, and said, he could not help ac-
knowledging that I had been badly treated, but
that I should not blame Modiba, as he had been
misinformed, both with respect to the object of
my visit to Sego, and the extent and nature of
my baggage: the latter, although reduced to that
state which surprised Modiba's messengers so
much, was still of value enough in their eyes to

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 329

induce their return at eight o'clock p.m. ; when
they again demanded the customs, and on my
refusing to give them with free will, they helped
themselves to the articles stated in the Appen-
dix, Article 19.

On the following morning I despatched Gi-
boodoo to inform Modiba of the proceedings of
his messengers, and to request that, if it was
really his intention to send people to escort us
to Galam, he would do so immediately.

From the 23d of May until the 8th of June
was spent by us in a state of suspense, which
nothing but the hope we hourly entertained of
seeing Giboodoo return from Dhyage, and with
him the promised escort, could have rendered
at all supportable. Every day was marked by
some act of plunder by the slaves of Bojar, and
haughty insult by himself, but we were incapa-
ble of resistance, and, however galling to our
feelings, patient submission was our only line of
conduct, to which we more strictly adhered in
consequence of an intimation from Giboodoo,
that any other would have drawn down upon us
the most hostile treatment.

He arrived from Dhyage on the 8th, at night,
without any escort, but obtained permission for
us to proceed to Galam, where we arrived on
tlie 18th. We were accompanied by some Ser-
rawooUie merchants, conducting to Eaquelle a

350 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

large coffle of slaves, each of whom had to de-
plore being torn from some near and dear ob-
ject of their affections, and from their naked-
ness, want of proper nourishment, and being
exposed to almost constant rain for two days
and nights, they presented a group of beings
reduced to the very lowest ebb of human suf-
fering.

I lost no time in repairing to Baquelle for tlie
purpose of effecting my speedy return from that
place over land to the Gambia, but found that
such a step was rendered totally impossible by
the state of war and confusion in which all the
surrounding countries were then involved, both
among themselves, and v/ith the. French at all
their settlements on the Senegal. They had a
few days previous to my leaving Kaarta totally
destroyed the town of Baquelle in revenge for
the assassination of one of their officers, and
were concerting measures in conjunction with
Bondoo for an attack on Tuabo *'. I was there-

* This event took place on the 4th August, by a smart
cannonade from the French brig, and an assault by the Bondoo
army (amounting to nearly three thousand men), a spirited sortie
made by about one hundred of the besieged, put the whole
army of Bondoo to flight and took several prisoners, whom they
immediately butchered in front of the brig, which, although
moored witliin musket shot of the shore, was not fired on by
the people of the town, with whom the French commandant
found it necessary to make peace in a few days afterwards.

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 331

fore necessitated to wait for the arrival of the
fleet from Saint Louis, the return of which
would afford me the most expeditious and safe
means of reaching the coast. This however did
not take place before the 24th of September,
when, having been accommodated with a pas-
sage for my men and self on board one of the
French steam ships, we left Baquelle and de-
scended the river which was then very much
swollen. We arrived at St. Louis on the 8th of
October, and were hospitably received by the
French Governor, Captain Le Coupe, who po-
litely offered me every assistance I might re-
quire.

Here I waited a fortnight, in hopes of meet-
ing a vessel going to the Gambia or Sierra Leone,
but none offering, 1 proceeded by land to Goree,
where I arrived on the 3d of November, and
met with a vessel ready to sail for the Bathurst
Gambia. The rapid improvement that had taken
place since I left it in 1818, struck me with
pleasing astonishment, and as a description of the
island may not be uninteresting to some, I will
endeavour to give it as correctly as the time I
spent there enables me to do 5 but I am aware
that it possesses many advantages beyond those
which came under my observation. See Article
First, Appendix.

I returned to Sierra Leone on board his Ma-

332 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

jesty's ship Pheasant, Captain Kelly, whose po-
liteness and attention to myself and men I shall
never forget.

His Excellency Sir Charles McCarthy, who
had just arrived from England, was then about
visiting some of the liberated negro establish-
ments in the country towns, accompanied by all
the civil and military staff of the colony. I felt
too much concern in the welfare of those truly
interesting objects not to make one of the party,
and therefore had an opportunity of witnessing
the wonderful improvements that had taken place
in every town since I had before seen them, in-
deed some having all the appearance and regu-
larity of the neatest village in England, with
church, school, and commodious residences for
the missionaries and teachers, had not in 1817
been more than thought of. Descending some of
the hills, I was surprised on perceiving neat and
well laid out villages in places where, but four
years before, nothing was to be seen except al-
most impenetrable thickets, but arriving in those
villages the beauty and interesting nature of such
objects was much enhanced by the clean, order-
ly, and respectable appearance of the cottages
and their inhabitants, particularly the young
people and children, who, at all the towns, as-
sembled to welcome with repeated cheers the
return of their Governor and daddy (father),

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 333

as they invariably stiled His Excellency, who
expressed himself highly pleased at their im-
provement during his absence, in which short
period large pieces of ground had been cleared
and cultivated in the vicinity of all the towns,
and every production of the climate raised in
sufficient abundance to supply the inhabitants,
and furnish the market at Free-town.

His Excellency visited the schools at the
different towns, and witnessed the improve-
ment which all the students had made, but par-
ticularly those of the high-school at Regent-
town, whose progress in arithmetic, geography,
and history, evinced a capacity far superior to
that which is in general attributed to the Ne-
gro, and proves that they may be rendered
useful members of society, particularly so in
exploring the interior of the country, having
previously received the education calculated to
that peculiar service.

From the change which has taken place in
those villages since I saw them in 1817, I am
satisfied, that a little time is alone necessary to
enable the colony of Sierra Leone to vie with
many of the West India islands, in all the produc-
tions of tropical climates, but particularly in the
article of coffee, which has been already raised
there, and proved by its being in demand in the

SS4f TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

English market to be of as good (if not superior)
quality to that imported from our other colonies.
That the soil on the mountains is well adapted
to the growth of that valuable berry has been
too well proved by the flourishing state of some
of the plantations in the immediate vicinity of
Free-town to need any comment of mine. Arrow-
root has also been cultivated with advantage on
some of the farms belonging to private indivi-
duals, and there can be no doubt of the capa-
bility of the soil to produce the sugar-cane, as
some is already grown there, but whether it is
of as good a description as that of the West
Indies I cannot pretend to say, as the experi-
ment had never been tried at Sierra Leone, at
least to my knowledge. The cultivation of all
these with the cotton, indigo, and ginger, could
here be carried on under advantages which our
West India islands do not enjoy, namely, the
labour of free people, who would reheve the
Mother Country from the apprehensions which
are at present entertained for the safety of pro-
perty in some of those islands, by revolt and in-
surrection amongst the slaves, and from the de-
plorable consequences of such a state of civil con-
fusion ; those people would, by receiving the bene-
fits arising from their industry, be excited to exer-
tions that must prove beneficial to all concerned

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. SS5

in the trade, and conducive to the prosperity of
the colony itself.

The capital of the peninsula (Free-town) is of
considerable extent, and is beautifully situate,
on an inclined plane, at the foot of some hills
on which stand the fort and other public build-
ings that overlook it, and the roads, from whence
there is a delightful prospect of the town rising
in the form of an amphitheatre from the water's
edge, above which it is elevated about seventy
feet. It is regularly laid out into fine wide
streets, intersected by others parallel with the
river, and at right angles. The houses, which
a few years since were for the most part
built of timber, many of them of the worst de-
scription, and thatched with leaves or grass, are
now replaced by commodious and substantial
stone buildings, that both contribute to the
health and comfort of the inhabitants, and add
to the beauty of the place, which is rendered
peculiarly picturesque by the numbers of cocoa-
nut, orange, lime, and banana trees, which are
scattered over the whole town, and afford, in
addition to the pine-apple and gouava that grow
wild in the woods, an abundant supply of fruit.
The Madeira and Teneriffe vines flourish un-
commonly well in the gardens of some private

336 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

individuals, and give in the season a large crop
of grapes.

Nearly all our garden vegetables are raised
there, and what with yams, cassada, and pom-
pions, there is seldom any want of one or other
of those agreeable and almost necessary requi-
sites for the table. There are good meat,
poultry, and fish markets, and almost every ar-
ticle in the house-keeping line can be procured
at the shops of the British merchants.

337

CONCLUSION.

