Chapter VII…

Chapter VII

Mr. Park had now been detained a whole month in Ali's camp, during which each returning day brought him fresh distresses. In the evening alone, his oppressors left him to solitude and reflection. About midnight, a bowl of kouskous, with some salt and water, was brought for him and his two attendants, being the whole of their allowance for the following day, for it was at this time the Mahometan Lent, which, being kept with religious strictness by the Moors, they thought proper to compel their Christian captive to a similar abstinence. Time, in some degree, reconciled him to his forlorn state: he now found that he could bear hunger and thirst better than he could have anticipated; and at length endeavoured to amuse himself by learning to write Arabic. The people, who came to see him, soon made him acquainted with the characters. When he observed any one person, whose countenance he thought malignant, Mr. Park almost always asked him to write on the sand, or to decipher what he had written, and the pride of showing superior attainment generally induced him to comply with the request.

Mr. Park's sufferings and attendant feelings decreased in intenseness from time and custom; his attempts, as the first paroxysms ceased, to find the means to amuse and shorten the tedious hours, is a fine picture, of human passions; and their variations, circumstances, and situations, which, before they were encountered, would appear intolerable, generate a resolution and firmness, which render them possible to be borne. Providence, with its usual benevolence, willing the happiness of mankind, fortifies the heart to the assaults, which it has to undergo.

On the 14th of April, Ali proposed to go two days journey, to fetch his queen Fatima. A fine bullock was therefore killed, and the flesh cut into thin slices, was dried in the sun; this, with two bags of dry kouskous, served for food on the road. The tyrant, fearing poison, never ate any thing not dressed under his immediate inspection. Previously to his departure, the negroes of Benown, according to a usual custom, showed their arms and paid their tribute of corn and cloth.

Two days after the departure of Ali, a shereef arrived with merchandize from Walet, the capital of the kingdom of Biroo. He took up his abode in the same hut with Mr. Park, and appeared be a well-informed man, acquainted with the Arabic and Bambarra tongues; he had travelled through many kingdoms; he had visited Houssa, and lived some years at Timbuctoo. Upon Mr. Park's inquiring the distance from Walet to Timbuctoo, the shereef, learning that he intended to travel to that city, said, it would not do, for Christians were there considered as the devil's children, and enemies to the prophet.

On the 24th, another shereef arrived, named Sidi Mahomed Moora Abdallah, and with these two men Mr. Park passed his time with less uneasiness than formerly, but as his supply of victuals was now left to slaves, over whom he had no control, he was worse supplied than during the past month. For two successive nights, they neglected to send the accustomed meal, and the boy, having begged a few handfuls of ground nuts, from a small negro town near the camp, readily shared them with his master. Mr. Park now found that when the pain of hunger has continued for some time, it is succeeded by languor and debility, when a draught of water, by keeping the stomach distended, will remove for a short time every sort of uneasiness. The two attendants, Johnson and Demba, lay stretched upon the sand in torpid slumber, and when the kouskous arrived, were with difficulty awakened. Mr. Park felt no inclination to sleep, but was affected with a deep convulsive respiration, like constant sighing, a dimness of sight, and a tendency to faint, when he attempted to sit up. These symptoms went off when he had received nourishment.

On the 29th of April, intelligence arrived at Benown, that the Bambarra army was approaching the frontiers of Ludamar. Ali's son, with about twenty horsemen, arriving, ordered all the cattle to be driven away, the tents to be struck, and the people to depart. His orders were instantly obeyed; the baggage was carried upon bullocks, one or two women being commonly placed upon the top of each burden. The king's concubines rode upon camels, with a saddle of an easy construction, and a canopy to keep the sun from them. On the 2nd of May, they arrived at Ali's camp, and Mr. Park waited immediately upon him; he seemed much pleased with his coming, and introduced him to Fatima, his favourite princess, saying, "that was the Christian." The queen had long black hair, and was remarkably corpulent; she appeared at first shocked at having a Christian so near her, but when Mr. Park had, by means of a negro boy, satisfied her curiosity, she seemed more reconciled, and presented him with a bowl of milk.

The heat and the scarcity of water were greater here than at Benown. One night, Mr. Park, having solicited in vain for water at the camp, resolved to try his fortune at the wells, to which he was guided by the lowing of cattle. The Moors were very busy in drawing water, and when Mr. Park requested permission to drink, they drove him away with outrageous abuse. He at last came to a well, where there were an old man and two boys, to whom he made the same request. The former immediately drew up a bucket of water, but recollecting Mr. Park was a Christian, and fearing the bucket would be polluted by his lips, he dashed the water into the trough, and told him to assuage his thirst from it. The cows were already drinking at the trough, but Mr, Park resolved to come in for his share, and, accordingly, thrusting his head between two of the cows, he drank with great pleasure till the water was nearly exhausted.

Thus passed the month of May, Ali still considered Mr. Park as his lawful prisoner, and Fatima, though she allowed him a greater quantity of victuals than fell to his portion at Benown, yet she made no efforts for his release. Some circumstances, however, now occurred, which produced a change in his favour more suddenly than he expected. The fugitive Kaartans, dreading the resentment of the sovereign, whom they had so basely deserted, offered to treat with Ali for two hundred Moorish horsemen to assist them in an effort to expel Daisy from Gedinggooma, for till Daisy should be vanquished, they could neither return to their native town, nor live in security in the neighbouring kingdoms. Ali, with a view to extort money from these people, despatched his son to Jarra, and prepared himself to follow him. Mr. Park, believing that he might escape from Jarra, if he could get there, immediately applied to Fatima, prime counsellor of the monarch, and begged her to intercede with Ali for leave to accompany him to Jarra. The request was at length granted. His bundles were brought before the royal consort, and Mr. Park explained the use of the several moveables, for the amusement of the queen, and received a promise of speedy permission to depart.

In regard to the moorish character, especially the female, which Mr. Park had frequent opportunities of studying during his captivity at Benown; it appears that the education of the women is neglected altogether, they being evidently regarded merely as administering to sensual pleasure. The Moors have singular ideas of feminine perfection. With them, gracefulness of figure, and an expressive countenance, are by no means requisite. Beauty and corpulency are synonymous. A perfect moorish beauty is a load for a camel and a woman of moderate pretensions to beauty requires a slave on each side to support her. In consequence of this depraved taste for unwieldiness of bulk, the moorish ladies take great pains to acquire it early in life, and for this purpose, the young girls are compelled by their mothers to devour a great quantity of kouskous, and drink a large portion of camel's milk every morning. It is of no importance whether the girl has an appetite or not, the kouskous and milk must be swallowed, and obedience is frequently enforced by blows.

The usual dress of the women is a broad piece of cotton cloth wrapped round the middle, which hangs down like a petticoat; to the upper part of this are sewed two square pieces, one before and the other behind, which are fastened together over the shoulders. The head dress is a bandage of cotton cloth, a part of which covers the face when they walk in the sun, but frequently, when they go abroad, they veil themselves from head to foot. Their employment varies according to their situation. Queen Fatima passed her time in conversing with visitors, performing devotions, or admiring her charms in a looking-glass. Other ladies of rank amuse themselves in similar idleness. The lower females attend to domestic duties. They are very vain and talkative, very capricious in their temper, and when angry vent their passion upon the female slaves, over whom they rule despotically.

The men's dress differs but little from that of the negroes, except that they all wear the turban, universally made of white cotton cloth. Those who have long beards display them with pride and satisfaction, as denoting an Arab ancestry. "If any one circumstance," says Mr. Park, "excited amongst the Moors favourable thoughts towards my own person, it was my beard, which was now grown to an enormous length, and was always beheld with approbation or envy. I believe, in my conscience, they thought it too good a beard for a Christian."

The great desert of Jarra bounds Ludamar on the north. This vast ocean of sand is almost destitute of inhabitants. A few miserable Arabs wander from one well to another, their flocks subsisting upon a scanty vegetation in a few insulated spots. In other places, where the supply of water and pasturage is more abundant, small parties of Moors have taken up their residence, where they live in independent poverty, secure from the government of Barbary. The greater part of the desert, however, is seldom visited, except where the caravans pursue their laborious and dangerous route. In other parts, the disconsolate wanderer, wherever he turns, sees nothing around him but a vast indeterminable expanse of sand and sky; a gloomy and barren void, where the eye finds no particular object to rest upon, and the mind is filled with painful apprehensions of perishing with thirst. Surrounded by this dreary solitude, the traveller sees the dead bodies of birds, that the violence of the wind has brought from happier regions; and as he ruminates on the fearful length of his remaining passage, listens with horror to the voice of the driving blast, the only sound that interrupts the awful repose of the desert.

The antelope and the ostrich are the only wild animals of these regions of desolation, but on the skirts of the desert are found lions, panthers, elephants, and wild boars. Of domestic animals the camel alone can endure the fatigue of crossing it: by the conformation of his stomach, he can carry a supply of water for ten or twelve days; his broad and yielding foot is well adapted for treading the sand; his flesh is preferred by the Moors to any other, and the milk is pleasant and nourishing. On the evening of the 25th of May, Mr. Park's horse and accoutrements were sent to him by order of Ali. He had already taken leave of queen Fatima, who most graciously returned him part of his apparel, and early on the 20th, he departed from the camp of Bubaker, accompanied by Johnson and Demba, and a number of moorish horsemen.

Early in the morning of the 28th of May, Mr. Park was ordered to get in readiness to depart, and Ali's chief slave told the negro boy, that Ali was to be his master in future; then turning to Mr. Park, he said, the boy and every thing but your horse go back to Bubaker, but you may take the old fool (meaning Johnson, the interpreter) with you to Jarra. Mr. Park, shocked at the idea of losing the boy, represented to Ali, that whatever imprudence he had himself been guilty of, in coming into Ludamar, he thought he had been sufficiently punished by being so long detained, and then plundered of his property. This, however, gave him no uneasiness, compared to the present injury. The boy seized on was not a slave, and accused of no offence. His fidelity to his master had brought him into his present situation, and he, as his protector, could not see him enslaved without deprecating the cruelty and injustice of the act. Ali, with a haughty and malignant smile, told his interpreter, that if Mr. Park did not depart that instant, he would send him back likewise. Finding it was vain to expect redress, Mr. Park shook hands with his affectionate boy, who was not less affected than himself, and having blended his tears with those of the boy, assured him he would spare no pains to effect his release. Poor Demba was led off by three of Ali's slaves towards the camp at Bubaker.

On the 1st of June, they departed for Jarra, where Mr. Park took up his residence with his old friend, Daman Jamma, whom he informed of every thing that had befallen him. Mr. Park then requested Daman to endeavour to ransom the boy, and promised him a bill upon Dr. Laidley for the value of two slaves as soon as Demba arrived at Jarra. Daman undertook the business, but Ali, considering the boy as Mr. Park's principal interpreter, and fearing he should be instrumental in conducting him to Bambarra, deferred the matter day after day, but told Daman, he himself should have him hereafter, if he would, at the price of a common slave. To this Daman agreed whenever the boy was sent to Jarra.

On the 8th of June, Ali returned to Bubaker to celebrate a festival, and permitted Mr. Park to remain with Daman until his return. Finding that every attempt to recover his boy was ineffectual, he considered it an act of necessity to provide for his own safety before the rains should be fully set in, and accordingly resolved to escape and proceed alone to Bambarra, as Johnson, the interpreter, had refused further attendance. On the 28th of June, at daybreak, Mr. Park took his departure, and in the course of the day arrived at Queira; where he had not been a long time, before he was surprised by the appearance of Ali's chief slave and four Moors. Johnson having contrived to overhear their conversation, learned that they were sent to convey Mr. Park back to Bubaker. In the evening two of the Moors were observed privately to examine Mr. Park's horse, which they concluded was in too bad a condition for his rider's escape, and having inquired where he slept, they returned to their companions. Mr. Park, on being informed of their motions, determined to set off immediately for Bambarra to avoid a second captivity. Johnson applauded his resolution, but positively refused to accompany him, having agreed with Daman to assist in conducting a caravan of slaves to Gambia.

In this emergency Mr. Park resolved to proceed by himself, and about midnight got his clothes in readiness, but he had not a single bead, nor any other article of value, wherewith to purchase victuals for himself or his horse. At daybreak, Johnson, who had been listening to the Moors all night, came to inform him they were asleep, on which, taking up his bundle, Mr. Park stepped gently over the negroes, who were sleeping in the open air, and having mounted his horse, bade Johnson farewell, desiring him to take particular care of the papers, with which he had entrusted him, and to inform his friends on the Gambia, that he had left him in good health proceeding to Bambarra.

Mr. Park advanced with great caution for about the space of a mile, when looking back he saw three Moors on horseback, galloping at full speed and brandishing their double-barrelled guns. As it was impossible to escape, he turned and met them, when two caught hold of his bridle, and the third presenting his musket, said he must go back to Ali. Mr. Park rode back with the Moors, with apparent unconcern, when, in passing through some thick bushes, one of them desired him to untie his bundle and show them the contents, but finding nothing worth taking, one of them pulled his cloak from him, and wrapped it about himself. This was the most valuable article in Mr. Park's possession, as it defended him from the rains in the day, and from the mosquitoes at night, he therefore earnestly requested them to return it, but to no purpose. Mr, Park now perceived, that these men had only pursued him for the sake of plunder, and turned once more towards the east. To avoid being again overtaken, he struck into the woods, and soon found himself on the right road.

Joyful as he now was, when he concluded he was out of danger, he soon became sensible of his deplorable situation, without any means of procuring food, or prospect of finding water. Oppressed with excessive thirst, he travelled on without having seen a human habitation. It was now become insufferable; his mouth was parched and inflamed, a sudden dimness frequently came over his eyes, and he began seriously to apprehend that he should perish for want of drink. A little before sunset, he climbed a high tree, from the topmost branches of which he took a melancholy survey of the barren wilderness. A dismal uniformity of shrubs and sand every-where presented itself, and the horizon was as level and uninterrupted as that of the sea. Descending from the tree, Mr. Park found his horse devouring the stubble and brushwood with groat avidity. Being too faint to attempt walking, and his horse too much fatigued to carry him, Mr. Park thought it was the last act of humanity he should ever be able to perform, to take off his bridle and let him shift for himself; in doing which he was suddenly affected with sickness and giddiness, and falling upon the sand, felt as if the hour of death was approaching. "Here then," said he, "after a short but ineffectual struggle, terminate all my hopes of being useful in my day and generation; here must the short span of my life come to an end. I cast, as I believe, a last look on the surrounding scene, and whilst I reflected on the awful change that was about to take place, this world, with all its enjoyments, seemed to vanish from my recollection." Nature, however, resumed her functions, and on recovering his senses, he found the bridle still in his hand, and the sun just setting. He now summoned all his resolution, and determined to make another effort to prolong his existence. With this view he put the bridle on his horse, and driving him before him went slowly along for about an hour, when he perceived some lightning from the north-east; to him a delightful sight, as it promised rain, The wind began to roar amongst the bushes, and he was nearly suffocated with sand and dust, when the wind ceased, and for more than an hour the rain fell plentifully. He spread out his clothes to collect it, and assuaged his thirst by wringing and sucking them. The night was extremely dark, and Mr. Park directed his way by the compass, which the lightning enabled him to observe. On a sudden he was surprised to see a light at a short distance, and leading his horse cautiously towards it, heard by the lowing of the cattle and the clamour of the herdsmen, that it was a watering place. Being still thirsty, he attempted to search for the wells, but on approaching too near to one of the tents, he was perceived by a woman, who immediately gave an alarm; Mr. Park, however, eluded pursuit by immerging into the woods. He soon after heard the croaking of frogs, and following the sound arrived at some shallow muddy pools, where he and his horse quenched their thirst. The morning being calm, Mr. Park ascended a tree, and not only saw the smoke of the watering place which he had passed in the night, but also another pillar of smoke to the east, about twelve or fourteen miles distant. Directing his course thither, he reached some cultivated ground, on which some negroes were at work, by whom he was informed that he was near a Foulah village, belonging to Ali, called Shrilla. He had some doubts about entering it, but at last ventured, and riding up to the dooty's house was denied admittance, and even refused a handful of corn for his horse. Leaving this inhospitable door, he rode slowly out of the town towards some low huts scattered in the suburbs. At the door of a hovel hut, an old woman with a benevolent countenance sat spinning cotton. Mr. Park made signs that he was hungry, on which she immediately laid down her distaff, invited him to the hut, and set before him a dish of kouskous, of which he made a comfortable meal. In return for her kindness Mr. Park gave her a pocket handkerchief, begging at the same time a little corn for his horse, which she readily brought.

While the horse was feeding, the people began to assemble, and one of them whispered something to the old woman, which greatly excited her surprise. Mr. Park knew enough of the Foulah language, to discover that some of the men wished to apprehend and carry him to Ali, in hope of receiving a reward. He therefore tied up the corn, and to prevent suspicion that he had run away from the Moors, took a northerly direction. When he found himself clear of his attendants, he plunged again into the woods, and slept under a large tree. He was awakened by three Foulahs, who supposing him to be a Moor, pointed to the sun, and said it was time to pray. Coming to a path leading southwards, which he followed until midnight, he arrived at a small pool of rain water. Resting here for the night, the mosquitoes and flies prevented him from sleeping, and the howling of the wild beasts in the vicinity kept his horse in continual terror.

On the following morning, he came to a watering place belonging to the Foulahs, one of the shepherds invited him to come into his tent, and partake of some dates. There was just room enough in this tent to sit upright, and the family and furniture were huddled together in the utmost confusion. When Mr. Park had crept into it upon his hands and knees, he found in it a woman and three children, who with the shepherd and himself completely occupied the floor. A dish of boiled corn and dates was produced, and the master of the family, according to the custom of the country, first tasted it himself, and then offered a part to his guest. Whilst Mr. Park was eating, the children kept their eyes fixed upon him and no sooner had their father pronounced the word mazarini, than they began to cry; their mother crept cautiously towards the door, and springing out of the tent, was instantly followed by her children; so truly alarmed were they at the name of a Christian. Here Mr. Park procured some corn for his horse, in exchange for some brass buttons, and thanking the shepherd for his hospitality departed. At sunset he came into the road which led to Bambarra, and in the evening arrived at Wawra, a negro town belonging to Kaarta.

Now secure from the Moors, and greatly fatigued, Mr. Park meeting with a hearty welcome from the dooty, rested himself at this place. He slept soundly for two hours on a bullock's hide. Numbers assembled to learn who the stranger was, and whence he came; some thought him an Arab, others a moorish sultan, and they debated the matter with such warmth, that their noise at length awoke him. The dooty, however, who had been at Gambia, at last interposed, and assured them that he was certainly a white man, but from his appearance a very poor one.

In the afternoon, the dooty examined Mr. Park's bag, but finding nothing valuable, returned it and told him to depart in the morning. Accordingly Mr. Park set out, accompanied by a negro, but they had not proceeded above a mile, when the ass upon which the negro rode, kicked him off, and he returned, leaving Mr. Park to travel by himself. About noon he arrived at a town, called Dingyee, where he was hospitably entertained by an old Foulah.

When Mr. Park was about to depart on the following day, the Foulah begged a lock of his hair, because "white men's hair made a saphie, that would give to the possessor all the knowledge of white men." Mr. Park instantly complied with his request, but his landlord's thirst for learning was such, that he had cropped one side of his head, and would have done the same with the other, had not Mr. Park signified his disapprobation, and told him that he wished to preserve some of this precious ware.

After travelling several days, without meeting with any occurrence of particular note. Mr. Park arrived at Doolinkeaboo, where the dooty, at his request, gave him a draught of water, which is usually given as an earnest of greater hospitality. Mr. Park promised himself here a good supper and a comfortable bed, but he had neither the one nor the other. The night was rainy and tempestuous, and the dooty limited his hospitality to the draught of water. The next morning, however, when the dooty was gone to the fields, his wife sent Mr. Park a handful of meal, which, mixed with water, served him for breakfast.

He departed from Doolinkeaboo in company with two negroes, who were going to Sego. They stopped at a small village, where an acquaintance of one of the negroes invited them to a public entertainment. They distributed with great liberality a dish called sinkatoo, made of sour milk, meal, and beer. The women were admitted into the society, a circumstance which had never come under Mr. Park's observation before; every one drank as he pleased; they nodded to each other when about to drink, and on setting down the calabash, commonly said berha (thank you.) Both men and women were in a state of intoxication, but were far from being quarrelsome.

Mr. Park and the two negroes then resumed their journey, and passed several large villages, where the former was constantly taken for a Moor, and with his horse, which he drove before him, afforded much mirth to the Bambarrans. "He has been at Mecca," says one; "you may see that by his clothes." Another asked him if his horse was sick? A third wished to purchase it, &c., and even the negroes at last seemed ashamed of his company. They lodged that night at a small village, where Mr. Park procured victuals for himself and corn for his horse, in exchange for a button, and was told that he should see the Niger, which the negroes call Joliba, or the Great Water, early on the following day. The thought of seeing the Niger in the morning, and the buzzing of the mosquitoes, kept Mr. Park awake the whole of the night, he had saddled his horse, and was in readiness before daylight, but as the gates of the village were shut on account of the wild beasts, he was obliged to wait until the people were stirring. At length, having departed, they passed four large villages, and in a short time saw the smoke over Sego.

On approaching the town, Mr. Park was fortunate enough to overtake the fugitive Kaartans, to whose kindness he had been so much indebted in his journey through Bambarra. They readily agreed to introduce him to the king, and they rode together through some marshy ground, where, as he was anxiously looking round for the river, one of them exclaimed, "Geo affili" see the water! and looking forwards, Mr. Park says, "I saw, with infinite pleasure, the great object of my mission, the long sought for majestic Niger, glittering to the morning sun, as broad as the Thames at Westminster, and flowing slowly to the eastward. [*] I hastened to the brink, and having drank of the water, lifted up my fervent thanks in prayer to the great Ruler of all things, for having thus far crowned my endeavours with success."

