As Our Dry Provisions Were Not Yet Exhausted, A
Considerable Quantity Of Kouskous Was Dressed For Supper, And Many Of
The
villagers were invited to take part of the repast; but they made a very
bad return for this kindness;
For in the night they seized upon one of
the schoolmaster's boys, who had fallen asleep under the Bentang tree,
and carried him away. The boy fortunately awoke before he was far from
the village, and setting up a loud scream, the man who carried him put
his hand upon his mouth, and ran with him into the woods; but afterwards
understanding that he belonged to the schoolmaster, whose place of
residence is only three days' journey distant, he thought, I suppose,
that he could not retain him as a slave without the schoolmaster's
knowledge; and therefore stripped off the boy's clothes, and permitted
him to return.
April 28th. Early in the morning we departed from Sooseeta, and about ten
o'clock, came to an unwalled town called Manna, the inhabitants of which
were employed in collecting the fruit of the nitta trees, which are very
numerous in this neighbourhood. The pods are long and narrow, and contain
a few black seeds enveloped in the fine mealy powder before mentioned,
the meal itself is of a bright yellow colour, resembling the flour of
sulphur, and has a sweet mucilaginous taste; when eaten by itself it is
clammy, but when mixed with milk or water, it constitutes a very pleasant
and nourishing article of diet.
The language of the people of Manna is the same that is spoken all over
that extensive and hilly country called Jallonkadoo. Some of the words
have great affinity to the Mandingo, but the natives themselves consider
it as a distinct language. Their numerals are these: -
One _Kidding_.
Two _Fidding_.
Three _Sarra_.
Four _Nani_.
Five _Soolo_.
Six _Seni_.
Seven _Soolo ma fidding_.
Eight _Soolo ma sarra_.
Nine _Soolo ma nani_.
Ten _Nuff_.
The Jallonkas, like the Mandingoes, are governed by a number of petty
chiefs, who are in a great measure independent of each other: they have
no common sovereign; and the chiefs are seldom upon such terms of
friendship as to assist each other even in war time. The chief of Manna,
with a number of his people, accompanied us to the banks of the Bafing,
or Black river, (a principal branch of the Senegal,) which we crossed
upon a bridge of bamboos of a very singular construction. The river at
this place is smooth and deep, and has very little current. Two tall
trees, when tied together by the tops, are sufficiently long to reach
from one side to the other; the roots resting upon the rocks, and the
tops floating in the water. When a few trees have been placed in this
direction, they are covered with dry bamboos, so as to form a floating
bridge, with a sloping gangway at each end, where the trees rest upon the
rocks. This bridge is carried away every year by the swelling of the
river in the rainy season, and is constantly rebuilt by the inhabitants
of Manna, who, on that account, expect a small tribute from every
passenger.
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