The 24th of July we remained amongst these good people to rest from our fatigue. My guide gave five or six charges of powder for a kid: we ate part of it for our supper; and our host, to whom a small portion was given, presented us with some good sour milk and boiled rice for our breakfast the next morning. In the course of the day, we had a visit from a Poulh of the Fouta-Dhialon who was settled in this country. My guide presented him with a piece of kid, and I with a sheet of paper, for which he overwhelmed me with grateful acknowledgments. In the evening, many Foulahs from the neighbouring parts, attracted by the report that there was a white man in the place, paid me a visit; they lighted straw, and were very much amused at the length of my nose. They all said that I was a fine fellow, and went away very well pleased. Our host supplied us with a supper of yams, to which we added a piece of kid.
On the 25th of July, in the morning, the Foulah to whom we had given a piece of kid, sent us a plentiful breakfast of rice, besides a fowl and some milk; after making our meal we took leave of our host; my guide made him a present of a few strings of beads, and two little bits of scarlet cloth an inch and a half square. It was eight o’clock when we set off. We directed our course to the S.S.E. and travelled twelve miles in that direction without stopping; the country is generally open, but abounding in nédés and cés; the soil full of small gravel, and, in many places, of volcanic stones. We crossed several streams with well wooded banks, near which were neat cottages of the Bambaras, who were peacefully cultivating their little fields of yams; the country is not so well peopled as that of Wassoulo. We halted towards two o’clock, at Manegnan, a village inhabited by Bambaras; it contains about eight or nine hundred inhabitants; the natives call this part of the country Foulou, and like the Wassoulos they speak the Mandingo language; I did not perceive that they had any particular dialect. They are idolaters, or rather, they are without any religion; their food and clothes are like those of the inhabitants of Wassoulo; and they are equally dirty. At the entrance of the village I passed the banankoro, where all who are disengaged meet together to smoke their pipes and converse; I saw a number of old men there. The banankoro is a large hut, covered with straw, and open all round; the roof is supported upon stakes driven in a circle, and at equal distances. Round logs of wood are placed on the ground near one another, to serve as seats; these logs are so ancient, that they have become highly polished by use.
On reaching our lodging, I was visited by many of the old men, who had seen me pass when they were assembled; some of them gave me colats and a fowl for supper; these negroes seemed to me as gentle and humane as the Foulahs of Wassoulo, whom they resemble extremely in their countenances, their apparel, their customs and habits of life. They were never weary of looking at me, and said that they had never seen a white man; for the Moors of this country do not travel. Part of the evening was stormy, which at first prevented the inhabitants from seeing me; but they made themselves amends after the rain was over, crowding round me till eight o’clock in the evening with the same eagerness and curiosity; they also lighted straw, and paid me the same compliments as the people of Yonmouso.
On the 26th of July, at seven in the morning, we gave a present to our host and prepared to set off. I perceived that the village was surrounded by a wall, and that the inhabitants cultivated tobacco round their houses, for their own use. I was followed by a crowd for about half an hour; we crossed an inundated plain of indigo, which grows spontaneously, and afterwards passed over a very tottering bridge; here the villagers left us. I saw some cultivated land, but not in such good order as what I had left behind me. The husbandmen bring their fowls with them into the fields, to eat up the insects. We continued our course to the S.E.; and travelled eleven miles briskly enough; the country around us was level, and better wooded than what we had crossed for the last few days. We arrived at Nougouda a walled village, inhabited by Bambaras; and stayed there some time to change porters; we also bought a little milk and dégué to refresh ourselves. We then continued for five miles more to the south; at a considerable distance to the S.W. ¼ S. of our route, I saw three very high mountains with flattened peaks; we travelled two miles to the S.S.E. over a woody country, covered with ferruginous stones, and not cultivated. About four in the afternoon, we reached Tangouroman, a walled village which contains about three or four hundred Bambara inhabitants; we were nearly tired out, for we had travelled at a great rate, because my guide wished to reach his own home before night. The village is shaded by fine bombaces and baobabs. The poor inhabitants were unable to provide us with a fowl, or even with milk, and they found it difficult to give us a supper; they brought us a dish of foigné, with a sauce of herbs, which they had prepared for themselves, and supped on a bit of boiled yam; after which frugal repast, they fell to dancing merrily and kept it up all night. I remarked in our host’s court, many little bundles of straw supported upon stakes or large stones, to keep it from the damp, which is excessive in this country; in these magazines they store their provision of rice, millet, pistachio-nuts, and yams, which are never plundered. I have not seen a single beggar between Kankan, or indeed Baléya, and this place. Arafanba went to sleep at Sambatikila; for my part, I was so fatigued with my day’s journey, that I staid where I was, with the saracolets and a Foulah of Fouta-Dhialon. Our host made a present of a fine Barbary duck to my guide, who was considered in this country as a marabout of importance; we should have liked very well to eat it for supper, for we could find nothing to buy, but he kept it for his own private use.
On the 27th of July, at six in the morning we took leave of our host, after having paid him for our entertainment. We gave him four strings of beads, with which he appeared to be satisfied. In crossing the village I perceived that it was as dirty as its inhabitants; we were up to the ancles in mud. We directed our course to the S.S.E., and I saw nothing on my way but some poor fields of foigné, yams, and pistachios, in very bad order; I did not perceive any maize, which would be very useful to the inhabitants. The greater part of the land is a black mould intermingled with gravel; cultivation is almost entirely neglected. Twelve miles to the left of our road, we saw a chain of hills of inconsiderable height extending towards the N.E. A little way from Sambatikila, we met my guide who was coming to meet us; our host, who the evening before had given him a duck, had sent his little daughter with us to Sambatikila, and Arafanba, recollecting I suppose that this Bambara was by no means rich, sent him back his duck; I was rather surprised at this conduct in a Mahometan towards an infidel. My guide told me that the almamy was anxious to see me, and sorry that I had remained behind the evening before; I told him jokingly, that the prince would soon have the pleasure of gratifying his curiosity.
It was nearly nine o’clock in the morning, when we made our appearance at Sambatikila, which is surrounded by a double wall, ten or eleven feet high, and ten inches thick. We proceeded immediately to the almamy’s, and were ushered into an ante-room, where we waited till some one went to announce us. The chief admitted us immediately to his presence, and we found him reclining under a little shed in his court; he raised himself and extended his hand to me with the customary salutations, salam alécoum; alécoum salam; enékindé; a kindé; after having touched me, he rubbed his hand upon his face and chest, to communicate the salutary effect; for he is very religious, and has much faith in the sanctity of the Arabs. He was extremely polite, and told me that he was happy to receive a man whose country was so near Mecca. I told him that I meant to go thither; and he put many questions to Arafanba, who was eager to tell him all he had heard about me at Kankan. This old chief was dressed in the Arabian fashion; his clothes were exceedingly clean; he wore a turban of a red and white striped stuff manufactured in the country. Our visit was very short; he lodged me in one of his son’s houses, together with the two saracolets and the Foulah; the son appeared to me very poor, but he gave us a neat habitation, and took great care that we should have warm water wherewith to perform our ablutions before prayer. I expected that the king would provide for our support, but he left us the whole day without food, presuming that my guide would take care of us; the guide sent us a breakfast of boiled yams, and sauce without salt. After this frugal repast, which we ate with considerable appetite, as it was then late in the day, I sent to my guide for the goods of mine which he had brought the night before; to reward him for the attention which he had paid me on the journey, I made him a small present of cloth, a pair of scissors, and some paper, with which he was delighted and thanked me heartily. He had been kind enough to pay all my expenses on the way, and never asked for any compensation. In the course of the day I was visited by many Mandingoes, who live at Sambatikila; one of them gave me some milk, which is not quite so plentiful here as in Wassoulo. It rained all the afternoon; I went, nevertheless, to the mosque to show the inhabitants that I was a zealous Musulman. At nightfall my guide sent us a small supper of rice, with which we contented ourselves, because we could get nothing else.