Having now finished my narrative, it re-
mains for me to fulfil my obligations to the
reader and the public, by briefly stating the re-
sult of my experience, not only upon the habits
and manners of the people of Western Africa,
but also as to the progress they have made to-
wards civilization, as to their political institu-
tions and religious improvement. In doing
this I shall cautiously abstain from entering into
abstruse calculations, and religiously confine my-
self to what my best judgement enables me to
declare from practical observation. I must
here however state, that it has been too long
the custom to set little value on the African
Negro, to consider him as a being mid-way
placed between the mere brute and man ; as
impervious to every ray of intellectual light ;
and, in a word, as incapable of enjoying the
blessings of civil or religious liberty. This cus-
tom is, to say the least of it, erroneous, and the
notion on which it is founded unjust. The
Spaniards, after the discovery of South America,

z

338 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

affected to believe the South Americans of a
species inferior to themselves. They ruinously
acted on that belief for centuries, and the de-
scendants of those Spaniards have lived to see
the day, when long observation has taught them,
at a large expense, a very different lesson. It
is not however denied, that slaves must and will
be slaves, with all tlie cunning and treachery
which their condition engenders, and perhaps
it may still be a question, if persons enfranchised
from a state of slaverv can, by the fact of such
an enfranchisement, become at once, or even
very speedily, fit and useful members of a free
and enlightened community. At the first blush
of the question the answer would be in the ne-
gative, but that negative should not be left
unqualified. The people amongst whom I have
travelled, and of whom only I would now be
understood to write, are illiterate and conse-
quently superstitious ; but the former arises
not from w^ant of capacity or genius so much as
from the want of means to cultivate them j
their mechanical like their agricultural know-
ledge is extremely limited, but why from that
argue their incapacity to meet improvement, if
improvement were happily thrown in their v^^ay ?
They have beside, a civil polity and a diploma-
tic chicane in their intercourse with each other.

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 339

which is not usually to be found in merely sa-
vage life. Like most half taught people their
cunning generally supersedes their wisdom, but
then I am still prepared to argue, that if you
allow them the full exercise of their industry ;
if you improve and protect it ; if, by wise and
judicious policy, you lift the Negro in his own
esteem, and teach his Chief, that what is
good was intended for all, though not in the
same proportion, for the servant as the master ;
if you abate their superstition by the careful
introduction of evangelical truths ; if, in a word,
you realize those things, the condition of Africa
will soon assume the appearance of health, lon-
gevity, and happiness.

Their wants are, generally speaking, few and
easily satisfied ; and their soil, though barren,
yields a sufficiency of those common necessaries
of life which are required in tropical climates.
They have not, unfortunately, any copimon lan-
guage to knit them together in society, hence
must their intercourse with each other be ex-
tremely limited ; their curiosity is not awakened
by the contemplation of new and remote objects,
they know few artificial necessities to induce
the visits of strangers to supply them, and hence,
except in war, they seldom pass the boundaries
of the hut that shelters, and the field of rice
or corn that feeds them. Nor are these the

z ^>

340 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

only disadvantages, or, more properly speaking,
difficulties to their general improvement. It is
a melancholy truth, that some of the white men
who were in the first instances sent ostensibly
to instruct them, were often actuated by dif-
ferent motives to suffer the lust of interest and
power to tempt them from the useful discharge
of the functions entrusted to them ^ — they, too,
often meet cunning by cunning, treachery by
treachery, and rapine by rapine : and while they
thus conducted themselves,- — why expect the
Negro to view them in the light of friends and
Christian regenerators? The Negro absurdly
thinks the white man his enemy, and in how many
thousand instances has not the white man rea-
lised this absurdity into positive and melancholy
fact? The white inculcates principles whose
practice he violates, and then he turns round and
smiles at the incredulity, or affectedly weeps over
the folly of those who will not yield to the happy
influence which, forsooth ! he was destined to
spread amongst them. That this has been too
much the case cannot be denied. That a different
conduct now prevails, I can with pleasure assert,
and I hope for the sake of mankind, that it may
improve in proportion as the field of our en-
quiries shall enlarge. This misconduct was the
beginning of all the evil which followed, and
tliose erroneous views destroyed the best inten-

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 341

tioned labours. We as Englishmen should con-
sider that the prejudices of ages cannot be era-
dicated in an hour, nor the light of truth com-
municated by instruction at the mere will of man.
To benefit our fellow creatures, we must expend
time, patience, money, resources and sedulous
instruction, because we know that cupidity,
bigotry, and revenge, and all the bad passions
which spring from ignorance, are not to be de-
stroyed by any other effectual means. Many
incidents have been stated in the course of my
narrative, which justify these remarks, exclusive
of those more prominent instances which are to
appear in the sequel.

The principal difficulties which impeded my
progress may be reduced to a few heads. The
cupidity and duplicity of the chiefs, the exist-
ence of slavery as connected with our endea-
vours to abolish it, the idle fears and apprehen-
sions growing out of recent hostile transactions
in the Senegal, and, mainly, the rapid spread
and dreadful influence of the Mahomedan faith.

The duplicity of the chiefs is principally ex-
emplified in the conduct of the kings of Woolli,
Bondoo and Kaarta, and either in the want of
inclination, or the fear of our approaching or
passing Sego, by the king of that country. At
Woolli perhaps they were of too trivial a nature,
and the king so inadequate to prevent our pass-

34f^ TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

ing by force, that they scarcely merit attention.
They serve however to shew, that if he had not
the power, he had at least the inclination to
throw every obstacle in the way of our proceed-
ing eastward, but in which direction, it is
equally true, that none but his enemies resided.
It may be naturally supposed he did not wish
such persons to be enriched by sharing in the
booty expected from our baggage, exaggerated
reports of whose value had been circulated
through the interior long before even the first
expedition had left Senegal. At Bondoo the
fairest promises were in the first instance held
out to us by Almamy ; nay, an apparent impa-
tience was evinced by him to send us forward,
but this we soon discovered to have originated
in a desire on his part to grasp at those presents
which he supposed we should make him in con-
sideration for so laudable an attention to our
interests, but which (although more than we
could well afford) not being sufficiently valuable
in his eyes, were no sooner handed over to him,
than the appearance of things changed, and he
made a demand for nearly as much more, under
the name of customs. The English name, and the
liberality of the British governors of St. Louis,
and Senegal, to Almamy Bondoo were well
and long known to him previously to our enter-
ing his country, but it appears that not only the

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 3io

recollection of their kindness to him had vanish-
ed with our cession of that colony to the French,
but that he had been determined to crown his
ingratitude with treachery, deceit, and even
want of common hospitality to the expedition,
which was unfortunately induced to prefer the
road through his country for the reasons already
mentioned in p. 61, and in consequence of the
very apparently warm manner in which he ex-
pressed himself grateful for the handsome pre-
sents he had received from Sir Charles McCarthy
when commanding at St. Louis. That every
deference and respect for him as the king of
Bondoo, and indeed in some cases rather more
than enough, had been shewn him, is but
too evident from the enormous sacrifices we
made at the shrine of his insatiable avarice,
with a view of conciHating his favour and pro-
tection, and of convincing him that our object
in going to the east was not only the mere solu-
tion of a geographical question, but an endea-
vour at the eventual improvement of the com-
mercial and social interests of the countries we
visited, by opening a safe and direct com-
munication between them and our settlements,
where I assured Almamy we should be most
happy to see himself and subjects as constant
visitors. What could have induced him to act as

S44 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

he did towards us I was really for a long time
at a loss to define, although he more than once
hinted at having received private information,
and as he said from good authority, that we had
in view the destruction of his country, but
which I could not then believe, and supposed
he only made that excuse a cloak to hide some
other motive with which I ineffectually strained
every nerve to become satisfactorily acquainted.
The information which I afterwards acquired
with respect to the immense profits arising to
the native merchants from the trade, and
barter of slaves, in the transaction already
mentioned of redeeming the Bondoo woman
and her daughter out of the hands of the Kaar-
tans, led me, in considering that subject mi-
nutely, to leflect on other circumstances con-
nected with the question, and that left no
doubt on my mind as to his having been there-
by influenced : these shall be fully explained
hereafter.

The king of Kaarta likewise, after tempting
me under the most flattering promises to enter
his country, having even sent an escort of one
thousand horse to conduct me in safety, when
he had received from me to the full measure
which inclination or duty prompted me to give
him, not only broke every promise he made me

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 345

of assistance in the prosecution of my journey,
but literally plundered me of the few articles
which his avarice had hitherto spared. As on
other occasions, I was here at a loss to con-
jecture the cause of such treatment, and upon
the most mature and unprejudiced considera-
tion, can only attribute it to the same causes as
operated on his brother chiefs of Woolli and
Bondoo.

