I
Passed In The Course Of This Day The Ruins Of Three Towns, The
Inhabitants Of Which Were All Carried Away By Daisy, King Of Kaarta,
On The Same Day That He Took And Plundered Yamina.
Near one of
these ruins I climbed a tamarind-tree, but found the fruit quite
green and sour, and
The prospect of the country was by no means
inviting, for the high grass and bushes seemed completely to
obstruct the road, and the low lands were all so flooded by the
river, that the Niger had the appearance of an extensive lake. In
the evening I arrived at Kanika, where the dooty, who was sitting
upon an elephant's hide at the gate, received me kindly, and gave me
for supper some milk and meal, which I considered (as to a person in
my situation it really was) a very great luxury.
August 18. - By mistake I took the wrong road, and did not discover
my error until I had travelled nearly four miles, when, coming to an
eminence, I observed the Niger considerably to the left. Directing
my course towards it, I travelled through long grass and bushes with
great difficulty until two o'clock in thee afternoon, when I came to
a comparatively small but very rapid river, which I took at first
for a creek, or one of the streams of the Niger. However, after I
had examined it with more attention, I was convinced that it was a
distinct river, and as the road evidently crossed it (for I could
see the pathway on the opposite side), I sat down upon the bank in
hopes that some traveller might arrive who would give me the
necessary information concerning the fording-place - for the banks
were so covered with reeds and bushes that it would have been almost
impossible to land on the other side, except at the pathway, which,
on account of the rapidity of the stream, it seemed very difficult
to reach. No traveller however arriving, and there being a great
appearance of rain, I examined the grass and bushes for some way up
the bank, and determined upon entering the river considerably above
the pathway, in order to reach the other side before the stream had
swept me too far down. With this view I fastened my clothes upon
the saddle, and was standing up to the neck in water, pulling my
horse by the bridle to make him follow me, where a man came
accidentally to the place, and seeing me in the water, called to me
with great vehemence to come out. The alligators, he said, would
devour both me and my horse, if we attempted to swim over. When I
had got out, the stranger, who had never before seen a European,
seemed wonderfully surprised. He twice put his hand to his mouth,
exclaiming, in a low tone of voice, "God preserve me! who is this?"
but when he heard me speak the Bambarra tongue, and found that I was
going the same way as himself, he promised to assist me in crossing
the river, the name of which he said was Frina.
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