CHILDREN EXCHANGED FOR FOOD.

117

from pure bounty, or whether he expected a return when the harvest should be gathered in.

'Observe

that boy,' said he, pointing to a fine child, about five years of age; 'his mother has sold him to me for forty days' provision for herself and the rest of her family; I have bought another boy in the same manner.' Good God! thought I, what must a mother suffer before she sells her own child! I could not get this melancholy subject out of my mind; and the next night, when the women came for their allowance, I desired the boy to point out to me his mother, which he did. She was much emaciated, but had nothing cruel or savage in her countenance; and, when she had received her corn, she came and talked to her son with as much cheer. fulness as if he had been still under her care."

On the 6th of September our traveller recovered his horse and clothes. As the poor animal, being reduced to a mere skeleton, would have been use. less to him on such roads as he had to journey over, Park made a present of him to his landlord, who gave him in return a spear, and a leather bag for his clothes; the saddle and bridle he sent to the mansa of Sibidooloo. He quitted Wonda on the 8th, and travelled with more ease than be. fore, "having converted his half boots into sandals." On the 11th he hurt his ankle very much; and on the 17th he was forced to lie down three times, "being very faint and sickly," as he ascended a high, rocky hill, over which the road led to Mansia." The mansa of this town," says Park, "had the character of being very inhospitable; he, however, sent me a little corn for my supper, but demanded something in return; and when I assu

118

A NIGHT ADVENTURE.

red him that I had nothing of value in my possession, he told me (as if in jest) that my white skin would not defend me if I told him lies. He then showed me the hut wherein I was to sleep, but took away my spear, saying that it should be returned to me in the morning. This trifling circumstance, when joined to the character I had heard of the man, made me rather suspicious of him; and I privately desired one of the inhabitants of the place, who had a bow and quiver, to sleep in the same hut with me. About midnight I heard somebody approach the door, and, observing the moonlight strike suddenly into the hut, I started up, and saw a man stepping cautiously over the threshold. I immediately snatched up the negro's bow and quiver, the rattling of which made the man withdraw; and my companion, looking out, assured me that it was the mansa himself, and advised me to keep awake until the morning. I closed the door, and placed a large piece of wood behind it, and was wondering at this unexpected visit, when somebody pressed so hard against the door that the negro could scarcely keep it shut. But when I called to him to open the door, the intruder ran off as before."

Starting at daylight on the 19th, before this inhospitable mansa was awake, Park arrived in the afternoon at the small town of Kamalia, and was conducted to the house of a bushreen, named Karfa Taura, who was collecting a coffle of slaves, with a view to sell them to the Europeans on the Gam. bia as soon as the rains should be over. Karfa was sitting in his baloon, surrounded by several Slatees, who proposed to join the coffle. He was

PARK MEETS WITH A FRIEND IN NEED.

119

reading to them from an Arabic book; and he inquired, with a smile, if our traveller understood it. Being answered in the negative, he desired one of the Slatees to fetch the little curious book, which had been brought from the West country. "On opening this small volume," says Park, "I was surprised and delighted to find it our Book of Common Prayer, and Karfa expressed great joy to hear that I could read it; for some of the Slatees, who had seen the Europeans upon the coast, observing the colour of my skin (which had now become very yellow from sickness), my long beard, ragged clothes, and extreme poverty, were unwilling to admit that I was a white man, and told Karfa that they suspected that I was some Arabian in disguise. Karfa, however, perceiving that I could read this book, had no doubt concerning me; and kindly promised me every assistance in his pow

Our

This benevolent man soon made Park aware of the insuperable obstacles to his farther progress, alone, at such a season of the year, and recommended him to stay and accompany the coffle. traveller pointed out his inability to support himself in the mean while. Karfa then looked at him with great earnestness, and inquired if he could eat the common victuals of the country; if so, he should have plenty of them, and a hut to sleep in until the rains were over; and, on reaching the Gambia, he might make what return he thought proper. Park asked if the value of one prime slave would be a sufficient repayment; Karfa answered in the affirm. ative, and at once ordered a hut to be got ready. "Thus," says our traveller, was I delivered by

66

120

PARK'S RECEPTION AT KAMALIA.

the friendly care of this benevolent negro from a situation truly deplorable. Distress and famine pressed hard upon me; I had before me the gloomy wilds of Jallonkadoo, where the traveller sees no habitation for five successive days. I had observed at a distance the rapid course of the river Kokoro. I had almost marked out the place where I was doomed, I thought, to perish, when this friendly negro stretched out his hospitable hand for my relief."

CHAPTER XI.

Park's Residence at Kamalia.-Description of that Town.Park's Occupation during his Stay there.-Climate and Seasons of the Countries visited by him.-The Inhabitants, and their Religious Opinions.-Their Ignorance and Superstition. --Manufactures of Leather and Iron.-The Process of smelting Iron.

[1796-1797.]

PARK'S stay at Kamalia lasted seven months, throughout which he was treated with great kindness. But in the early part of this period his sufferings were very severe; so long as the rains continued and the country remained wet, his fever never left him; and even afterward he was for some time in so debilitated a condition that he could scarcely stand upright. At length, however, he found himself in a state of convalescence, " towards which," he says, "the benevolent and simple manners of the negroes, and the perusal of Karfa's little volume, greatly contributed."