The King of Sego was at war with the Mas-
sina Foulahs when Mr. Dochard entered his
country, and as his enemies were a powerful peo-
ple, he was unwilHng to admit of our nearer ap-
proach, until, as he said, they should either be
defeated, or yield to terms of peace which he
should dictate to them. That Mr. Dochard's
delay might have been caused by such a dispo-
sition, is not at all impossible, but it is neverthe-
less evident, that the very great distance he
ordered the removal of Mr. Dochard, pending
these negociations, affords room for supposing
that he was actuated by other motives than
those which he had previously assigned, namely,
a superstitious fear of the too near approach of
a person who was supposed to possess superna-
tural powers, and likely to become a trouble-
some neighbour. That the general persuasion
throughout the country of Bambarra, and par-

346 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

ticularly at Sego, was of this nature, has been
already proved by Mr. Park, to whose appear-
ance there the death of Mausong hunself, and
of other great personages immediately after his
passage through, was industriously attributed by
the Mahomedans. A second opportunity was
afforded to their malice against us, and their
hatred of our faith, upon the occasion of the
subsequent death of some of Dha's chief men,
particularly the governor of Bamakoo, who died
suddenly a few days after Mr. Dochard's arrival
at that town.

The existence of slavery as connected with
the endeavours of England to abolish it, tends
in a material degree to awaken the jealousy of
the native chiefs, who, in common with the
Moorish and Negro traders, derived, and are
still deriving, a very lucrative income from that
abominable traffic, which they designate by the
softened appellation of a lawful branch of com-
merce. In order to give an adequate idea to
my readers of the profits attending this trade in
human flesh, it will be necessary for me to state
a few particulars.

I have already stated in page 326, that in order
to save from the fate which I had good reason
to know awaited my baggage at Moonia, I
had released from slavery a Bondoo woman and

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 347

her child, with the intention of restoring them
to their family, and had paid for each of them a
larger sum in merchandize than is generally
considered the ransom of a slave taken in war,
but in reality amounting to a mere trifle when
put in competition with the liberty of a fellow-
creature, as will appear by the following state-
ment : —

ARTICLES PAID FOR THE WOMAN AND HER CHILD.

EnSami. (equal in Kaarta each to")
3 pieces of blue India 1 ^^ 1 a^i /-.i -f

> 75s. < 40 bars, ofthe nomi- Vi20

/ nalvalueof Is. 6d. ea. 1

SOlbs. trade gunpowder 30s. of the same bars 300

1000 common flints 12s. 10 onebar 100

1. yd coarse scarlet cloth 16s 50

A fine silk pang 15s 50

£7 8s. 500

Or the value of five prime slaves in that coun-
try. Had one of the native merchants purchas-
ed those poor creatures, he would not have paid
more than two hundred of those bars for them,
and probably not so much, as he would first have
changed those articles for cowries % the current
money of that country, with which he would
have made the bargain. He could next sell
them to the traders in the Senegal, or as profit-
ably to their friends in Bondoo, for the follow-
ing articles : —

* Shells.

348 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

f each called 10 trade bars at "J Kaaria bars.

6 pieces baft J Galam, where 60 of those J^ equal to 240

(^ bars are given for a slave J

4|lbs. of powder, Jib. a trade bar 30

2 common guns (each 10) 20 do 80

480 flints

40 do....

48

120 sheets common paper
1 card snufF-box ,

20 do....

24

1 do....

2

1 scissors

1 do....

2

1 steel

1 do...,

2

1 common looking-glass

1 do....

2

120*

...equal to....

....430 1

For which he could again purchase ^ve slaves
in Kaarta, where there is no want of those
wretched beings. Is it then to be wondered at
that those people view with a jealous eye our
endeavours to suppress that trade, or throw ob-
stacles in the way of our penetrating into the
interior of their country, where they suppose we
are attracted with no other view than the ulti-
mate subversion of their religion and favourite
traffic in their own flesh and blood ; for it is im-
possible to convince them (at least by words)
that we have no such intention : and as to think
of persuading them that the extension of our
geographical knowledge in visiting unknown
countries at such risks and expense, or that the
lawful increase of our commerce alone attract

* Nominal value 2s. 6d. each, t Nominal value Is. 6d. each.

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 349

our Steps, we might as well tell them that a white
man never bought a slave. Whenever I spoke
of the Niger, or my anxiety to see it, they asked
me if there were no rivers in the country (we
say) we inhabit ; for the general belief is, as be-
fore stated, that we live exclusively in ships on
the sea. The Moors too, who are general tra-
ders, and visit all the states of the interior in
their commercial pursuits, are aware that any
encouragement given by the native chiefs to our
direct and friendly intercourse with them must
tend to undermine their own trade, and in the
course of time to remove from the eyes and un-
derstandings of those chiefs and their subjects
the veil of superstition by which they are now
shrouded. They therefore take advantage of the
credit and respectability which in their charac-
ters as Maraboos they so invariably enjoy, to
circulate reports prejudicial not only to our views
in Africa (which they, if they do not really be-
lieve like the negroes, represent in the same
way) but to our character as a people, whom
they designate by the degrading appellation of
Kafer, or unbeliever.

From the simple calculation and expose just
now made, it must be obvious that the native
princes and traders have a strong and direct in-
terest to oppose the abolition of slavery; although
as regards the negro population it is equally clear

350 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

that they have, if possible, a stronger and more
direct interest to promote it by every means in
their power. It is not my intention to enter into
the very wide and comprehensive question grow-
ing out of this position, namely, whether the free
negro, if independent of his master, could ob-
tain sufficient employment, or, obtaining, would
be ready to accept it. The first authorities
of the present day, the ablest political econo-
mists of this and every otl\^r country, have de-
cided that labour should be free ; not only as
conducive to the increased comforts of the la-
bourer, but as decidedly favourable to the pe-
cuniary interests of the employer and consumer.
The African chiefs, like the owners of slaves in
other countries, think they have no security for
their authority but the maintenance of their
people in slavery ; and the prejudices of the ne-
groes are such, the custom has been so long con-
tinued and by time become so inveterately
strong, that no one having pretensions to supe-
riority will perform any of those useful occupa-
tions which the best informed in civilised coun-
tries so usually attend to. There is in the habit
of slav^ery a something much more difficult of
cure than even in the oldest and most stormy
passions of educated man : there is within it a
debasement not to be found in any other state,
and it seems as absolutely to chain men to the

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 351

mere measure of their length and breadth upon
the soil, as if their existence had no other object.
The sun seems to roll his orbit without their
observance, and the earth to yield its fruits
without their gratitude ; and yet they exhibit a
deep sense of injury, and feel an insatiable thirst
for revenge: such opposite feelings all being
generated from the unwholesome effluvia of their
religion — of which, however, more hereafter.

Another and very*plausible reason was afford-
ed the chiefs and people of the interior for not
wishing our presence in their countries, and for
exciting them to jealous and fearful conjectures
as to the object of our visits. This was the
forcible possession taken by the French of a
position on the Foota frontier of the Waallo coun-
try, which although no doubt dictated by a laud-
able desire of improving the condition of those
people and giving a stimulus to their commerce,
was done in opposition to the wishes of the Foota
chiefs and of those of the Moorish tribes of
Bracknar and Trarsar, all of whom claimed a
right to the place, and to defend which they
made war on the King of Waallo, whose permis-
sion alone to establish and occupy a post on dis-
puted ground was purchased by the Governor
of Senegal.

The other chiefs remonstrated against this in-
fringement of their rights, but receiving no sa-

352 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

tisfactory answer, joined their forces, and almost
wholly destroyed the country, where all the hor-
rors and misery so appallingly attendant on Afri-
can wars were inflicted on and borne by the
wretched inhabitants. A dreadful instance of
the detestation in which the actual state of sla-
very is regarded by the free-born negro, so far
as they are themselves concerned, occurred at
the destruction of one of those towns. The wives
of some chiefs who had either been killed or taken
by the enemy determined not to survive their
husbands' or their country's fall, and preferring
death, even in its most terrifying shape, to sla-
very and the embraces of their captors, — suffered
themselves and their young children to be burnt
to death in a hut, where they had assembled with
that determination, and which was set on fire by
themselves. This affair and some others of a
similar nature which took place about that
time in the Senegal, although rendered neces-
sary by acts of plunder, breach of contract, or
treachery on the part of the chiefs, who are un-
fortunately much addicted to such conduct, were
unavoidably attended with circumstances which,
so far from being calculated to make those peo-
ple regard the visits of Europeans to their coun-
try in a favourable light, had the effect of corro-
borating in a great measure the false and inte-
rested reports already but too sedulously circu-

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 353

lated by the Moors and other native traders, and
too credibly received by the several chiefs.

