Departing From Thence, We Passed Several Large Villages, Where I Was
Constantly Taken For A Moor And Became The Subject Of Much Merriment
To The Bambarrans, Who, Seeing Me Drive My Horse Before Me, Laughed
Heartily At My Appearance.
"He has been at Mecca," says one, "you
may see that by his clothes;" another asked me if my horse was sick;
a third wished to purchase it, &c., so that, I believe, the very
slaves were ashamed to be seen in my company.
Just before it was
dark we took up our lodging for the night at a small village, where
I procured some victuals for myself and some corn for my horse, at
the moderate price of a button; and was told that I should see the
Niger (which the negroes call Joliba, or the Great Water) early the
next day. The lions are here very numerous; the gates are shut a
little after sunset, and nobody allowed to go out. The thoughts of
seeing the Niger in the morning, and the troublesome buzzing of
mosquitoes, prevented me from shutting my eyes during the night; and
I had saddled my horse, and was in readiness before daylight, but,
on account of the wild beasts, we were obliged to wait until the
people were stirring and the gates opened. This happened to be a
market day at Sego, and the roads were everywhere filled with people
carrying different articles to sell. We passed four large villages,
and at eight o'clock saw the smoke over Sego.
As we approached the town I was fortunate enough to overtake the
fugitive Kaartans, to whose kindness I had been so much indebted in
my journey through Bambarra. They readily agreed to introduce me to
the king; and we rode together through some marshy ground, where, as
I was anxiously looking around for the river, one of them called
out, Geo affili! ("See the water!") and, looking forwards, I saw
with infinite pleasure the great object of my mission - the long-
sought-for majestic Niger, glittering in the morning sun, as broad
as the Thames at Westminster, and flowing slowly to THE EASTWARD. I
hastened to the brink, and having drunk of the water, lifted up my
fervent thanks in prayer to the Great Ruler of all things for having
thus far crowned my endeavours with success.
The circumstance of the Niger's flowing towards the east, and its
collateral points, did not, however, excite my surprise, for,
although I had left Europe in great hesitation on this subject, and
rather believed that it ran in the contrary direction, I had made
such frequent inquiries during my progress concerning this river,
and received from the negroes of different nations such clear and
decisive assurances that its general course was TOWARDS THE RISING
SUN, as scarce left any doubt on my mind, and more especially as I
knew that Major Houghton had collected similar information in the
same manner.
Sego, the capital of Bambarra, at which I had now arrived, consists,
properly speaking, of four distinct towns - two on the northern bank
of the Niger, called Sego Korro and Sego Boo; and two on the
southern bank, called Sego Soo Korro and Sego See Korro.
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