On the 28th of July, the almamy, recollecting, I suppose, that it was his duty to feed the strangers, sent us a dish of rice without salt, with a sauce of zambala,[54] and a supper of yams with a similar sauce.
On the 29th of July, we had nothing to eat the whole of the day; I bethought myself of calling upon the almamy, who seemed to have forgotten that he had strangers at his dwelling, or thought that they were accustomed to fasting. He did not hurry himself however, for it was six o’clock in the evening when he sent us some yams, boiled and pounded, with a little bad sauce; and we were unluckily obliged to share this light repast with a Mandingo, who happened at that moment to be prowling about our hut; he came and sat down by us, and needed no pressing, for he had probably tasted nothing since the evening before. I have often been obliged in the same way to share the little food I could get with these hungry and idle parasites, who would rather starve than work for themselves. As our host neglected us so completely, we went out to procure some rice and yams for ourselves; but we could find nothing in the village, for the devout almamy had forbidden the customary market twice a week, under pretence that it interfered with prayers. We sent to a neighbouring village, but were equally unsuccessful; so we were forced to be content with the small portion which our host allowed us. We were informed that provisions were scarce, that there was not enough to last till next harvest, and that the scarcity extended to the neighbouring country.
On the 30th of July, a caravan of saracolet merchants arrived at Sambatikila, on their way to Foulou to purchase slaves, whom they sell again in Foulou or Kankan. All the goods which are sold at the European settlements on the coast are destined for this infamous traffic; the slaves are not exported, it is true, but they are no better off than if they were. Slavery may perhaps be abolished in civilized Europe, but the wild and covetous African will long continue the barbarous custom of selling his fellow-creatures. It is so pleasant to live in idleness, and to enjoy the fruit of the labours of others, that every negro does all in his power to become a slave owner; their ambition is limited to the possession of twelve or fifteen slaves, whom they employ entirely in agricultural labour. These poor creatures are ill-clothed, and work very hard; but I never saw them ill-treated. They are commonly obliged to provide for their own support, and have a field to themselves, which they cultivate for this purpose; they grow maize and cassava round their huts, and find them a great resource. In the evening the almamy of Sambatikila sent us nothing, and we had made up our minds to fast, when we were agreeably surprised, about seven o’clock, by the sight of a dish of boiled rice without salt, which was sent by my guide, Arafanba, who knew that I was suffering from scanty diet. In truth, I could not be too grateful to this generous negro, who deprived himself for my sake of part of his supper, at a time when he found it very difficult to provide for his family. Provisions were so scarce and so dear in the village, that nobody thought of eating more than one meal a day, and the night was chosen for the purpose, because the negroes would rather go without food all day than retire to rest without supper.
On the 31st of July, at six in the morning, the almamy, recollecting probably that he had given us nothing the day before, sent us some rice for breakfast. A good saracolet, belonging to the caravan which had just arrived, and who had travelled often to Jenné, brought me some rice and milk, which he begged me to accept: I gave him some glass ware in return for his present. He was acquainted with many Moorish merchants at Jenné, and assured me I should be well received by them. This negro spoke a little Arabic; he told me, that on my road to Jenné I should find provisions very scarce, salt in particular. The son of the almamy came every now and then to see us, and to inquire whether we wanted warm water for our ablutions; he took care that we should never be short of water, but as to provisions, he did not inquire very particularly, and I suspect that the poor devil was little better off than ourselves; I noticed that he passed the whole day without food, as if it had been the Ramadan, and at night, after prayer, he ate a little tau with four other negroes. In spite of these compulsory fasts, they all seemed very merry, and never failed to go every morning to chant the Koran; the almamy himself also chanted from time to time. His son came sometimes to offer me his scanty supper, which I always refused, knowing that he had nothing else for himself.
On the 1st of August, I went with one of my companions to pay a visit to the almamy. We entered an apartment, which served the double purpose of stable and bedchamber, with the royal bed at the further end; this bed was a platform, six inches high, six or seven feet long, and five or six wide, upon which was spread an ox-hide, with a dirty musquito-curtain to keep off the insects. The room might be thirty or thirty-five feet long, and ten or twelve wide; it is constructed of earth, which they have not taken the trouble to make into bricks; the walls are seven, or seven feet and a half high, and a foot thick; the roof is supported upon wooden posts, planted within the side walls, and covered with straw; there are three entrances, the doors of which are also formed of straw. No furniture is visible in this royal apartment; but there were two saddles hanging up against the wall from the posts, a great straw hat, a drum, which is only used in time of war, some lances, a bow, quiver, and arrows; these were all its ornaments, excepting a lamp, formed of a piece of iron, supported upon another piece of the same metal, stuck into the ground: vegetable butter, which has not consistency enough to be made into candles, is burnt in this lamp. Two other apartments, of the same dimensions, serve as magazines for the produce of the fields and other valuables. The large inner enclosure contains several common huts, in which I saw some looms like those employed on the coast. The old prince was lying down on his bed, and he made us sit by him. He was saying his prayers, and held in his hand a rosary two feet and a half long, the beads of which were as large as bullets; he appeared very attentive. He addressed his conversation to me, and begged me to make his compliments to the elders of Mecca and Medina when I arrived there; after which he asked me to wait a moment. He went out into the court and returned immediately followed by a slave carrying on her head a calabash of rice, with some disagreeable herb sauce, which he gave me; he then dismissed me, promising that he would soon find me an opportunity for me to go to Jenné. The absence of salt rendered this rice unpleasant; but I had now ceased to be dainty, for hunger is sauce to all sorts of food, as I have often experienced in the course of my travels. Shortly after a Mandingo sent me an excellent dish of rice cooked with milk.
Since the 27th of July the rain had been incessant; the weather was still cold and damp. In the evening of the 1st of August, the almamy sent a man to tell me, that there was an opportunity for going to Jenné, and that if I liked to take advantage of it, he would furnish me with a guide to Timé, whence the caravan would start. I had a wound on my left foot which I was doctoring with lint, and could not heal; but I preferred suffering on the road, painful as my wound was, to remaining any longer in a place where there would soon be a horrible scarcity. I sent word to the chief that I wished to set off as early as possible.
On the 2d of August, at six in the morning, the almamy sent me some rice and a piece of a sheep which had been killed the day before, which I shared with my companions. About eight o’clock Arafanba came to me, and we went together to take leave of the chief. He called me to his store-house, and opened a little door, so low that a man must stoop double to enter; one of his women then drew out a bracelet wrapped in rag, of which he made me a present; it was silver and worth about three francs; I had brought him a pretty present of coloured muslin, paper, and strings of beads. Arafanba, my former guide, told him that I had very little merchandise with me and was sorry I could not offer him a more suitable present; he smiled and accepted it with pleasure. The old man again desired me not to forget him when I should be among the venerable sheiks of Mecca; I promised that I would not and took my leave. A minute or two afterwards he came to the hut where I lodged to return my visit; he was on horseback, and had on his head a straw hat large enough to serve for an umbrella. He was going to his ourondé to look after his slaves; he told me he was sorry he had not thought in time of having a grigri made by the hand of an Arab; he wished me a good journey and left me. About ten o’clock, my new guide came to tell me it was time to set off; it had been raining all the morning and the rain was not yet over, but we did not stop for it. Before I proceed, however, I must give some account of the fine country which I am leaving.