Another circumstance, which took place in
Bambarra, must serve to convince every impar-
tial reader that fears were really entertained by
the chiefs as to the ultimate results of our com-
munications wfth them.

At an interview which Mr. Dochard had with
one of Dha's head slaves at Bamakoo, where all
the occurrences in the Senegal were not only
known but much exaggerated, he was asked with
a significant smile, " in case the Niger terminat-
ed in the sea and was found navigable to Sego,
would our large vessels come up to that place,
and our merchants settle there as the French had
done in the Senegal ?" The object of this ques-
tion is too palpably evident to need any com-
ment of mine, and Mr, Dochard's answer, " that
he doubted the possibility of large vessels as-
cending that river, or the wish of our merchants
to try it without even settling there," although in
my opinion the best he could have given, did not
remove from the minds ofDhaand his ministers
their apprehension of the consequences.

The main difficulty to our success in Africa
decidedly results from the extent and influence
of the Mohamedan religion. From the period
of its introduction as affecting the mode of Afri-
can legislation, which is scarcely a century since,

A A

354 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

the negroes, but particularly the chiefs, have lost
the little of honesty or natural feeling which they
before possessed. The doctrines of Mohame-
danism are at right angles with those of Chris-
tianity, or if the doctrines be not so widely dif-
ferent, it is unquestionable that their influence
produces the most melancholy and opposite re-
sults. Mohamedanism may direct the perform-
ance of moral duties, its theology may be wise
and its ethics sound ; but no abstract rules, how-
ever good or salutary, can operate upon the be-
lievers, while the interests of its ministers are at
open war with them. In truth, we need not re-
cur to Africa nor Mohamedanism to illustrate
the truth of this position, for experience much
nearer home has, while even these sheets are
at the press, too forcibly proved it. Whatever
then the written code of Mohamedanism may
teach, I have invariably discovered that in prac-
tice, it countenances, if it does not actually ge-
nerate, cunning, treachery, and an unquench-
able thirst of litigation and revenge. It pro-
duces no good but from the meanest sense of
fear, and its very profession is of itself considered
as sufficient absolution from every atrocity com-
mitted to increase its disciples. But in Africa
its pernicious tendency is still more exemplified
than in those quarters where it has so long
flourished with the rankest luxuriance.

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 355

The Africans in their pagan state were not
liable to the same superstitions as they are and
have been since their proselytism, — if it maybe so
termed, because, their reHgion wasnot overloaded
with ceremonies, and their priests had but a nar-
row and contracted influence. Mohamedanism
has made them hypocrites as it keeps them slaves,
and, while it prevails to its present extent, they
must continue so. Essences are forgotten in the
strict observance of a miserable ritual, and truth
has lost its value and its splendour when only
seen through the jaundiced instruction of pecu-
lating Maraboos. These jugglers in morality
make whatever use they please of the victims of
their sorcery, and if once they catch them in their
toils, escape is almost literally impossible. The
enmity which those ministers of false doctrine
bear against our religion and ourselves naturally
induce them to represent us in colours most ter-
rifying to the converted negroes' minds, by as-
suring them, that, although we say our intentions
towards them are good, we are only under that
cloak aiming at their total and eventual subjuga-
tion 'y — and, they bring forward the continuance
of the slave trade by the French in the Senegal
as a proof of our want of sincerity.

The negroes, however, receive a sort of bonus
by their conversion to Mohamedanism. In the
event of war waged on them by a Mohamedan

A A 2

356 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

power, they are spared, or at all events not com-
pelled to feel the horrors which usually attend it.
But the crying sin of Mohamedanism and the
main spring of its pernicious tendency, is the tole-
ration of polygamy. I confine my observations to
its effects in Western Africa, although if this were
the proper time and occasion, I should not dread
beins: able to demonstrate that wherever tolerat-
ed, its tendency must be evil in the worst degree.
Polygamy is the fruitful source of jealousy and
distrust, it contracts the parental and filial affec-
tions, it weakens and disjoints the ties of kin-
dred, and but for the unlimited influence of the
Maraboos and the fear of hell, if they do not
profit of the license of their great Apostle, must
totally unhinge the frame of all society. The
father has many wives, the wives have many
children, favoritism in its most odious form sets
in, jealousy is soon aroused, and revenge un-
sheathes the sword which deals forth destruction.
But it is not to the domestic circle, it is not to
the family arrangements, it is not to the fearful
mischiefs it leads to upon social intercourse that
I look alone ; but to its division of the soil and to
its mutilation of the different states, than which
nothing can prove more destructive to any
country. The jealousies of the mothers, while
exciting to domestic hatred, lead to external civil
war, and states rise and set with a sort of harle-

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 557

quin operation, and when they are sought for
vanish in the air, and " leave not a wreck be-
hind." The consequence of these wars is, that
during the precarious conquests of these chiefs,
their whole employment is plunder, and where
that cannot be procured the forfeiture — is life.
All order and morality is upset, all right is un-
known, and the effect must be the degradation
of society and the dismemberment of empire in
that ill-fated portion of the world.

To this cause also may be attributed in a great
measure the existence (at least to the present
extent) of slavery, for that religion not only gives
an apparently divine authority to the practice,
but instils, in to the minds of its proselytes a con-
viction or belief, that all who are not or will not
become Mohamedans were intended by Provi^
dence and their Prophet to be the slaves and
property of those who do. It is much to be
regretted that those valuable and indefatigable
friends of Africa who have been for years labour-
ing towards civilization on the coast, where much
has been done by the pious labours and ex-
ample of the missionaries from the Church and
other Societies, are so circumstanced, from the
many difficulties which the climate itself pre-
sents and the rapid spread of the Mohamedan
faith, that they are unable to penetrate beyond
the influence of our settlements on the coast.

358 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

and consequently excluded from all possibility
(for the present at least) of giving those mis-
guided people an opportunity of judging for
themselves between the secure and happy state
of those whom the exertions of an enlightened
country and the influence of the Christian reli-
gion have redeemed from slavery and ignorance,
and the miserably precarious and blind condi-
tion to which they are themselves subjected.

Having thus far stated the difficulties which
have hitherto impeded, and are still likely to
impede our researches in, and our civilization
of Western Africa, it may not be considered
as adventuring too much if I place before my
readers a few suggestions, which, if acted upon,
may have a tendency to diminish, if not to over-
come them altogether.

I have adverted amongst others to the diffi-
culty originating in the fears which were enter-
tained in consequence of the transactions on the
Senegal, but on that the remedy is obviously
one to be administered by the healing hand of
time. The native chiefs had long received pre-
sents which were originally granted for the ac-
commodation and security they afforded to the
European and Senegal merchants who traded
with them. In the progress of time, however,
those voluntary presents were not only de-
manded as a right, but when refused (which was

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. S59

only the case where a breach of faith on their
part was committed), were enforced by the pro-
hibition of further commercial intercourse, and
this generally terminated in a compliance with
their demand. This peaceable, and even almost
necessary mode of conciliation, at the period I
speak of, was afterwards continued as a matter
of course. The arrogance of the native chief was
pampered by the yielding, and his cupidity was
fed by the necessity of doing so. And the evil
did not rest here, for as we conceded they ad-
vanced fresh claims, which, even when admitted,
afforded no certainty that their promises with us
would be fulfilled.

Immediately after our cession of that colony,
the French authorities there decided on con-
vincing those people, that, although they were
willing, in a great degree, to submit to the cus-
tom which had so long existed, yet, that they
would not quietly bear the obstructions thrown
in the way of their commercial pursuits upon
the Upper Senegal ; and prepared to meet force
by force, which was eventually rendered neces-
sary by the hostile threats and actions of the
natives. Time, and time alone, can afford to
those natives a proof that the resistance forced
upon the French was not an act of disrespect to
them, or of a disposition to invade their just pre-
tensions or their rights ; but intended to shew

360 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

them that the benefits of commerce should be
mutual, and that a present, unrefused as such,
should not be converted into a right, to be en-
forced for the future by prohibitions or by arms.
Another remedy at once presents itself to the
mind, but, unfortunately, that is a remedy which
cannot, I fear, be speedily administered, much
less easily obtained ; I allude to the general con-
currence of Europe in the abolition of slavery*
England, however, does not come in for any
share of blame on this eventful subject : every
thing has been done by her which eloquence,
treasure, influence, humanity, or religion could
unite in favour of so desirable a consummation.
It is to be hoped that her example will, sooner
or later, induce the other powers of Europe to
imitate it, in which event the most incalculable
advantages would result to the suffering negroes
of Africa. It would be, perhaps, unbecoming
in me to press this important topic to an ex-
tremity ; the wisest men as statesmen, and the
minutest calculators as political economists, all
concur in stating the general abolition of slavery
(placing all humanity and rehgion out of the
question) to be a general good. After the ex-
pression of such a very extensive and honourable
feeling, it is matter of regret that some of the
powers of Europe cannot be induced to aid in
the great work which England had the honour

TRAVELS IN AFRICA. S6l

of commencing, and completing as far as she
was concerned. It is a heart-rending reflection
that mistaken views of interest, or the calls of
avaricious clamour, should not only take prece-
dence of, but actually absorb all the obligations
of good feeling, and all the commands of the
Most High. But we are to hope a new light
may break in upon the councils of those who are,
perhaps, only mistaken, or who, from some over-
ruling necessity, are obliged to tolerate a traffic
at which not only our nature revolts, but which
no one has of late years had the hardihood to
attempt a shadow of justification.