[Footnote: We cannot reconcile this statement of Park with the subsequent discovery of Lander, who established the fact, that the Niger empties itself into the Bight of Benin. The Niger, flowing to the eastward, could not possibly have the Bight of Benin for its estuary, nor is it laid down in any of the recent maps as having an easterly direction.]

Mr. Park now proceeded towards Sego, the capital of Bambarra, which consists of four distinct towns; two on the northern bank of the Niger, called Sego Korro and Sego Koo, and two on the southern bank, called Sego Soo Korro and Sego See Korro. The king of Bambarra always resides at the latter place. He employs a great many slaves to convey people over the river, and the fare paid by each individual, ten kowrie shells, furnishes a considerable revenue. When Mr. Park arrived at one of the places of embarkation, the people, who were waiting for a passage, looked at him with silent wonder, and he saw with concern many Moors amongst them. He had continued on the bank more than two hours, without having an opportunity of crossing, during which time information was carried to Mansong, the king, that a white man was coming to see him. Mansong immediately sent over one of his chief men, who informed Mr. Park that the king could not possibly see him until he knew what had brought him to Bambarra. He then pointed towards a distant village, and desired Mr. Park to take up his lodgings there, and in the morning he would give him further instructions.

Greatly discouraged at this reception, Mr. Park set off for the village, but found, to his further mortification, that no person would admit him into his house, and that he was regarded with general astonishment and fear. Thus situated, he sat all day without victuals, under the shade of a tree. Towards night, the wind arose, and as there was great appearance of a heavy rain, he thought of passing the night among the branches of the trees, to secure himself from wild beasts. About sunset a woman, returning from the labours of the field, stopped to observe him, and perceiving that he was weary and dejected, inquired into his situation, which he briefly explained to her; whereupon, with looks of great compassion, she took up his saddle and bridle, and told him to follow her. Having conducted him into her hut, she lighted up a lamp, spread a mat on the floor, and told him he might remain there for the night. She then went out, and returned in a short time with a fine fish, which, having half broiled, she gave him for supper. After telling him that he might sleep without apprehension, she called to the female part of the family, who stood gazing in fixed astonishment, to resume their task of spinning cotton, in which they employed themselves the greater part of the night. They lightened their labours by songs, one of which at least was extempore, as their guest was the subject of it. It was sung by one of the young women, the rest joining in chorus. The air was sweet and plaintive, and the words, literally translated, were as follow:--

"The winds roared, and the rains fell; The poor white man, faint and weary, came and sat under our tree. He has no mother to bring him milk--no wife to grind his corn.

CHORUS.

Let us pity the white man, no mother has he." &c.

This circumstance was to Mr. Park, affecting in the highest degree. He was oppressed by such unexpected kindness, and the sleep fled from his eyes. In the morning he presented his compassionate landlady with two of the four buttons which remained on his waistcoat, the only recompense which he had in his power. Mr. Park remained in the village the whole of July the 21st, in conversation with the natives. Towards evening he grew uneasy, to find that no message arrived from the king, the more so, when he learned from the villagers, that the Moors and Slatees, resident at Sego, had given Mansong very unfavourable accounts of him, that many consultations had been held concerning his reception and disposal; that he had many enemies, and must expect no favour. On the following day, a messenger arrived from the king, who inquired if Mr. Park had brought any present, and seemed much disappointed, on being told that he had been robbed of all his effects by the Moors. When Mr. Park proposed to go to court, he said he must stop until the afternoon, when the king would send for him. It was the afternoon of the next day, however, before another messenger arrived from Mansong, who told Mr. Park, it was the king's pleasure he should depart immediately from the environs of Sego, but that Mansong, wishing to relieve a white man in distress, had sent five thousand kowries [*] to him to continue his journey, and if it were his intention to proceed to Jenne, he (the messenger) had orders to guide him to Sansanding. Mr. Park concludes his account of this adventure in the following words:--

[Footnote: Kowries are little shells, which pass current as money, in many parts of the East Indies as well as in Africa. Mr. Park estimates about 250 kowries equal to one shilling. One hundred of them would purchase a day's provision for himself and corn for his horse.]

"I was at first puzzled to account for this behaviour of the king, but from the conversation I had with the guide, I had afterwards reason to believe, that Mansong would willingly have admitted me into his presence at Sego, but was apprehensive he might not be able to protect me against the blind and inveterate malice of the moorish inhabitants. His conduct, therefore, was at once prudent and liberal. The circumstances, under which I made my appearance at Sego, were undoubtedly such as might create in the mind of the king a well-warranted suspicion, that I wished to conceal the true object of my journey. He argued, probably as my guide argued, who, when he was told that I was come from a great distance, and through many dangers, to behold the Joliba (Niger) river, naturally inquired if there were no rivers in my own country, and whether one river was not like another? Notwithstanding this, and in spite of the jealous machinations of the Moors, this benevolent prince thought it sufficient, that a white man was found in his dominions in a condition of extreme wretchedness, and that no other plea was necessary to entitle the sufferer to his bounty."

Being thus obliged to leave Sego, Mr. Park was conducted the same evening to a village, about seven miles eastward, where he and his guide were well received, as Mr. Park had learned to speak the Bambarra tongue without difficulty. The guide was very friendly and communicative, and spoke highly of the hospitality of his countrymen; but he informed Mr. Park, that if Jenne was the place of his destination, he had undertaken a very dangerous enterprise, and that Timbuctoo, the great object of his search, was altogether in possession of the Moors, who would not allow any Christians to reside in it. In the evening they passed a large town called Kabba, situated in the midst of a beautiful and highly cultivated country, bearing a great resemblance to the centre of England.

In the course of the following day, they arrived at Sansanding, a large town, containing 10,000 inhabitants, much frequented by the Moors, in their commercial dealings. Mr. Park desired his guide to conduct him to the house where they were to lodge, by the most private way possible They accordingly rode along between the town and the river, and the negroes, whom they met, took Mr. Park for a Moor, but a Moor, who was sitting by the river side, discovered the mistake, and, making a loud exclamation, brought together a number of his countrymen; and when Mr. Park arrived at the house of the dooty, he was surrounded by a number of people, speaking a variety of dialects. By the assistance of his guide, however, who acted as interpreter, Mr. Park at length understood that one of the Moors pretended to have seen him at one place, and another at some other place; and a Moorish woman absolutely swore, that she had kept his house three years at Gallam on the river Senegal. The Moors now questioned Mr. Park about his religion, but finding he was not master of the Arabic, they sent for two Jews, in hopes that they might be able to converse with him. The Moors now insisted that he should repeat the Mahometan prayers, and when he told them that he could not speak Arabic, one of them started up, and swore by the prophet, if Mr. Park refused to go to the mosque, he would assist in carrying him thither.

Finding the Moors becoming exceedingly clamorous, the dooty interfered, and told them that he would not see the king's stranger ill treated while under his protection, but that in the morning he should be sent about his business. This somewhat appeased their clamour, but they compelled Mr. Park to ascend a high seat by the door of the mosque, that every one might see him, where he remained till sunset, when he was conducted to a neat little hut, with a small court before it; but the Moors climbed in crowds over the mud walls, to see the white man perform his evening devotions, and eat eggs. The first demand was positively declined, but he professed his utmost readiness to comply with the second; the dooty immediately brought seven hens' eggs, but was much surprised that Mr. Park would not eat them raw, as it is a prevalent opinion in the interior of Africa, that Europeans subsist chiefly on this diet. His reluctance to partake of this fare exalted him in the eyes of his sage visitants; his host accordingly killed a sheep, and gave him a plentiful supper.

Mr. Park's route now lay through woods, much infested with all kinds of wild animals. On one occasion, his guide suddenly wheeled his horse round, calling out (Warra billi billi, a very largo lion.) Mr. Park's steed was ill fitted to convey him from the scene of danger, but seeing nothing, he supposed his guide to be mistaken, when the latter exclaimed, "God preserve me;" and Mr. Park then saw a very large red lion, with his head couched between his fore paws. His eyes were fixed, as by fascination, on this sovereign of the beasts, and he expected every moment the fatal spring; but the savage animal, either not pressed by hunger, or struck with some mysterious awe, remained immovable, and allowed the party to pass without molestation. Real misery arose from a meaner cause, namely, the amazing swarms of mosquitoes, which ascended from the swamps and creeks, to whose attack, from the ragged state of his garments, he was exposed at every point, and so covered over with blisters, that he could not get any rest at night. An affecting crisis next arrived. His horse, the faithful and suffering companion of his journey, had been daily becoming weaker. At length, stumbling over some rough ground, he fell; all his master's efforts were insufficient to raise him, and no alternative remained, but to leave the poor animal, which Mr. Park did, after collecting some grass and laying it before him, not without, however, a sad presentiment, that, ere long, he also might have to lie down and perish with hunger and fatigue.

Proceeding along the banks of the river, he reached Kea, a small fishing village. The dooty, a surly old man, received him very coolly, and when Mr. Park solicited his protection, replied with great indifference, that he should not enter his house. Mr. Park knew not now where to rest, but a fishing canoe at that moment coming down the river, the dooty waved to the fisherman to land, and desired him to take charge of the stranger as far as Moorzan.

When the canoe had proceeded about a mile down the river, the fisherman paddled to the bank, and having desired Mr. Park to jump out, tied the canoe to a stake; he then stripped off his clothes, and dived into the water, where he remained so long that Mr. Park thought he was drowned, when he suddenly raised up his head astern of the canoe, and called for a rope. With this rope he dived a second time, and then got into the canoe, and with the assistance of the boy, they brought up a large basket, ten feet in diameter, containing two fine fish, which the fisherman carried ashore, and hid in the grass. The basket was then returned into the river, and having proceeded a little further down, they took up another basket, in which was one fish.

About four o'clock, they arrived at Moorzan, where Mr. Park was conveyed across the river to Silla, a large town. Here he remained under a tree, surrounded by hundreds of people, till it was dark, when, with a great deal of entreaty, the dooty allowed him to enter his balloon to avoid the rain, but the place was very damp, and his fever returned.

The reflections, which now occurred to him, with the determination those reflections produced, are here given in his own words. "Worn down by sickness, exhausted with hunger and fatigue, half naked, and without any article of value, by which I might procure provisions, clothes, or lodging, I was now convinced, that the obstacles to my further progress were insurmountable. The tropical rains were already set in, the rice grounds and swamps were every where overflowed, and in a few days more, travelling of every kind, except by water, would be completely obstructed. The kowries, which remained of the king of Bambarra's present, were not sufficient to enable me to hire a canoe for any great distance, and I had little hope of subsisting by charity, in a country where the Moors have such influence. I saw inevitable destruction in attempting to proceed to the eastward. With this conviction on my mind, I hope it will be acknowledged, that I did right in going no further. I had made every effort to execute my mission in its fullest extent, which prudence could justify. Had there been the most distant prospect of a successful termination, neither the unavoidable hardships of the journey, nor the dangers of a second captivity should have forced me to desist."

Mr. Park now acquainted the dooty with his intention of returning to Sego, proposing to travel along the southern side of the river, but the dooty informed him, that from the number of creeks and swamps on that side, it was impossible to travel by any other route than the northern bank, and even that route would soon be impassable from the overflowing of the river. However, by the dooty's recommendation, Mr. Park was conveyed to Moorzan in a canoe, where he hired another canoe for thirty kowries, which conveyed him to Kea, where, for forty kowries more, the dooty permitted him to sleep in the same hut with one of his slaves. This poor negro, perceiving he was sickly, and his clothes very ragged, humanely lent him a large cloth to cover him for the night.

The following day Mr. Park set out for Madiboo, in company with the dooty's brother, who promised to carry his saddle, which he had before left at Kea. On their road they observed a great number of earthen jars, piled up on the bank of the river. As they approached towards them, the dooty's brother plucked up a large handful of herbage, which he threw upon them, making signs for Mr. Park to do the same, which he did. The negro then informed him, that those jars belonged to some supernatural power, and were found in their present situation about two years ago, and that every traveller, as he passed them, from respect to the invisible proprietor, threw some grass upon the heap to defend them from the rain. Thus conversing, they travelled on in the most friendly manner, until they perceived the footsteps of a lion, when the negro insisted that Mr. Park should walk before. The latter refused, on which the negro, after a few high words, and menacing looks, threw down the saddle and left him. Mr. Park having given up all hope of obtaining a horse, took off the stirrups and girth, and threw the saddle into the river. The negro, however, when he saw the saddle in the water jumped in, and bringing it out by the help of his spear, ran away with it.

Mr. Park now continued his course alone, and in the afternoon reached Madiboo. His guide, who had got there before him, being afraid he should complain of his conduct, restored the saddle, and Mr. Park also found his horse alive.

On the 1st of August, Mr. Park proceeded to Nyamere, where he remained three days, on account of the continual rain. On the 5th, he again set out, but the country was so deluged, that he had to wade across creeks for miles together, knee-deep in water. He at length arrived at Nyara, and on the subsequent day, with great difficulty reached a small village called Nemaboo.

Mr. Park being assured that in the course of a few days, the country would be overflowed, was anxious to engage a fellow traveller, when a Moor and his wife who were going to Sego, riding on bullocks, agreed to take him along with them; they were, however, unacquainted with the road, and were very bad travellers. Instead of wading before the bullocks, to feel if the ground was solid the woman boldly entered the first swamp, seated upon the top of the load, but when she had proceeded about two hundred yards the bullock sunk into a hole, and threw both the load and herself amongst the reeds; she was nearly drowned before her husband went to her assistance.

At sunset they reached Sibity, but the dooty received Mr. Park very coolly, and when he solicited a guide to Sansanding, told him his people were otherwise engaged. Mr. Park passed the night in a damp old hut, which he expected every moment would fall upon him; for when the walls of the huts are softened with the rain, they frequently become too weak to support the roof. Mr Park heard three huts fall in during the night, and the following morning, saw fourteen in like manner destroyed. The rain continued with great violence, and Mr. Park being refused provisions by the dooty, purchased some corn, which he divided with his horse.

The dooty now compelled Mr. Park to leave Sibity, and accordingly he set out for Sansanding, with little hope of receiving better treatment, for he had discovered that it was universally believed, he had come to Bambarra as a spy; and as Mansong had not admitted him into his presence, the dooties of the different towns were at liberty to treat him as they pleased. He arrived at Sansanding at sunset, where his reception was just what he expected. The dooty, who had been so kind to him formerly, privately informed him, that Mansong had sent a canoe to Jenne to bring him back, he therefore advised him to leave Sansanding before day-break, and not to stop at any town near Sego. Mr. Park accordingly took his departure from Sansanding, and proceeded to Kabba. Several people were assembled at the gate, one of whom running towards him, took his horse by the bridle, and led him round the walls of the town, then pointing to the west, told him to go along, or it would fare worse with him. Mr. Park hesitating, a number of people came up, and urged him in the same manner, and he now suspected that some of the king's messengers, who were in search of him, were in the town, and that these negroes from humanity wished him to escape. He accordingly took the road for Sego, and having passed a village, the dooty of which refused him admittance, proceeded to a smaller one, where the dooty permitted him to sleep in a large balloon.

Leaving his miserable residence by break of day, he arrived in the afternoon at a small village within half a mile of Sego, where he endeavoured in vain to procure some provisions. He was again informed that Mansong had sent people to apprehend him, and the dooty's son told him he had no time to lose, if he wished to escape. Mr. Park now fully saw the danger of his situation, and determined to avoid Sego altogether, and taking the road to Diggani, until he was out of sight of the village, struck to the westward through high grass and swampy ground. About noon he stopped under a tree, to consider what course to take, and at length determined to proceed along the Niger, and endeavour to ascertain how far the river was navigable. About sunset he arrived at a village called Sooboo, where, for two hundred kowries, he procured a lodging for the night.

After passing the villages of Samee and Kaimoo, he arrived at a small town called Song, the inhabitants of which would not permit him to enter the gate, but as lions were numerous in the adjoining woods, he resolved to stay near the town, and accordingly laid down under a tree by the gate. In the night, a lion kept prowling round the village, and once advanced so near Mr. Park, that he heard him rustling amongst the grass, and climbed the tree for safety. He had before attempted to enter the gate, and on being prevented, informed the people of his danger. About midnight the dooty, with some of the inhabitants, desired him to come in; they were convinced, they said, that he was not a Moor, for no Moor ever waited at the gate of a village, without cursing the inhabitants.

Mr. Park now proceeded on his journey; the country began to rise into hills, and he saw the summits of high mountains to the westward. He had very disagreeable travelling, on account of the overflow of the river; and in crossing a swamp, his horse sunk suddenly into a deep pit, and was almost drowned. Both the horse and his rider were so covered with mud, that in passing a village, the people compared them to two dirty elephants. Mr, Park stopped at a village near Yamina, where he purchased some corn, and dried his paper and clothes. As Yamina is much frequented by the Moors, Mr. Park did not think it safe to lodge there; he therefore rode briskly through it, and the people, who looked at him with astonishment, had no time to ask questions.

On the following day, Mr. Park passed a town called Balaba, the prospect of the country was by no means inviting, for the high grass and bushes seemed completely to obstruct the road, and the Niger having flooded the low lands, had the appearance of an extensive lake.

On the following day, Mr. Park took the wrong road, and when he discovered his error, on coming to an eminence, he observed the Niger considerably to the left. Directing his course towards it, through long grass and bushes, he came to a small but rapid stream, which he took at first for a branch of the Niger, but, on examination, was convinced it was a distinct river, which the road evidently crossed, as he saw the pathway on the opposite side. He sat down upon the bank, in hopes that some traveller might arrive, who could inform him of the situation of the ford; but none arriving, and there being a great appearance of rain, he determined to enter the river considerably above the pathway, in order to reach the other side before the stream swept him too far down. With this view he fastened his clothes upon the saddle, and was standing up to the neck in water, pulling his horse by the bridle to make him follow, when a man, who came accidentally to the place, called to him with great vehemence, to come out, or the alligators would destroy both him and his horse. Mr. Park obeyed, and the stranger who had never before seen a white man, seemed wonderfully surprised, exclaiming in a low voice, "God preserve me, who is this?" But when he found Mr. Park could speak the Bambarra tongue, and was going the same way as himself, he promised to assist him in crossing the river, which was named the Frina. He then called to some person, who answered from the other side, and a canoe with two boys came paddling from amongst the reeds. Mr. Park gave the boys fifty kowries to ferry himself and his horse to the opposite shore, and in the evening, arrived at Taffara, a walled town, where he discovered that the language of the people was pure Mandingo.

On the 20th, Mr. Park stopped at a village called Sominoo, where he obtained some coarse food, prepared from the husks of corn, called boo. On the same day he arrived at Sooha, where the dooty refused either to sell or to give him any provisions. Mr. Park stopped a while to examine the countenance of this inhospitable man, and endeavoured to find out the cause of his visible discontent. The dooty ordered a slave to dig a hole, and while the slave was thus employed, the dooty kept muttering and talking to himself, repeatedly pronouncing the words "Dankatoo'" (good for nothing), "jankre lemen," (a real plague). These expressions Mr. Park thought could not apply to any one but himself; and as the pit had much the appearance of a grave, thought it prudent to mount his horse, and was about to decamp, when the slave, who had gone into the village, brought the corpse of a boy by the leg and arm, and threw it into the pit with savage indifference. As he covered the body with earth, the dooty often repeated, "Naphula attiniata," (money lost;) from which it appeared that the boy had been one of his slaves.

About sunset Mr. Park came to Kollikorro, a considerable town, and a great market for salt. Here he lodged with a Bambarran, who had travelled to many parts of Africa, and who carried on a considerable trade. His knowledge of the world had not lessened his confidence in saphies and charms, for when he heard that his guest was a Christian, he brought out his walha, or writing-board, and assured Mr. Park he would dress him a supper of rice, if he would write him a saphie, to protect him from wicked men. Mr. Park wrote the board full from top to bottom on both sides, and his landlord, to possess the full force of the charm, washed the writing off into a calabash with a little water, and having said a few prayers over it, drank this powerful draught, after which he licked the board quite dry. Information being carried to the dooty that a saphie writer was in the town, he sent his son with half a sheet of writing paper, desiring Mr. Park to write him a naphula saphie, a charm to procure wealth. He brought, as a present, some meal and milk, and when the saphie was finished, and read to him with an audible voice, he promised to bring Mr. Park some milk in the morning for breakfast.

The following day, Mr. Park proceeded on his journey, and in the afternoon arrived at Marraboo, where he lodged in the house of a Kaartan, who, from his hospitality to strangers, was called Jatee, (the landlord,) his house being 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. Mr. Park, belonging to the latter class, took up his lodging in the same hut with seven poor fellows, who had come from Kancaba in a canoe, but their landlord sent them some victuals.

Mr. Park now altered his course from the river to the mountains, and in the evening arrived at a village, called Frookaboo, from which place he proceeded on the following day to Bambakoo. This town is not so large as Marraboo, but the inhabitants are rich; for when the Moors bring their salt through Kaarta or Barnbarra, they rest at this place; the negro merchants purchasing the salt by wholesale, and retailing it to great advantage. Here Mr. Park lodged at the house of a Serawoolli negro, and was visited by a number of Moors, who treated him with great civility. A slave-merchant, who had resided many years on the Gambia, gave Mr. Park an imperfect account of the distance to that river, but told him the road was impassable at that season of the year, and added, that it crossed the Joliba at about half a day's journey westward of Bammakoo; and as there were not any canoes large enough to receive his horse, he could not possibly get him over for some months to come. Mr. Park consulted with his landlord how to surmount this difficulty, who informed him that one road which was very rocky, and scarcely passable for horses, still remained, but if he procured a proper guide over the hills to a town called Sibidooloo, he had no doubt but he might travel forwards through Manding. Being informed that a jilli-kea, or singing-man, was about to depart for Sibidooloo, Mr. Park set out in company with him; but when they had proceeded up a rocky glen about two miles, the singing-man discovered that he had brought him the wrong road, as the horse-road lay on the other side of the hill. He then threw his drum upon his back, and mounted up the rocks, where, indeed, no horse could follow him, leaving Mr. Park to admire his agility, and trace out a road for himself.

