Aug. 16th.

About ten o'clock I passed a considerable town, with a mosque, called Jabbe.

Here the country begins to rise into hills, and I could see the summits of high mountains to the westward. I had very disagreeable travelling all this day, on account of the swampiness of the roads; for the river was now risen to such a height, as to overflow great part of the flat land on both sides; and, from the muddiness of the water, it was difficult to discern its depth. In crossing one of these swamps, a little to the westward of a town called Gangu, my horse, being up to the belly in water, slipt suddenly into a deep pit, and was almost drowned before he could disengage his feet from the stiff clay at the bottom. Indeed, both the horse and its rider were so completely covered with mud, that, in passing the village of Callimana, the people compared us to two dirty elephants. About noon I stopped at a small village near Yamina, where I purchased some corn, and dried my papers and clothes.

The town of Yamina, at a distance, has a very fine appearance. It covers nearly the same extent of ground as Sansanding; but having been plundered by Daisy, King of Kaarta, about four years ago, it has not yet resumed its former prosperity; nearly one half of the town being nothing but a heap of ruins. However, it is still a considerable place, and is so much frequented by the Moors, that I did not think it safe to lodge in it. But in order to satisfy myself respecting its population and extent, I resolved to ride through it; in doing which, I observed a great many Moors sitting upon the Bentangs, and other places of public resort. Every body looked at me with astonishment; but, as I rode briskly along, they had no time to ask questions.

I arrived in the evening at Farra, a walled village; where, without much difficulty, I procured a lodging for the night.

Aug. 17th. Early in the morning I pursued my journey, and at eight o'clock passed a considerable, town called Balaba; after which the road quits the plain, and stretches along the side of the hill. I passed in the course of this day the ruins of three towns, the inhabitants of which were all carried away by Daisy, King of Kaarta, on the same day that he took and plundered Yamina. Near one of these ruins I climbed a tamarind tree, but found the fruit quite green and sour; and the prospect of the country was by no means inviting; for the high grass and bushes seemed completely to obstruct the road, and the low lands were all so flooded by the river, that the Niger had the appearance of an extensive lake. In the evening I arrived at Kanika, where the Dooty, who was sitting upon an elephant's hide at the gate, received me kindly; and gave me for supper some milk and meal; which I considered (as to a person in my situation it really was) a very great luxury.

Enter page number Go  Previous Next
Page 133 of 282
Words from 69646 to 70170 of 148366