These Considerations,
And The Aversion I Felt At The Idea Of Returning Without Having Made
A Greater Progress In Discovery,
Made sue determine to go forward;
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. He then inquired very
particularly how I had been treated since I had left the Gambia, and
asked, in a jocular way, how many slaves I expected to carry home
with me on my return. He was about to proceed when a man mounted on
a fine Moorish horse, which was covered with sweat and foam, entered
the court, and signifying that he had something of importance to
communicate, the king immediately took up his sandals, which is the
signal to strangers to retire. I accordingly took leave, but
desired my boy to stay about the place, in order to learn something
of the intelligence that this messenger had brought. In about an
hour the boy returned, and informed me that the Bambarra army had
left Fooladoo, and was on its march towards Kaarta; that the man I
had seen, who had brought this intelligence, was one of the scouts,
or watchmen, employed by the king, each of whom has his particular
station (commonly on some rising ground) from whence he has the best
view of the country, and watches the motions of the enemy.
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