Mr. Park rode back to the level ground, and following a path, on which he observed the marks of horses' feet, came to some shepherds' huts, where he was informed that he was on the right road to Sibidooloo. In the evening he arrived at a village called Kooma, situated in a delightful valley. This village is the sole property of a Mandingo merchant, who fled thither with his family during a former war. The harmless villagers surrounded Mr. Park, asked him a thousand questions about his country, brought corn and milk for himself, and grass for his horse, and appeared very anxious to serve him.

On the 25th, he departed from Kooma, in company with two shepherds, who were going towards Sibidooloo; but as the horse travelled slowly, and with great difficulty, the shepherds kept walking on at a considerable distance, when on a sudden Mr. Park heard some people calling to each other, and presently a loud screaming, as from a person in great distress. He rode slowly to the place whence the noise proceeded, and in a little time perceived one of the shepherds lying among the long grass near the road. When Mr. Park came close to him, he whispered that a party of armed men had seized his companion, and shot two arrows at himself, as he was making his escape. Mr. Park now stopped to consider what course it was most proper for him to pursue, and looking round, saw, at a small distance, a man sitting on the stump of a tree, and six or seven more sitting among the grass, with muskets in their hands. He had now no hopes of escaping, and therefore rode on towards them, in hopes they were elephant hunters. On coming up to them, he inquired if they had caught any thing, when one of them ordered him to dismount, but appearing suddenly to recollect himself, made signs to him to proceed. He accordingly rode past, but was soon followed by the men, who ordered him to stop, and informed him, that the king of the Foulahs had sent them to bring him his horse, and all that belonged to him, to Fooladoo. Mr. Park turned round, and went with them, till they came to a dark part of the wood, when one of them said, "This place will do," and immediately snatched his hat from his head, another drew a knife, and cut off a metal button that remained upon his waistcoat, and put it into his pocket. They then searched Mr. Park's pockets, examined every part of his apparel, and at length stripped him quite naked. While they were examining the plunder, he begged them, with great earnestness, to return his pocket-compass; but when he pointed it out to them, as it lay on the ground, one of the banditti, thinking he meant to take it up, cocked his musket, and swore he would lay him dead on the spot, if he presumed to lay his hand upon it. After this, some went away with his horse, and the remainder, after some deliberation, returned him the worst of the two shirts and a pair of trousers; and on going away, one of them threw back his hat, in the crown of which he kept his memorandums. After they were gone, Mr. Park sat for some time, looking around him with amazement and terror. "Whatever way I turned," says he, "nothing appeared but danger and difficulty. I saw myself in the midst of a vast wilderness, in the depth of the rainy season, naked and alone, surrounded by savage animals, and men still more savage. I was five hundred miles from the nearest European settlement. All these circumstances crowded at once to my recollection, and I confess that my spirits began to fail me. I considered my fate as certain, and that I had no alternative but to lie down and perish. The influence of religion, however, aided and supported me. I reflected that no human prudence or foresight could possibly have averted my present sufferings. I was indeed a stranger in a strange land, yet I was still under the protecting eye of that Providence, who has condescended to call himself the stranger's friend. At this moment, painful as my reflections were, the extraordinary beauty of a small moss in fructification irresistibly caught my eye. I mention this, to show from what trifling circumstances the mind will sometimes derive consolation, for though the whole plant was not larger than the top of one of my fingers, I could not contemplate the delicate conformation of its roots, leaves, and capsules, without admiration. Can that Being, thought I, who planted, watered, and brought to perfection, in this obscure part of the world, a thing which appears of so small importance, look with unconcern upon the situation and sufferings of creatures formed after his own image? Surely not. Reflections like these would not allow me to despair. I started up, and disregarding both hunger and fatigue, travelled forwards, assured that relief was at hand, and I was not disappointed."

In a short time Mr. Park came to a small village, where he overtook the two shepherds, who had come with him from Koona. They were much surprised to see him, as they expected the Foulahs had murdered him. Departing from this village, they travelled over several rocky ridges, and at sunset arrived at the town of Sibidooloo.

Spotted a typo or a problem in this chapter? Tell us

Chapter VIII

Sibidooloo is the frontier town of Manding, and is situated in a fertile valley, surrounded with high rocky hills. The chief man is here called the mansa, which usually signifies king; but it appear that the government of Manding is a sort of republic, as every town has a particular mansa, and the chief power of the state is lodged in an assembly of the whole body.

Mr. Park related to the mansa the circumstance of the robbery, and his story was confirmed by the two shepherds. The mansa continued smoking his pipe while he heard the relation, when, tossing up the sleeve of his coat with an indignant air, "Sit down," said he to Mr. Park, "you shall have every thing restored to you. I have sworn it." Then turning to an attendant, "Give the white man," said he, "a draught of water, and with the first light of the morning go over the hills, and inform the dooty of Bammakoo that a poor white man, the king of Bambarra's stranger, has been robbed by the king of Fouladoo's people."

He heartily thanked the mansa for his kindness, and accepted his invitation, but having waited two days without receiving any intelligence, and there being a great scarcity of provisions, he was unwilling to trespass further on the generosity of his host, and begged permission to depart. The mansa told him, he might go as far as a town called Wonda, and remain there until he heard some account of his property. Accordingly, departing from that place, he reached it on the 30th. The mansa of Wonda was a Mahometan and, as well as chief magistrate of the town, was a schoolmaster. Mr. Park lodged in the school, which was an open shed; the little raiment upon him could neither protect him from the sun by day, nor the dews and mosquitoes by night; his fever returned with great violence, and he could not procure any medicine wherewith to stop its progress. He remained at Wonda nine days, endeavouring to conceal his distress from his landlord, for which purpose, he several times lay down the whole of the day, out of his sight, in a field of corn, yet he found that the mansa was apprised of his situation, for one morning as he feigned to be asleep by the fire, he heard the mansa complain to his wife, that they were likely to find him a very troublesome guest, as, in his present sickly state, they should be obliged, for the sake of their good name, to maintain him till he recovered or died.

The scarcity of provisions was at this time severely felt by the poor people. Mr. Park, having observed every evening five or six women come to the mansa's house, and each receive a portion of corn, inquired of the mansa, whether he maintained these women from charity, or expected a return from the next harvest. "Observe that boy," replied the Mansa, pointing to a fine child about five years of age, "his mother has sold him to me for forty days' provisions for herself and the rest of the family. I have bought another boy in the same manner."

Mr. Park was much afflicted with this melancholy circumstance, but he afterwards observed that the mother, when she had received her corn, would come and talk to her son with much cheerfulness, as if he had still been under her care.

On the 6th of September, two people arrived from Sibidooloo with Mr. Park's horse and clothes; the pocket-compass was, however, broken to pieces. The horse was now so much reduced, that he saw that it would be impracticable to travel any further with him; he therefore presented him to his landlord, and requested him to send the saddle and bridle to the mansa of Sibidooloo, as an acknowledgment for his trouble and kindness.

On the morning of September 8th, Mr. Park took leave of his hospitable landlord, who presented him with a spear, as a token of remembrance, and a leathern bag to contain his clothes. On the 9th, he reached Nemacoo, where he could not procure any provisions, as the people appeared to be actually starving, but in the afternoon of the 10th, a negro trader, named Modi Lemina Taura, brought him some victuals, promising to conduct him to his house at Kennyetoo on the following day.

In travelling to Kennyetoo, Mr. Park hurt his ankle, and was unable to proceed. The trader, in consequence, invited him to stop with him a few days, and accordingly he remained there until the 14th.

On the 17th, he proceeded to Mansia, a considerable town, where small quantities of gold are collected. The mansa of this town gave him a little corn, but demanded something in return, and on Mr. Park's assuring him that he had not anything in his possession, replied, as if in jest, that his white skin should not defend him, if he told him any falsehoods. He then conducted him to the hut wherein he was to sleep, but took away his spear, saying it should be returned in the morning. This circumstance raised Mr. Park's suspicions, and he requested one of the inhabitants, who had a bow and quiver, to sleep in the hut with him. About midnight a man made several attempts to enter the hut, but was prevented by Mr. Park and the negro, and the latter, on looking out, perceived it was the mansa himself. In the morning, Mr. Park, fearing the mansa might devise some means to detain him, departed before he was awake, the negro having recovered the spear.

On the arrival of Mr. Park at Kamalia, a small town, he proceeded to the house of Karfa Taura, the brother of his hospitable landlord at Kennyetoo. He was sitting in his balloon, surrounded by several slatees, to whom he was reading from an Arabic book. He asked Mr. Park if he understood it, and being answered in the negative, desired one of the slatees to fetch the little curious book that was brought from the west country. Mr. Park was surprised and delighted to find this volume "The Book of Common Prayer" and Karfa expressed great joy to hear he could read it, as some of the slatees, who had seen Europeans upon the coast, were unwilling, from his distressed appearance, to admit that Mr. Park was a white man, but suspected that he was some Arab in disguise. Karfa, however, perceiving he could read this book, had no doubt concerning Mr. Park, and promised him every assistance in his power, at the same time informing him, that it was impossible to cross the Jallonka wilderness for many months to come, as eight rapid rivers lay in the way. He added, that he himself intended to set out for Gambia, with a caravan of slaves, as soon as the rivers were fordable, and the grass burnt, and invited Mr. Park to stay and accompany him, remarking that when a caravan could not travel through the country, it was idle for a single man to attempt it. Mr. Park admitted the rashness of the attempt, but assured him that he had no alternative, for not having any money, he must either beg his subsistence by travelling from place to place, or perish from want. Karfa now looked at him with great earnestness, informing him that he had never before seen a white man, and inquired if he could eat the common victuals of the country. He added, that if he would remain with him till the rains were over, he would conduct him in safety to the Gambia, and then he might make him what return he pleased. Mr. Park having agreed to give him the value of one prime slave, he ordered a hut to be swept for his accommodation.

Thus was Mr. Park delivered by the friendly care of this benevolent negro, from a situation truly deplorable, but his fever became daily more alarming. On the third day after his arrival, as he was going with Karfa to visit some of his friends, he was so faint that he staggered and fell into a pit; Karfa endeavoured to console him, and assured him that if he would not walk out into the wet, he would soon be well. Mr. Park followed his advice, and in general confined himself to his hut, but was still tormented with the fever for five ensuing weeks. His benevolent landlord came every day to inquire after his health. When the rains became less frequent, the fever left him, but in so debilitated a condition, that it was with great difficulty he could get to the shade of a tamarind tree, at a short distance, to enjoy the refreshing smell of the corn fields, and the delightful prospect of the country. At length he found himself recovering, towards which the benevolent manners of the negroes, and the perusal of Karfa's little volume, greatly contributed.

Meanwhile many of the slatees who resided at Kamalia, having spent all their money, and become in a great measure dependent on Karfa's bounty, beheld Mr. Park with envy, and invented many ridiculous stories to lessen him in his host's esteem, but Karfa paid no attention to them, and treated him with unabated kindness. As he was one day conversing with some slaves, which a Serawoolli merchant had brought from Sego, one of them begged him to give him some victuals, Mr. Park replied, he was a stranger and had none to give. "I gave you, some victuals" said the slave, "when you were hungry. Have you forgotten the man who brought you milk at Karrankalla? But," added he with a sigh, "the irons were not then on my legs." Mr. Park immediately recollected him, procured for him some ground nuts, and learned that he had been taken by the Bambarrans, the day after the battle at Joka, and sent to Sego, where he had been purchased by his present master, who was carrying him to Kajaaga.

In the middle of December, Karfa, who proposed to complete his purchase of slaves, departed for Kancaba, a large town on the banks of the Niger, and a great slave market. It was his intention to return in a month, and during his absence left Mr. Park to the care of a good old bushreen, who was schoolmaster at Kamalia. The name of this schoolmaster was Fankooma, and although a Mahometan, was not intolerant in his principles. He read much, and took great pleasure in professional efforts. His school contained seventeen boys, mostly of pagan parents, and two girls. The girls were taught by daylight, but the boys were instructed before the dawn and late in the evening; by being considered, while pupils, as the domestic slaves of the master, they were employed by him during the day in various avocations. Emulation is encouraged by their tutor to stimulate his scholars. When the pupil has read through the Koran, and learned a certain number of public prayers, he undergoes an examination by the bushreens, who, when satisfied with his learning and abilities, desire him to read the last page of the Koran. This being done, the boy presses the paper to his forehead, and pronounces the word Amen; upon which the bushreens rise, shake him by the hand, and bestow upon him the title of bushreen. The parents then redeem their son, by giving his master the value of a slave; but if they cannot afford it, the boy continues the slave of the schoolmaster, until he ransoms himself by his own industry.

On the 24th January, Karfa returned to Kamalia, with thirteen prime slaves, whom he had purchased. He also brought a young girl for his fourth wife, whom he had married at Kancaba. She was kindly received by her colleagues, who had swept and whitewashed one of the best huts for her accommodation.

On the day after his arrival, Karfa having observed that Mr. Park's clothes were become very ragged, presented him with a garment and trousers, the usual dress of the country.

Karfa's slaves were all prisoners of war, who had been taken by the Bambarran army. Some of them had been kept three years at Sego in irons, whence they were sent with other captives up the Niger to Yamina, Bammakoo and Kancaba, where they were sold for gold dust. Eleven of them confessed that they had been slaves from their birth, but the other two refused to give any account of themselves to Mr. Park, whom they at first regarded with looks of horror, and repeatedly asked if his countrymen were cannibals. They were very desirous to know what became of the slaves after they had crossed the salt water. Mr. Park told them that they were employed in cultivating the land, but they would not believe him: and one of them putting his hand upon the ground, said with great simplicity, "Have you really got such ground as this to set your feet upon?"

The slaves were constantly kept in irons, and strictly watched. To secure them, the right leg of one and the left of another were fastened by the same pair of fetters, by supporting which with a string, they could walk very slowly. Every four slaves were also fastened together by a rope of twisted thongs; and during the night their hands were fettered, and sometimes a light iron chain was put round their necks. Those who betrayed any symptoms of discontent, were secured by a thick billet of wood about three feet long, which was fastened to the ankle by a strong iron staple. All these fetters were put on as soon as the slaves arrived at Kamalia, and were not taken off until the morning they set out for the Gambia. In other respects, the slaves were not harshly treated. In the morning they were led to the shade of a tamarind tree, where they were encouraged to keep up their spirits by playing different games of chance, or singing. Some bore their situation with great fortitude, but the majority would sit the whole of the day in sullen melancholy, with their eyes fixed on the ground. In the evening, their irons being examined, and their hand-fetters put on, they were conducted into two large huts, and guarded during the night. Notwithstanding this strictness, however, one of Karfa's slaves, about a week after his arrival, having procured a small knife, opened the rings of his fetters, cut the rope, and made his escape, and more might have got off, had not the slave, when he found himself at liberty, refused to stop to assist his companions in breaking the chain, which was round their necks.

All the merchants and slaves who composed the coffle, were now assembled at Kamalia and its vicinity; the day of departure for the Gambia was frequently fixed, and afterwards postponed. Some of the people had not prepared their provisions, others were visiting their friends, or collecting their debts; thus the departure was delayed until February was far advanced, when it was determined to wait until the fast moon was over. "Loss of time," observes Mr. Park, "is of no great importance in the eyes of a negro. If he has any thing of consequence to perform, it is a matter of indifference to him whether he does it to-day or to-morrow, or a month or two hence; so long as he can spend the present moment with any degree of comfort, he gives himself very little concern for the future."

The Rhamadam was strictly observed by the bushreens, and at the close of it, they assembled at the Misura to watch for the new moon, but as the evening was cloudy, they were for some time disappointed, and several had returned home resolving to fast another day, when suddenly the object of their wishes appeared from behind a cloud, and was welcomed by clapping of hands, beating of drums, firing muskets, and other demonstrations of joy. This moon being accounted extremely lucky, Karfa gave orders that the people of the coffle should immediately prepare for their journey, and the slatees having held a consultation on the 16th of April, fixed on the 19th as the day of departure.

This resolution freed Mr. Park from much uneasiness, as he was apprehensive, from the departure having been so long deferred, that the rainy season would again commence before it took place, and although his landlord behaved with great kindness, his situation was very disagreeable. The slatees were unfriendly to him, and three trading Moors, who had arrived at Kamalia during the absence of Karfa, to dispose of salt procured on credit, had plotted mischief against him from the day of their arrival; his welfare thus depended merely upon the good opinion of an individual, who was daily hearing tales to his prejudice. He was somewhat reconciled by time to their manner of living, but longed for the blessings of civilized society.

On the morning of April 19th, the coffle assembled and commenced its journey. When joined by several persons at Maraboo and Bola, it consisted of seventy-three persons, thirty-five of whom were slaves for sale. The free men were fourteen in number, but several had wives and domestic slaves, and the schoolmaster, who was going to his native country Woradoo, had eight of his scholars. Several of the inhabitants of Kamalia accompanied the coffle a short way on its progress, taking leave of their relations and friends. On reaching a rising ground, from which they had a prospect of the town, the people of the coffle were desired to sit down facing the west, and the town's people facing Kamalia. The schoolmaster and two principal slatees, then placed themselves between the two parties, and repeated a long and solemn prayer, after this they walked round the coffle three times, pressing the ground with the end of their spears, and muttering a charm. All the people of the coffle then sprang up and set forwards, without formally bidding their friends farewell. The slaves had all heavy loads upon their heads, and many of them having been long in irons, the sudden exertion of walking quick, caused spasmodic contractions of their legs, and they had scarcely proceeded a mile, when two of them were obliged to be taken from the rope, and suffered to walk more slowly. The coffle after halting two hours at Maraboo, proceeded to Bola, thence to Worumbang, the frontier village of Manding, towards Jallonkadoo.

Here they procured plenty of provisions, as they intended shortly to enter the Jallonka wilderness, but having on the 21st travelled a little way through the woods, they determined to take the road to Kinytakooro, a town in Jallonkadoo, and this being a long day's journey distant, they halted to take some refreshment. Every person, says Mr, Park, opened his provision bag, and brought a handful or two of meal to the place where Karfa and the slatees were sitting. When every one had brought his quota, and whole was properly arranged in small gourd shells, the schoolmaster offered up a short prayer, the substance of which was, that God and the holy prophets might preserve them from robberies and all bad people, that their provisions might never fail them, nor their limbs become fatigued. This ceremony being ended, every one partook of the meal, and drank a little water, after which they set forward, rather running than walking, until they came to the river Kokoro.

This river is a branch of the Senegal, its banks are very high, and from various appearances it was evident, that the water had risen above twenty feet perpendicular during the rainy season, but it was then only a small stream sufficient to turn a mill, and abounding in fish. The coffle proceeded with great expedition until evening, when they arrived at Kinytakooro, a considerable town, nearly square, situated in the midst of an extensive and fertile plain.

In this day's journey, a woman and a girl, two slaves belonging to a slatee of Bola, could not keep up with the coffle from fatigue. They were dragged along until about four in the afternoon, when being both affected with vomiting, it was discovered that they had eaten clay. Whether this practice, which is frequent amongst the slaves, proceeds from a vitiated appetite, or an intention to destroy themselves, is uncertain. Three people remaining to take care of them, the slaves were suffered to lie down in the woods until they were somewhat recovered, but they did not reach the town until past midnight, and were then so exhausted that their master determined to return with them to Bola.

Kinytakooro being the first town beyond the limits of Manding, great ceremony was observed in entering it. The coffle approached it in the following procession: first went the singing men, followed by the other free men, then the slaves, fastened as usual by a rope round their necks, four to a rope, and a man with a spear between each party, after them the domestic slaves, and in the rear the free women. When they came within a hundred yards of the gate, the singing men began a loud song, extolling the hospitality of the inhabitants towards strangers, and their friendship in particular to the Mandingos. Arriving at the Bentang, the people assembled to hear their dentegi (history,) which was publicly recited by two of the singing men. They began with the events of that day, and enumerated every circumstance which had befallen the coffle in a backward series, to their departure from Kamalia. When they had ended, the chief men of the town gave them a small present, and every person of the coffle, both free and enslaved, was entertained and lodged by the inhabitants.

On the 22nd of April, the coffle proceeded to a village seven miles westward. The inhabitants of this village, expecting an attack from the Foulahs of Fooladoo, were constructing small huts among the rocks, on the side of a high hill.

The situation was nearly impregnable, high precipices surrounded it on every side but the eastern, where was left a path broad enough for one person to ascend. On the brow of the hill were collected heaps of large stones, to be thrown down upon the enemy, if an attack on the post was attempted.

The coffle entered the Jallonka wilderness on the 23rd. They passed the ruins of two small towns, burnt by the Foulahs, and the fire had been so intense as to vitrify the walls of several huts, which at a distance appeared as if coloured with red varnish. The coffle crossed the river Wonda, where fish were seen in great abundance. Karfa now placed the guides and young men in the front, the women and slaves in the centre, and the free men in the rear, and in this order they proceeded through a woody beautiful country, abounding with partridges, guinea fowls, and deer. At sunset they arrived at a stream called Comeissang. To diminish the inflammation of his skin, produced by the friction of his dress from walking, and long exposure to the heat of the sun, Mr. Park took the benefit of bathing in the river. They had now travelled about thirty miles, and were greatly fatigued, but no person complained. Karfa ordered one of his slaves to prepare for Mr. Park a bed made of branches of trees, and when they had supped upon kouskous moistened with boiling water, they all laid down, but were frequently disturbed by the howling of the wild beasts, and the biting of small brown ants.

