I Desired My Guide To Conduct Me To The House In Which We Were To
Lodge By The Most Private Way Possible.
We accordingly rode along
between the town and the river, passing by a creek or harbour, in
which I observed twenty large canoes, most of them fully loaded, and
covered with mats to prevent the rain from injuring the goods.
As
we proceeded, three other canoes arrived, two with passengers and
one with goods. I was happy to find that all the negro inhabitants
took me for a Moor, under which character I should probably have
passed unmolested, had not a Moor, who was sitting by the river-
side, discovered the mistake, and, setting up a loud exclamation,
brought together a number of his countrymen.
When I arrived at the house of Counti Mamadi, the dooty of the town,
I was surrounded with hundreds of people speaking a variety of
different dialects, all equally unintelligible to me. At length, by
the assistance of my guide, who acted as interpreter, I understood
that one of the spectators pretended to have seen me at one place,
and another at some other place; and a Moorish woman absolutely
swore that she had kept my house three years at Gallam, on the river
Senegal. It was plain that they mistook me for some other person,
and I desired two of the most confident to point towards the place
where they had seen me. They pointed due south; hence I think it
probable that they came from Cape Coast, where they might have seen
many white men. Their language was different from any I had yet
heard. The Moors now assembled in great number, with their usual
arrogance, compelling the negroes to stand at a distance. They
immediately began to question me concerning my religion, but finding
that I was not master of Arabic, they sent for two men, whom they
call Ilhuidi (Jews), in hopes that they might be able to converse
with me. These Jews, in dress and appearance, very much resemble
the Arabs; but though they so far conform to the religion of
Mohammed as to recite in public prayers from the Koran, they are but
little respected by the negroes; and even the Moors themselves
allowed that, though I was a Christian, I was a better man than a
Jew. They however insisted that, like the Jews, I must conform so
far as to repeat the Mohammedan prayers; and when I attempted to
waive the subject by telling them that I could not speak Arabic, one
of them, a shereef from Tuat, in the Great Desert, started up and
swore by the Prophet that if I refused to go to the mosque, he would
be one that would assist in carrying me thither; and there is no
doubt that this threat would have been immediately executed had not
my landlord interposed on my behalf. He told them that I was the
king's stranger, and he could not see me ill-treated whilst I was
under his protection. He therefore advised them to let me alone for
the night, assuring them that in the morning I should be sent about
my business. This somewhat appeased their clamour, but they
compelled me to ascend a high seat by the door of the mosque, in
order that everybody might see me, for the people had assembled in
such numbers as to be quite ungovernable, climbing upon the houses,
and squeezing each other, like the spectators at an execution. Upon
this seat I remained until sunset, when I was conducted into a neat
little hut, with a small court before it, the door of which Counti
Mamadi shut, to prevent any person from disturbing me. But this
precaution could not exclude the Moors. They climbed over the top
of the mud wall, and came in crowds into the court, "in order," they
said, "to see me PERFORM MY EVENING DEVOTIONS, AND EAT EGGS." The
former of these ceremonies I did not think proper to comply with,
but I told them I had no objection to eat eggs, provided they would
bring me eggs to eat. My landlord immediately brought me seven
hen's eggs, and was much surprised to find that I could not eat them
raw; for it seems to be a prevalent opinion among the inhabitants of
the interior that Europeans subsist almost entirely on this diet.
When I had succeeded in persuading my landlord that this opinion was
without foundation, and that I would gladly partake of any victuals
which he might think proper to send me, he ordered a sheep to be
killed, and part of it to be dressed for my supper. About midnight,
when the Moors had left me, he paid me a visit, and with much
earnestness desired me to write him a saphie. "If a Moor's saphie
is good," said this hospitable old man, "a white man's must needs be
better." I readily furnished him with one, possessed of all the
virtues I could concentrate, for it contained the Lord's Prayer.
The pen with which it was written was made of a reed; a little
charcoal and gum-water made very tolerable ink, and a thin board
answered the purpose of paper.
July 25. - Early in the morning, before the Moors were assembled, I
departed from Sansanding, and slept the ensuing night at a small
town called Sibili, from whence on the day following I reached
Nyara, a large town at some distance from the river, where I halted
the 27th, to have my clothes washed, and recruit my horse. The
dooty there has a very commodious house, flat-roofed, and two
storeys high. He showed me some gunpowder of his own manufacturing;
and pointed out, as a great curiosity, a little brown monkey that
was tied to a stake by the door, telling me that it came from a far
distant country called Kong.
July 28. - I departed from Nyara, and reached Nyamee about noon.
This town is inhabited chiefly by Foulahs from the kingdom of
Masina.
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