I am persuaded that a mode of disposal of
some of the liberated negroes similar to that
which I adopted in the case of Corporal Harrup,
would be attended with the most beneficial re-
sults to Africa and the Mother Country 5 to the
former, by affording them a strong proof of our
good intentions towards them, and to the latter,
by extending our commercial intercourse by
means of these people ; who would unquestion-
ably, not only revisit our settlements themselves,
but would induce many of their fellow country-
men to accompany them, I am, however, aware
that many difficulties present themselves to the
accomplishment of such a step : first, from the
almost impossibility of ascertaining whether the

362 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

person so disposed of belonged to a free family,
for few of them will acknowledge the fact of
their having been born in slavery ; and secondly,
from the very limited intercourse between our
colonies and the remote states of the interior,
whence those unfortunate beings were dragged
into slavery ; and during their return whether
they would, on most occasions, be exposed to a
second, and, if possible, a worse state of bondage.
The latter difficulty, however, is daily decreas-
ing before the persevering endeavours of Africa's
friends in this country, under the immediate and
personal direction of an active governor, who, in
holding out every inducement to the chiefs and
people in the vicinity of our colonies to keep up
a direct and friendly intercourse with our com-
mercial agents, is adopting a plan likely to be
attended with the most salutary results *.

The cupidity and duplicity of the chiefs has
already obtained that notice which it required,
and to obviate them, it has occurred to me there
are no means more available, and, I may add,
more speedily practicable, than the enlargement

* The late unfortunate occurrences on the Gold Coast, and
the melancholy death of Sir Charles JM'Carthy, have been too
recently before the public to need any remark of mine. I
must, however, be permitted to say, that in that gallant, in-
telligent and zealous commander, Africa has lost one of her
best friends, and society one of its greatest ornaments.

TRAVELS IN AFRICA* 363

of our intercourse with the people, and the en-
couragement and protection of the internal com-
merce of Africa. By this we can improve them
in the way of example, by the other we can be-
nefit them and ourselves in the way of inter-
change of commodity; our habits and our man-
ners will gain upon them in time, and our skill
tend to stimulate and encourage theirs.

By increasing their commerce we also obtain
another happy consummation, we give them em-
ployment, and we consequently to a certain ex-
tent, secure them from the incessant meddling
of their maraboos. We could congregate them
in greater numbers together, and therefore the
more readily instruct them ; and I may venture
to add, that, if a fair degree of zeal were used in
such a delightful employment, within a very
few years they would prove themselves not un-
fitted for the enjoyment of liberal institutions.
When once a people feel their moral power im-
proving it is not difficult to give it a degree of
perfection, and when once the chief found his
former slave so far lifted in the scale of being,
as to have some notion of the place and duties
assigned him here, it would not be easy for him
to continue his sway without limit or controul.
While, however, the negro dreams of nothing
beyond a mere animal support, he is admirably
calculated for a slave ; but give him an insight

364f TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

into something higher — teach him an art or a
trade, in the exercise of which he finds comfort
necessary to himself, and comfort flowing from
such an exercise to others ; place him in this
situation, and without revolting against the
authority of his chief, he will still feel that he is
not singled out to remain the unpitied and the
worthless slave. That there are powers of mind in
the African, it were quite idle to dispute; that the
productions of the country are capable of being
beneficially employed, must, I think, be equally
incontestible to any one who has carefully pe-
rused the preceding pages ; and to act with
honesty we should not allow both or either to
lie for ever dormant. Common charity, much less
common interest, forbids so unworthy a course,
and, in truth, I cannot have the slightest suspicion
that it ever was contemplated.

Upon this important branch of my subject I
might descant to a very considerable extent, but
that, fortunately, its magnitude is so thoroughly
felt as to spare me the labour on this occasion :
let me however look at the advantages of this
increased commerce in any point of view, with
all the difficulties which rather appear, than really
do exist to impede it, I am fully convinced that
to it Africa will be at last mainly indebted for
any social and political enjoyments to which she
may attain.

APPENDIX,

ARTICLE I.

The town of Bathurst is situate on the south-
eastern extremity of the island of Saint Mary's,
at the mouth of the river Gambia, and lies in
16°. &. 3". western longitude, and 13\ 28'. m'.
northern latitude. The greatest extent of the
island is about four miles from wnw. to ese.,
but its general breadth does not exceed a mile
and a half, in some places much less. The surface
of the island is a low plain, with a slight descent
from the north and east sides towards the cen-
tre, where, during the season of the rains, it is
much inundated. Its north-east shore, on which
stands a part of the town, is not more than
twelve or fourteen feet above the level of high-
water mark. The tides, however, are very irre-
gular, and are much influenced in their rise and
fall by the nw. and se. winds.

The settlement, although in its infant state,
has made a most rapid progress in improvement.
Many fine substantial government buildings have
been lately erected, and the British merchants

366 APPENDIX.

resident there, have vied with each other in
the elegant and convenient arrangement of their
dweUing-houses and stores, all which are built
with stone or brick, and roofed with slates or
shingles.

The soil of the island is a red or light colour-
ed sand, with little appearance of clay or mould,
but from its having furnished the natives of the
adjacent country, and the inhabitants of a small
town which formerly stood on the island, with
rice previously to our taking possession of it, I
am satisfied it would, by proper management,
bring all the productions of the country to per-
fection ; and, no doubt, be rendered as conge-
nial to the culture of some of our garden vege-
tables as Senegal or Sierra-Leone.

The edges of the creeks which intersect the
island, and the low grounds about them, are
thickly covered with mangroves, which are ra-
pidly decreasing in being turned to advantage
for fuel both in the houses and for the burning
of lime. The palm tree, the monkey-bread, or
baobab, and several other kinds of large trees, are
thickly scattered all over the high grounds, and
with an abundance of shrubs and ever-greens
give the place a cool, refreshing, though wild
appearance.

Sarah Creek, so called by the natives, is from
twenty-five to forty yards wide, and at ebb tide

APPENDIX. 867

contains no less than seven feet water in the
shallowest place, many places having twelve and
upwards, with a bottom of hard sand and clay.

Crooked Creek, which is about the same
breadth, has only two feet water at its mouth
during the ebb, but its general depth in other
places is from three to six feet.

Turnbull Creek is likewise very shallow, hav-
ing in no place more than five feet water. It is
possible that much benefit might result from so
shutting up the mouths of Newt and Crooked
Creeks, and the one adjoining the latter, as to
prevent the high flood-tides in the rainy season
from entering them, as it would, if effectually
done, reclaim from inundation and its conse-
quent bad effects, a large space in the almost
immediate vicinity of the town. But it remains
to decide whether the ground about them is
lower than high-water mark, in which case it
would be impossible to remedy the present evil
in any other way than raising the level of the
surface, a work that would be attended with con-
siderable expense and difficulty.

That this infant colony has answered, nay, ex-
ceeded the most sanguine expectations of all con-
cerned, is strongly proved by the very great and
rapid increase of its population, not only by the
considerable augmentation of the number of Bri-
tish merchants, but by an immense influx of the

368 APPENDIX'.

inhabitants of Goree, who, not finding employ-
ment under the French Government there, and
being excluded from the trade of the Gambia,
except through the medium of Saint Mary's, or a
small factory belonging to the French at Albreda
(than which they are not allowed to go higher
up the river) are daily emigrating to Bathurst.

The troops, inhabitants, and merchants are
abundantly supplied with beef, mutton, poultry,
fish, fruit, milk, butter, palm-wine, and all the
African vegetables by the natives of the sur-
rounding towns, who, feeling the advantage of
such intimacy with the settlement, flock to it
in great numbers, and consume a large propor-
tion of the European articles imported into the
colony.

