On Entering The Court In Which The King Was Sitting, I Was Astonished At The Number Of His Attendants, And

At the good order that seemed to prevail among them; they were all seated, the fighting men on the king's

Right hand, and the women and children on the left, leaving a space between them for my passage. The king, whose name was Daisy Koorabarri, was not to be distinguished from his subjects by any superiority in point of dress; a bank of earth about two feet high, upon which was spread a leopard's skin, constituted the only mark of royal dignity. When I had seated myself upon the ground before him, and related the various circumstances that had induced me to pass through his country, and my reasons for soliciting his protection, he appeared perfectly satisfied; but said it was not in his power at present to afford me much assistance; for that all sort of communication between Kaarta and Bambarra had been interrupted for some time past; and as Mansong, the King of Bambarra, with his army had entered Fooladoo in his way to Kaarta, there was but little hope of my reaching Bambarra by any of the usual routes, inasmuch as, coming from an enemy's country, I should certainly be plundered or taken for a spy. If his country had been at peace, he said, I might have remained with him until a more favourable opportunity offered; but as matters stood at present, he did not wish me to continue in Kaarta, for fear some accident should befal me, in which case my countrymen might say that he had murdered a white man. He would therefore advise me to return into Kasson, and remain there until the war should terminate, which would probably happen in the course of three or four months; after which, if he was alive, he said, he would be glad to see me, and if he was dead, his sons would take care of me.

This advice was certainly well meant on the part of the king; and perhaps I was to blame in not following it; but I reflected that the hot months were approaching; and I dreaded the thoughts of spending the rainy season in the interior of Africa. These considerations, and the aversion I felt at the idea of returning without having made a greater progress in discovery, made me determine to go forwards; and though the king could not give me a guide to Bambarra, I begged that he would allow a man to accompany me as near the frontiers of his kingdom as was consistent with safety. Finding that I was determined to proceed, the king told me that one route still remained, but that, he said, was by no means free from danger; which was to go from Kaarta into the Moorish kingdom of Ludamar, from whence I might pass, by a circuitous route, into Bambarra. If I wished to follow this route, he would appoint people to conduct me to Jarra, the frontier town of Ludamar.

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