The next morning, most of the free people drank some noening, a sort of gruel, which was also given to the slaves that appeared least able to travel, but a female slave of Karfa's who was called Nealee, refused to partake of this refreshment, and was very sullen. The coffle proceeded over a wild and rocky country, and Nealee, soon overcome by fatigue, lagged behind, complaining dreadfully of pains in her legs, on which her load was given to another slave, and she was directed to keep in front. The coffle rested near a small rivulet, and a hive of bees being discovered in a hollow tree, some negroes went in quest of the honey, when an enormous swarm flew out, and attacked the people of the coffle. Mr. Park, who first took the alarm, alone escaped with impunity. The negroes at length again collected together at some distance from the place where they were dispersed, but Nealee was missing, and many of the bundles were left behind. To recover these, they set fire to the grass eastward of the hive, and as the wind drove the fire furiously along, they pushed through the smoke, until they came to the bundles. They also found poor Nealee lying by the rivulet, she had crept to the stream, hoping to defend herself from the bees by throwing water over her body, but she was stung dreadfully. The stings were picked out, and her wounds washed and anointed, but she refused to proceed further. The slatees by the whip forced her to proceed about four or five hours longer, when, attempting to run away, she fell down with extreme weakness. Again was the whip applied, but ineffectually; the unfortunate slave was unable to rise. After attempting to place her upon an ass, on which she could not sit erect, a litter of bamboo canes was made, upon which she was tied with slips of bark, and carried on the heads of two slaves for the remainder of the day. The coffle halted at the foot of a high hill, called Gankaran-kooro. The travellers had only eaten one handful of meal each during the day's journey, exposed to the ardour of a tropical sun. The slaves were much fatigued, and showed great discontent; several snapt their fingers, a certain mark of desperation. They were all immediately put in irons, and those who had shown signs of despondency were kept apart.

In the morning, however, they were greatly recovered, except poor Nealee, who could neither walk nor stand, she was accordingly placed upon an ass, her hands being fastened together under the neck, and her feet under the belly, to secure her situation. The beast, however, was unruly, and Nealee was soon thrown off, and one of her legs was much bruised. As it was found impossible to carry her forward, the general cry of the coffle was, "Kang tegi! kang tegi!" (Cut her throat! cut her throat!) Mr. Park proceeded forwards with the foremost of the coffle, to avoid seeing this operation performed, but soon after he learned that Karfa and the schoolmaster would not agree to have her killed, but had left her on the road. Her fate diffused melancholy throughout the whole coffle, notwithstanding the outcry before mentioned, and the schoolmaster fasted the whole day in consequence of it. The coffle soon after crossed the Furkoomah, a river the same size as the Wonda, and travelled so expeditiously, that Mr. Park with difficulty kept up with it.

On the 26th April, the coffle ascended a rocky hill, called Bokikooro, and in the afternoon, entering a valley, forded the Bold, a smooth and clear river. About a mile westward of this river, discovering the marks of horses' feet, they were afraid that a party of plunderers were in the neighbourhood; and to avoid discovery and pursuit, the coffle travelled in a dispersed manner through the high grass and bushes.

The following day, hoping to reach a town before night, they passed expeditiously through extensive thickets of bamboos. At a stream called Nuncolo, each person ate a handful of meal, moistened with water, in compliance with some superstitious custom. In the afternoon, they arrived at Sooseta, a Jallonka village, in the district of Kullo, a tract of country lying along the banks of the Black River; and the first human habitation they had met with in a journey of five days, over more than a hundred miles. With much difficulty they procured huts to sleep in, but could not obtain any provisions, as there had been a scarcity before the crops were gathered in, during which all the inhabitants of Kullo had subsisted upon the yellow powder of the nitta, a species of the mimosa, and the seeds of the bamboo, which, when properly prepared, tastes nearly similar to rice. As the provisions of the coffle were not exhausted, kouskous was dressed for supper, and several villagers were invited to partake; meanwhile one of the schoolmaster's boys, who had fallen asleep under the bentang, was carried off during the night; but the thief, finding that his master's residence was only three days' journey distant, thinking he could not be retained with security, after stripping him, suffered him to return.

They now crossed the Black River by a bridge of a curious construction. Several tall trees are fastened together by the tops, which float on the water, while the roots rest on the rocks on each side of the river; these are covered with dry bamboos, and the whole forms a passage, sloping from each end towards the middle, so as to resemble an inverted arch. In the rainy season the bridge is carried away, but the natives constantly rebuilt it, and on that account exact a small tribute from every passenger.

Being informed that, two hundred Jalonkas had assembled to intercept and plunder the coffle, they altered their course, and about midnight arrived at a town called Koba. They now discovered that a free man and three slaves were missing; upon which it was concluded that the slaves had murdered the free man, and made their escape, and six people were sent back to the last village to endeavour to procure information. Meanwhile the people of the coffle were ordered to conceal themselves in a cotton field, and no person to speak but in a whisper. Towards morning, the men returned, but without the object of their pursuit. The coffle then entered the town, and purchased a quantity of ground nuts, which were roasted for breakfast; and, being provided with huts, determined to rest there for the day. They were agreeably surprised by the arrival of their companions. One of the slaves had hurt his foot, and as the night was dark, they had lost sight of the coffle, when the free man, who was aware of his danger, insisted on putting the slaves in irons, and as they were refractory, threatened to stab them one by one with his spear; they at last submitted, and in the morning followed the coffle to Koba. In the course of the day, the intelligence concerning the Jalonka plunderers was confirmed, on which Karfa, continuing at Koba until the 30th, hired some persons for protectors, and they proceeded to a village called Tinkingtang.

On the following day, the slaves being greatly fatigued, the coffle only proceeded nine miles, where provisions were procured by the interest of the schoolmaster, who sent a messenger forward to Malacotta, his native town, to acquaint his friends with his arrival, and desire them to provide provisions for the entertainment of the coffle for two or three days.

They halted at another village further on until the return of the messenger from Malacotta. About two the messenger returned, accompanied by the schoolmaster's elder brother. "The interview," says Mr. Park, "between the two brothers, who had not seen each other for nine years, was very natural and affecting. They fell upon each other's neck, and it was some time before either of them could speak. At length, when the schoolmaster had a little recovered himself, he took his brother by the hand, and turning round, 'This is the man,' said he, pointing to Karfa, 'who has been my father in Manding. I would have pointed him out sooner to you, but my heart was too full.'" The coffle then proceeded to Malacotta, where they were well entertained for three days, being each day presented with a bullock from the schoolmaster.

Malacotta is an unwalled town; the huts are made of unsplit canes twisted into wicker work, and plastered over with mud. The inhabitants are active and industrious; they make good soap by boiling ground nuts in water, and adding a lye of wood ashes. They also manufacture excellent iron, which they exchange in Bondou for salt.

A party of traders brought intelligence to this town of a war between the king of Foota Torra and the king of the Jaloffs, which soon became a favourite subject of conversation in this part of Africa. Its circumstances were as follow:--Almami Abdulkader, king of Foota Torra, inflamed with a zeal for propagating the religion of the prophet, sent an ambassador to Damel, king of the Jaloffs, accompanied by two principal bushreens, each bearing a long pole, to the end of which was fixed a large knife. When admitted into the presence of Damel, the ambassador ordered the bushreens to present the emblems of his mission, which he thus explained:--"With this knife," said he, "Abdulkader will condescend to shave the head of Damel, if Damel will embrace the Mahometan faith; and with the other knife, Abdulkader will cut the throat of Damel, if Darnel refuses to embrace it. Take your choice."

The king of the Jaloffs having told the ambassador he chose neither of his propositions, civilly dismissed him. Abdulkader soon after invaded Damel's dominions with a powerful army. As he approached, the towns and villages were abandoned, the wells filled up, and their effects carried off by the inhabitants. He advanced three days into the country of the Jaloffs, without opposition; but his army had suffered so greatly for want of water, that many of his men had died by the way. This compelled him to march to a watering-place in the woods, where his men, having quenched their thirst, and being overcome with fatigue, lay down among the bushes to sleep. Thus situated, they were attacked by the forces of Damel in the night, and completely routed. King Abdulkader himself, with a great number of his followers, being taken prisoners. The behaviour of the king of the Jaloffs on this occasion we shall relate in Mr. Park's own words. "When his royal prisoner was brought before him in irons, and thrown upon the ground, the magnanimous Damel, instead of setting his foot upon his neck, and stabbing him with his spear, according to custom in such cases, addressed him as follows:--'Abdulkader, answer me this question. If the chance of war had placed me in your situation, and you in mine, how would you have treated me?'--'I would have thrust my spear into your heart,' returned Abdulkader, with great firmness, 'and I know that a similar fate awaits me.'--'Not so,' said Damel; 'my spear is indeed red with the blood of your subjects killed in battle, and I could now give it a deeper stain, by dipping it in your own; but this would not build up my towns, nor bring to life the thousands, who fell in the woods; I will not, therefore, kill you in cold blood, but I will retain you as my slave, until I perceive that your presence in your own kingdom will be no longer dangerous to your neighbours, and then I will consider of the proper way of disposing of you.' Abdulkader was accordingly retained, and worked as a slave for three months, at the end of which period, Damel listened to the solicitations of the inhabitants of Foota Torra. and restored to them their king."

The coffle resumed their journey on the 7th May, and having crossed a branch of the Senegal, proceeded to a walled town, called Bentingala, where they rested two days. In one day more, they reached Dindikoo, a town at the bottom of a high ridge of hills, which gives the name of Konkodoo to this part of the country; at Dindikoo was a negro of the sort called in the Spanish West Indies, Albinos, or white negroes. His hair and skin were of a dull white colour, cadaverous and unsightly, and considered as the effect of disease.

After a tedious day's journey, the coffle arrived at Satadoo, on the evening of the 11th. Many inhabitants had quitted this town, on account of the plundering incursions of the Foulahs of Foota Jalla, who frequently carried off people from the corn fields and wells near the town.

The coffle crossed the Faleme river on the 12th, and at night halted at a village called Medina, the sole property of a Mandingo merchant, who had adopted many European customs. His victuals were served up in pewter dishes, and his houses were formed in the mode of the English houses on the Gambia.

The next morning they departed, in company with another coffle of slaves, belonging to some Serawoolli traders, and in the evening arrived at Baniserile, after a very hard day's journey.

Mr. Park was invited by one of the slatees, a native of this place, to go home to his house. He had been absent three years, and was met by his friends with many expressions of joy. When he had seated himself upon a mat near the threshold of his door, a young woman, his intended bride, brought some water in a calabash, and, kneeling before him, requested him to wash his hands. This being done, the young woman drank the water; an action here esteemed as the greatest proof that can be given of fidelity and affection.

Mr. Park now arrived on the shores of the Gambia, and on the 10th June 1797 reached Pisania, where he was received as one risen from the dead; for all the traders from the interior had believed and reported, that, like Major Houghton, he was murdered by the Moors of Ludamar. Karfa, his benefactor, received double the stipulated price, and was overpowered with gratitude; but when he saw the commodious furniture, the skilful manufactures, the superiority in all the arts of life, displayed by the Europeans, compared with the attainments of his countrymen, he was deeply mortified, and exclaimed "Black men are nothing," expressing, at the same time his surprise, that Park could find any motive for coming to so miserable a land as Africa.

Mr. Park had some difficulty in reaching home. He was obliged to embark on the 15th June, in a vessel bound to America, and was afterwards driven by stress of weather, into the island of Antigua, whence he sailed on the 24th November, and on the 22nd December landed at Falmouth. He arrived in London before dawn on the morning of Christmas day, and in the garden of the British Museum accidentally met his brother-in-law, Mr. Dickson. Two years having elapsed since any tidings had reached England, he had been given up for lost, so that his friends and the public were equally astonished and delighted by his appearance. The report of his unexpected return, after making such splendid discoveries, kindled throughout the nation a higher enthusiasm than had perhaps been excited by the result of any former mission of the same nature. The Niger had been seen flowing eastward, into the interior of Africa, and hence a still deeper interest and mystery were suspended over the future course and termination of this great central stream. Kingdoms had been discovered, more flourishing and more populous than any formerly known on that continent; but other kingdoms, still greater and wealthier, were reported to exist in regions, which Mr. Park had vainly attempted to reach. The lustre of his achievements had diffused among the public in general an ardour for discovery, which was formerly confined to a few enlightened individuals; it was, however, evident that the efforts of no private association could penetrate the depths of this vast continent, and overcome the obstacles presented by its distance, its deserts, and its barbarism.

Spotted a typo or a problem in this chapter? Tell us

Chapter IX

It was now thought advisable to trace, without interruption the interesting career of Mr. Park, from its commencement to its close. The enthusiasm for discovery was, however, not confined solely to England; for the return of Park had no sooner reached Germany, than Frederick Horneman, a student of the university of Gottingen, communicated to Blumenbach, the celebrated professor of natural history, his ardent desire to explore the interior of Africa under the auspices of the British African Association. The professor transmitted to the association a strong recommendation of Horneman, as a young man, active, athletic, temperate, knowing sickness only by name, and of respectable literary and scientific attainments. Sir Joseph Banks immediately wrote, "If Mr. Horneman be really the character you describe, he is the very person whom we are in search of."

On receiving this encouragement, Horneman immediately applied his mind to the study of natural history and the Arabic language, and in other respects sought to capacitate himself for supporting the character of an Arab or a Mahometan, under which he flattered himself that he should escape the effects of that ferocious bigotry, which had opposed so fatal a bar to the progress of his predecessors.

In May 1797, Horneman repaired to London, where his appointment was sanctioned by the association, and having obtained a passport from the Directory, who then governed France, he visited Paris, and was introduced to some influential members of the National Institute. He reached Egypt in September, spent ten days at Alexandria, and set out for Cairo, to wait the departure of the Kashna caravan. The interval was employed in acquiring the language of the Mograben Arabs, a tribe bordering on Egypt. While he was at Cairo, intelligence was received of the landing of Buonaparte in that country, when the just indignation of the natives vented itself upon all Europeans, and, amongst others, on Horneman, who was arrested and confined in the castle. He was relieved upon the victorious entry of the French commander, who immediately set him at liberty, and very liberally offered him money, and every other supply which might contribute to the success of his mission.

It was not before the 5th September 1798, that Horneman could meet with a caravan proceeding to the westward, when he joined the one destined for Fezzan. The travellers soon passed the cultivated lands of Egypt, and entered on an expanse of sandy waste, such as the bottom of the ocean might exhibit, if the waters were to retire. This desert was covered with the fragments, as it were, of a petrified forest; large trunks, branches, twigs, and even pieces of bark, being scattered over it. Sometimes these stony remains were brought in as mistake for fuel. When the caravan halted for the night, each individual dug a hole in the sand, gathered a few sticks, and prepared his victuals after the African fashion of kouskous, soups, or puddings. Horneman, according to his European habits, at first employed the services of another, but finding himself thus exposed to contempt or suspicion, he soon followed the example of the rest, and became his own cook.

There are, as usual, oases in this immense waste. Ten days brought the caravan to Ummesogeir, a village situated upon a rock, with 120 inhabitants, who, separated by deserts, from the rest of the world, passed a peaceful and hospitable life, subsisting on dates, the chief produce of their arid and sterile soil.

Another day's journey brought them to Siwah, a much more extensive oasis, the rocky border of which is estimated by Horneman to be fifty miles in circumference. It yields, with little culture, various descriptions of grain and vegetables; but its wealth consists chiefly in large gardens of dates, baskets of which fruit form here the standard of value. The government is vested in a very turbulent aristocracy, of about thirty chiefs, who meet in council in the vicinity of the town wall, and in the contests which frequently arise, make violent and sudden appeals to arms. The chief question in respect to Siwah is, whether it does or does not comprise the site of the celebrated shrine of Jupiter Ammon, that object of awful veneration to the nations of antiquity, and which Alexander himself, the greatest of its heroes, underwent excessive toil and peril to visit and to associate with his name. This territory does in fact contain springs, and a small edifice, with walls six feet thick, partly painted and adorned with hieroglyphics. There are also antique tombs in the neighbouring mountains, but as the subsequent discoveries of Belzoni and Edmonstone have proved that all these features exist in other oases, scattered in different directions along the desert borders of Egypt, some uncertainty must perhaps for ever rest on this curious question.

The route now passed through a region still indeed barren, yet not presenting such a monotonous plain of sand as intervenes between Egypt and Siwah. It was bordered by precipitous limestone rocks, often completely filled with shells and marine remains. The caravan, while proceeding along these wild tracts, were alarmed by a tremendous braying of asses, and, on looking back, saw several hundred of the people of Siwah, armed and in full pursuit, mounted on these useful animals. The scouts, however, soon brought an assurance that they came with intentions perfectly peaceable, having merely understood that in the caravan there were two Christians from Cairo, and on their being allowed to kill them, the others would be permitted to proceed without molestation. All Horneman's address and firmness were required in this fearful crisis. He opposed the most resolute denial to the assertions of the Siwahans, he opened the Koran, and displayed the facility with which he could read its pages. He even challenged his adversaries to answer him on points of mahommedan faith. His companions in the caravan, who took a pride in defending one of their members, insisted that he had cleared himself thoroughly from the imputation of being an infidel, and as they were joined by several of the Siwahans, the whole body finally renounced their bloody purpose, and returned home.

The travellers next passed through Angila, a town so ancient as to be mentioned by Herodotus, but now small, dirty, and supported solely by the passage of the inland trade. They then entered the Black Harutsch, a long range of dreary mountains, the mons ater of the ancients, through the successive defiles of which they found only a narrow track enclosed by rugged steeps, and obstructed by loose stones. Every valley too and ravine into which they looked, appeared still more wild and desolate than the road itself. A scene of a more gay and animated description succeeded, when they entered the district of Limestone Mountains, called the White Harutsch. The rocks and stones here appeared as if glazed, and abounded in shells and other marine petrifactions, which on being broken had a vitrified appearance.

After a painful route of sixteen days through this solitary region, the travellers were cheered by seeing before them the great oasis, or small kingdom of Fezzan. Both at Temissa, the first frontier town, and at Zuila, the ancient capital, which is still inhabited by many rich merchants, they were received with rapturous demonstrations of joy. The arrival of a caravan is the chief event which diversifies the existence of the Fezzaners, and diffuses through the country animation and wealth. At Mourzouk, the modern capital, the reception was more solemn and pompous. The sultan himself awaited their arrival on a small eminence, seated in an arm chair, ornamented with cloth of various colours, and forming a species of throne. Each pilgrim, on approaching the royal seat, put off his sandals, kissed the sovereign's hand, and took his station behind, where the whole assembly joined in a chant of pious gratitude.

Fezzan, according to Horneman, has a length of 300, and a breadth of 200 miles, and is much the largest of all the oases, which enliven the immense desert of Northern Africa. It relieves, however, in only an imperfect degree, the parched appearance of the surrounding region. It is not irrigated by a river, nor even a streamlet of any dimensions; the grain produced is insufficient for its small population, supposed to amount to 70,000 or 75,000 inhabitants, and few animals are reared except the ass, the goat, and the camel. Dates, as in all this species of territory, form the chief article of land produce, but Fezzan derives its chief importance from being the centre of that immense traffic, which gives activity and wealth to interior Africa. Mourzouk, in the dry season, forms a rendezvous for the caravans proceeding from Egypt, Morocco and Tripoli, to the great countries watered by the western river. Yet the trade is carried on less by the inhabitants themselves, than by the Tibboos, Tuaricks, and other wandering tribes of the desert, concerning whom Horneman collected some information, but less ample than Lyon and Denham afterwards obtained from personal observation. Of Timbuctoo, he did not obtain much information, Morocco being the chief quarter whence caravans proceed to that celebrated seat of African commerce. In regard, however, to the eastern part of Soudan, he received intelligence more accurate than had hitherto reached Europe. Houssa was for the first time understood to be, not a single country or city, but a region comprehending many kingdoms, the people of which are said to be the handsomest, most industrious, and most intelligent in that part of Africa, being particularly distinguished for their manufacture of fine cloths. Amongst the states mentioned, were Kashna, Kano, Daura, Solan, Noro, Nyffe, Cabi, Zanfara and Guber. Most or all of these were tributary to Bornou, described as decidedly the most powerful kingdom in central Africa, and which really was so regarded before the rise of the Fellatah empire caused in this respect, a remarkable change. The Niger, according to the unanimous belief in the northern provinces, was said to flow from Timbuctoo eastward through Houssa, and holding the same direction till it joined or rather became the Bahr-elabiad, the main stream of the Egyptian Nile. Prevalent as this opinion is amongst the Arabs, late discoveries have proved it to be decidedly erroneous; the river or rivers which water Houssa, being wholly distinct from that great stream which flows through Bambarra and Timbuctoo.

