They
Continued To Dance And Sing Until Midnight, During Which Time I Was
Surrounded By So Great A Crowd As Made It Necessary For Me To
Satisfy Their Curiosity By Sitting Still.
March 6.
- We stopped here this morning because some of the
townspeople, who were going for Goomba on the day following, wished
to accompany us; but in order to avoid the crowd of people which
usually assembled in the evening we went to a negro village to the
east of Dalli, called Samee, where we were kindly received by the
hospitable dooty, who on this occasion killed two fine sheep, and
invited his friends to come and feast with him.
March 7. - Our landlord was so proud of the honour of entertaining a
white man that he insisted on my staying with him and his friends
until the cool of the evening, when he said he would conduct me to
the next village. As I was now within two days' journey of Goomba,
I had no apprehensions from the Moors, and readily accepted the
invitation. I spent the forenoon very pleasantly with these poor
negroes; their company was the more acceptable, as the gentleness of
their manners presented a striking contrast to the rudeness and
barbarity of the Moors. They enlivened their conversation by
drinking a fermented liquor made from corn - the same sort of beer
that I have described in a former chapter; and better I never tasted
in Great Britain.
In the midst of this harmless festivity, I flattered myself that all
danger from the Moors was over. Fancy had already placed me on the
banks of the Niger, and presented to my imagination a thousand
delightful scenes in my future progress, when a party of Moors
unexpectedly entered the hut, and dispelled the golden dream. They
came, they said, by Ali's orders, to convey me to his camp at
Benowm. If I went peaceably, they told me, I had nothing to fear;
but if I refused they had orders to bring me by force. I was struck
dumb by surprise and terror, which the Moors observing endeavoured
to calm my apprehensions by repeating the assurance that I had
nothing to fear. Their visit, they added, was occasioned by the
curiosity of Ali's wife Fatima, who had heard so much about
Christians that she was very anxious to see one: as soon as her
curiosity should be satisfied, they had no doubt, they said, that
Ali would give me a handsome present, and send a person to conduct
me to Bambarra. Finding entreaty and resistance equally fruitless,
I prepared to follow the messengers, and took leave of my landlord
and his company with great reluctance. Accompanied by my faithful
boy (for Daman's slave made his escape on seeing the Moors), we
reached Dalli in the evening, where we were strictly watched by the
Moors during the night.
March 8. - We were conducted by a circuitous path through the woods
to Dangali, where we slept.
March 9.
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