Wished
to accompany us; but in order to avoid the crowd of people which
usually assembled in the evening we went to a negro village to the
east of Dalli, called Samee, where we were kindly received by the
hospitable dooty, who on this occasion killed two fine sheep, and
invited his friends to come and feast with him.
March 7. - Our landlord was so proud of the honour of entertaining a
white man that he insisted on my staying with him and his friends
until the cool of the evening, when he said he would conduct me to
the next village. As I was now within two days' journey of Goomba,
I had no apprehensions from the Moors, and readily accepted the
invitation. I spent the forenoon very pleasantly with these poor
negroes; their company was the more acceptable, as the gentleness of
their manners presented a striking contrast to the rudeness and
barbarity of the Moors. They enlivened their conversation by
drinking a fermented liquor made from corn - the same sort of beer
that I have described in a former chapter; and better I never tasted
in Great Britain.
In the midst of this harmless festivity, I flattered myself that all
danger from the Moors was over. Fancy had already placed me on the
banks of the Niger, and presented to my imagination a thousand
delightful scenes in my future progress, when a party of Moors
unexpectedly entered the hut, and dispelled the golden dream.