Sambatikila is a large village surrounded by a double wall; it is independent and inhabited by Mandingo Musulmans. It is much larger than Kankan, but not so well peopled; there are many large vacant places in the interior of the village; the streets are narrow, crooked, and, at this season of the year, full of mud. The soil, composed in some places of black mould, and in others of grey sand mixed with earth, is very fertile, but very little cultivated; the country is covered with cés and nédés. The inhabitants are engaged entirely in commerce; they go a few days’ journey to the south of their village to buy colat-nuts, and these they carry to Jenné and barter for salt; this traffic is not very lucrative, because the journeys are long and troublesome, and they have to purchase food on the road, and to pay for lodgings and transit-duty in all the villages.
A small quantity of very handsome cloth is manufactured in this neighbourhood, from cotton purchased from the Bambaras. The average price of a slave in these parts is thirty bricks of salt (a brick is ten inches long, three wide, and two or two and a half thick: there are larger and smaller bricks, and the value varies accordingly) a barrel of powder and eight parcels of beads of a bright chesnut colour; or, a gun and four yards of rose-coloured taffeta are also the price of a slave. The trade of Sambatikila is not brisk; and is far from equal to that of Kankan; the want of a market injures it greatly, and the inhabitants are poor. Their crops are not sufficient to last from one year to the next, and they are forced to buy rice from the Bambaras, paying for it with salt, which the others cannot procure in any other way. The Mandingoes would rather go without food part of the day than work in the fields; they pretend that labour would take off their attention from the Koran, which is a very specious excuse for their laziness.
Their flocks, which are not numerous, consist of sheep and goats; they also rear poultry; the few horses they have are of a very small breed. The son of the almamy with whom I lodged had performed several journeys to Jenné; he told me without any fear of compromising his dignity, that he had carried a load of colat-nuts on his head, as well as his companions. I questioned him as to the length of the journey; and he told me that it took two months and a half or three months to get thither, and that it was not possible to make more than two journeys in a year.
The title of almamy, or king, is hereditary; the eldest son of the sovereign always succeeds. He has usually four wives and a great number of children. He is the only chief at Sambatikila, and if disputes arise the elders assemble at the almamy’s house, or at the mosque, to administer justice. Guns are not as common in this village as at Kankan, for I saw nothing but bows and arrows hanging up in the houses which I visited.
About ten in the morning, we commenced our journey; Arafanba, the two saracolets, and the Foulah, conducted me as far as the bank of a rivulet, which the natives call Oulaba, and which waters the neighbourhood of Sambatikila; we crossed in a wretched canoe, which was nearly upset more than once: it was made out of a single tree, but was now old, broken, and patched with pieces of rotten pagne, which would not keep out the water; fortunately the stream was not very wide, and we arrived at the right bank without accident. Arafanba accompanied me for a mile, and parted from me with great regret, after charging my guide to take care of me. Arafanba was the most amiable and agreeable Mandingo I had seen; and (what even now surprises me when I think of it) he never asked me for any thing, and appeared quite contented with the very moderate present which my means allowed me to make. We travelled E.S.E. for two miles, over a very fine black mould, intermingled with gravel; I saw only a few poor fields of foigné not yet in flower, though the harvest was over in Wassoulo; we crossed a tottering bridge, and arrived at Cagnanso, a little walled village which we did not enter. I noticed a shop belonging to some smiths, who were not better lodged than those which were on the coast; they make, however, agricultural implements, poniards, bracelets, and barbs for their arrows; the iron they use comes from Fouta-Dhialon. The environs of this village, which are inhabited by Bambaras, are uncultivated, but thickly studded with large trees, and covered with straw, which last impeded my progress greatly, causing me terrible pain, by fretting my wound and rubbing off the plaster; this, added to the water which covered the roads, and the rain which fell in torrents, fatigued me extremely. I longed to find a shelter where I might rest myself; we nevertheless continued our journey towards the S.S.E. After walking seven miles, we passed Coro, another walled Bambara village, which contains about four or five hundred inhabitants; the environs are no better cultivated than those of Cagnanso. We proceeded six miles further to the south; the country is woody and flat, and the road covered with gravel, which rendered walking very fatiguing. I saw no signs of cultivation, and we crossed several marshes. About three o’clock we halted, thoroughly fatigued, at Timicoro, a small Bambara village. The environs are woody, and covered with high straw; the fields are five or six miles from the huts, whether on account of the soil being better, or to save the grain from the ravages of goats and poultry, I know not. My guide took me to the house of one of his acquaintance, who supplied us with a small, damp, and dirty lodging. I had a good fire lighted immediately to dry my coussabe and my breeches; for the rain had been pelting at our backs all day; it continued through the night, and it was a small constant rain, which rendered the air cold. At this village I saw many goats and fowls, but the inhabitants have no horned cattle. At nightfall, the men came home from work; they were all nearly naked, having nothing but a tight cotton band which they pass between their thighs. I remarked that these men had necklaces on their necks, ear-rings of glass beads, and a great many amulets, such as goat’s horns, sheep’s tails, &c. All these things supply the place of grigris, in which they have great faith. They gave us a supper of tau, with herb-sauce, but no salt; I ate a little of this dish, but the sauce was so bad that I could not relish it.
In the evening a dispute arose between two men of the village, who began to fight, and would even have used their poniards, if the inhabitants had not collected round them to make peace. Nothing was heard but the shrieks of the women, who made great lamentations, and the crowd was immense; all spoke at once, and shouted to make themselves heard, so that there was a tremendous uproar. My guide informed me, that the chief of the village was blind, otherwise he would have come to the spot and restored order. I never could learn what was the cause of this scuffle, which took place precisely in the court where we lodged, and lasted a very long time, though the rain was pouring in torrents.
On the 3rd of August, in the morning, my guide cooked a small yam on the coals, and I roasted a few pistachio-nuts, which we ate together; after having presented our host with some small glass beads, we proceeded on our journey; it was then about nine o’clock. It still rained hard, and my umbrella was of little use, because the high grass, and the bushes which covered the road, wetted me as much as the rain. We travelled towards the south; at some distance from Timicoro, I saw a few poor fields of foigné and yams in a bad state of cultivation; the owners had not even taken the trouble to grub up the bushes. We passed the village of Yango-Firé, situated near a rivulet, where I saw plenty of poultry. We proceeded at first to the south, and then towards the east. We passed Brokhosso; to the S.E. of which I perceived a large hill, which appeared to be entirely destitute of vegetation. After crossing some fields of foigné, and others of french-beans, the first that I had seen since I left the coast, we arrived about half-past one in the afternoon, at the neat little village of Timé, inhabited by Mandingo Mahometans; it is shaded by a number of enormous bombaces, and by a few baobabs; we had travelled about ten miles. Three or four miles to the east of Timé, we noticed a chain of mountains, which were probably eighteen hundred or two thousand feet high; this range stretches from north to east. That which faces the village is more elevated, and covered with fine vegetation, except on the summit, which is very bare.
