Can be
little doubt of its being the lotus mentioned by Pliny as the food of
the Lybian Lotophagi. An army may very well have been fed with the bread
I have tasted, made of the meal of the fruit, as is said by Pliny to have
been done in Lybia; and as the taste of the bread is sweet and agreeable,
it is not likely that the soldiers would complain of it.
We arrived in the evening at the village of Toorda; when all the rest of
the king's people turned back except two, who remained with me as guides
to Jarra.
Feb. 15th. I departed from Toorda, and about two o'clock came to a
considerable town called Funingkedy. As we approached the town the
inhabitants were much alarmed; for, as one of my guides wore a turban,
they mistook us for some Moorish banditti. This misapprehension was soon
cleared up, and we were well received by a Gambia Slatee, who resides at
this town, and at whose house we lodged.
Feb. 16th. We were informed that a number of people would go from this
town to Jarra on the day following; and as the road was much infested by
the Moors, we resolved to stay and accompany the travellers. In the
meantime, we were told, that a few days before our arrival, most of the
Bushreens and people of property in Funingkedy had gone to Jarra, to
consult about removing their families and effects to that town, for fear
of the approaching war; and that the Moors, in their absence, had stolen
some of their cattle.
About two o'clock, as I was lying asleep upon a bullock's hide behind the
door of the hut, I was awakened by the screams of women, and a general
clamour and confusion among the inhabitants. At first I suspected that
the Bambarrans had actually entered the town; but observing my boy upon
the top of one of the huts, I called to him to know what was the matter.
He informed me that the Moors were come a second time to steal the
cattle, and that they were now close to the town. I mounted the roof of
the hut, and observed a large herd of bullocks coming towards the town,
followed by five Moors on horseback, who drove the cattle forward with
their muskets. When they had reached the wells, which are close to the
town, the Moors selected from the herd sixteen of the finest beasts, and
drove them off at full gallop.
During this transaction, the townspeople, to the number of five hundred,
stood collected close to the walls of the town; and when the Moors drove
the cattle away, though they passed within pistol shot of them, the
inhabitants scarcely made a show of resistance.
