CHAPTER XVIII.

Inhospitable Reception at Taffara.-A Negro Funeral at Sooha.The Author continues his route through several Villages along the Banks of the Niger, until he comes to Koolikorro.-Supports himself by writing Saphies-reaches Maraboo-loses the Road; and after many difficulties arrives at Bammakoo.-Takes the road for Sibidooloo-meets with great Kindness at a Village called Kooma;—is afterwards robbed, stripped, and plundered by Banditti.-The Author's Resource and Consolation under exquisite Distress. He arrives in Safety at Sibidooloo.

On my arrival at Taffara, I inquired for the Dooty, but was informed that he had died a few days before my arrival, and that there was, at that moment, a meeting of the chief men for electing another; there being some dispute about the succession. It was probably owing to this unsettled state of the town, that I experienced such a want of hospitality in it; for though I informed the inhabitants that I should only remain with them for one night, and assured them that Mansong had given me some Kowries to pay for my lodging, yet no person invited me to come in; and I was forced to sit alone under the Bentang tree, exposed to the rain and wind of a tornado, which lasted with great violence until midnight. At this time, the stranger, who had assisted me in crossing the river, paid me a visit, and observing that I had not found a lodging, invited me to take part of his supper, which he

had brought to the door of his hut: for being a guest himself he could not, without his landlord's consent, invite me to come in. After this, I slept upon some wet grass in the corner of a court. My horse fared still worse than myself; the corn I had purchased being all expended, and I could not procure a supply.

Aug. 20th. I passed the town of Jaba, and stopped a few minutes at a village called Somino, where I begged and obtained' some coarse food, which the natives prepare from the husks of corn, and call Boo. About two o'clock I came to the village of Sooha, and endeavoured to purchase some corn from the Dooty, who was sitting by the gate; but without success. I then requested a little food by way of charity, but was told he had none to spare. Whilst I was examining the countenance of this inhospitable old man, and endeavouring to find out the cause of the sullen discontent, which was visible in his eye, he called to a slave who was working in the corn field at a little distance, and ordered him to bring his hoe along with him. The Dooty then told him to dig a hole in the ground, pointing to a spot at no great distance. The slave, with his hoe, began to dig a pit in the earth; and the Dooty, who appeared to be a man of a very fretful disposition, kept muttering and talking to himself until the pit was almost finished, when he repeatedly pronounced the words dankatoo (good for nothing); jankra lemen (a real plague); which expressions I thought could be applied to nobody but myself; and as the pit had very much the appearance of a grave, I thought it prudent to mount my horse, and was about to decamp, when the slave, who had before gone into the village, to my surprise, returned with the corpse of a boy about nine or ten years of

age, quite naked. The Negro carried the body by a leg and an arm, and threw it into the pit with a savage indifference, which I had never before seen. As he covered the body with earth, the Dooty often expressed himself, naphula attiniata (money lost); whence I concluded that the boy had been one of his slaves.

Departing from this shocking scene, I travelled by the side of the river until sunset, when I came to Koolikorro; a considerable town, and a great market for salt. Here I took up my lodging at the house of a Bambarran, who had formerly been the slave of a Moor, and in that character had travelled to Aoran, Towdinni, and many other places in the Great Desert; but turning Mussulman, and his master dying at Jenné, he obtained his freedom, and settled atthis place, where he carries on a considerable trade in salt, cotton-cloth, &c. His knowledge of the world has not lessened that superstitious confidence in saphies and charms, which he had imbibed in his earlier years; for when he heard that I was a Christian, he immediately thought of procuring a saphie; and for this purpose brought out his walha, or writing board; assuring me, that he would dress me a supper of rice, if I would write him a saphie to protect him from wicked men. The proposal was of too great consequence to me to be refused; I therefore wrote the board full from top to bottom, on both sides; and my landlord, to be certain of having the whole force of the charm, washed the writing from the board into a calabash with a little water, and having said a few prayers over it, drank this powerful draught; after which, lest a single word should escape, he licked the board until it was quite dry. A saphie writer was a man of too great consequence to be

long concealed; the important information was carried to the Dooty, who sent his son with half a sheet of writing paper, desiring me to write him a naphula saphie (a charm to procure wealth). He brought me, as a present, some meal and milk, and when I had finished the saphie, and read it to him with an audible voice, he seemed highly satisfied with his bargain, and promised to bring me in the morning some milk for my breakfast. When I had finished my supper of rice and salt, I laid myself down upon a bullock's hide, and slept very quietly until morning; this being the first good meal and refreshing sleep that I had enjoyed for a long time.

Aug. 21st. At daybreak I departed from Koolikorro, and about noon passed the villages of Kayoo, and Toolumbo. In the afternoon I arrived at Maraboo; a large town, and, like Koolikorro, famous for its trade in salt. I was conducted to the house of a Kaartan, of the tribe of Jower, by whom I was well received. This man had acquired a considerable property in the slave trade: and from his hospitality to strangers, was called by way of pre-eminence, Jattee (the landlord); and his house was a sort of public inn for all travellers. Those who had money were well lodged, for they always made him some return for his kindness; but those who had nothing to give, were content to accept whatever he thought proper; and as I could not rank myself among the monied men, I was happy to take up my lodging in the same hut with seven poor fellows who had come from Kancaba in a canoe. But our landlord sent us some victuals.

Aug. 22d. One of the landlord's servants went with me a little way from the town to shew me what road to take; but whether from ignorance or design I know not, he directed me

wrong; and I did not discover my mistake until the day was far advanced when, coming to a deep creek, I had some thoughts of turning back; but as by that means, I foresaw that I could not possibly reach Bammakoo before night, I resolved to cross it; and leading my horse close to the brink, I went behind him, and pushed him headlong into the water; and then taking the bridle in my teeth, swam over to the other side. This was the third creek I had crossed in this manner, since I had left Sego: but having secured my notes and memorandums in the crown of my hat, I received little or no inconvenience from such adventures. The rain and heavy dew kept my clothes constantly wet; and the roads being very deep and full of mud, such a washing was sometimes pleasant, and oftentimes necessary. I continued travelling, through high grass, without any beaten road, and about noon came to the river; the banks of which are here very rocky, and the force and roar of the water were very great. The King of Bambarra's canoes, however, frequently pass these rapids, by keeping close to the bank; persons being stationed on the shore with ropes fastened to the canoe, while others push it forward with long poles. At this time, however, it would, I think, have been a matter of great difficulty for any European boat to have crossed the stream. About four o'clock in the afternoon, having altered my course from the river towards the mountains, I came to a small pathway, which led to a village called Frookaboo, where I slept.

Aug. 23. Early in the morning I set out for Bammakoo, at which place I arrived about five o'clock in the afternoon. I had heard Bammakoo much talked of as a great market for salt, and I felt rather disappointed to find it only a middling