CHAPTER XII.
Abode at Timé. — Weekly market. — The traveller falls seriously ill of the scurvy. — Is nursed by a negress. — Rainy season. — The author prevented from joining the caravan departing for Jenné. — Fertility of the neighbourhood of Timé. — Desperate condition of the traveller. — His recovery after four months’ illness. — Description of a funeral.
My guide conducted me to the residence of his brother, who was from home; but a good old negress, who, judging from her wrinkled countenance, must have been sixty years of age, received me into her hut. She spread a bullock’s hide upon the ground for me to sit on, and gave me some soup, consisting of herbs stewed in milk, and seasoned with salt; I could not eat much, for I was feverish and had shivering fits. I lay down on a mat near the fire (it was the old negress’s bed) and fell asleep; but the master of the house arrived, and I was soon roused. He appeared very kind, and gave me some yams, to which he had taken care to add some salt. He then took my bag, saying he would conduct me to the chief of the village, a venerable old man of the tribe of the Bambaras, but professing the religion of Mahomet. The chief received me very well, and made me sit down on a bullock’s hide, near a good fire, which kept his hut free from damp. The brother of my guide, who had conducted me to the chief, was his son. The old man informed me that I must remain with him until the departure of the caravan, which was shortly to set out for Jenné. I therefore returned to the humble dwelling of Baba’s old mother. Alas! little did I think how long I was doomed to be her guest. I gave the good old negress a piece of raw meat, of which the chief had made me a present on my visit to him, and requested her to cook it for my supper. On tasting it I discovered it to be the flesh of the wild boar. I manifested some repugnance to eating it, and began to fear I should compromise myself; but my young guide from Sambatikila, who was less scrupulous, advised me to follow his example, assuring me that the meat was very good. The Mandingoes, notwithstanding their superstition, do not scruple to eat the flesh of the wild boar, though expressly forbidden in the Koran. My host sent me for supper some yams with a fowl, which he had just killed as a treat for us on our arrival.
On the 4th of August, the chief of the village came to see me, and brought me some colat-nuts and yams for my supper. The caravan was preparing to depart for Jenné, and my foot was not yet healed. The rains were incessant. I had to pass through a country intersected with rivers and large streams, which at this season overflow their banks, and marshes flooded with water. All this would of course render the journey dangerous and disagreeable. I reflected leisurely what plan I should adopt. I thought that with my wounded foot, which was getting worse and worse, I should incur the risk of being left on the road, or perishing in the marshes; for the Bambaras, who are an idolatrous people, would not willingly have allowed me to stay among them, and would probably have robbed me of all I possessed. I therefore determined to let the caravan depart without me, thinking it best to pass the month of August at Timé, and even to remain there until my recovery. I informed my host of my resolution, telling him that I would make him a present of a beautiful piece of coloured cloth and a pair of scissors, with which he appeared very well pleased. I was informed that there was a market once a week in the village, where I might purchase any provisions I wanted. The Bambaras of this part of Africa, which must be traversed in proceeding to Jenné, are poor and wretched. They do not trade beyond their own country. Not having joined the standard of the Prophet, they cannot travel but at the risk of being captured and made slaves. They are in general indolent. Their soil, unlike that of the Foulahs of the Wassoulo, is ill cultivated, and their villages are disgustingly dirty. Their food is very bad; they eat all sorts of animals, dogs, cats, rats, mice, serpents and lizards; nothing escapes their voracity. They cultivate a little cotton, which they exchange with the Mandingoes for salt. I observed weaving in some of their villages; but they make little cloth, scarcely enough to clothe themselves, for they go almost naked. They may have as many wives as their means enable them to support. They have but few slaves, and are always armed with bows and arrows.
These people are governed by a multitude of petty independent chiefs, who often go to war with each other. In short, they are in a savage state, compared with the nations which follow the religion of the Prophet. They have no idea of the dignity of man. If I had been obliged to remain among them, my merchandise would have roused their cupidity, and being unrestrained by any sort of fear, they would probably have robbed me without scruple. Among the Musulmans, on the contrary, I was protected by the shield of Mahomet. In the little village of Timé I found every thing very abundant. The market, which is held once a week, enabled me to procure any thing. This market is supplied by the Bambaras of the neighbourhood, who come hither to dispose of the surplus of their provisions. Among other living things they bring fish, which they catch in the streams that water their plains.
On the 5th of August, the Mandingo merchants, who intended to set off for Jenné, put fresh leaves to their colats, to keep them damp, and counted them all over. They are also in the habit of damping them with water to preserve them.
On the 6th the caravan set off in a torrent of rain. The travellers about fifteen or twenty in number, both male and female, carried each of them on their heads a load of three thousand five hundred colats, a weight which I could scarcely lift. They bring back, on their return, salt in the form of loaves or flat cakes. The inhabitants assured me that the value in salt of three thousand five hundred colats, when brought back to Timé, was the price of two slaves; but the profit, as I subsequently ascertained, is not considerable; for great expenses are incurred on the road, not only for subsistence, but also for duties of transit. The price of the colats, a fruit which does not grow in this country, varies considerably. On returning from these journeys, the traders travel far into the south to procure colats, with salt and cloth, which they manufacture with cotton purchased from the Bambaras, and spun by their women.
On the 17th of August, Baba gave me a large hut to live in. Here I installed myself as well as I could. A mat spread on the damp ground, over which I laid my cotton wrapper, was the only furniture of the place. This hut also served as a warehouse and contained yams and rice.
On the 8th, I found myself very ill in consequence of the badness of the food, and I had an attack of fever. I took a few doses of sulphate of quinine, which had the effect of abating the fever for a few days. My host seemed much concerned at my indisposition. He searched through some old books which contained verses of the Koran, and brought me a scrap of paper well fumigated on which was written a charm in Arabic characters, assuring me that it was an excellent remedy for the disorder under which I was suffering. He directed me to copy it on a little piece of wood which he brought me; then, to wash off the writing with some water which I was to drink: he observed that this would to a certainty relieve me. To please him I copied the writing as he directed and when he was gone washed the bit of board; but instead of drinking the water I threw it away, which had quite as good an effect, for next day I found myself tolerably well. My host, of course, attributed my amendment to the efficacy of his remedy. I often received visits from the Mandingoes of the village. They were as troublesome as those of the Kankan, asking me continually for paper, powder, and various other things. The women tormented me for glass trinkets. They thought my skin very white, laughed at the length of my nose, and played me some childish tricks. In short, I agreed very well with the inhabitants of Timé, and was tolerably comfortable, with the exception of their food, which was detestable, chiefly on account of the want of salt. However, I purchased a little salt for my own use, and by degrees I became accustomed to the simple mode of living in this country.
