A Messenger Was
Despatched To Ali, Who At This Time Was Encamped Near Benowm; And As
A Present Was Necessary In Order To Insure Success, I Sent Him Five
Garments Of Cotton Cloth, Which I Purchased Of Daman For One Of My
Fowling-Pieces.
Fourteen days elapsed in settling this affair; but
on the evening of the 26th of February, one of Ali's
Slaves arrived
with directions, as he pretended, to conduct me in safety as far as
Goomba, and told me I was to pay him one garment of blue cotton
cloth for his attendance. My faithful boy, observing that I was
about to proceed without him, resolved to accompany me; and told me,
that though he wished me to turn back, he never entertained any
serious thoughts of deserting me, but had been advised to it by
Johnson, with a view to induce me to turn immediately for Gambia.
February 27. - I delivered most of my papers to Johnson, to convey
them to Gambia as soon as possible, reserving a duplicate for myself
in case of accidents. I likewise left in Daman's possession a
bundle of clothes, and other things that were not absolutely
necessary, for I wished to diminish my baggage as much as possible,
that the Moors might have fewer inducements to plunder us.
Things being thus adjusted, we departed from Jarra in the forenoon,
and slept at Troomgoomba, a small walled village, inhabited by a
mixture of negroes and Moors. On the day following (February 28th)
we reached Quira; and on the 29th, after a toilsome journey over a
sandy country, we came to Compe, a watering-place belonging to the
Moors; from whence, on the morning following, we proceeded to Deena,
a large town, and, like Jarra, built of stone and clay.
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