Here One Of The Slaves
Belonging To The Coffle, Who Had Travelled With Great Difficulty For
The Last Three Days, Was Found Unable To Proceed Any Farther:
His
master (a singing man) proposed therefore to exchange him for a
young slave girl belonging to one of the townspeople.
The poor girl
was ignorant of her fate until the bundles were all tied up in the
morning, and the coffle ready to depart, when, coming with some
other young women to see the coffle set out, her master took her by
the hand, and delivered her to the singing man. Never was a face of
serenity more suddenly changed into one of the deepest distress; the
terror she manifested on having the load put upon her head and the
rope fastened round her neck, and the sorrow with which she bade
adieu to her companions, were truly affecting. About nine o'clock
we crossed a large plain covered with ciboa-trees (a species of
palm), and came to the river Nerico, a branch of the Gambia. This
was but a small river at this time, but in the rainy season it is
often dangerous to travellers. As soon as we had crossed this
river, the singing men began to vociferate a particular song,
expressive of their joy at having got safe into the west country,
or, as they expressed it, the land of the setting sun. The country
was found to be very level, and the soil a mixture of clay and sand.
In the afternoon it rained hard, and we had recourse to the common
negro umbrella, a large ciboa-leaf, which, being placed upon the
head, completely defends the whole body from the rain. We lodged
for the night under the shade of a large tabba-tree, near the ruins
of a village. On the morning following we crossed a stream called
Noulico, and about two o'clock, to my infinite joy, I saw myself
once more on the banks of the Gambia, which at this place, being
deep and smooth, is navigable; but the people told me that a little
lower down the stream is so shallow that the coffles frequently
cross it on foot.
June 2. - We departed from Seesukunda and passed a number of
villages, at none of which was the coffle permitted to stop,
although we were all very much fatigued. It was four o'clock in the
afternoon before we reached Baraconda, where we rested one day.
Departing from Baraconda on the morning of the 4th, we reached in a
few hours Medina, the capital of the king of Woolli's dominions,
from whom the reader may recollect I received an hospitable
reception in the beginning of December, 1795, in my journey
eastward. I immediately inquired concerning the health of my good
old benefactor, and learned with great concern that he was
dangerously ill. As Karfa would not allow the coffle to stop, I
could not present my respects to the king in person, but I sent him
word by the officer to whom we paid customs that his prayers for my
safety had not been unavailing.
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