On the 14th of August, the chief came to visit me. He begged me to write him an amulet, and in order to render the grigri or charm the more efficacious he made me a present of a kid. The amulet which he wished to have was to preserve him from diseases in general: I promised to exert all my skill to satisfy him. It would have been imprudent to refuse what he asked; for, in spite of the precaution I had taken of telling him that I had left my country extremely young, he imagined that I could speak and write Arabic very well. Five or six Mandingoes of the village immediately seized the kid and skinned it. They took care to reserve for themselves the stomach of the animal, which they put on the fire and broiled without taking the trouble to wash it. They shared this dainty morsel with some persons whom curiosity attracted round them. They were very expeditious and had soon cut up the kid; and without ever asking my leave on the subject, they made presents of small pieces to the neighbours and relations of my host; for in this country meat is a great luxury and is only eaten on festival days. The people eat the flesh of goats and sheep only, for they have no bullocks. The negroes gave the old chief a shoulder of the kid for his supper, and the remainder was reserved for me and Baba’s family. Baba asked me what I intended to do with the skin of the animal. I consigned it to his disposal, and he immediately went and exchanged it for a lump of salt to season our meat, which was boiled in a large pot, and was destined to be kept for several days. The old negress, named Manman, a name very common throughout all the country, performed the office of cook. This good creature was very kind and attentive to me. She brought me herself twice a-day a little rice and tau, the food which composed all my meals. I gave my host a pair of scissors, with which he appeared much pleased: it was an article of great rarity and high price at Timé.
On the 15th, I went to thank the chief for his present and gave him the amulet, which he received very gratefully. He immediately wrapped it up in a piece of cloth, which he rubbed over with wax and then enclosed it in another envelope, consisting of a piece of tanned sheep-skin. He tied this precious object with a little piece of string and hung it round his neck. He overwhelmed me with thanks and wished me a speedy return to my country.
The sore on my foot, instead of healing, grew worse. The month of August continued stormy: the rain poured down day and night: the sky was cloudy and the air heavy and cool. At intervals an east wind blew and was followed by a small, cold rain. The sun but rarely appeared. My hut was exceedingly damp. The water filtered through the wall which was made of earth and very thin. I was in a continual vapour bath and frequently ill, owing to the insalubrity of the air and the inconvenience of my new dwelling, in which I could not kindle a fire on account of the intolerable smoke. Throughout all the interior of Africa, the negroes never make chimneys. They kindle their fires in the middle of their huts, and leave the smoke to find its way through the roofs, which are in consequence thickly lined with soot.
During the rainy season, the Mandingoes scarcely ever go out of doors. They lie all day in their huts beside a great fire, and sometimes make coussabes to amuse themselves. When any circumstance obliges them to go out, they wear a kind of clogs with wooden soles two inches and a half thick, which keep their feet dry. The women pursue their occupations, going out to procure wood and water without any regard to the state of the weather. They never wear any covering on their feet whether the ground be wet or dry.
I intended to set out about the end of August; but at that time another sore much larger than the first broke out on the same foot, I suffered considerable pain, and my foot was so swelled that I could not walk. I begged the old negress to procure me some baobab leaves. She boiled them, and I made them into a poultice which I applied to my foot. This allayed the inflammation, and in the course of two days I found myself better. Having no rags for dressing the sore, I was obliged to use for that purpose pieces of the cotton which formed my turban. The old negress did not approve of this: she alleged that it would be better to dispense with the poultices than to destroy such a beautiful piece of cloth. The baobab leaves soon reduced the swelling of my foot; but the sore still continued as large as ever, being twice the size of a six-franc piece. I dressed it with lint which I had already used, and though I washed it, it was not very clean and did me no good. My host, who sympathised in my misfortune, sent one of his slaves to procure a root, which I recognized as having a caustic quality. He boiled it in water until it became tolerably soft, and then bruised a piece with a stone, and made a sort of salve of it. The first day he attended me himself: after washing the wound with the water of the decoction, he spread upon it some of the unctuous paste produced by the root, and then, instead of rag, he bound over it a leaf having a strong aromatic smell. On the following days, the old negress dressed my foot morning and evening, and she often consoled me with the hope of a speedy cure. In gratitude for her attention I made her a present of a piece of coloured cloth, which pleased her exceedingly. She had probably never before possessed any thing so beautiful; her son presently came to thank me, and very seriously asked me who had made the flowers on the cloth. I smiled at his simplicity, and told him that it had been made by the whites. He answered, still preserving his gravity, that he thought none but God could have made any thing so beautiful.
I remained a month in my hut, constantly lying on the damp ground, for I was unable to walk, though I did not suffer very great pain. The month of September seemed to promise a return of fine weather; but appearances were delusive. The rains, to be sure, were not so incessant, but we regularly had rain every day, until October, when it became less frequent. The rain, which poured in torrents, always set in with hurricanes, blowing from the east and south-east. In proportion as the rain diminished the heat increased, and the air became more salubrious. My foot got better, and I hoped to set off about the end of the month. It may well be imagined that I looked forward to the period of my departure with no little anxiety, and notwithstanding all the kindness that I experienced from my old nurse, I was impatient for the moment when I might have the pleasure of bidding her farewell. On market-days I gave her glass trinkets to purchase my weekly supply of rice and foigné, which she made her son’s wives cook for me. She herself brought me twice a day a portion of tau and rice in a wooden platter, and in a little earthen vessel soup made of herbs or pistachio-nuts, to which I added a little salt and vegetable butter, without which these messes would have been scarcely eatable. For a few glass beads, I readily procured vegetable butter, called in the country cé-toulou, which, though collected in abundance, is not much eaten by the inhabitants, as they prefer selling it. This butter is tolerably good; but it is necessary to cook it with the food with which it is eaten, otherwise its flavour is not very agreeable. The natives use it for pains and sores. I have seen in the country a tree, which like the cé produces a butyraceous substance; it is called by the natives taman. The butter of this tree is of a yellow colour, like ours. It is firm, notwithstanding the heat of the climate, and does not contract any bad flavour. I liked it better than the butter of the cé, which is less firm, and of an ash colour. However, the natives assured me that the produce of the cé is more wholesome than that of the taman, and I saw many who would not eat the latter, alleging that it made them ill. For my part, I frequently ate it and never experienced any bad effect from it.
