The negro carried the body by a
leg and an arm, and threw it into the pit with a savage indifference
which I had never before seen.
As he covered the body with earth,
the dooty often expressed himself, "naphula attiniata" ("money
lost"), whence I concluded that the boy had been one of his slaves.
Departing from this shocking scene, I travelled by the side of the
river until sunset, when I came to Koolikorro, a considerable town,
and a great market for salt. Here I took up my lodging at the house
of a Bambarran, who had formerly been the slave of a Moor, and in
that character had travelled to Aroan, Towdinni, and many other
places in the Great Desert; but turning Mussulman, and his master
dying at Jenne, he obtained his freedom and settled at this place,
where he carries on a considerable trade in salt, cotton cloth, &c.
His knowledge of the world had not lessened that superstitious
confidence in saphies and charms which he had imbibed in his earlier
years, for when he heard that I was a Christian, he immediately
thought of procuring a saphie, and for this purpose brought out his
walha, or writing-board, assuring me that he would dress me a supper
of rice if I would write him a saphie to protect him from wicked
men. The proposal was of too great consequence to me to be refused.
I therefore wrote the board full, from top to bottom, on both sides;
and my landlord, to be certain of having the whole force of the
charm, washed the writing from the board into a calabash with a
little water, and having said a few prayers over it, drank this
powerful draught; after which, lest a single word should escape, he
licked the board until it was quite dry. A saphie-writer was a man
of too great consequence to be long concealed; the important
information was carried to the dooty, who sent his son with half a
sheet of writing-paper, desiring me to write him a naphula saphie (a
charm to procure wealth). He brought me, as a present, some meal
and milk, and when I had finished the saphie, and read it to him
with an audible voice, he seemed highly satisfied with his bargain,
and promised to bring me in the morning some milk for my breakfast.
When I had finished my supper of rice and salt, I laid myself down
upon a bullock's hide, and slept very quietly until morning, this
being the first good meal and refreshing sleep that I had enjoyed
for a long time.
August 21. - At daybreak I departed from Koolikorro, and about noon
passed the villages of Kayoo and Toolumbo. In the afternoon I
arrived at Marraboo, a large town, and, like Koolikorro, famous for
its trade in salt. I was conducted to the house of a Kaartan, of
the tribe of Jower, by whom I was well received. This man had
acquired a considerable property in the slave-trade, and, from his
hospitality to strangers, was called, by way of pre-eminence, jatee
(the landlord), and his house was a sort of public inn for all
travellers.
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