The Language Of The Feloops Is Appropriate And Peculiar; And As
Their Trade Is Chiefly Conducted, As Hath Been Observed, By
Mandingoes, The Europeans Have No Inducement To Learn It.
On the 26th we left Vintain, and continued our course up the river,
anchoring whenever the tide failed us, and frequently towing the
vessel with the boat.
The river is deep and muddy; the banks are
covered with impenetrable thickets of mangrove; and the whole of the
adjacent country appears to be flat and swampy.
The Gambia abounds with fish, some species of which are excellent
food; but none of them that I recollect are known in Europe. At the
entrance from the sea sharks are found in great abundance, and,
higher up, alligators and the hippopotamus (or river-horse) are very
numerous.
In six days after leaving Vintain we reached Jonkakonda, a place of
considerable trade, where our vessel was to take in part of her
lading. The next morning the several European traders came from
their different factories to receive their letters, and learn the
nature and amount of her cargo; and the captain despatched a
messenger to Dr. Laidley to inform him of my arrival. He came to
Jonkakonda the morning following, when I delivered him Mr. Beaufoy's
letter, and he gave me a kind invitation to spend my time at his
house until an opportunity should offer of prosecuting my journey.
This invitation was too acceptable to be refused, and being
furnished by the Doctor with a horse and guide, I set out from
Jonkakonda at daybreak on the 5th of July, and at eleven o'clock
arrived at Pisania, where I was accommodated with a room and other
conveniences in the Doctor's house.
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