The Mandingoes of this part of Africa have more resources for food than the negroes who inhabit the neighbourhood of the Senegal, who have, in fact nothing but millet. Their food too is better cooked, and, excepting salt, which they have a great deal of trouble to obtain, they possess all that is necessary for supporting life; yams, maize, rice, honey, foigné, beans, giraumons, and pistachios, grow abundantly in this happy land: on the Senegal, on the other hand, all these things are wanting, though salt is easily procured. The expence of cultivation in this part of the country is low. The slaves merely break up the surface of earth, to destroy the weeds, and the seed is then sown. In planting yams, the ground is trenched up, for the root does not thrive well in a level soil. Every thing grows here very rapidly. The soil, which is composed of excellent black sandy mould, is fertilized alternately by the rains and the tropical heat, not less than by the numerous streams which wind through every part of the country; thus the land rewards with interest the labour of the husbandman. The foigné, which is sown during the month of May, is gathered in July. This grain is very useful to the negroes, for it often happens that their supplies of provisions are not sufficient to last them till the following year. They might make two harvests in the course of the year, as is done in Wassoulo, if they were not too indolent. The foigné is abundant throughout the whole of the south. The women take great pains in separating it from extraneous matters. They expose the grain to the heat of the sun, after which they put it into a mortar and clear it from the chaff, which requires considerable time and trouble. The bran is afterwards extracted in the same way, as on the Senegal; the foigné is then pounded a second time, and when the grain is thoroughly cleared, it appears white and of about the coarseness of gunpowder. It is next washed and drained through a basket, in which it is allowed to remain until it swells a little. After this it is again consigned to the mortar, and a few strokes of the pestle suffice to reduce it to flour. If it were not wetted, the process of trituration would require longer time. The flour thus produced is made into a sort of pudding or paste called tau, which is the sangleh of the negroes of the Senegal. When this tau is baked it is put into a calabash, and seasoned with a sauce made of giraumon leaves, various herbs, and allspice; a little gombo is also added to render it glutinous, but neither salt nor butter is used in this sauce. The yams are cooked in a different manner. They are first boiled, and then pounded, and they are eaten with a sauce composed of dried fish reduced to powder, a little gombo, allspice, and zambala, or nédé seeds boiled, dried, and pulverized; which gives them a very agreeable flavour. Though the nédé seeds are very abundant in this country, yet the women use them but sparingly in their cookery, because, to preserve them all the year, they must be steeped in brine, and salt is scarce in this part of Africa. In general the sauces are strongly seasoned with allspice. At meal-times the guests assemble round the dish, and each in his turn takes a handful of yams, rolls it up in his hand, makes a hole in it with his thumb, and dips it into the sauce. When the rice is well cleaned and boiled in water, the cook adds to it a sauce made of pistachios and leaves of Guinea sorrel, but no salt. This article being expensive is used only at festivities, or on occasion of the visits of strangers of consequence. The people themselves are so accustomed to dispense with it, that they cannot feel the want of it as a great privation. Yet they invariably use a little salt whenever they eat meat, and I have heard them say that they would rather postpone their entertainments for a few days than go without salt. When they kill a kid or a sheep, they collect several of their neighbours, but they do not feast together. Each carries away his share to regale himself with his family at home.
The inhabitants of Timé are Mandingoes, and they all make journeys to Jenné. I inquired of them the distance from one city to the other, to ascertain whether they agree on this point with the people of Sambatikila. They all assured me that I required two months to go, and two months to return; but that they could only make two journeys in the course of the year, because they were obliged to travel to Teuté and Cani, a fortnight’s journey to the south of Jenné, to purchase their colats. I also learned that the inhabitants of those villages themselves go very far to the south, to a place called Toman, to procure these colats. On their return they cover them with leaves, and then bury them under ground to preserve them. This fruit may be kept fresh for nine or ten months by taking the precaution to renew the leaves. The colat-tree flourishes in the south; it is very abundant in the Kissi, the Couranco, the Sangaran and the Kissi-kissi. It is a general article of trade in the interior; for the inhabitants, having no kind of fruits, highly esteem the colat, and, indeed, regard it as a sort of luxury. Old men who have lost their teeth reduce the colats to powder by means of a small grater, consisting merely of a bit of tin in which they make holes very close together. The Bambaras are very fond of the colats; but as they have not facility for going to the country where they grow, they purchase them with cotton and other produce of their agricultural industry.
The colat-tree resembles the plum-tree in size and form. The leaves are alternate, and about twice as broad as those of the plum; the flower, which is small and white, has a polypetalous corolla; the fruit is covered with a brownish yellow husk or rind, within which is a pulp, which is at first pink or white; but which, on attaining full maturity acquires a greenish hue. The same tree bears fruit of both colours. The colat-nut is of the size of the chesnut, and of the same degree of hardness. At first it appears to have a bitter taste; but after it is swallowed it leaves a sweet flavour, which the negroes like very much. A glass of water taken immediately after one of these colat nuts, has the effect of having been sugared. The nut easily splits in two without changing its colour; but if one of the two halves be broken and exposed for a moment to the air, the pulp which was previously pink, or white, becomes of a rust colour.
I wished to ascertain the distance from Jenné to Timbuctoo; but nobody could give me any positive information on the subject. The inhabitants seemed to think it immense. Their journeys being merely commercial speculations, they pay little attention to geography, and very often they do not even know the names of the villages which they pass through. The negroes in this part of Africa are not so hospitable as those on the north of the Dhioliba, or even in the neighbourhood of the Senegal. They are generous only among themselves, and if they shew any kindness to strangers it is merely from motives of interest. This I attribute to the numerous caravans which are continually passing through their country, for, if they were to receive and entertain all the strangers who visit them, they would soon be ruined. The merchants purchase their provisions, and get them cooked by the women who follow the caravans. These negroes dress precisely in the same way as those who inhabit the regions further to the north. The dress of the women differs only in the mode of arranging their hair. They generally have their heads uncovered. Some plat their hair and fasten glass beads at the end of each tress; others have merely a tuft of hair at each side of the head; sometimes they take a piece of cotton of the manufacture of the country, about three yards long, and roll it round their heads, bringing it very forward upon the forehead.
About the end of October the rains ceased entirely, the days became exceedingly hot and the nights cool. I observed that the negroes are all extremely subject to take cold, which I attribute to their habit of lying near a great fire in their huts, and then going out thinly clad. My host Baba, who, during the first month of my abode at Timé, had paid me great attention, no doubt on account of the pretty presents which I had made him, began to neglect me. When I was long without giving him any thing, he was constantly begging of me and manifesting his ill-humour. On the other hand I was tormented by the women, who came in crowds to ask me for glass beads. I was at once an object of curiosity and aversion to them. They ridiculed my gestures and my words, and went about the village mimicking me and repeating what I said. Their gossip attracted fresh visiters to my hut; in short, from morning till night they were before my door, and when I went out I was followed by a troop of women who called after me in their own language—“The Arab is not good, he does not give us any thing”—(Larab-magné atemo-oço). Sometimes I got rid of them by giving them a few glass beads; but they soon renewed their attack. During the first month I was not molested in this way; but, when they became better acquainted with me, they grew intolerably troublesome. My sore foot was the object of their ridicule, and the difficulty I experienced in walking excited their immoderate laughter. Such are the beings among whom I was obliged to live. Their treatment of me arose not so much from any bad feeling as from stupidity and ignorance, for they are little better than savages. When I occasionally asked such of the women as most tormented me for water, they would hasten to fetch it for me. The men were not more hospitable than the women. If they did not amuse themselves at my expense they reproached me for giving them nothing. I told them that I had a long journey to perform before I could reach Mecca, and that the little stock of merchandise which I had would, perhaps, be insufficient to pay my expenses thither, in which case I should be unable to proceed. They did not appear to be moved by these representations, but, pointing to my woollen wrapper and my leather bag, they said—“Look there, you have a wrapper and a bag full of stuff and different merchandise. The Arab does not give us any thing; he is not good”—(Mi casa fani abeyan nanfoulo abé. Larab featemo—oço amagné.) They entertain extravagant ideas of the wealth of the whites, and even of the Arabs, whom they rank in the same class; and hence they conclude that a white man travelling through their country ought to make them liberal presents. I saw a Mandingo of the village, who had been several times at Gambia and at Albreda. He spoke of a Mr. Waterman, a merchant at Gambia, and of M. Jaffrot, of Albreda. He complained bitterly of the want of generosity shewn by the whites, who, he said, had large warehouses full of merchandise and yet gave away very little. This negro excited the curiosity of his countrymen, who assembled round him to hear him describe the wonders which he had seen on the coast. To convey to his hearers an idea of the large size of the houses of the whites, he compared them to ten or twelve mosques like that of Kankan, which, as I have already mentioned is a square unsightly building, capable of containing about three hundred persons. He described in glowing terms the way in which the Europeans dress and eat, which greatly astonished the simple negroes, who imagined that there were no other dresses than theirs in the world, and that the custom of eating with the fingers was universal. When I first arrived at Timé, I was frequently visited by a negro who asked me a thousand questions respecting the way in which I had been fed by the christians. He used to seat himself very close to me, and often upon my baggage, and on my manifesting displeasure at this, he withdrew somewhat out of humour, declaring that I was a christian. He, doubtless, hoped to make me purchase his silence on this subject; but as he was the only one who troubled me in this way, I was resolved that he should gain nothing by his insolence. I was a stranger, but under the protection of the almamy of Sambatikila, which, I suppose, inspired a sort of respect. The old negress continued very attentive to me, and I therefore promised to make her a handsome present at my departure, and in the mean time, I occasionally gave her a few glass ornaments.