Horneman, after remaining some time at Mourzouk, had resolved to join a caravan about to proceed southwards into the interior, when observing that the cavalcade consisted almost wholly of black traders, any connexion or intercourse with whom was likely to afford him little favour in the eyes of the Moors, he was induced to forego this purpose; more especially as there was the greatest reason to apprehend obstruction in passing through the country of the Turiacks, then at war with Fezzan. He was informed besides, that caravans from Bornou occasionally terminated their journey at Mourzouk, again returning south; by which under more propitious circumstances he hoped to accomplish his object. These considerations determined him to postpone his departure, resolving in the mean while, with the view of forwarding his despatches to the association, to visit Tripoli, where, however, he did not arrive till the 19th August, 1799, having been detained a considerable time by sickness. After remaining in this city about three months he returned to Mourzouk, nor was it till the 6th April, 1800, that he departed thence for the southward, in company with two shereefs, who had given him assurances of friendship and protection. His letters were filled with the most sanguine hopes of success. But the lapse of two years without any tidings, threw a damp on the cheering expectations then raised in the association and the public. In September 1803, a Fezzan merchant informed Mr. Nissen, the Danish consul of Tripoli, that Yussuph, as Horneman had chosen to designate himself, was seen alive and well on his way to Gondasch, with the intention of proceeding to the coast, and of returning to Europe. Another moorish merchant afterwards informed Mr. M'Donogh, British consul at Tripoli, that Yussuph was in safety at Kashna, in June 1803, and was there highly respected as a mussulman, marabout or saint. Major Denham afterwards learned that he had penetrated across Africa as far as Nyffe, on the Niger, where he fell a victim, not to any hostility on the part of the natives, but to disease and the climate. A young man was even met with, who professed to be his son, though there were some doubt as to the grounds of his claim to that character.

The association, when their expectations from Horneman had failed, began to look round for other adventurers, and there were still a number of active and daring spirits ready to brave the dangers of this undertaking. Mr. Nicholls, in 1804, repaired to Calabar, in the Gulf of Benin, with the view of penetrating into the interior by this route, which appeared shorter than any other, but without any presentiment that the termination of the Niger was to be found in that quarter. He was well received by the chiefs on that coast, but could not gain much information respecting that river, being informed that most of the slaves came from the west, and that the navigation of the Calabar stream, at no great distance was interrupted by an immense waterfall, beyond which the surface of the country became very elevated. Unfortunately, of all the sickly climates of Africa, this is perhaps the most pestilential, and Mr. Nicholls, before commencing his journey, fell a victim to the epidemic fever.

Another German named Roentgen, recommended also by Blumenbach, undertook to penetrate into the interior of Africa by way of Morocco. He was described as possessing an unblemished character, ardent zeal in the cause, with great strength both of mind and body. Like Horneman, he made himself master of Arabic, and proposed to pass for a Mahommedan. Having in 1809 arrived at Mogadore, he hired two guides, and set out to join the Soudan caravan. His career, however, was short indeed, for soon after his body was found at a little distance from the place whence he started. No information could ever be obtained as to the particulars of his death, but it was too probably conjectured that his guides murdered him for the sake of his property.

Spotted a typo or a problem in this chapter? Tell us

Chapter X

We are now entering upon the narrative of a series of the most extraordinary adventures which ever befel the African travellers, in the person of an illiterate and obscure seaman, of the name of Robert Adams, who was wrecked on the western coast of Africa, in the American ship Charles, bound to the isle of Mayo, and who may be said to have been the first traveller who ever reached the far-famed city of Timbuctoo.

The place where the Charles was wrecked was called Elgazie, and the captain and the whole of the crew were immediately taken prisoners by the Moors. On their landing, the Moors stripped the whole of them naked, and concealed their clothes under ground; being thus exposed to a scorching sun, their skins became dreadfully blistered, and at night they were obliged to dig holes in the sand to sleep in, for the sake of coolness.

About a week after landing, the captain of the ship was put to death by the Moors, for which the extraordinary reason was given, that he was extremely dirty, and would not go down to the sea to wash himself, when the Moors made signs for him to do so.

After they had remained about ten or twelve days, until the ship and its materials had quite disappeared, the Moors made preparations to depart, and divided the prisoners amongst them. Robert Adams and two others of the crew were left in the possession of about twenty Moors, who quitted the sea coast, having four camels, three of which they loaded with water, and the other with fish and baggage. At the end of about thirty days, during which they did not see a human being, they arrived at a place, the name of which Adams did not hear, where they found about thirty or forty tents, and a pool of water surrounded by a few shrubs, which was the only water they had met with since quitting the coast.

In the first week of their arrival, Adams and his companions being greatly fatigued, were not required to do any work, but at the end of that time, they were put to tend some goats and sheep, which were the first they had seen. About this time, John Stevens arrived, under charge of a Moor, and was sent to work in company with Adams. Stevens was a Portuguese, about eighteen years of age. At this place they remained about a month.

It was now proposed by the Moors to Adams and Stevens, to accompany them on an expedition to Soudenny to procure slaves. It was with great difficulty they could be made to understand this proposal, but the Moors made themselves intelligible by pointing to some negro boys, who were employed in taking care of sheep and goats. Being in the power of the Moors, they had no option, and having therefore signified their consent, the party consisting of about eighteen Moors, and the two whites, set out for Soudenny.

Soudenny is a small negro village, having grass and shrubs growing about it, and a small brook of water. For a week or thereabouts, after arriving in the neighbourhood of this place, the party concealed themselves amongst the hills and bushes, lying in wait for the inhabitants, when they seized upon a woman with a child in her arms, and two children (boys), whom they found walking in the evening near the town.

During the next four or five days, the party remained concealed, when one evening, as they were all lying on the ground, a large party of negroes, consisting of forty or fifty made their appearance, armed with daggers, and bows and arrows, who surrounded and took them all prisoners, without the least resistance being attempted, and carried them into the town; tying the hands of some, and driving the whole party before them. During the night above one hundred negroes kept watch over them. The next day they were taken before the governor or chief person, named Muhamoud, a remarkably ugly negro, who ordered that they should all be imprisoned. The place of confinement was a mere mud wall, about six feet high, from whence they might readily have escaped, though strongly guarded, if the Moors had been enterprising, but they were a cowardly set. Here they were kept three or four days, for the purpose, as it afterwards appeared, of being sent forward to Timbuctoo, which Adams concluded to be the residence of the king of the country. At Soudenny, the houses have only a ground floor, and are without furniture or utensils, except wooden bowls, and mats made of grass. They never make fires in their houses. After remaining about four days at Soudenny, the prisoners were sent to Timbuctoo, under an escort of about sixty armed men, having about eighteen camels and dromedaries.

During the first ten days they proceeded eastward, at the rate of about fifteen to twenty miles a day, the prisoners and most of the negroes walking, the officers riding, two upon each camel or dromedary. As the prisoners were all impressed with the belief that they were going to execution, several of the Moors attempted to escape, and in consequence, after a short consultation, fourteen were put to death by being beheaded, at a small village at which they then arrived, and as a terror to the rest, the head of one of them was hung round the neck of a camel for three days, until it became so putrid, that they were obliged to remove it. At this village, the natives wore gold rings in their ears, sometimes two rings in each ear. They had a hole through the cartilage of the nose, wide enough to admit a thick quill, in which Adams saw some of the natives wear a large ring of an oval shape, that hung down to the mouth.

They waited, only one day at this place, and then proceeded towards Timbuctoo. Shaping their course to the northward of east, and quickening their pace to the rate of twenty miles a day, they completed their journey in fifteen days.

Upon their arrival at Timbuctoo, the whole party were immediately taken before the king, who ordered the Moors into prison, but treated Adams and the Portuguese boy as curiosities; taking them to his house, they remained there during their residence at Timbuctoo.

For some time after their arrival, the queen and her female attendants used to sit and look at Adams and his companions for hours together. She treated them with great kindness, and at the first interview offered them some bread baked under ashes.

The king and queen, the former of whom was named Woollo, the latter Fatima, were very old grey-headed people. Fatima was like the majority of African beauties, extremely fat. Her dress was of blue nankeen, edged with gold lace round the bosom and on the shoulder, and having a belt or stripe of the same material, half-way down the dress, which came only a few inches down the knees. The dress of the other females of Timbuctoo, though less ornamented than that of the queen, was in the same sort of fashion, so that as they wore no close under garments, they might, when sitting on the ground, as far as decency was concerned, as well have had no covering at all. The queen's head dress consisted of a blue nankeen turban, but this was worn only upon occasions of ceremony, or when she walked out. Besides the turban, she had her hair stuck full of bone ornaments of a square shape, about the size of dice, extremely white; she had large gold hoop ear-rings, and many necklaces, some of them of gold, the others made of beads of various colours. She wore no shoes, and in consequence, her feet appeared to be as hard and dry "as the hoofs of an ass."

The king's house or palace, which is built of clay and grass, not whitewashed, consists of eight or ten small rooms on the ground floor, and is surrounded by a wall of the same materials, against part of which the house is built. The space within the wall is about half an acre. Whenever a trader arrives, he is required to bring his merchandize into this space, for the inspection of the king, for the purpose of duties being charged upon it. The king's attendants, who are with him during the whole of the day, generally consist of about thirty persons, several of whom are armed with daggers, and bows and arrows. Adams did not know if the king had any family.

For a considerable time after the arrival of Adams and his companion, the people used to come in crowds to stare at them, and he afterwards understood that many persons came several days journey on purpose. The Moors remained closely confined in prison, but Adams and the Portuguese boy had permission to visit them. At the end of about six months, a company of trading Moors arrived with tobacco, who after some weeks ransomed the whole party.

Timbuctoo is situated on a level plain [*], having a river about two hundred yards from the town, on the south-east side, named La Mar Zarah. The town appeared to Adams to cover as much ground as Lisbon. He was unable to give any account of number of its inhabitants, estimated by Caillié to amount to 10,000 or 12,000. The houses are not built in streets, nor with any regularity, its population therefore, compared with that of European towns, is by no means in proportion to its size. It has no wall nor any thing resembling fortification. The houses are square, built of sticks, clay, and grass, with flat roofs of the same materials. The rooms are all on the ground-floor, and are without any of furniture, except earthen jars, wooden bowls, and mats made grass, upon which the people sleep. He did not observe a houses, or any other buildings, constructed of stone. The palace of the king he described as having walls of clay, or clay and sand, rammed into a wooden case or frame, and placed in layers, one above another, until they attained the height required, the roof being composed of poles or rafters laid horizontally, and covered with a cement or plaster, made of clay or sand.

[Footnote: This account of Timbuctoo, as given by Adams, by no means corresponds with that which was subsequently given by Caillié. The latter makes it situated on a very elevated site, in the vicinity of mountains; in fact the whole account of that celebrated city, as given by Caillié, is very defective.]

The river La Mar Zarah is about three quarters of a mile wide at Timbuctoo, and appeared in this place to have but little current, flowing to the south-west. About two miles from the town to the southward, it runs between two high mountains, apparently as high as the mountains which Adams saw in Barbary; here the river is about half a mile wide. The water of La Mar Zarah is rather brackish, but is commonly drunk by the natives, there not being, according to the report of Adams, any wells at Timbuctoo.

It must be remarked in this place, that at the time when Adams related the narrative of his residence in Africa, and particularly in the city of Timbuctoo, a very considerable degree of distrust was attached to it; and in order to put the veracity of Adams to a decisive test, the publication of his adventures was delayed until the arrival of Mr. Dupuis, then the British vice-consul at Mogadore, to whose interference Adams acknowledged himself indebted for his ransom, and who, on account of his long residence in Africa, and his intimate acquaintance with the manners and customs of the natives, was fully competent to the detection of any imposition which it might be the intention of Adams to practise upon those, who undertook the publication of his adventures. From this severe ordeal Adams came out fully clear of any intention to impose, and the principal points of his narrative were corroborated by the knowledge and experience of Mr. Dupuis. Thus that gentleman, in allusion to the description which Adams gave of La Mar Zarah, mentions that the Spanish geographer Marmol, who describes himself to have spent twenty years of warfare and slavery in Africa, about the middle of the sixteenth century, mentions the river La-ha-mar as a branch of the Niger, having muddy and unpalatable waters. By the same authority, the Niger itself is called Yea, or Issa, at Timbuctoo, a name which D'Anville has adopted in his map of Africa.

The vessels used by the natives are small canoes for fishing, the largest of which are about ten feet long, capable of carrying three men; they are built of fig-trees hollowed out, and caulked with grass, and are worked with paddles about six feet long.

The natives of Timbuctoo are a stout healthy race, and are seldom sick, although they expose themselves by lying out in the sun at mid-day, when the heat is almost insupportable to a white man. It is the universal practice of both sexes to grease themselves all over with butter produced from goat's milk, which makes the skin smooth, and gives it a shining appearance. This is usually renewed every day: when neglected, the skin becomes rough, greyish, and extremely ugly. They usually sleep under cover at night, but sometimes, in the hottest weather, they will lie exposed to the night air, with little or no covering, notwithstanding that the fog, which rises from the river, descends like dew, and, in fact, at that season supplies the want of rain.

All the males of Timbuctoo have an incision on their faces from the top of the forehead down to the nose, from which proceed other lateral incisions over the eyebrows, into all of which is inserted a blue dye, produced from a kind of ore, which is found in the neighbouring mountains. The women have also incisions on their faces, but in a different fashion; the lines being from two to five in number, cut on each cheek bone, from the temple straight down; they are also stained with blue. These incisions being made on the faces of both sexes when they are about twelve months old, the dyeing material, which is inserted in them, becomes scarcely visible as they grow up.

With the exception of the king and queen, and their immediate companions, who had a change of dress about once a week, the people are in general very dirty, sometimes not washing themselves for twelve or fourteen days together. Besides the queen, who, as has been already stated, wore a profusion of ivory and bone ornaments in her hair, some of a square shape, and others about as thick as a shilling, but rather smaller, strings of which she also wore about her wrists and ankles; many of the women were decorated in a similar manner, and they seemed to consider hardly any favour too great to be conferred on the person who would make them a present of these precious ornaments. Gold ear-rings were much worn, some of the women had also rings on their fingers, but these appeared to Adams to be of brass; and as many of the latter had letters upon them, he concluded, both from this circumstance and from their workmanship, that they were not made by the negroes, but obtained from the moorish traders.

The ceremony of marriage amongst the upper ranks at Timbuctoo is, for the bride to go in the day-time to the king's house, and to remain there until after sunset, when the man who is to be her husband goes to fetch her away. This is usually followed by a feast the same night, and a dance. Adams did not observe what ceremonies were used in the marriages of the lower classes.

As it is common to have several concubines besides a wife, the women are continually quarrelling and fighting; there is, however, a marked difference in the degree of respect with which they are treated by the husband, the wife always having a decided pre-eminence. The negroes, however, appeared to Adams to be jealous and severe with all their women, frequently beating them apparently for very little cause.

The women appear to suffer very little from child-birth, and they will be seen walking about as usual the day after such an event. It is their practice to grease a child all over soon after its birth, and to expose it for about an hour to the sun. The infants at first are of a reddish colour, but become black in three or four days.

Illicit intercourse appeared to be but little regarded amongst the lower orders, and chastity among the women in general seemed to be preserved only so far as their situations or circumstances rendered it necessary for their personal safety or convenience. In the higher ranks, if a woman prove with child, the man is punished with slavery, unless he will take the woman for his wife, and maintain her. Adams knew an instance of a young man, who, having refused to marry a woman by whom he had a child, was on that account condemned to slavery. He afterwards repented, but was not then permitted to retract his refusal, and was sent away to be sold.

It does not appear that they have any public religion, as they have not any house of worship; no priest, and, as far as Adams could discover, never meet together to pray. He had seen some of the negroes, who were circumcised; but he concluded that they had been in possession of the Moors, or had been resident at Sudenny. On this subject Mr. Dupuis says, "I cannot speak with any confidence of the religion of the negroes of Timbuctoo; I have, however, certainly heard, and entertain little doubt, that many of the inhabitants are Mahommedans; it is also generally believed in Barbary, that there are mosques at Timbuctoo; but, on the other hand, I am confident that the king is neither an Arab nor a Moor, especially as the traders, from whom I have collected these accounts, have been either the one or the other; and I might consequently presume, that, if they did give me erroneous information on any points, it would at least not be to the prejudice, both of their national self-conceit, and of the credit and honour of their religion."

The only ceremony which Adams saw, that appeared like the act of prayer, was on the occasion of the death of any of the inhabitants, when the relatives assembled and sat round the corpse. The burial is not attended with any ceremony whatever; the deceased are buried in the clothes in which they die, at a small distance to the south-west of the town.

Their only physicians are old women, who cure diseases and wounds by the application of simples. Adams had a wen on the back of his right hand, the size of a large egg, which one of the women cured in about a month, by rubbing it and applying a plaster of herbs. They cure the tooth-ache by the application of a liquid prepared from roots, which frequently causes not only the defective tooth to fall out, but one or two of the others.

On referring to the notes of Mr. Dupuis on the subject of the cures performed by the negro women, we read, "I may take this opportunity of observing that he (Adams) recounted, at Mogadore, several stories of the supernatural powers or charms possessed by some of the negroes, and which practised both, defensively to protect their own persons from harm, and offensively against their enemies. Of these details I do not remember more than the following circumstance, which, I think, he told me happened in his presence:--

"A negro slave, the property of a desert Arab, having been threatened by his master with severe punishment, for some offence, defied his power to hurt him, in consequence of a charm by which he was protected. Upon this the Arab seized a gun, which he loaded with a ball, and fired at only a few paces distant from the negro's breast; but the negro, instead of being injured by the shot, stooped to the ground and picked up the ball, which had fallen inoffensive at his feet."

It seems strange that Adams should have omitted their extraordinary stories in his narrative; for he frequently expressed to Mr. Dupuis a firm belief, that the negroes were capable of injuring their enemies by witchcraft; and he once pointed out to him a slave at Mogadore, of whom on that account he stood particularly in awe. He doubtless imbibed this belief, and learned the other absurd stories, which he related, from the Arabs, some of whom profess to be acquainted with the art themselves, and all of whom are, it is believed, firmly persuaded of its existence, and of the peculiar proficiency of the negroes in it.

It is perhaps not unreasonable to suppose, that having found his miraculous stories, and his belief in witchcraft discredited and laughed at, both at Mogadore and Cadiz, Adams should have at length grown ashamed of repeating them, and even outlived his superstitious credulity. This solitary instance of suppression may rather be considered as a proof of his good sense, and as the exercise of a very allowable discretion, than as evidence of an artfulness, of which not a trace had been detected in any other part of his conduct.

Dancing is the principal and favourite amusement of the natives of Timbuctoo; it takes place about once a week in the town, when a hundred dancers or more assemble, men, women, and children, but the greater number are men. Whilst they are engaged in the dance, they sing extremely loud to the music of the tambourine, fife, and bandera, [*] so that the noise they make, may be heard all over the town; they dance in a circle, and when this amusement continues till the night, generally round a fire. Their usual time of beginning is about two hours before sunset, and the dance not unfrequently lasts all night. The men have the most of the exercise in these sports while daylight lasts, the women continuing nearly in one spot, and the men dancing to and from them. During this time, the dance is conducted with some decency, but when night approaches, and the women take a more active part in the amusement, their thin and short dresses, and the agility of their actions are little calculated to admit of the preservation of any decorum. The following was the nature of the dance; six or seven men joining hands, surrounded one in the centre of the ring, who was dressed in a ludicrous manner, wearing a large black wig stuck full of kowries. This man at intervals repeated verses, which, from the astonishment and admiration expressed at them by those in the ring, appeared to be extempore. Two performers played on the outside of the ring, one on a large drum, the other on the bandera. The singer in the ring was not interrupted during his recitations, but at the end of every verse, the instruments struck up, and the whole party joined in loud chorus, dancing round the man in the circle, stooping to the ground, and throwing up their legs alternately. Towards the end of the dance, the man in the middle of the ring was released from his enclosure, and danced alone, occasionally reciting verses, whilst the other dancers begged money from the by-standers.

[Footnote: The bandera is made of several cocoa-nut shells, tied together with thongs of goat-skin, and covered with the same material; a hole at the top of the instrument is covered with strings of leather, or tendons, drawn tightly across it, on which the performer plays with the fingers, in the manner of a guitar.]

It has been already stated, that Adams could not form any idea of the population of Timbuctoo, but on one occasion he saw as many as two-thousand assembled at one place. This happened when a party of five hundred men were going out to make war on Bambarra [*]. The day after their departure, they were followed by a great number of slaves, dromedaries, and heiries laden with previsions. Such of these people as afterwards returned, came back in parties of forty or fifty; many of them did not return at all whilst Adams remained at Timbuctoo; but he never heard that any of them had been killed.

[Footnote: This statement, which is in opposition to the usual opinion, that Timbuctoo is a dependency of Bambarra, receives some corroboration from a passage in Isaaco's journal (p. 205.), where a prince of Timbuctoo is accused by the king of Sego, of having, either personally, or by his people, plundered two Bambarra caravans, and taken both merchandise and slaves.]

About once a month, a party of a hundred or more armed men marched out in a similar manner, to procure slaves. These armed parties were all on foot, except the officers; they were usually absent from one week to a month, and at times brought in considerable numbers. The slaves were generally a different race of people from those of Timbuctoo, and differently clothed, their dress being for the most part of coarse white linen or cotton. He once saw amongst them a woman, who had her teeth filed round, it was supposed, by way of ornament, and as they were very long, they resembled crow quills. The greatest number of slaves that Adams recollects to have seen brought in at one time, were about twenty, and these, he was informed, were from a place called Bambarra, lying to the southward and westward of Timbuctoo, which he understood to be the country, whither the aforesaid parties generally went out in quest of them.

The negro slaves brought to Barbary from Timbuctoo appear to be of various nations, many of them distinguished by the make of their persons and features, as well as by their language. Mr. Dupuis recollects an unusually tall stout negress at Mogadore, whose master assured him that she belonged to a populous nation of cannibals. He does not know whether the fact was sufficiently authenticated, but it is certain that the woman herself declared it, adding some revolting accounts of her own feasts on human flesh.

