Bambarra tongue, and found that I was going the same way as himself, he promised to assist me in crossing the river; the name of which he told me was Frina. He then went a little way along the bank, and called to some person, who answered from the other side. In a short time, a canoe with two boys, came paddling from among the reeds: these boys agreed for fifty Kowries, to transport me and my horse over the river, which was effected without much difficulty; and I arrived in the evening at Taffara, a walled town; and soon discovered that the language of the natives was improved, from the corrupted dialect of Bambarra, to the pure Mandingo.

CHAPTER XVIII.

Inhospitable Reception at Taffara.-A Negro Funeral at Sooba.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 Marraboo-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

N 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 Hh

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. 20. 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

the

mount my horse, and was about to decamp, when the slave, who had before gone into the village, to my surprise, returned with 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 Aroan, Towdinni, and many other places in the Great Desert; but turning Mussulman, and his master dying at Jenné, he obtained his freedom, and settled at this place, where he carries on a considerable trade in salt, cotton-cloth, &c. His knowledge of the world had 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 walba, 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 Marraboo; 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, Jatee (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 re turn 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