By the 10th of November the sore in my foot was almost healed, and I hoped to profit by the first opportunity of setting out for Jenné. But, alas! at that very time, violent pains in my jaw informed me that I was attacked with scurvy, and I soon experienced all the horrors of that dreadful disease: the roof of my mouth became quite bare, a part of the bones exfoliated and fell away, and my teeth seemed ready to drop out of their sockets. I feared that my brain would be affected by the agonizing pains I felt in my head, and I was more than a fortnight without sleep. To crown my misery, the sore in my foot broke out afresh, and all hope of my departure vanished. The horror of my situation may be more easily imagined than described,—alone, in the interior of a wild country, stretched on the damp ground, with no pillow but the leather bag which contained my luggage, with no medicine and no attendant but Baba’s old mother. This good creature brought me twice a-day a little rice-water, which she forced me to drink; for I could eat nothing. I was soon reduced to a skeleton, and my situation was so deplorable that at length I excited pity even in those who were least disposed to feel for me.
Suffering had deprived me of all energy. One thought alone absorbed my mind—that of death. I wished for it, and I prayed for it to God, in whom I reposed all my confidence, not in the hope of cure, for that I had relinquished; but in the hope of another and a happier state. This was the only consolation I experienced during my long sufferings, and for that I was indebted to the religious principles which I had imbibed during the numerous adversities of my wandering life: for, we are so constituted that it is often only in misfortune, and when bereft of friends, that we turn for consolation to that God who never withholds it.
At length, after six weeks of indescribable suffering, during which time I subsisted solely on boiled rice and water, I began to feel better and to reflect on what was passing around me. I scarcely ever saw Baba. I could easily perceive that I was a trouble to him and his family, and that they were tired of the burthen of a man who was continually ill. The presents which I had been obliged to make them every now and then were rapidly exhausting my means, and my baggage was becoming so scanty that I feared I should not have sufficient merchandise to complete my journey; for, ill as I was, I did not now renounce the idea of continuing it. I would rather have died on the road than have returned without making more important discoveries. I reflected on the best means of proceeding to the Niger, where I might hope to embark for Timbuctoo, the mysterious city which was the object of all my curiosity. I never for a moment reproached myself for the resolution which had brought me to these deserts, where I had suffered so much misery. I saw with regret the fine season advancing. The roads were passable and the marshes dried up, and every thing concurred to make me regret the time I was losing at Timé. Finding that I did not get better, Baba was moved with compassion and came to see me. He sat down by me, and, after inquiring how I was, he told me that he would bring me an old woman who understood my disorder. I thanked him for his kindness. The old woman came: she examined me attentively, and consoled me by saying that she would give me a medicine which would do me good, and that I should soon be quite well. She added that my disorder was common in the country, and that people who were attacked by it lost all their teeth if remedies were not promptly applied.
She commenced her treatment by forbidding me to eat meat or salt, or even to drink the rice-water with which the old negress had supplied me. In the evening, she brought in the corner of her pagne some pieces of red wood: this she boiled in water, with which she desired me to wash my mouth several times a day. I punctually obeyed her directions. The water was very acrid and had the effect of a strong astringent. However, I experienced but little relief. My cure promised to be very slow, and I felt no symptoms of convalescence until about the 13th of December. The sore on my foot, to which I had applied a diachylon plaster healed with my improving health. The weather was fine. The wind blew frequently from the N.E. and sometimes from the north. I went every day, supported on a stick, to take the air and amuse myself at the banancoro, a place, which, as I have already stated, is the rendezvous of idlers. Here it is shaded by large bombaces. The old men resort thither to spend a portion of the day, not to smoke like the Bambaras, for the inhabitants of Timé do not smoke, though they take a great deal of snuff. They amuse themselves by talking about trade and their former journeys. The young people also assemble there to dance all night.
I bought some fowls, as I wished to have food at once wholesome and succulent. The old negress cooked the fowls with a little rice. My appetite and strength gradually returned, and I was soon able to walk without a stick. I now anxiously looked forward for an opportunity to depart; but, as it might be some time before such an opportunity should occur, I thought it advisable to look out for a guide to conduct me to Tangrera, a large town which, the natives informed me, was ten days’ journey from Timé, in the direction of E.N.E. From Tangrera caravans of Mandingo merchants frequently go to Jenné, Ségo, Sansanding, and Yamina. I had considerable difficulty in procuring a guide, though there were in the village numbers of idle Mandingoes, who spent the whole day in gossipping at the banancoro. At length, I found one who promised to accompany me, but only, within two days of Tangrera, which I thought I might easily reach by joining a party of merchants on the road. I promised my guide a little iron saucepan, to which he had taken a great fancy, and which I generally used for my ablutions. He was also to have a pair of scissors, a yard and a half of beautiful coloured cloth, and two sheets of paper. However, on the day appointed for our departure, he found some excuse for absenting himself. I saw that he was trifling with me, and I was obliged to put off my journey till another day. Baba continued to behave very ill and often spoke harshly to me. He seldom came to my hut, and when I bought any thing he contrived to make me pay more than its value, for the people who sold me provisions were his relations or friends. I have also one reproach to make against the old negress, who, in other respects, behaved very well to me. On market days I gave her some glass ornaments to purchase my weekly supply of grain; but she always discovered that there was too little. To satisfy them, I ought to have provided sufficient for their maintenance as well as mine.
One day Baba informed me that his brother, who had departed in the preceding August, had come home, and that he was gone to Teuté to procure colats, with the intention of returning immediately to Jenné. He told me I might go with him. I learned this news with considerable pleasure. This was about the end of December. Baba had received from his brother some salt, of which he made little presents to his neighbours and his wives. The latter came immediately to sell it to me for glass beads. Baba sent his youngest brother with some loaves of salt to Kany, to purchase colats and to barter them for goats or sheep.
I experienced fresh annoyances from Baba. He stole my salt to give it to his horse, which was not worth his keep. Nothing could persuade these people that I was not rich. In spite of the privations which I imposed upon myself, they still persisted in believing that I had plenty of gold and silver. To destroy this illusion, I determined to shew them the contents of my bag; but before I gave them this proof of confidence, I took the precaution of concealing any thing which might excite their cupidity. They are ignorant of the value of amber and coral, which their women never wear, and they saw mine with indifference.
On the 1st of January, 1828, I had the satisfaction to learn that Baba’s brother had returned from Teuté, where he had been buying colats, which he was shortly to go and dispose of at Jenné. It was night when the old negress came to inform me of her son’s arrival. I saw a dozen Mandingoes who accompanied him. They were covered with little bells; these, when they walked, made a noise that excited the curiosity of the people, who all ran out to see them.