Adams never saw any individual put to death at Timbuctoo, the punishment for heavy offences being generally slavery; for slighter misdemeanours, the offenders are punished with beating with a stick; but in no case is this punishment very severe, seldom exceeding two dozen blows, with a stick of the thickness of a small walking-cane.

The infrequency of the punishment of death in a community, which counts human life amongst its most valuable objects of trade, is not, however, very surprising; and considerable influence must be conceded to the operation of self-interest, as well as to the feelings of humanity, in accounting for this merciful feature, if it be indeed merciful, in the criminal code of the negroes of Soudan.

During the whole of the residence of Adams at Timbuctoo, he never saw any other Moors than those whom he accompanied thither, and the ten by whom they were ransomed; and he understood from the Moors themselves, that they were not allowed to go in large bodies to Timbuctoo. This statement bears on the face of it a certain degree of improbability; but it loses that character when it is considered that Timbuctoo, although it is become, in consequence of its frontier situation, the port, as it were, of the caravans from the north, which could not return across the desert the same season, if they were to penetrate deeper into Soudan, is yet, with respect to the trade itself, probably only the point whence it diverges to Houssa, Tuarick, &c. on the east, and to Walet, Jinnie, and Sego, on the west and south, and not the mart where the merchandise of the caravans is sold in detail. Such Moors, therefore, as did not return to Barbary with the returning caravan, but remained in Soudan until the following season, might be expected to follow their trade to the larger marts of the interior, and to return to Timbuctoo only to meet the next winter's caravans. Adams arriving at Timbuctoo in February, and departing in June, might therefore miss both the caravans themselves and the traders, who remained behind in Soudan; and, on the same principle, Park might find Moors carrying on an active trade in the summer at Sansanding, and yet there might not be one at Timbuctoo.

Adams never proceeded to the southward of Timbuctoo, further than about two miles from the town, to the mountains before spoken of; he never saw the river Joliba or Niger, though he had heard mention made of it. He was told at Tudenny, that the river lay between that place and Bambarra.

This apparently unimportant passage, affords on examination a strong presumption in favour of the truth and simplicity of this part of Adams' narrative.

In the course of his examinations, almost every new inquirer questioned him respecting the Joliba or Niger, and he could not fail to observe, that because he had been at Timbuctoo, he was expected, as a matter of course, either to have seen, or at least frequently to have heard of that celebrated river. Adams, however, fairly admitted that he knew nothing about it, and notwithstanding the surprise of many of his examiners, he could not be brought to acknowledge that he had heard the name even once mentioned at Timbuctoo. All that he recollected was, that a river Joliba had been spoken of at Tudenny, where it was described as lying in the direction of Bambarra.

They who recollect Major Rennell's remarks respecting the Niger, in his Geographical Illustrations, will not be much surprised that Adams should not hear of the Joliba, from the natives of Timbuctoo. At that point of its course, the river is doubtless known by another name, and if the Joliba were spoken of at all, it would probably be accompanied, as Adams states, with some mention of Bambarra, which may be presumed to be the last country eastward, in which the Niger retains its Mandingo name.

Spotted a typo or a problem in this chapter? Tell us

Chapter XI

The ten Moors who had arrived with the five camels laden with tobacco, had been three weeks at Timbuctoo, before Adams learnt that the ransom of himself, the boy, and the Moors, his former companions, had been agreed upon. At the end of the first week, he was given to understand, that himself and the boy would be released, but that the Moors would be condemned to die; it appeared however afterwards, that in consideration of all the tobacco being given for the Moors, except about fifty pounds weight, which was expended for a man slave, the king had agreed to release all the prisoners.

Two days after their release, the whole party consisting of the ten moorish traders, fourteen moorish prisoners, two white men and one slave quitted Timbuctoo, having only the five camels, which belonged to the traders; those which were seized when Adams and his party were made prisoners, not having been restored. As they had no means left of purchasing any other article, the only food they took with them was a little Guinea corn flour.

On quitting the town they proceeded in an easterly course, inclining to the north, going along the border of the river, of which they sometimes lost sight for two days together. Except the two mountains before spoken of to the southward, between which the river runs, there are none in the immediate neighbourhood of Timbuctoo, but at a little distance there are some small ones.

They had travelled eastward about ten days, at the rate of about fifteen or eighteen miles a day, when they saw the river for the last time; it then appeared rather narrower than at Timbuctoo. They then loaded the camels with water, and striking off in a northerly direction, travelled twelve or thirteen days at about the same pace.

At the end of this time they arrived at a place called Tudenny, or Taudenny, a large village inhabited by Moors and negroes, in which there are four wells of very excellent water. In this place there are large ponds or beds of salt, which both the Moors and negroes come in great numbers to purchase; in the neighbourhood the ground is cultivated in the same manner as at Timbuctoo. From the number of Moors, many, if not all of whom, were residents, it appeared that the restriction respecting them, which was in force at Timbuctoo, did not extend to Tudenny.

The Moors here are perfectly black, the only personal distinction between them and the negroes being, that the Moors had long black hair, and had no scars on their faces. The negroes are in general marked in the same manner as those of Timbuctoo. Here the party stayed fourteen days to give the ransomed Moors, whose long confinement had made them weak, time to recruit their strength; and having sold one of the camels for two sacks of dates and a small ass, and loaded the four remaining camels with water, the dates and the flour, they set out to cross the desert, taking a north-west direction.

They commenced their journey from Tudenny about four o'clock in the morning, and having travelled the first day about twenty miles, they unloaded the camels, and laid down by the side of them to sleep.

The next day they entered the desert, over which they continued to travel in the same direction nine and twenty days, without meeting a single human being. The whole way was a sandy plain like the sea, without either tree, shrub or grass. After travelling in this manner about fourteen days, at the rate of sixteen or eighteen miles a day, the people began to grow very weak; their stock of water began to run short, and their provisions were nearly exhausted. The ass died of fatigue, and its carcass was immediately cut up and laden on the camel, where it dried in the sun, and served for food, and had it not been for this supply, some of the party must have died of hunger. Being asked if ass's flesh was good eating, Adams replied, "It was as good to my taste then, as a goose would be now."

In six days afterwards, during which their pace was slackened to not more than twelve miles a day, they arrived at a place, where it was expected water would be found; but to their great disappointment, owing to the dryness of the season, the hollow place, of about thirty yards in circumference, was found quite dry.

All their stock of water at this time consisted of four goat-skins, and those not full, holding from one to two gallons each; and it was known to the Moors, that they had then ten days further to travel before they could obtain a supply.

In this distressing dilemma it was resolved to mix the remaining water with camels' urine. The allowance of this mixture to each camel was only about a quart for the whole ten days; each man was allowed not more than about half a pint a day.

The Moors, who had been in confinement at Timbuctoo, becoming every day weaker, three of them in the four following days lay down, unable to proceed. They were then placed upon the camels, but continual exposure to the excessive heat of the sun, and the uneasy motion of the animals, soon rendered them unable to support themselves; and towards the end of the second day, they made another attempt to pursue their journey on foot, but could not. The following morning at day-break, they were found dead on the sand, in the place where they had lain down at night, and were left behind, without being buried. The next day, another of them lay down, and, like his late unfortunate companions, was left to perish; but on the following day, one of the Moors determined to remain behind, in the hope that he, who had dropped the day before, might still come up, and be able to follow the party; some provisions were left with him. At this time it was expected, what proved to be the fact, that they were within a day's march of their town, but neither of the men ever after made his appearance, and Adams has no doubt that they perished.

Vled Duleim, the name of the place at which they now arrived, was a village of tents, inhabited entirely by Moors, who, from their dress, manners, and general appearance, seemed to be of the same tribe as those of the encampment to which Adams was conveyed from El Gazie. They had numerous flocks of sheep and goats, and two watering places, near one of which their tents were pitched, but the other lay nearly five miles off.

Vled, or Woled D'leim, is the douar of a tribe of Arabs inhabiting the eastern parts of the desert, from the latitude of about twenty degrees north to the tropic. They are a tribe of great extent and power, inhabiting detached fertile spots of land, where they find water and pasturage for their flocks, but are very ignorant of the commonest principles of agriculture. They are an extremely fine race of men, their complexion very dark, almost as black as that of the negroes. They have straight hair, which they wear in large quantities, aqueline noses, and large eyes. Their behaviour is haughty and insolent, speaking with fluency and energy, and appearing to have great powers of rhetoric. Their arms are javelins and swords.

The first fortnight after the arrival of the party was devoted to their recovery from the fatigues of the journey; but as soon as their strength was re-established, Adams and his companion were employed in taking care of goats and sheep. Having now begun to acquire a knowledge of the moorish tongue, they frequently urged their masters to take them to Suerra, which the latter promised they would do, provided they continued attentive to their duty.

Things, however, remained in this state for ten or eleven days, during which time they were continually occupied in tending the flocks of the Moors. They suffered severely from exposure to the scorching sun, in a state almost of utter nakedness, and the miseries of their situation were aggravated by despair of ever being released from slavery.

The only food allowed to them was barley-flour and camels' and goats' milk; of the latter, however, they had abundance. Sometimes they were treated with a few dates, which were a great rarity, there being neither date-trees, nor trees of any other kind, in the whole of the country round. But as the flocks of goats and sheep consisted of a great number, from one hundred and fifty to two hundred, and as they were at a distance from the town, Adams and his companion sometimes ventured to kill a kid for their own eating, and to prevent discovery of the fire used in cooking it, they dug a cave, in which a fire was made, covering the ashes with grass and sand.

At length, Adams, after much reflection on the miserable state in which he had been so long kept, and was likely to pass the remainder of his life, determined to remonstrate upon the subject. His master, whose name was Hamet Laubed, frankly replied to him, that as he had not been successful in procuring slaves, it was now his intention to keep him, and not, as he had before led him to expect, to take him to Suerra or Mogadore. Upon hearing this, Adams resolved not to attend any longer to the duty of watching the goats and sheep; and in consequence, the following day, several of the young goats were found to have been killed by the foxes.

This led to an inquiry, whether Adams or the boy was in fault, when it appearing that the missing goats were a part of Adams' flock, his master proceeded to beat him with a thick stick; he, however, resisted, and took away the stick, upon which a dozen Moors, principally women, attacked him, and gave him a severe beating.

As, notwithstanding what had occurred, Adams persisted in his determination not to resume his task of tending the goats and sheep, his master was advised to put him to death, but this he was not inclined to do, observing to his advisers, that he should thereby sustain a loss, and that if Adams would not work, it would be better to sell him. In the mean time, he remained idle in the tent for three days, when he was asked by his master's wife if he would go to the distant well, to fetch a couple of skins of water, it being of a better quality; to which he signified his consent, and went off the next morning on a camel, with two skins to fetch the water.

On his arrival at the other well, instead of procuring water, he determined to make his escape; and understanding that the course to a place called Wadinoon lay in a direction to the northward of west, he passed the well, and pushing on in a northerly course, travelled the whole of that day, when the camel, which had been used to rest at night, and had not been well broken in, would not proceed any further, and in spite of all the efforts Adams could make, it lay down with fatigue, having gone upwards of twenty miles without stopping. Finding there was not any remedy, Adams took off the rope, with which his clothes were fastened round his body, and as the camel lay with his fore knee bent, he tied the rope round it in a way to prevent its rising, and then laid down by the side of it. This rope, which Adams had brought from Timbuctoo, was made of grass, collected on the banks of the river.

The next morning, at daylight, he mounted again, and pushed on till about nine o'clock, when he perceived some smoke in advance of him, which he approached. There was a small hillock between him and this place, ascending which, he discovered about forty or fifty tents pitched, and on looking back, he saw two camels coming towards him, with a rider on each. Not knowing whether these were in pursuit of him, or strangers going to the place in view, but being greatly alarmed, he made the best of his way forward. On drawing near to the town, a number of women came out, and he observed about a hundred Moors standing in a row, in the act of prayer, having their faces towards the east, and at times kneeling down, and leaning their heads to the ground. On the women discovering Adams, they expressed great surprise at seeing a white man. He inquired of them the name of the place, and they told him it was Hilla Gibla. Soon afterwards the two camels, before spoken of, arriving, the rider of one of them proved to be the owner of the camel on which Adams had escaped, and the other his master. At this time Adams was sitting under a tent, speaking to the governor, whose name was Mahomet, telling him his story; they were soon joined by his two pursuers, accompanied by a crowd of people.

Upon his master claiming him, Adams protested that he would not go back; that his master had frequently promised to take him to Suerra, but had broken his promises, and that he had made up his mind either to obtain his liberty or die. Upon hearing both sides, the governor determined in favour of Adams, and gave his master to understand, that if he was willing to exchange him for a bushel of dates and a camel, he should have them; but if not, he should have nothing. As Adams' master did not approve of these conditions, a violent altercation arose, but at length, finding the governor determined, and that better terms were not to be had, he accepted the first offer, and Adams became the slave of Mahomet.

The natives of Hilla Gibla or El Kabla, appeared to be better clothed, and a less savage race than those of Woled D'leim, between whom there appeared to be great enmity. The governor, therefore, readily interfered in favour of Adams, and at one time threatened to take away the camel, and to put Mahomet Laubed to death. Another consideration by which the governor was probably influenced, was a knowledge of the value of a Christian slave, as an object of ransom, of which Mahomet Laubed seemed to be wholly ignorant.

On entering the service of his new master, Adams was sent to tend camels, and had been so employed about a fortnight, when this duty was exchanged for that of taking care of goats. Mahomet had two wives, who dwelt in separate tents, one of them an old woman, the other a young one; the goats which Adams was appointed to take care of, were the property of the elder one.

Some days after he had been so employed, the younger wife, whose name was Isha, or Aisha, proposed to him that he should also take charge of her goats, for which she would remunerate him, and as there was no more trouble in tending two flocks than one, he readily consented. Having had charge of the two flocks for several days, without receiving the promised additional reward, he at length remonstrated, and after some negotiation on the subject of his claim, the matter was compromised by the young woman's desiring him, when he returned from tending the goats at night, to go to rest in her tent. It was the custom of Mahomet, to sleep two nights with the elder woman, and one with the other, and this was one of the nights devoted to the former. Adams accordingly kept the appointment, and about nine o'clock Aisha came and gave him supper, and he remained in her tent all night. This was an arrangement which was afterwards continued on those nights, which she did not pass with her husband.

Things continued in this state for about six months, and as his work was light, and he experienced nothing but kind treatment, his time passed pleasantly enough. One night his master's son coming into the tent, discovered Adams with his mother-in-law, and informed his father, when a great disturbance took place; but upon the husband charging his wife with her misconduct, she protested that Adams had laid down in her tent without her knowledge or consent, and as she cried bitterly, the old man appeared to be convinced that she was not to blame. The old lady, however, declared her belief that the young one was guilty, and expressed her conviction that she should be able to detect her at some future time.

For some days after, Adams kept away from the lady, but at the end of that time, the former affair appearing to be forgotten, he resumed his visits. One night, the old woman lifted up the corner of the tent, and discovered Adams with Aisha, and having reported it to her husband, he came with a thick stick, threatening to put him to death. Adams being alarmed, made his escape, and the affair having made a great deal of noise, an acquaintance proposed to Adams to conceal him in his tent, and to endeavour to buy him off the governor. Some laughed at the adventure; others, and they by far the greater part, treated the matter as an offence of the most atrocious nature, Adams being "a Christian, who never prayed."

As his acquaintance promised, in the event of becoming a purchaser, to take him to Wadinoon, Adams adopted his advice, and concealed himself in his tent. For several days, the old governor rejected every overture, but at last he agreed to part with Adams for fifty dollars worth of goods, consisting of blankets and dates, and thus he became the property of Boerick, a trader, whose usual residence was at El Kabla.

The frail one ran away to her mother.

The next day Boerick set out with a party of six men and four camels, for a place called, according to the phraseology of Adams, Villa de Bousbach, but the real name of which was Woled Aboussebah, which they reached after travelling nine days at the rate of about eighteen miles a day, directing their course to the north-east. On their route they saw neither houses nor trees, but the ground was covered with grass and shrubs. At this place they found about forty or fifty tents, inhabited by the Moors, and remained five or six days; when there, a Moor, named Abdallah Houssa, a friend of Boerick, arrived from a place called Hieta Mouessa Ali, who informed him that it was usual for the British consul at Mogadore, to send to Wadinoon, where this man resided, to purchase the Christians who were prisoners in that country, and that as he was about to proceed thither, he was willing to take charge of Adams, to sell him for account of Boerick; at the same time, he informed Adams that there were other Christians at Wadinoon. This being agreed to by Boerick, his friend set out in a few days after for Hieta Mouessa Ali, taking Adams with him. Instead, however, of going to that place, which lay due north, they proceeded north-north-west, and as they had a camel each, and travelled very fast, the path being good, they went at the rate of twenty-five miles a day, and in six days reached a place called Villa Adrialla, [*] where there were about twenty tents. This place appeared to be inhabited entirely by traders, who had at least five hundred camels, a great number of goats and sheep, and a few horses. The cattle were tended by negro slaves. Here they remained about three weeks, until Abdallah had finished his business, and then set out for Hieta Mouessa Ali, where they arrived in three days. Adams believed that the reason of their travelling so fast during the last stage was, that Abdallah was afraid of being robbed, of which he seemed to have no apprehension after he had arrived at Villa Adrialla, and therefore they travelled from that place to Hieta Mouessa Ali, at the rate of only about sixteen or eighteen miles a day; their course being due north-west.

[Footnote: It is the opinion of Mr. Dupuis, that this place should be written Woled Adrialla, but he has no knowledge of it.]

Hieta Mouessa Ali was the largest place which Adams saw, in which there were no houses, there being not less than a hundred tents. There was here a small brook issuing from a mountain, being the only one he had seen except that at Soudenny; but the vegetation was not more abundant than at other places. They remained here about a month, during which Adams was as usual employed in tending camels. As the time hung very heavy on his hands, and he saw no preparation for their departure for Wadinoon, and his anxiety to reach that place had been very much excited, by the intelligence that there were other Christians there, he took every opportunity of making inquiry respecting the course and distance; and being at length of opinion that he might find his way thither, he one evening determined to desert, and accordingly he set out foot alone, with a small supply of dried goats' flesh, relying upon getting a further supply at the villages, which he understood were on the road. He had travelled the whole of that night, and until about noon the next day, without stopping, when he was overtaken by a party of three or four men on camels, who had been sent in pursuit of him. It seems they expected that Adams had been persuaded to leave Hieta Mouessa Ali, by some persons who wished to take him to Wadinoon for sale, and they were therefore greatly pleased to find him on foot and alone. Instead of ill treating him as he apprehended they would do, they merely conducted him back to Hieta Mouessa Ali, from whence in three or four days afterwards Abdallah and a small party departed, taking him with them. They travelled five days in a north-west direction at about sixteen miles a day, and at the end of the fifth day, reached Wadinoon. Having seen no habitations on their route, except a few scattered tents within a day's journey of that town.

The inhabitants of Wadinoon are descended from the tribe Woled Aboussebah, and owe their independence to its support, for the Arabs of Aboussebah being most numerous on the northern confines of the desert, present a barrier to the extension of the emperor of Morocco's dominion in that direction.

They have frequent wars with their southern and eastern neighbours, though without any important results; the sterility of the soil throughout the whole of the region of sand, affording little temptation to its inhabitants to dispossess each other of their territorial possessions.

Spotted a typo or a problem in this chapter? Tell us

Chapter XII

Wadinoon or Wednoon, was the first place at which Adams had seen houses after he quitted Tudenny. It is a small town, consisting of about forty houses and some tents. The former are built chiefly of clay, intermixed with stone in some parts, and several of them have a story above the ground-floor. The soil in the neighbourhood of the town was better cultivated than any he had yet seen in Africa, and appeared to produce plenty of corn and tobacco. There were also date and fig trees in the vicinity, as well as a few grapes, apples, pears, and pomegranates. Prickly pears flourished in great abundance.

The Christians whom Adams had heard of, whilst residing at Hieta Mouessa Ali, and whom he found at Wadinoon, proved to be, to his great satisfaction, his old companions, Stephen Dolbie the mate, and James Davison and Thomas Williams, two of the seamen of the Charles. They informed him, that they had been in that town upwards of twelve months, and that they were the property of the sons of the governor.

Soon after the arrival of Adams at Wadinoon, Abdallah offered him for sale to the governor or sheik, called Amedallah Salem, who consented to take him upon trial; but after remaining a week at the governor's house, Adams was returned to his old master, as the parties could not agree upon the price. He was at length, however, sold to Belcassam Abdallah for seventy dollars in trade, payable in blankets, gunpowder, and dates.

The only other white resident at Wadinoon was a Frenchman, who informed Adams that he had been wrecked about twelve years before on the neighbouring coast, and that the whole of the crew, except himself, had been redeemed. This man had turned Mahommedan, and was named Absalom; he had a wife and child and three slaves, and gained a good living by the manufacture of gunpowder. He lived in the same house as the person who had been his master, and who, upon his renouncing his religion, gave him his liberty.

Among the negro slaves at Wadinoon was a woman, who said she came from a place called Kanno, (Cano?) a long way across the desert, and that she had seen in her own country white men, as white as "bather," meaning the wall, and in a large boat, with two high sticks in it, with cloth upon them, and that they rowed this boat in a manner different from the custom of the negroes, who use paddles; in stating this, she made the motion of rowing with oars, so as to leave no doubt that she had seen a vessel in the European fashion, manned by white people.