Gold, ivory, bees- wax, and hides are brought
thither in considerable quantities by the natives,
traders, and the inhabitants of Goree who have
settled there, and are annually shipped for Eng-
land by the British merchants; fine timber of the
mahogany kind has been found on the banks of,
and islands in the river, and has likewise been
sent to the home market, where, I believe, it has
met with some encouragement.

APPENDIX. 369

ARTICLE II.— See Page 59.

PRESENTS TO THE KING OF KATOBA, APRIL 18tll, 1818.

One fine gilt dirk.
A stone of large amber.
Ten bars of glass beads.
Two bottles of rum.
One piece of blue baft.
One do. of white muslin.
Twenty bars of amber.
Twenty do. of coral.
Eighteen bars of tobacco.
Sixteen do. of red cloth.

ARTICLE III.— See Page 87-

PRESENTS MADE TO THE KING OF WOOLLI AND HIS CHIEFS.
TO THE KING.

One single gun.

One pound. No. 1, amber.

Forty dollars.

A piece of white baft.

A ditto of blue ditto.

Twelve stones. No. 1, coral.

TO HIS SON.

A common gun.

Five stones. No. 2, amber.

Five do. No. 2, coral.

TO THE CHIEFS.

One hundred and twenty-six bars in amber, coral, and bafts.

B B

370 APPENDIX.

ARTICLE IV.— See Page 116.

PRESENTS MADE TO ALMAMY BONDOO, HIS CHIEFS, MINIS-
TERS, &C. JUNE 13th, 1818.

A fine blue velvet saddle and bridle.

A large umbrella, gold laced and fringed.

A sabre.

A silver gilt cup.

Eight pieces of blue baft.

Two do. of white.

Two do. of blue cambric muslin.

Two do. of taiFety.

Two do. of muslin.

Four pieces of white cambric muslin.

Four yards of scarlet cloth.

Five do. of yellow do.

Five do. of green do.

Two pounds of cloves.

Three double barrelled guns.

Four single do.

One pound amber. No. 1.

One string of large pipe coral.

Two do. small do.

One silver cup.

Two metal do.

One pair line pistols.

Fifty pounds of tobacco.

Four morocco bound blank books.

Four cannisters of fine powder.

A small bale of flints.

One hundred and fifty pounds of powder.

Twenty-four dollars.

One yard red serge.

Seven do. of yellow.

Knives, scissors and snuff boxes, six each.

APPENDIX. 371

Two razorS;, two pair of spectacles.
Some worsted thread.

TO SAADA, HIS ELDEST SON.

One fine single gun.

Two pieces blue baft.

One do. white do.

One do. muslin.

One do. cambric muslin.

One yard scarlet cloth.

Ten stones of coral.

Twenty do. of amber. No. 1 .

Fifty fine flints.

One morocco bound book.

Four canisters of fine powder.

Five yards of taffety.

Scissors, razors, snuff boxes, and knives^ three each.

TO THE MINISTERS.

Four pieces blue baft.

Three do white do.

One do. muslin.

One do. taffety.

Four yards scarlet cloth.

One pound. No. 2, amber.

One string of coral.

Twenty-five pounds of powder.

Two pieces of blue cambric muslin.

Knives, scissors and snuff-boxesj twelve each.

Six razors.

B B

372

APPENDIX.

AGREEMENT

ENTERED INTO

WITH ALMAMY BONDOO, AND PRESENTS MADE TO
HIM AND THE PRINCES, MINISTERS, ETC., ON

THE 9th may, 1819.

ARTICLE VI.— See Page 222.

TO ALMAMY MOOSA KING OF BONDOO, ETC.
FROM MAJOR WILLIAM GRAY, COMMANDING HIS
BRITANNIC majesty's MISSION IN THE INTERIOR
OF AFRICA,

GREETING,

Whereas it being my intention to make you
a present suitable to your exalted situation as
King of Bondoo, in order to obtain your friend-
ship and assistance in prosecuting my journey ;
and to convince you of the amicable intentions
of our great King George towards you and all
your people, I have to demand from you in re-
turn the following terms, viz. —

1st. That you give directions to the chiefs
of all the towns or villages in your kingdom,
through which we may pass, to receive us as the
messengers of so great a king as ours should be
received.

APPENDIX. 373

2d. That you supply us with guides as far as
your power extends in the direction we wish to
proceed.

3d. That the presents given consist of the fol-
lowing articles, viz.

To complete the presents to Almamy Amady
for the last year :

2 Double guns Two.

6 Single do Six.

1 Fine double do One.

160 Bottles of powder .... One hun-
dred and sixty.

Present to Almamy Moosa this year :

2 Fine double guns . . Two.
1 Do. single do. . . . One.
4 Pieces blue baft . . . Four.

4 Do. white do Four.

3 Yards of scarlet cloth . Three.

5 Do. sprigged muslin . Five.
5 Do. tamboured do. . . Five.
5 Do. taffety .... Five,
lib. Amber One.

501b. Powder Fifty.

1 Piece of cambric . . . One.

20 Grains of coral . . . Twenty.

500 Flints Five hundred.

3/4 APPENDIX,

500 Balls Five hundred.

lib. Cloves One,

TO THE QUEEN.

1 Pair of sprigged muslin pangs.

1 Do. fine worked do.
10 Stones large amber.
10 Do. coral.

9 Bunches of beads.

^Ib. Cloves.

$ Yards of serge.

William Gray, Major.

I, Almamy Moosa, in consequence of the
above presents, and my wish to be of service to
you, the messenger of your King George of En-
gland, do hereby bind myself to render you the
protection and assistance required by the fore-
going terms ; In confirmation of which I do
hereby affix my signature, in the name of God
the Most High, this 9th day of May, 1819, at
Boolebany.

(Signed) Almamy Moosa Yeora.

Thierno — Mamadoo.

Prince Mamadoo Safietta.

APPENDIX. 375

ARTICLE VII.— See Page 222.

PRESENT TO SAADA^ 9tH MAY, 1819.

One double gun.
One piece of blue baft.
One piece of white baft.
One do. of cambric muslin.
Fifteen pounds of powder.
Half a pound of No. 2, amber.
Ten stones of do. coral.
Two hundred flints.

TO PRINCE TOMANY.

One double gun.

One single do.

Two pieces of blue baft.

Two do. of white baft.

Four yards of scarlet.

One piece of cambric muslin.

Half a pound of No. 2, amber.

Ten stones of do. coral.

Twenty-five pounds powder.

Two hundred flints.

Four ounces of cloves.

ARTICLE VII—See Page 223.

TO PRINCE AMADY CAMA, 18tH MAY.

One double gun.
Half a piece of blue baft.
Half a do. of white baft.
Ten stones of No. 2, amber.
Five pounds of powder.
Fifty flints.

376 APPENDIX.

ARTICLE VII.~See Page 223.

TO PRINCE ALI HOO, 18tH MAY, 1819.

Half a piece of blue baft.
Half a piece of wbite baft.
Half a yard of scarlet.
Ten stones of No. 2, amber.
Four do. of coral.
Three pounds of powder.
Fifty flints.

TO OSMAN CUMBA, CHIEF OP SAMBA CONTAYE.

One double gun.

Half a piece of blue baft.

Half a do. of white do.

Ten stones of No. 2, amber.

Four do. of coral.

One yard of scarlet.

Fifty flints.

Four ounces of cloves.

Five pounds of powder.

ARTICLE IX.—See Page 232.

PRESENT MADE TO THE GUIDES.

One double gun.

Four pieces of blue baft.

Two do. of white do.

Two do. of Manchester prints.

Three yards of scarlet cloth.

Four muslin pangs.

Three taffety do.

One pound of No. 2, amber.

Six yards of baize.

Ten bunches of beads.

Five hundred flints.

Six knives and scissors.

APPENDIX. 377

ARTICLE X.— See Page 234.

PRESENT SENT TO THE CHIEFS OF FOOTA.

Two pieces of blue baft.

Two pieces of white do.

One pound of No. 2, amber.

One blank book.

Two yards of scarlet cloth.

Twenty-five pounds of powder.

Two hundred flints.

One piece of Manchester print.

TO THE TWO FOOTA PEOPLE WHO ACCOMPANIED OUR
MESSENGER.

One piece of white baft.
Half a do. of blue do.
Eight pounds of powder.
Fifty flints.

One yard of scarlet cloth.
Thirty grains of No. 2, amber.

378 APPENDIX.

ARTICLE XI.— See Page 26l.

LIST OF THINGS RECEIVED FROBI FOOTA OF THOSE LOST
THERE.

Three horses.

Seventeen asses.