On the 2nd of January, the travellers made little presents of colats to their friends and relations, who had come on the preceding evening to make inquiries about their journey. Baba’s brother received from his friends, in return for the presents, two large calabashes full of tau and rice, together with some meat and salt. The neighbours were invited to partake of the entertainment. They were about fifteen or twenty in number, but that did not prevent them from sending a small portion of the feast to such of their relations as could not attend. The old negress regularly brought me my little portion, and as I was soon to leave the place, she paid me increased attention.
Our departure was fixed for the 9th of the month. The interval, during which Baba’s young brother, Karamo-osla, stayed at Timé, was spent in rejoicings. Five or six meals were eaten in the course of the day; for, besides the food sent by friends and relations, the family took their dinner and supper as usual; indeed, I have frequently seen them rise in the night to eat. I visited the old chief, to acquaint him with my intended departure, of which, however, he had already been informed. He made me sit down beside him in his hut, and gave me some colat-nuts. He also begged me to accept some yams, which he ordered his slaves to carry home for me. He said, that since I was going away, and he should probably never see me again, he would request me, before I went, to write for him a charm against bad eyes. After satisfying him, I went with Baba to see a field of yams of his own cultivating. He had several free Bambaras at work for him. They throw up the earth into little ridges, as I have before mentioned, without taking the trouble to remove the young trees, which, when the yams take root, serve as sticks for them to climb up. We seated ourselves near a large heap of yams, which Baba had purchased with salt from the Bambaras, his neighbours, and which he intended to plant in his field. While a party of the labourers were engaged in selecting those which would be best for planting, some of the yams were cooked, and we ate them for dinner. When the proprietors visit their lands, they have no other food than yams, and the slaves always take care to steal a few and to conceal them under ground, that they may eat them secretly. The young lads carried on their heads baskets of yams, to give them to the men whose business it is to plant them. When they had done work, I observed that Baba paid his labourers in kind. On leaving me, each of the poor Bambaras gave me a yam.
A cold north wind had prevailed since the end of December. I could very well bear my woollen wrapper, and was glad, during the day, to seek the genial warmth of the sun. The negroes, who are naturally chilly, covered themselves with the woollen wrappers which they buy at Jenné; and in the month of December, they kindled larger fires than usual in their huts. I perceived that at this season the trees lose their leaves, and the negroes burn the dry herbs which surround their habitations. The eve of our departure was a grand festival. A young Mandingo negro was celebrating the funeral of his mother, who had been dead about a fortnight. On the very day of her death, I had been attracted to the neighbourhood by the sound of the music. I saw in the court-yard, two large drums, made like ours, and some persons were beating them, and clashing cymbals. These cymbals consist of two pieces of iron, about five inches long, and two and a half wide. The two negroes who were beating the drums, held these cymbals in their left hands. Each of the pieces of iron has a ring, one is passed over the thumb, and the other over the fore-finger, and by a movement of the hand they are struck together in regular time. The women of the neighbourhood brought little presents, by way of shewing respect to the deceased. A large circular basket was placed exactly in the centre of the yard to receive the offerings. The women, having deposited their presents, assumed a grave look, and, ranging themselves in a file, marched along, keeping time to the music, and making motions with their hands and heads, expressive of sorrow. Sometimes they beat time, by clapping their hands, while they sang a melancholy song. This scene continued the whole of the day. I inquired whether the presents which had been brought in honour of the deceased, were to be buried with her; for the Bambaras observe this superstitious custom. The Mandingoes told me that it did not prevail among them, and that the presents would be appropriated to the celebration of the dégué-sousou, at which I was present, and which I will describe as I saw it.
The son of the deceased bought a lean kid, for the entertainment of part of the guests, especially the musicians. Early on the morning of the day appointed for the festival, he called with Baba at my hut, where I was sitting by the fire, for the morning was cool. They both sat down by me, and the young man begged me to sell him some gunpowder to celebrate his mother’s funeral. He told me he would pay me in cowries,[55] which were beginning to be current at Tangrera, and without which, I could not purchase food. I had about a flask of powder, which I had carefully preserved, thinking that it would be useful to me at Jenné. However, I gave him as much of it as was worth a thousand cowries; for I thought that by refusing I might render myself disliked. I had some difficulty in striking the bargain. They sent about every where in quest of horns for measuring the powder, and they could not get any large enough. To satisfy them, I must have given them all my stock. The 8th of January was the day fixed for the ceremony, which took place near the humble habitation of the deceased, beneath the shade of large bombaces, to all appearance coeval with the soil in which they grew. The band of music consisted of four large drums, as many pair of cymbals, and six hautboys, like those of Wassoulo, which I have described. The musicians were all Bambaras, for the Koran prohibits the Musulmans from applying themselves to music.
Four little boys, whose bodies were covered with leaves of trees, well arranged, and whose heads were adorned with plumes of ostrich-feathers, held in each hand a round basket, with a handle, in which were bits of iron and pebbles. They kept time with the music, jumping and shaking their baskets, the contents of which, produced a strange jingling. There were two leaders of the band, who regulated the intervals when the performers were to play. They wore beautiful mantles of cotton net-work, very white, and fringed round. On their heads they had black caps, edged with scarlet, and adorned with cowries and ostrich-feathers. The musicians stood at the foot of a baobab. The assemblage was numerous, and all were well dressed. The men were tricked out in all their finery. I saw several with little coussabes, of a rusty colour, and almost covered with amulets, rolled up in little pieces of yellow cloth. Some were armed with muskets, and others with bows and arrows, as if prepared for combat. They also wore large round straw hats, of their own native manufacture. They walked all together round the assembled circle, leaping and dancing to the sound of the music, which I thought very agreeable. Sometimes they appeared furious, firing their muskets and running about with threatening looks. The men with bows and arrows, also appeared as if on the point of rushing on an enemy, and they pretended to shoot their arrows. The men were followed by a number of women, all neatly dressed, having about their shoulders white pagnes, which they tossed about from side to side, while they walked to the sound of the music, and observed profound silence. Those who were fatigued withdrew, and their places were immediately supplied by others. When they left the party, they ran away very fast, and were followed by some of the musicians, who accompanied them, playing, as far as their huts, where they received a present of some colats. About the middle of the festival, all the male relatives of the deceased made their appearance dressed in white. They walked in two files, each carrying in his hand a piece of flat iron, which they struck with another smaller piece. They walked round the assembly keeping time and singing a melancholy air. They were followed by women, who repeated the same song in chorus, and at intervals clapped their hands. Next came the son of the deceased, who was well dressed, and armed with a sabre. He did not appear much affected, and, after having walked round the assembly, he withdrew, and the warlike dances were renewed. The whole festival was arranged by two old men, relatives of the deceased. They addressed the assembled party, and delivered an eulogium on the good qualities of their departed kinswoman. The festival ended with a grand feast, during which, the goat which was killed in the morning, was eaten. I remarked, with pleasure, the good order which prevailed throughout the whole of the entertainment, which was kept up with great merriment. The young people danced almost the whole of the night. The son of the deceased withdrew from the supper which he had provided for his friends, and came to partake of ours.
The day, which I had so long and anxiously looked for, at length arrived. But, before I quit this beautiful country, I will endeavour to give a description of it, as well as of the character and manners of the people among whom I lived five months.