This Contrivance Produced A
Ludicrous Appearance, But My Fellow-Travellers Told Me It Was Constantly
Adopted By The Slatees, And Always Proved Effectual.
In the evening we arrived at a few scattered villages, surrounded with
extensive cultivation; a tone of which, called Buggil, we passed the
night in a miserable hut, having no other bed than a bundle of corn
stalks, and no provisions but what we brought with us.
The wells here are
dug with great ingenuity, and are very deep. I measured one of the
bucket-ropes, and found the depth of the well to be 28 fathoms.
Dec. 19th. We departed from Buggil, and travelled along a dry, stony
height, covered with _mimosas_ till mid-day; when the land sloped towards
the east, and we descended into a deep valley, in which I observed
abundance of whin stone and white quartz. Pursuing our course to the
eastward, along this valley, in the bed of an exhausted river course, we
came to a large village, where we intended to lodge. We found many of the
natives dressed in a thin French gauze, which they call _Byqui_; this
being a light airy dress, and well calculated to display the shape of
their persons, is much esteemed by the ladies. The manners of these
females, however, did not correspond with their dress; for they were rude
and troublesome in the highest degree; they surrounded me in numbers,
begging for amber, beads, &c.; and were so vehement in their
solicitations, that I found it impossible to resist them. They tore my
cloak, cut the buttons from my boy's clothes, and were proceeding to
other outrages, when I mounted my horse and rode off, followed for half a
mile by a body of these harpies.
In the evening we reached Soobrudooka, and as my company was numerous,
(being fourteen,) I purchased a sheep, and abundance of corn for supper
after which we lay down by the bundles, and passed an uncomfortable night
in a heavy dew.
Dec. 20th. We departed from Soobrudooka, and at two o'clock reached a
large village situated on the banks of the Faleme River, which is here
rapid and rocky. The natives were employed in fishing in various ways.
The large fish were taken in long baskets made of split cane, and placed
in a strong current which was created by walls of stone built across the
stream, certain open places being left, through which the water rushed
with great force. Some of these baskets were more than 20 feet long, and
when once the fish had entered one of them, the force of the stream
prevented it from returning. The small fish were taken in great numbers
in hand-nets, which the natives weave of cotton, and use with great
dexterity. The fish last mentioned are about the size of sprats, and are
prepared for sale in different ways; the most common is by pounding them
entire as they come from the stream in a wooden mortar, and exposing them
to dry in the sun, in large lumps like sugar loaves.
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