The work in which Adams was employed at Wadinoon, was building walls, cutting down shrubs to make fences, or working on the corn lands, or on the plantations of tobacco, of which a great quantity is grown in the neighbourhood. It was in the month of August that he arrived there, as he was told by the Frenchman before spoken of; the grain had been gathered, but the tobacco was then getting in, at which he was required to assist. His labour at this place was extremely severe. On the moorish sabbath, which was also their market-day, the Christian slaves were not required to labour, unless on extraordinary occasions, when there was any particular work to do, which could not be delayed. In these intervals of repose, they had opportunity of meeting and conversing together, and Adams had the melancholy consolation of finding that the lot of his companions had been even more severe than his own. It appeared that, on their arrival, the Frenchman before mentioned, from some unexplained motive, had advised them to refuse to work, and the consequence was, that they had been cruelly beaten and punished, and had been made to work and live hard, their only scanty food being barley flour and indian corn flour. However, on extraordinary occasions, and as a great indulgence, they sometimes obtained a few dates.

In this wretched manner Adams and his fellow-captives lived until the June following, when a circumstance occurred, which had nearly cost the former his life. His master's son, Hameda Bel Cossim, having one sabbath-day ordered Adams to take the horse and go to plough, the latter refused to obey him, urging that it was not the custom of any slaves to work on the sabbath-day, and that he was entitled to the same indulgence as the rest. Upon which Hameda went into the house and fetched a cutlass, and then demanded of Adams, whether he would go to plough or not. Upon his replying that he would not, Hameda struck him on the forehead with the cutlass, and gave him a severe wound over the right eye, and immediately knocked him down with his fist. This was no sooner done, than Adams was set upon by a number of Moors, who beat him with sticks in so violent a manner, that the blood came out of his mouth, two of his double teeth were knocked out, and he was almost killed; it was his opinion that they would have entirely killed him, had it not been for the interference of Boadick, the sheik's son, who reproached them for their cruelty, declaring that they had no right to compel Adams to work on a market-day. The next day Hameda's mother, named Moghtari, came to him, and asked him how he dared to lift his hand against a Moor? To which Adams, driven to desperation by the ill treatment he had received, replied, that he would even take his life, if it were in his power. Moghtari then said, that unless he would kiss Hameda's hands and feet, he should be put in irons, which he peremptorily refused to do. Soon after. Hameda's father came to Adams, and told him, that unless he did kiss his son's feet and hands, he must be put in irons. Adams then stated to him, that he could not submit to do so; that it was contrary to his religion to kiss the hands and feet of any person; that in his own country he had never been required to do it; and that, whatever might be the consequence, he would not do it. Finding he would not submit, the old man ordered that he should be put in irons, and accordingly they fastened his feet together with iron chains, and did the same by his hands. After he had remained in this state about ten days, Moghtari came to him again, urging him to do as required, and declaring that, if he did not, he should never see the Christian country again. Adams, however, persevered in turning a deaf ear to her entreaties and threats. Some time afterwards, finding that confinement was destructive of his health, Hameda came to him, and took the irons from his hands. The following three weeks, he remained with the irons on his legs, during which time, repeated and pressing entreaties, and the most dreadful threats were used to induce him to submit; but all to no purpose. He was also frequently advised by the mate and the other Christians, who used to be sent to him, for the purpose of persuading him to submit, as he must otherwise inevitably lose his life. At length, finding that neither threats nor entreaties would avail, and Adams having remained in irons from June to the beginning of August, and his sufferings having reduced him almost to a skeleton, his master was advised to sell him; for, if longer confined, he would certainly die, and thereby prove a total loss. Influenced by this consideration, his master at last determined to release him from his confinement; but, although very weak, the moment he was liberated, he was set to gathering in the corn.

About a week afterwards, Dolbie, the mate, fell sick. Adams had called to see him, when Dolbie's master, named Brahim, a son of the sheik, ordered him to get up and go to work, and upon Dolbie declaring that he was unable, Brahim beat him with a stick, to compel him to go; but as he still did not obey, Brahim threatened that he would kill him; and upon Dolbie's replying, that he had better do so at once than kill him by inches, Brahim stabbed him in the side with his dagger, and he died in a few minutes. As soon as he was dead, he was taken by some slaves a short distance from the town, where a hole was dug, into which he was thrown without ceremony. As the grave was not deep, and as it frequently happened that corpses after burial were dug out of the ground by the foxes, Adams and his two surviving companions went the next day and covered the grave with stones.

As the Moors were constantly urging them to become Mahommedans, and they were unceasingly treated with the greatest brutality, the fortitude of Williams and Davison being exhausted, they at last unhappily consented to renounce their religion, and were circumcised; by this means they obtained their liberty, after which they were presented with a horse, a musket, and a blanket each, and permitted to marry; no Christian being allowed, at any place inhabited by Moors, to take a wife, or to cohabit with a moorish woman.

As Adams was now the only remaining Christian at Wadinoon, he became in a more especial manner an object of the derision and persecution of the Moors, who were constantly upbraiding and reviling him, and telling him that his soul would be lost, unless he became a Mahommedan, insomuch that his life was becoming intolerable.

Mr. Dupuis, speaking of the conduct which Adams received from the Moors, says, "I can easily believe Adams' statement of the brutal treatment he experienced at Wadinoon. It is consistent with the accounts I have always heard of the people of that country, who I believe to be more bigoted and cruel than even the remoter inhabitants of the desert. In the frequent instances which have come under my observation, the general effect of the treatment of the Arabs on the minds of the Christian captives, has been most deplorable. On the first arrival of these unfortunate men at Mogadore, if they have been any considerable time in slavery, they appear lost to reason and feeling, their spirits broken, and their whole faculties sunk in a species of stupor, which I am unable adequately to describe. Habited like the meanest Arabs of the desert, they appear degraded even below the negro slave. The succession of hardships, which they endure, from the caprice and tyranny of their purchasers, without any protecting law to which they can appeal for alleviation or redress, seems to destroy every spring of exertion or hope in their minds; they appear indifferent to every thing around them; abject, servile, and brutified."

"Adams alone was, in some respects, an exception from this description. I do not recollect any ransomed Christian slave, who discovered a greater elasticity of spirit, or who sooner recovered from the indifference and stupor here described."

It is to be remarked, that the Christian captives are invariably worse treated than the idolatrous or pagan slaves, whom the Arabs, either by theft or purchase, bring from the interior of Africa, and that religious bigotry is the chief cause of this distinction. The zealous disciples of Mahomet consider the negroes merely as ignorant, unconverted beings, upon whom, by the act of enslaving them, they are conferring a benefit, by placing them within reach of instruction in "the true belief;" and the negroes, having no hopes of ransom, and being often enslaved when children, are in general, soon converted to the Mahommedan faith. The Christians, on the contrary, are looked upon as hardened infidels, and as deliberate despisers of the prophet's call; and as they in general steadfastly reject the Mahommedan creed, and at least never embrace it, whilst they have hopes of ransom; the Moslim, consistently with the spirit of many passages in the Koran, views them with the bitterest hatred, and treats them with every insult and cruelty which a merciless bigotry can suggest.

It is not to be understood that the Christian slaves, though generally ill treated and inhumanly worked by their Arab owners, are persecuted by them ostensibly on account of their religion. They, on the contrary, often encourage the Christians to resist the importunities of those who wish to convert them; for, by embracing Islamism, the Christian slave obtains his freedom, and however ardent may be the zeal of the Arab to make proselytes, it seldom blinds him to the calculations of self-interest.

Three days after Williams and Davison had renounced their religion, a letter was received from Mr. Dupuis, addressed to the Christian prisoners at Wadinoon, under cover to the governor, in which the consul, after exhorting them most earnestly not to give up their religion, whatever might befal them, assured them that within a month, he should be able to procure their liberty. Davison heard the letter read, apparently without emotion, but Williams became so agitated that he let it drop out of his hands, and burst into a flood of tears.

From this time, Adams experienced no particular ill treatment, but he was required to work as usual. About a month more elapsed, when the man who brought the letter, and who was a servant of the British consul, disguised as a trader, made known to Adams that he had succeeded in procuring his release, and the next day they set out together for Mogadore.

On quitting Wadinoon, they proceeded in a northerly direction, travelling on mules at the rate of thirty miles a day, and in fifteen days arrived at Mogadore. Here Adams remained eight months with Mr. Dupuis. America and England being then at war, it was found difficult to procure for Adams a conveyance to his native country; he therefore obtained a passage on board a vessel bound to Cadiz, where he remained about fourteen months as servant or groom, in the service of Mr. Hall, an English merchant there. Peace having been in the mean time restored, Adams was informed by the American consul, that he had now an opportunity of returning to his native country with a cartel, or transport of American seamen, which was on the point of sailing from Gibraltar. He accordingly proceeded thither, but arrived two days after the vessel had sailed. Soon afterwards he engaged himself on board a Welsh brig, lying at Gibraltar, in which he sailed to Bilboa, whence the brig took a cargo of wool to Bristol, and after discharging it there, was proceeding in ballast to Liverpool; but having been driven into Holyhead by contrary winds, Adams there fell sick, and was put on shore. From this place he begged his way up to London, where he arrived completely destitute. He had slept two or three nights in the open streets, when he was accidentally met by a gentleman, who had seen him in Mr. Hall's service at Cadiz, and was acquainted with his history, by whom he was directed to the office of the African Association, through whose means his adventures were made known to the public.

Adams may be said to have been the first Christian, who ever reached the far-famed city of Timbuctoo, and it must be admitted that many attempts were made to throw a positive degree of discredit upon his narrative, and to consider it more the work of deep contrivance than of actual experience. It is certain that many difficulties present themselves in the narrative of Adams, which cannot be reconciled with the discoveries subsequently made, but that cannot be argued as a reason for invalidating the whole of his narrative; especially when it is so amply and circumstantially confirmed by the inquiries which were set on foot by Mr. Dupuis, at the instigation of the African Association, and the result of which was, a complete confirmation of all the circumstances, which Adams

Spotted a typo or a problem in this chapter? Tell us

Chapter XIII

It is perhaps not the least of the many extraordinary circumstances attending the city of Timbuctoo, that no two travellers agree in their account of it; and for this reason it is most difficult to decide, to whom the greatest credibility should be awarded, or, on the other hand, whether some of them, who pretend to have resided within its walls, ever visited it at all. The contradictions of the respective travellers are in many instances so gross, that it is scarcely possible to believe that the description, which they are then giving can apply to one and the same place, and therefore we are entitled to draw the inference, that some of them are practising on our credulity, and are making us the dupes of their imagination, rather than the subjects of their experience. The expectations of moorish magnificence were raised to a very high pitch, by some of the inflated accounts of the wealth and splendour of the great city of central Africa; but these expectations were considerably abated by the description given of Timbuctoo by Adams and Sidi Hamet, a moorish merchant, who describes that city in the following terms:--

"Timbuctoo is a very large city, five times as great as Swearah (Suera or Mogadore). It is built in a level plain surrounded on all sides with hills, except on the south, where the plain continues to the bank of the same river, which is wide and deep, and runs to the east. We were obliged to go to it to water our camels, and there we saw many boats, made of great trees, some with negroes paddling in them across the river. The city is strongly walled in with stone laid in clay, like the towns and houses in Suse, only a great deal thicker."

The latter account is at total variance with both Adams and Caillie, who describe Timbuctoo as a city having no walls, nor any thing resembling fortifications. "The house of the king is very large and high, like the largest house in Mogadore, but built of the same materials as the walls. There are a great many more houses in the city, built of stone, with shops on one side, where they sell salt, the staple article, knives, blue cloth, haicks, and an abundance of other things, with many gold ornaments. The inhabitants are blacks, and the chief is a very large, grey-headed, old black man, who is called shegar, which means sultan or king. The principal part of the houses are made with large reeds, as thick as a man's arm, which stand upon their ends, and are covered with small reeds first, and then with the leaves of the date tree; they are round, and the tops come to a point, like a heap of stones. Neither the shegar nor his people are Moslem; but there is a town divided off from the principal one, in one corner by a strong partition wall, with one gate to it, which leads from the main town, like the Jews' town or millah in Mogadore. All the Moors or Arabs, who have liberty to come into Timbuctoo, are obliged to sleep in that part of it every night, or to go out of the city entirely. No stranger is allowed to enter that millah, without leaving his knife with the gate-keeper; but when he comes out in the morning, it is restored to him. The people who live in that part are all Moslem. The negroes, bad Arabs, and Moors are all mixed together, and intermarry, as if they were all of one colour; they have no property of consequence, except a few asses; their gate is shut and fastened every night at dark, and very strongly guarded both by night and by day. The shegar or king is always guarded by one hundred men on mules, armed with good guns, and one hundred men on foot, with guns and long knives. He would not go into the millah, and we saw him only four or five times in the two moons we staid at Timbuctoo, waiting for the caravan; but it had perished in the desert, neither did the yearly caravan arrive from Tunis and Tripoli, for it also had been destroyed."

"The city of Timbuctoo is very rich, as well as very large; it has four gates to it; all of them are opened in the day time, but very strongly guarded and shut at night. The negro women are very fat and handsome, and wear large round gold rings in their noses, and flat ones in their ears, and gold chains and amber beads about their necks, with images and white fish bones, bent round, and the ends fastened together, hanging down between their breasts; they have bracelets on their wrists and on their ankles, and go barefooted. I had bought a small snuff-box, filled with snuff, at Morocco, and showed it to the women in the principal street of Timbuctoo, which is very wide. There were a great number about me in a few minutes, and they insisted on buying my snuff and box; one made me an offer, and another made me another, until one, who wore richer ornaments than the rest, told me, in broken Arabic, that she would take off all she had about her, and give them to me for the box and its contents. I agreed to accept them, and she pulled off her nose-rings and ear-rings, all her neck-chains, with their ornaments, and the bracelets from her wrists and ankles, and gave them to me in exchange for it. These ornaments would weigh more than a pound, and were made of solid gold at Timbuctoo. I kept them through the whole of the journey afterwards, and carried them to my wife, who now wears a part of them."

"Timbuctoo carries on a great trade with all the caravans that come from Morocco, and the shores of the Mediterranean sea. From Algiers, Tunis, Tripoli, &c. are brought all kinds of cloth, iron, salt, muskets, powder and lead swords or scimitars, tobacco, opium, spices and perfumes, amber beads, and other trinkets, with a few more articles. They carry back, in return, elephants' teeth, gold dust and wrought gold, gum-senegal, ostrich feathers, very curiously worked turbans, and slaves; a great many of the latter, and many other articles of less importance. The slaves are brought in from the south-west, all strongly ironed, and are sold very cheap, so that a good stout man may be bought for a haick, which costs in the empire of Morocco about two dollars."

"The caravans stop and encamp about two miles from the city, in a deep valley, and the negroes do not molest them. They bring their merchandize near the walls of the city, where the inhabitants purchase all their goods on exchange for the before-mentioned articles; not more than fifty men from any one caravan being allowed to enter the city at a time, and they must go out before others are permitted to enter. This city carries on a great trade with Wassanah, a city far to the south-east, in all the articles that are brought to it by caravans, and gets returns in slaves, elephants' teeth, gold, &c. The principal male inhabitants are clothed with blue cloth shirts, that reach from their shoulders down to their knees, and are very wide, and girt about their loins with a red and brown cotton sash or girdle. They also hang about their bodies, pieces of different coloured cloth and silk handkerchiefs. The king is dressed in a white robe of a similar fashion, but covered with white and yellow gold and silver plates, that glitter in the sun. He has also many other shining ornaments of shells and stones hanging about him, he wears a pair of breeches like the Moors and Barbary Jews, and has a kind of white turban on his head, pointing up, and strung with different kinds of ornaments. His feet are covered with red morocco shoes. He has no other weapon about him than a large white staff or sceptre, with a golden lion on the head of it, which he carries in his hand. His countenance is mild, and he seems to govern his subjects more like a father than a king. All but the king go bareheaded. The poor have only a single piece of blue or other cloth about them. The inhabitants are very numerous; I think six times as many as in Swearah, besides Arabs and other Mahommedans in their millah or separate town, which must contain nearly as many people as there are altogether in Swearah. [*] The women are clothed in a light shirt, or under-dress, and over it a green, red or blue covering, from the bosom to below the knees, the whole of them girt about their waists with a red girdle. They stain their cheeks and foreheads red or yellow on some occasions; and the married women wear a kind of hood on their heads, made of blue cloth or silk, and cotton handkerchiefs of different kinds and colours, and go barefooted."

[Footnote: Swearah or Mogadore is stated to contain above 36,000 souls, that is 30,000 Moors and 6,000 Jews. This calculation would make Timbuctoo to contain 216,000 inhabitants. A statement which deserves little credit.]

"The king and people of Timbuctoo do not fear and worship God like the Moslem, but like the people of Soudan, they only pray once in twenty-four hours, when they see the moon, and when she is not seen, they do not pray at all. They cannot read nor write, but are honest. They circumcise their children, like the Arabs. They have not any mosques, but dance every night, as the Moors and Arabs pray."

"If however European expectation had been raised to an extraordinary height respecting the size, riches, and importance of Timbuctoo, it was likely to be still more luxuriantly feasted with the description of another town of central Africa, in comparison of which Timbuctoo must appear as a city of a second rate, and which Sidi Hamet describes as being of the magnitude, that it took him a day to walk round it."

"According to the statement of Sidi Hamet, he travelled with about two hundred Moslem, to a large city called Wassanah, a place he had never before heard of, nor which is to be found in any of the modern maps of Africa. For the first six days, they travelled over a plain within sight of the Joliba, in a direction a little to the south of east, till they came to a small town called Bimbinah, where the river turned more to the south-east, by a high mountain to the east. They now left the river, and pursued a direction more to the southward, through a hilly and woody country for fifteen days, and then came to the river again. The route wound with the river for three days in a south-easterly direction, and then they had to climb over a very high ridge of mountains, thickly covered with very lofty trees, which took up six days; from the summit, a large chain of high mountains was seen to the westward. On descending from this ridge, they came immediately to the river's bank, where it was very narrow and full of rocks. For the next twelve days, they kept on in a direction generally south-east, but winding, with the river almost every day in sight, and crossed many small streams flowing into it. High mountains were plainly seen on the western side. They then came to a ferry, and beyond that travelled for fifteen days more, mostly in sight of the river, till at length after fifty-seven days travelling, not reckoning the halts, they reached Wassanah."

"This city stands near the bank of the Joliba, which runs past it nearly south, between high mountains on both sides, and is so wide that they could hardly distinguish a man on the other side. The walls are very large, built of great stones much thicker and stronger than those of Timbuctoo, with four gates. It took a day to walk round them. The city has twice as many inhabitants as Timbuctoo; [*] the principal people are well dressed, but all are negroes and kafirs. They have boats made of great trees hollowed out, which will hold from fifteen to twenty negroes, and in these they descend the river for three moons to the great water, and traffic with pale people who live in great boats, and have guns as big as their bodies." This great water is supposed to be the Atlantic, and as the distance of three moons must not be less than two thousand five hundred miles, it has been supposed that the Niger must communicate with the Congo. If so it must be, doubtless, by intermediate rivers; the whole account, however, is pregnant with suspicion, nor has any part of it been verified by any subsequent traveller.

[Footnote: According to Sidi Hamet, Wassanah must contain nearly half a million of inhabitants. The circumstance also of the Joliba or Niger being there so bra that a man could scarcely be seen on the other side, throws great discredit over the whole statement of the moorish merchant.]

It is singular, that a great variety of opinion has existed, respecting the exact state of government to which the city of Timbuctoo was subject. It is well known, that the vernacular histories, both traditionary and written, of the wars of the Moorish empire, agree in stating, that from the middle of the seventeenth century, Timbuctoo was occupied by the troops of the emperors of Morocco, in whose name a considerable annual tribute was levied upon the inhabitants; but that the negroes, in the early part of the last century, taking advantage of one of those periods of civil dissension bloodshed, which generally follow the demise of any of the rulers of Barbary, did at length shake off the yoke of their northern masters, to which the latter were never afterwards able again to reduce them. Nevertheless, although the emperors of Morocco might be unable at the immense distance, which separate them from Soudan, to resume an authority, which had once escaped I hands, it is reasonable to suppose that the nearer tribes of Arabs would not neglect the opportunity thus afforded them, of returning to their old habits of spoliation, and of exercising their arrogant superiority over their negro neighbours; and that this frontier state would thus become the theatre of continual contests, terminating alternately, in the temporary occupation of Timbuctoo by the Arabs, and in their re-expulsion by negroes. In order to elucidate the state of things, which we have here supposed, we need not go further than to the history of Europe in our own days. How often during the successful ravages of Buonaparte, that great Arab chieftain of Christendom, might we not have drawn from the experience of Madrid, or Berlin, or Vienna, or Moscow, the aptest illustration of these conjectures respecting Timbuctoo? And an African traveller, if so improbable a personage may be imagined, who should have visited Europe in these conjunctures, might very naturally have reported to his countrymen at home, that Russia, Germany and Spain were but provinces of France, and that the common sovereign of all these countries resided sometimes in the Escurial, and sometimes in the Kremlin.

We have seen this state of things existing in Ludamar, to the west of Timbuctoo, where a negro population is subjected to the tyranny of the Arab chieftain Ali, between whom and his southern neighbours of Bambarra and Kaarta we find a continual struggle of aggression and self-defence; and the well-known character of the Arabs would lead us to expect a similar state of things along the whole frontier of the negro population. In the pauses of such a warfare, we should expect to find no intermission of the animosity or precautions of the antagonist parties. The Arab victorious would be ferocious and intolerant, even beyond his usual violence, and the Koran or the halter would probably be the alternatives, which he would offer to his negro guest; whilst the milder nature of the negro would be content with such measures of precaution and self-defence, as might appear sufficient to secure him from the return of the enemy, whom he had expelled, without excluding the peaceful trader; and, under the re-established power of the latter, we might expect to find at Timbuctoo precisely the same state of things as Adams describes to have existed in 1811.

