The King's Drummer, With Whom They
Lodged, Told Them, That There Was In The Country A Book Which Had Also
Belonged To The White Man.
A few days afterwards, the king came to the
house, followed by a man, who carried under his arm a book wrapped in a
large cotton cloth.
"Our hearts beat high with expectation, as the man
was slowly unfolding it, for by its size we guessed it to be Mr. Park's
journal; but our disappointment was great, when, on opening the book, we
discovered it to be an old nautical publication of the last century." It
consisted chiefly of tables of logarithms, and between the leaves were a
few loose papers of very little consequence.
In a few days, a canoe was ready for their voyage up the Niger to
Yaoorie. The canoe was of great length, and constructed of two blocks of
wood sewn together with a thick cord, under which a quantity of straw was
placed, both inside and out, to prevent the admission of water. Still it
was leaky and insecure. The direction of that branch of the river which
flows past Boussa is nearly east and west, and they had to descend the
stream for some distance, in order to get into its main branch, where
there was deeper water. The river then flowed from north to south,
through a fertile country, and its channel was more than a mile in width.
The branches of spreading and majestic trees almost met the water's edge;
ripe grain waved upon the banks; large villages were frequently seen; and
herds of spotted cattle grazed beneath the shade.
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