Three goats.

Four double guns.

Thirteen muskets.

One pair of pistols.

One sword.

Four spring guns.

Two tents.

One bale of 50 pounds of powder.

One do. of flints.

One bag of balls.

Three large saws.

Two small do.

Three old saddles.

One and a half do. of blue baft.

The books and boxes.

Cooking utensils.

Forty country cloths, in payment for two asses that died
while in their possession, and the two gold rings I had given
Bayla.

APPENDIX. 379

ARTICLE XII.— See Page 288.

PRESENTS TO SAMBA CONGOLE AND THE CHIEFS OF FORT
ST. JOSEPH.

TO SAMBA.

One double gun.
One single do.
One pair of pistols.
Twenty-five pounds of powder.
One yard of scarlet cloth.
Sixteen grains of No. I, amber.
Sixteen do. of No. 2, corals.
Five pair of pangs.
Four bunches of beads.
One hundred flints.
Half a pound of cloves.

TO THE CHIEFS.

Two double guns.
Two pieces of baft.
Fifteen pounds of powder.
Two hundred and fifty flints.
Forty-six grains of No. 2, amber.
Forty-six do. of No. 3, coral.
Five ounces of cloves.

580 APPENDIX.

ARTICLE XIIL— See Page 305.

FIRST PRESENT TO MODIBA.

Two double guns.
Two single do.
One pair of pistols.
One sword.

Fifty pounds of powder.
Five thousand flints.
Two pieces of blue baft.
Two do. of white do.
One yard of scarlet cloth.
One do. of yellow do.
One do. of green do.
Five do. of muslin.
Five do. of taffety.
Two fine pangs.
Haifa piece of print.
Half a do. of blue silk.
Two coloured silk handkerchiefs.
Ten large stones of No. 1, amber.
Eight do. of No. 1, coral.
Half a piece of India print.
One fine saddle cloth.

A handsome plated tureen and cover. To which was added
on the 1st of April,

ARTICLE XIV.~See Page 305.

One pound of small amber.

One pound of cloves.

One dirk and belt.

Twelve dollars.

One pound of worsted thread.

Two bunches of beads.

One silver cup.

APPENDIX. 381

ARTICLE XV.— See Page 307-

PRESENT TO ALL

One double gun.

Two yards of muslin.

Two do. of silk.

Six stones of No. ] , amber.

Six do. of No. 3, coral.

One piece of blue baft.

One piece of pang.

Seven pounds of powder.

Fifty flints.

Two ounces of cloves.

Quarter of a yard of scarlet cloth.

ARTICLE XVI.— See Page 309.

THIRD PRESENT TO MODIBA, ON THE 14tH OF APRIL.

One piece of blue baft.

One do. of white do.

One muslin pang.

One worsted do.

One silk do.

One pound of small amber.

Twenty-four stones^, No. 3, coral.

Four ounces of cloves.

Fifteen pounds of powder.

Two hundred flints.

One silver medal.

3S2 APPENDIX.

ARTICLE XVII.— See Page 314.

FOURTH PRESENT TO MODIBA.

One double gun.

One pound of No. 3, amber.

Ten yards of callico.

Six yards of silk.

Some fine beads.

Ten pounds of powder.

Half a yard of scarlet.

One hundred flints.

ARTICLE XVIII.— See Page 316.

FIFTH PRESENT TO MODIBA.

One single gun.

Two pairs of fine pangs.

ARTICLE XIX.

LIST OF THINGS TAKEN BY MODIBA's SLAVES AT MONIA.

One double gun.
Twenty pounds of powder.
Four yards of red silk-
Twelve do. of caUico.
One do. of scarlet cloth.
One do. of yellow do.
Two pounds of amber.
One thousand flints.
A large quantity of beads.
Four ounces of small pipe coral.

Four yards of baize ; a number of knives, scissorS;, snufF
boxes, looking glasses, and a ream of paper.

APPENDIX. 3S3

ARTICLE XX.— See Page 3^5.

I here witnessed an extraordinary ceremony
performed by one of the young princes, who was
about undergoing the Mahometan rite of circum-
cision. He was dressed in the manner shewn in
figure 1, plate 4 ; and accompanied by a host of
musicians and young men, visited several towns
for the purpose of levying contributions on the
provisions and purses of the inhabitants, either
by stealth (and for which he could not be pun-
ished, not being amenable to the laws for that
period) or during his exhibitions in public, by
seizing on some of the spectators, whom he
held fast and pretended to goad with the horn
attached to the wooden figure on his head,
until he received some offering which was
never withheld, and which, together with the
intercession of his attendants, who fanned him
with boughs of trees, appeased his wrath, and
induced him to sit down. In this position he
remained for some minutes, and in an apparent
paroxysm of rage recommenced his antics, which
generally continued for two or three hours
during the heat of the day, leaving the person
so exhausted from his exertions and the weight
of his dress, that he did not again make his
appearance until the following day. In this man-
ner I was told he continued acting for a moo7i.

384 APPENDIX.

DESCRIPTION AND SKETCHES ON BOTANICAL
SUBJECTS.

Among the party who accompanied Majou
Peddie in the mission into the interior of Africa,
was Mr. Kummer, who was charged to make
collections in every department of natural his-
tory, with drawings and descriptions of what-
ever was most interesting in that line, as well as
to keep a regular journal of general observations
and events.

Many sketches of animals and plants, and se-
veral notes were made ; but these are of such a
nature as to require an examination of the spe-
cimens from which they were taken, before they
can be valuable to a naturalist who is not pre-
viously acquainted with the subjects themselves.
Unfortunately the individual articles were lost.

From the drawings, however, and descriptions,
such as they are, we have selected four of the
most perfect, which relate to as many plants, and
which do not appear to us to have been noticed
by former naturalists. In doing this however, we
cannot help regretting the extremely imperfect
state of the materials. Had all the collections of
Mr. Kummer been saved, they might have
formed a most important addition to our present

appendix:. 385

unsatisfactory acquaintance with the natural
history of Western Africa.

The plants alluded to were found between
Cape Verga, at the mouth of Rio Nunez, and
the establishment called Tingalinta.

It is with much pleasure I take this opportu-
nity of acknowledging my obligations to Dr.
Hooker, Professor of Botany, at the Glasgow
University, for the following plates and their
descriptions.

c c

3S6 APPENDIX,

Tab. a.
ARUM APHYLLUM.

CLASS AND ORDER MONCECIA POLYANDRIA.

Natural Order — Aroidea^,

Gen. Char. Spaiha monophylla, cucullata.
Spadix supra nudus, inferne foemineus, medio
stamineus. Willd.

Arum aphyllum ; spadice apice magno sub-
globoso rugoso spatha ovato-cucuUata, breviore
scapo aphyllo.

Hab. Locis mentosis saxosis Tingalinta, Fl.
mense Februarii.

RadiXy ut videtur, tuberosa.

Folia omnino nulla.

Bractece duae, fere omnino subterraneae, tres
uncias long«, lanceolatae, membranae, pallidas,
ad basin scapi.

Scapus palmaris ad spithamaeus, parte supe-
riore (2 — 3 uncias) e terra emergens, teres,
glaber, succulentus, inferne fere albidus, superne
roseus.

Spatha diametro 3 ad 4 uncias, ovato-ventri-
cosa, obliqua, obtusa cum mucronula, margini-

APPENDIX. 887

bus involuta, basi etiam convoluta, pallide rosea,
lineis saturationibus pulcherrime picta.

Spadia:, basi, ubi flores inserti, cylindraceus,
apice magniis (duas uncias latus) ovato-glo-
bosus, obliquus, carnosus, extus rugosus, in-
tense roseus, intus spongeosus, albus.

Antherw numerosae, purpureas, sessiles, apice
loculis duobus horizontalibus dehiscentes, pur-
purescentes.

Pistilla sub antheras inserta, pauciora. Ger-
men globosum, viride. Stylus breviusculus, pur-
pureus. Stigma peltatum.

Fig, 1. Plant, natural size : — all below the
line indicated by the letters a — b is subterra-
neous. Fig, 2, Front view of the spatha.
Fig. 3, Spadix removed from the spatha. c,
the circle of anthers, d. the circle of pistils. Fig,
4- Section of the spadix. Fig. 5. Anther. Fig.
6. Pistil, of which the germen is cut through
vertically. The 5th and 6th figures are magni-
fied.

Of this singular and beautiful plant I can find
no description, yet it appears to be not uncom-
mon in Senegal. The Jolofs, particularly in the
country of Cayor, eat the root, when other and
better kinds of nourishment fail them. They
dry the root and boil it, thus employing heat
to extract that poisonous juice with which all

c c 2

388 APPENDIX,

the individuals of this natural family are known
to abound. It is not, however, eaten at Tin-
galinta, nor in the district of the Sousous where
it is found in equal plenty.