The reserve, with which we have seen grounds for receiving the testimony of the natives of Africa, may reasonably accompany us in our further comparative examination of their accounts and those of Adams, respecting the population and external appearance of the city of Timbuctoo. We cannot give such latitude to our credulity as to confide in the statements of Sidi Hamet; nor do we place much reliance on the account of Caillie, who was the last European who may be said to have entered its walls. Notwithstanding, therefore, the alleged splendour of its court, the polish of its inhabitants, its civilized institutions, and other symptoms of refinement, which some modern accounts or speculations, founded on native reports, have taught us to look for, we are disposed to receive the humbler descriptions of Adams, as approaching with much greater probability to the truth. Let us, however, not be understood as rating too highly the value of a sailor's reports. They must of necessity be defective in a variety of ways. Many of the subjects upon which Adams was questioned, were evidently beyond the competency of such an individual fully to comprehend or satisfactorily to describe; and we must be content to reserve our final estimates of the morals, religion, civil polity, and learning, if the term may be allowed us, of the negroes of Timbuctoo, until we obtain more conclusive information than could possibly have been derived from so illiterate a man as Adams. A sufficiency, however, may be gathered from his story, to prepare us for a disappointment of the extravagant expectations, which have been indulged respecting this boasted city.

And here we may remark, that the relative rank of Timbuctoo amongst the cities of central Africa, and its present importance with reference to European objects, appear to us to be considerably overrated. The description of Leo, in the sixteenth century, may indeed lend a colour to the brilliant anticipations in which some sanguine minds have indulged on the same subjects in the nineteenth; but with reference to the commercial pursuits of Europeans, it seems to have been forgotten, that the very circumstance which has been the foundation of the importance of Timbuctoo to the traders of Barbary, and consequently of a great portion of its fame amongst us, its frontier situation on the verge of the desert, at the extreme northern limits of the negro population, will of necessity have a contrary operation now, since a shorter and securer channel for European enterprise into the central regions of Africa has been opened by the intrepidity and perseverance of Park, from the south-western shores of the Atlantic.

Independently of this consideration, there is great reason to believe that Timbuctoo has in reality declined of late from the wealth and consequence which it appears formerly to have enjoyed. The existence of such a state of things, as we have described, in the preceding pages, the oppositions of the Moors, the resistance of the negroes, the frequent change of masters, and the insecurity of property consequent upon these intestine struggles, would all lead directly and inevitably to this result. That they have led to it, may be collected from other sources than Adams. Even Park, to whom so brilliant a description of the city was given by some of his informants, was told by others that it was surpassed in opulence and size by Houssa, Walet, and probably by Jinnie. Several instances also occur in both his missions, which prove that a considerable trade from Barbary is carried on direct from the desert to Sego and the neighbouring countries, without ever touching at Timbuctoo; and this most powerful of the states of Africa, in the sixteenth century, according to Leo, is now, in the nineteenth, to all appearance, a mere tributary dependency of a kingdom, which does not appear to have been known to Leo even by name.

Such a decline of the power and commercial importance of Timbuctoo would naturally be accompanied by a corresponding decay of the city itself; and we cannot suppose that Adams' description of its external appearance will be rejected, on account of its improbability, by those, who recollect that Leo describes the habitations of the natives, in his time, almost in the very words of the narrative now [*], and that the flourishing cities of Sego and Sansanding appear, from Park's account, to be built of mud, precisely in the same manner as Adams describes the houses of Timbuctoo.

[Footnote: One of the numerous discordances between the different translations of Leo, occurs in the passage here alluded to. The meaning of the Italian version is simply this, that "the dwellings of the people of Timbuctoo are cabins or huts, constructed with stakes, covered with chalk or clay, and thatched with straw, 'le cui case sono capanne fatte di pali coperte di creta co i cortivi di paglia.' But the expression in the Latin translation, which is closely followed by the old English translator, Pery, implies a state of previous splendour and decay, 'cojus domus omnes in tuguriola, stramineis tectis, sunt mutatæ.'"]

But whatever may be the degree of Adams' coincidence with other authorities, in his descriptions of the population and local circumstances of Timbuctoo, there is at least one asserted fact in this part of his narrative, which appears to be exclusively his own; the existence, we mean, of a considerable navigable river close to the city. To the truth of which, the credit of Adams is completely pledged. On many other subjects it is possible that his narrative might be considerably at variance with the truth, by a mere defect of memory or observation, and without justifying any imputation on his veracity, but it is evident that no such latitude can be allowed him in respect to the La Mar Zarah, which, if not in substance true, must be knowingly and wilfully false.

We shall conclude our remarks on Adams' narrative, by noticing only two important circumstances, respectively propitious and adverse to the progress of discovery and civilization, which is decidedly confirmed by the account of Adams, viz. the mild and tractable natures of the pagan negroes of Soudan, and their friendly deportment towards strangers, on the one hand; and, on the other, the extended and baneful range of that original feature of African society --slavery.

Spotted a typo or a problem in this chapter? Tell us

Chapter XIV

Previously to entering into any further detail of the different expeditions for exploring the interior of Africa, it may be greatly conducive to the better understanding of the subsequent narratives, when treating of the distinct races of people by which the countries are inhabited, to give a concise statement of the population of that part of Africa, which is known by the appellation of West Barbary, and which may be said to be divided into three great classes, exclusive of the Jews, viz. Berrebbers, Arabs, and Moors. The two former of these are, in every respect, distinct races of people, and are each again subdivided into various tribes or communities; the third are chiefly composed of the other two classes, or of their descendants, occasionally mixed with the European or negro races. The indiscriminate use of the names Arab and Moor, in speaking apparently of the same people, frequently leads the reader into an error as to the real class to which the individual belongs, and thus the national character of the two classes becomes unjustly confounded, whilst at the same time an erroneous opinion is formed of the relative virtues and vices of the different people, with whom the traveller is brought into collision.

In the class of the Berrebbers, we include all those, who appear to be descendants of the original inhabitants of the country before the Arabian conquest, and who speak several languages, or dialects of the same language, totally different from the Arabic. The sub-divisions of this class are:--1st, the Errifi, who inhabit the extensive mountainous province of that name on the shores of the Mediterranean; 2nd, the Berrebbers of the interior, who commence on the southern confines of the Errifi, and extend to the vicinity of Fez and Mequinez, occupying all the mountains and high lands in the neighbourhood of those cities; 3rd, the Berrebbers of middle Atlas; and, 4th, the Shilluh of Suse and Haha, who extend from Mogadore southward to the extreme boundaries of the dominions of the Cid Heshem, and from the sea coast to the eastern limits of the mountains of Asia.

The Errifi are a strong and athletic race of people, hardy and enterprising, their features are generally good, and might in many cases be considered handsome, were it not for the malignant and ferocious expression, which marks them, in common with the Berrebber tribes in general, but which is particularly striking in the eye of an Errifi. They also possess that marked feature of the Berrebber tribes, a scantiness of beard; many of the race, particularly in the south, having only a few straggling hairs on the upper lip, and a small tuft on the chin. They are incessantly bent on robbery and plundering, in which they employ either open violence or cunning and treachery, as the occasion requires, and they are restrained by no checks either of religion, morals, or humanity. However, to impute to them in particular, as distinct from other inhabitants of Barbary, the crimes of theft, treachery, and murder, would certainly be doing them great injustice, but we believe we may truly describe them as more ferocious and faithless than any other tribe of Berrebbers.

The Berrebbers of the districts of Fez, Mequinez, and the mountains of middle Atlas, strongly resemble the Errifi in person, but are said to be not quite so savage in disposition. They are a warlike people, extremely tenacious of the independence, which their mountainous country gives them opportunities of asserting, omit no occasion of shaking off the control of government, and are frequently engaged in open hostilities with their neighbours the Arabs, or the emperor's black troops. They are, as we are informed, the only tribes in Barbary, who use the bayonet. The districts which they inhabit are peculiarly interesting and romantic, being a succession of hills and valleys, well watered and wooded, and producing abundance of grain and pasturage.

The Shilluh or Berrebbers of the south of Barbary, differ in several respects from their brethren in the north. They are rather diminutive in person, and besides the want of beard already noticed, have in general an effeminate tone of voice. They are, however, active and enterprising. They possess rather more of the social qualities than the other tribes; appear to be susceptible of strong attachments and friendships, and are given to hospitality. They are remarkable for their attachment to their petty chieftains; and the engagements and friendships of the latter are held so sacred, that no instance is on record of any depredation being committed on travellers furnished with their protection, which it is usual to purchase with a present, or on any of the valuable caravans, which are continually passing to and fro through their territory, between Barbary and Soudan: the predominant feature of their character is, however, self interest, and although in their dealings amongst strangers, or in the towns, they assume a great appearance of fairness or sincerity, yet they are not scrupulous when they have the power in their own hands, and like the other Berrebbers, they are occasionally guilty of the most atrocious acts of treachery and murder, not merely against Christians, for that is almost a matter of course with all the people of their nation, but even against Mahommedan travellers, who have the imprudence to pass through their country, without having previously secured the protection of one of their chiefs.

As the Shilluh have been said to be sincere and faithful in their friendships, so they are on the other hand, perfectly implacable in their enmities, and insatiable in their revenge. The following anecdote will exemplify in some degree these traits of their character. A Shilluh having murdered one of his countrymen in a quarrel, fled to the Arabs from the vengeance of the relations of his antagonist, but not thinking himself secure even there, he joined a party of pilgrims and went to Mecca. From this expiatory journey he returned at the end of eight or nine years to Barbary, and proceeded to his native district, he there sought, under the sanctified name of El Haje, the pilgrim, a title of reverence amongst the Mahommedans, to effect a reconciliation with the friends of the deceased. They, however, upon hearing of his return, attempted to seize him, but owing to the fleetness of his horse, he escaped and fled to Mogadore, having been severely wounded by a musket ball in his flight. His pursuers followed him thither, but the governor of Mogadore hearing the circumstances of the case, strongly interested himself in behalf of the fugitive, and endeavoured, but in vain, to effect a reconciliation. The man was imprisoned, and his persecutors then hastened to Morocco to seek justice of the emperor. That prince, it is said, endeavoured to save the prisoner; and to add weight to his recommendation, offered a pecuniary compensation in lieu of the offender's life, which the parties, although persons of mean condition, rejected. They returned triumphant to Mogadore, with the emperor's order for the delivery of the prisoner into their hands; and having taken him out of prison, they immediately conveyed him before the walls of the town, where one of the party, loading his musket before the face of their victim, placed the muzzle to his breast, and shot him through the body; but as the man did not immediately fall, he drew his dagger, and, by repeated stabbing, put an end to his existence. The calm intrepidity with which this unfortunate Shilluh stood to meet his fate, could not be witnessed without the highest admiration; and however much we must detest the blood-thirstiness of his executioners, we must still acknowledge, that there is something closely allied to nobleness of sentiment in the inflexible perseverance, with which they pursued the murderer of their friend to punishment.

Like the Arabs, the Berrebbers are divided into numerous petty tribes or clans, each tribe or family distinguishing itself by the name of its patriarch or founder. The authority of the chiefs is usually founded upon their descent from some sanctified ancestor; or upon the peculiar eminence of the individual himself in Mahommedan zeal, or some other religious qualification.

With the exception already noticed, that the Berrebbers of the north are of a more robust and stouter make than the Shilluh, a strong family-likeness runs through all their tribes. Their customs, dispositions, and national character, are nearly the same; they are all equally tenacious of their independence, which their local positions enable them to assume, and are all animated with the same inveterate and hereditary hatred against their common enemy, the Arab. They invariably reside in houses or hovels built of stone and timber, which are generally situated on some commanding eminence, and are fortified and loop-holed for self-defence. Their usual mode of warfare is, to surprise their enemy, rather than overcome him by an open attack; they are reckoned the best marksmen, and possess the best fire-arms in Barbary, which render them a very destructive enemy wherever the country affords shelter and concealment; but although they are always an over-match for the Arabs, when attacked on their own rugged territory, they are obliged on the other hand, to relinquish the plains to the Arab cavalry, against which the Berrebbers are unable to stand on open ground.

The Arabs, who now form so considerable a portion of the population of Barbary, and whose race in the sheriffe line has given emperors to Morocco ever since the conquest, occupy all the level country of the empire, and many of the tribes penetrating into the desert, have extended themselves even to the confines of Soudan. In person, they are generally tall and robust, with fine features, and intelligent countenances. Their hair is black and straight, their eyes large, black and piercing, their noses gently arched; their beards full and bushy, and they have invariably good teeth. The colour of those who reside in Barbary, is a deep, but bright brunette, essentially unlike the sallow tinge of the mulatto. The Arabs of the desert are more or less swarthy, according to their proximity to the negro states, until, in some tribes they are found entirely black, but without the woolly hair, wide nostril, and thick lip, which peculiarly belong to the African negro.

The Arabs are universally cultivators of the earth, or breeders of cattle, depending on agricultural pursuits alone for subsistence. To use a common proverb of their own, "the earth is the Arab's portion." They are divided into small tribes or families, each separate tribe having a particular patriarch or head, by whose name they distinguish themselves, and each occupying its own separate portion of territory. They are scarcely ever engaged in external commerce; they dislike the restraints and despise the security of residence in towns, and dwell invariably in tents made of a stuff woven from goats' hair and the fibrous root of the palmeta. In some of the provinces, their residences form large circular encampments, consisting of from twenty to a hundred tents, where they are governed by a sheik or magistrate of their own body. This officer is again subordinate to a bashaw or governor, appointed by the emperor, who resides in some neighbouring town. In these encampments there is always a tent set apart for religious worship, and appropriated to the use of the weary or benighted traveller, who is supplied with food and refreshment at the expense of the community.

The character of the Arab, in a general view, is decidedly more noble and magnanimous than that of the Berrebber. His vices are of a more daring, and if the expression may be used, of a more generous cast. He accomplishes his designs rather by open violence than by treachery; he has less duplicity and concealment than the Berrebber, and to the people of his own nation or religion, he is much more hospitable and benevolent. Beyond this, it is impossible to say any thing in his favour. But it is in those periods of civil discord, which have been so frequent in Barbary, that the Arab character completely develops itself. On these occasions, they will be seen linked together in small tribes, the firm friends of each other, but the sworn enemies of all the world besides. While these dreadful tempests last, the Arabs carry devastation and destruction wherever they go, sparing neither age nor sex, and even ripping open the dead bodies of their victims, to discover whether they have not swallowed their riches for the purpose of concealment. Their barbarity towards Christians ought not to be tried by the same rules as the rest of their conduct, for although it has no bounds but those which self-interest may prescribe, it must almost be considered as a part of their religion; so deep is the detestation which I they are taught to feel for "the unclean and idolatrous infidel." A Christian, therefore, who falls into the hands of the Arabs, has no reason to expect any mercy. If it be his lot to be possessed by the Arabs of the desert, his value as a slave will probably save his life, but if he happens to be wrecked on the coasts of the emperor's dominions, where Europeans are not allowed to be retained in slavery, his fate would in most cases be immediate death, before the government could have time to interfere for his protection. The next great division of the people of western Barbary, are the inhabitants of the cities and towns, who may be collectively classed under the general denomination of MOORS, although this name is only known to them through the language of Europeans. They depend chiefly on trade and manufactures for subsistence, and confine their pursuits in general to occupations in the towns. Occasionally, however, but very rarely, they may be found to join agricultural operations with the Arabs.

The Moors may be divided into the four following classes:--1st. The tribes descended from Arab families. 2nd. Those of Berrebber descent. 3rd. The Bukharie. 4th. The Andalusie.

The Arab families are the brethren of the conquerors of the country, and they form the largest portion of the population of the southern towns, especially of those, which border on Arab districts. The Berrebber families are in like manner more or less numerous in the towns, according to the proximity of the latter to the Berrebber districts.

The Bukharie, or black tribe, are the descendants of the negroes, brought by the emperor Mulai Ismael, from Soudan. They have been endowed with gifts of land, and otherwise encouraged by the subsequent emperors, and the tribe, although inconsiderable in point of numbers, has been raised to importance in the state, by the circumstance of its forming the standing army of the emperor, and of its being employed invariably as the instruments of government. Their chief residence is in the city of Mequinez, about the emperor's person. They are also found, but in smaller numbers, in the different towns of the empire.

The Andalusie, who form the fourth class of Moors, are the reputed descendants of the Arab conquerors of Spain, the remnant of whom, on being expelled from that kingdom, appear to have retained the name of its nearest province. These people form a large class of the population of the towns in the north of Barbary, particularly of Tetuan, Mequinez, Fez, and Rhabatt or Sallee. They are scarcely, if at all found residing to the south of the river Azamoor, being confined chiefly to that province of Barbary known by the name of El Gharb.

These may be considered the component parts of that mixed population, which now inhabit the towns of Barbary, and which are known to Europeans by the name of Moors. In feature and appearance the greater part of them may be traced to the Arab, or Berrebber tribes, from which they are respectively derived, for marriages between individuals of different tribes are generally considered discreditable. Such, marriages, however, do occasionally take place, either in consequence of domestic troubles, or irregularity of conduct in the parties, and they are of course attended with a corresponding mixture of feature. Intermarriages of the other tribes with the Bukharie are almost universally reprobated, and are attributed, when they occur, to interested motives on the part of the tribe which sanctions them, or to the overbearing influence and power possessed by the Bukharie. These matches entail on their offspring the negro feature, and a mulatto-like complexion, but darker. In all cases of intermarriage between different tribes or classes, the woman is considered to pass over to the tribe of her husband.

Besides the Moors, the population of the towns is considerably increased by the negro slaves, who are in general prolific, and whose numbers are continually increasing by fresh arrivals from the countries of Soudan.

There are but few of the African travellers, who, in their descriptions of the different characters, which may be said to constitute the various branches of African society, do not frequently make mention of a class of men known by the name of Marabouts, who may be regarded as the diviners or astrologers of the ancients, and of whose manners and imposition a slight sketch may not be thought in this place inexpedient nor useless.

In order to belong to the privileged class of the marabouts, it is requisite to have only one wife, to drink no wine nor spirits, and to know how to read the Koran, no matter however ill the task may be performed. In a country where incontinence and intemperance are so prevalent, and literature is so entirely unknown, it is not surprising that these men should easily gain credit with the public, but this credit is much augmented if the marabout be skilled in such tricks as are calculated to impose upon the vulgar. The least crafty amongst them will continue shaking their heads and arms so violently during several hours, that they frequently fall down in a swoon; others remain perfectly motionless, in attitudes the most whimsical and painful, and many of these impostors have the talent of captivating the confidence and good opinion of the multitude, by pretending to perform miracles in the public streets. This trade descends from father to son; and is so lucrative, that the most fertile parts of the country swarm with these knavish hypocrites. When they die, the neighbouring tribes erect a sort of mausoleum to their memory, consisting of a square tower, surmounted by a cupola of the most fantastical architecture. To these tombs, called likewise marabouts, the devout repair in crowds, and are accosted by the deceased through the organs of his surviving representatives, who dwell within the walls of the tower, and artfully contrive to increase the holy reputation of their predecessor, as well as their own profits. The walls of their tombs are covered with votive tablets and offerings to the deceased, consisting of fire-arms, saddles, bridles, stirrups and baskets of fruit, which no profane hand is allowed to touch, because the departed saint may choose to appropriate the contents to his own use, and by emptying the basket, acquire fresh claims to the veneration of the credulous. Some of these jugglers generally accompany the armies, when they take the field, feeding the commanders with promises of victory, making the camp the scene of their mummeries and impostures, and dealing in amulets, containing mystic words, written in characters, which none but the marabout who disposes of them can decipher. According to the price of these amulets, they have respectively the power of shielding the wearer from a poniard, a musket shot and cannon ball, and there is scarcely a man in the army, who does not wear one or more of them round his neck, as well as hang them round that of his horse or camel. Miraculous indeed is said to be the efficacy of their written characters in cases of sickness, but the presence of the marabout himself is necessary, in order that the writing may suit the nature of the disorder. When the disease is dangerous, the writing is administered internally, for which purpose they scrawl some words in large characters, with thick streaks of ink round the inside of a cup, dissolve the ink with broth, and with many devout ceremonies pour the liquor down the sick man's throat. These impostors have always free access to the beys and other high dignitaries of the state; and with regard to the former, in public audiences they never kiss his hand, but his shoulder, a token of distinction and confidence granted only to relations and persons of importance.

In their religion, the Africans labour under the disadvantage of being left to unassisted reason, and that too very little enlightened. Man has, perhaps, an instinctive sentiment, that his own fate and that of the universe are ruled by some supreme and invisible power, yet he sees this only through the medium of his wishes and imagination. He seeks for some object of veneration and means of protection, which may assume an outward and tangible shape. Thus the African reposes his faith in the doctrine of charms, which presents a substance stamped with a supernatural character, capable of being attached to himself individually, and of affording a feeling of security amid the many evils that environ him. In all the moorish borders where writing is known, it forms the basis of Fetisherie, and its productions enclosed in golden or ornamented cases, are hung round the person as guardian influences. Absurd, however, as are the observances of the negro, he is a stranger to the bigotry of his moslem neighbours. He neither persecutes nor brands as impious those whose religious views differ from his own. There is only one point, on which his faith assumes a savage character, and displays darker than inquisitorial horrors. The despot, the object of boundless homage on earth, seeks to transport all his pomp and the crowd of his attendants to his place in the future world. His death must be celebrated by the corresponding sacrifice of a numerous band of slaves, of wives and of courtiers; their blood must moisten his grave, and the sword of the rude warrior once drawn, does not readily stop; a general massacre often takes place, and the capitals of these barbarian chiefs are seen to stream with blood.

Spotted a typo or a problem in this chapter? Tell us