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 protections, 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 befall 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.
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