APPENDIX. 389

Tab. B.
TABERN^MONTANA GRANDIFLOR A.

CLASS AND ORDER— PENTANDRIA MONOGYNIA.

Natural Order — Apocynece.

Gen. Char. Contorta. Corolla hypocrateri-
formis ; tubus angulato-strictus, basi subglobosus.
FolUculi 2, horizontales. Semina pulpae immersa
{FoL opposita).

Tabernsemontana Africana, foliis ovato-lance-
olatis oppositis, floribus axillaribus solitariis :
tubo corollas spiraliter torto, medio inflato.

Hab. Kacundy.

Arbor mediocris vel Frutea:^ ramis subdecli-
natis.

Folia opposita, ovato-lanceolata, basi apiceque
subalterneata, integerrima, glabra, nervosa, ner-
vis parallelis.

Flores solitarii, axillares, versus apicem ra-
morum, pedunculati. Fedunculus longiusculus,
crassus.

Calyx quinquepartitus, inferus, persistens ;
segmentis ovatis, obtusis.

Corolla hypocrateriformis, magna, speciosa.

390 APPENDIX.

alba. Tubus spiraliter tortus, versis medium
inflatus. Limbus quinquepartitus, segmentis
oblongo-lanceolatis, obtusissimis planis, oblique
tortis : ore nudo.

Stamina quinque, medio tubi inserta. Fila-
menta lata, tubo adherentia, marginibus ciliatis.
Antherce sagittatae, flavae, circa stigma conni-
ventes.

Pistillum unicum, corollae dimidio brevius.
Germen duplex. Styli duo, filiformes, basi dis-
tincti, apice unito, paululum dilatati. Stigma
incrassatum, subcylindraceum, basi dilatatum,
apice quinquelobum, lobis erectis.

Pericarpium : FoUiculi ? vel potius baccae
duae, ovato-rotundatas, patentes, acuminata?,
basi calyce cinctae, uniloculares, polyspermae.

Semina plana, stricta, receptaculo centrali af-
fixa.

Fig. 1. Branch, natural size. Fig. 2. Lower
part of the tube laid open to shew the sta-
mens. Fig. 3. Pistil. Fig. 4. Stigma. -Fig, 5.
Section of the upper part of the Style. Fig. 6.
Fruit (natural size). Fig. 7* Section of the
same. All butjigures 1 and 7 more or less mag-
nified.

This appears to be a very different species of
Tabernwmontana, if indeed it really belongs to
that genus, from any hitherto described. In

APPENDIX. 391

the persistent calyx, this plant seems to depart
from the character of Taherncemontanay as it is
defined by Jussieu ; and also in the tube of the
corolla, which is not inflated at the base, but
near the middle, and is moreover singularly spir-
ally twisted with deep furrows, if we may
judge from the drawing.

39^ APPENDIX.

Tab. C.
STROPHANTHUS PENDULUS.

CLASS AND ORDER PENTANDRIA MONOGYNIA.

Natural Order — Apocyneoe.

Gen. Char. Corolla infundibuliformis. Faiuic
coronata sqamulis decern, indivisis.

Limhi lacinice candatae. Stamina medio tubi
inserta. Antherce sagittatae, aristatae vel mucro-
natae. Ovaria duo. Stylus unicus, filiformis,
apice dilatato. Stigma subcylindraceum. Squa-
mae quinque, hypogynse.

Strophanthus pendulus ; foliis oppositis ovato-
oblongis acutis, floribus pendulis, antheris aris-
tatis.

Hab. Santo Fallo.

Caulis sarmentosus ? cortice cinereo-fusca tec-
tus.

Folia opposita, breviter petiolata, duas, tres
uncias longa, unciam lata, oblongo-ovata, glabra,
acuta, integerrima, juniora angustiora.

Flores in racemos parvos terminales, solitarii
vel bini, penduli.

Pedunculus brevis, crassiusculus.

APPENDIX. 393

Calyx profunde quinquepartitus, laciniis ova-
to-lanceolatis, acutis, modice patentibus.

Corolla infundibuliformis, flava, limbo quin-
quepartito, laciniis longissimis, linearibus subun-
dulatis ; fauce coronata squamis quinque bipar-
titis, purpureis : segmentis lanceolato-subulatis
subundulatis*

Stamina quinque, versus medium tubi corollae
inserta. Filamenta alba, breviuscula, curvata.
Antherce sagittatse, basi intus stigmati adheren-
tes, apice aristata.

Pistillum : Germen ovato-rotundatum, bilo-
culare : Stylus fiiliformis, cylindraceus. Stigma
incrassatum, cylindraceum, apice truncatum.

Fig, 1. Portion of a plant, natural size. Fig.
9., View of the mouth of the corolla and the
nectary. Fig, S, Stamen. Fig, 4. Two of the
stamens J shewing the point of adhesion of the
anthers with the stigma. Fig, 5, Back view of
a stamen. Fig, 6. Front view of the same. Fig,
7. Section of the germen. All more or less
magnified.

Of this plant Mr. Kummer has given but an
unsatisfactory account, as he only saw the speci-
men from which the drawing was made, and
which, in his journal, he says that the Cherif
Sidi Mahommed (of Foota Jallo), procured for
him.

This species of Strophanthus seems to offer a

394f APPENDIX.

peculiar character in its drooping flowers. I
am also unable to find that the remarkable cir-
cumstance of the anthers adhering by their base
within, and being firmly attached to the stigma,
is mentioned by any author as existing in other
individuals of this curious genus.

Most of the species of Strophanthics inhabit
equinoctial Africa. The S. dichotomus which is
a native of China, is the only one of the genus,
as far as I know, which has yet been introduced
to our gardens. There is an excellent represen-
tation of it in the Botanical Register^ tab. 469.

Tab. D.

PTEROCARPUS AFRICANUS. GUM
KARL

CLASS AND ORDER — DIADELPHIA DECANDRIA*

Natural Order — Leguminosce.

Gen. Char. Calyx quinquedentatus. Legu-
men falcatum, foliaceum, varicosum, ala cinc-
tum, non dehiscens. Semina aliquot solitaria.
Willd.

Pterocarpus Senegalensis ; foliis pinnatis, foli-
olis ovalibus fructibus lunato-orbiculatis pubes-
centibus.

Hab. Prope Kacundy et aliis locis montanis,
vulgaris. Fl. mense Decembri.

Arbor mediocris, ramis difFusis, cortice pallida.

Folia pinnata, decidua, foliolis ovalibus alter-
nis integerrimis, glabris, superne nitidis nervosis,
nervis parallelis approximatis, petiolis partialibus
brevissimis.

Racemi compositi, terminales.

Flores numerosi, flavi. Pedicelli breves cur-
vati, basi bractealis, bracteis parvis lanceolatis
subulatis. Calyx quinquedentatus, pubescens,
basi bracteis duabus parvis subulatis munitus 5
dentibus subasqualibus, duobus superioribus apice

396 APPENDIX.

rotundatis, reliquis acutis. Corolla papiliona-
cea, cito caduca. Vexillum rotundatum margine
undulatum, basi breve ungiiiculatiim, alls majus*
Alee carina majores. Carina foliolis distinctis.
Stamina monadelpha tubo superne fisso, fila-
mentis alternatim longioribus. Aritherce rotun-
datae, flavae. Pistillum staminum longitudine.
Germen subovatum, pubescens, viride. Stylus
filiformis, curvatus. Stigma simplex.

Legumen majusculum, compressum, in orbi-
culum curvatum, pubescens, monospermum.

Fig, 1. Flowering branch, after the leaves
have fallen away, a, the red gum flowing from
the wounded part. Fig. 2. Leaflet of the com-
pound pinnated leaf. Fig, 3. Calyx. Fig, 4.
Standard of the corolla. Fig, 5, One of the
wings. Fig, 6, The Keel. Fig. 7- Bundle of
Stamens. Fig. 8. Pistil. Fig. 9. Legumen.
All hut figures 1, % and 9, more or less magnified.

This plant loses its leaves in the month of
November, and in December the flowers appear.
The tree is known amongst the inhabitants by
the name of Kari, affording one of the best
kinds of Gum Kino. Where an incision is
made, the juice flows out, at first of an extremely
pale red colour, and in a very liquid state ; but
it soon coagulates, becoming of a deep blood
red hue, and so remarkably brittle, that its col-
lection is attended with some difficulty.

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