The Old
Man Made Many Frivolous Objections; And At Length Gave Me To Understand,
That I Must Not Think Of
Departing, without first paying him the same
duties he was entitled to receive from all travellers; besides which, he
expected,
He said, some acknowledgment for his kindness towards me.
Accordingly, on the morning of the 9th, my friend Demba, with a number of
people, came to me, and said that they were sent by Tiggity Sego for my
present, and wished to see what goods I had appropriated for that
purpose. I knew that resistance was hopeless, and complaint unavailing;
and being in some measure prepared, by the intimation I had received the
night before, I quietly offered him seven bars of amber and five of
tobacco. After surveying these articles for some time very coolly, Demba
laid them down, and told me this, was not a present for a man of Tiggity
Sego's consequence, who had it in his power to take whatever he pleased
from me. He added, that if I did not consent to make him a larger
offering, he would carry all my baggage to his father and let him choose
for himself. I had not time for reply; for Demba and his attendants
immediately began to open my bundles, and spread the different articles
upon the floor, where they underwent a more strict examination than they
had done at Joag. Every thing that pleased them they took without
scruple; and amongst other things, Demba seized the tin box, which had so
much attracted his attention in crossing the river. Upon collecting the
scattered remains of my little fortune after these people had left me, I
found that as at Joag I had been plundered of half, so here, without even
the shadow of accusation, I was deprived of half the remainder. The
blacksmith himself, though a native of Kasson, had also been compelled to
open his bundles, and take an oath that the different articles they
contained were his own exclusive property. There was, however, no remedy;
and having been under some obligation to Demba Sego for his attention
towards me in the journey from Joag, I did not reproach him for his
rapacity, but determined to quit Teesee at all events the next morning.
In the meanwhile, in order to raise the drooping spirits of my
attendants, I purchased a fat sheep, and had it dressed for our dinner.
Early in the morning of January 10th, therefore, I left Teesee, and about
mid-day ascended a ridge, from whence we had a distant view of the hills
round Kooniakary. In the evening we reached a small village, where we
slept, and departing from thence the next morning, crossed in a few hours
a narrow but deep stream called Krieko, a branch of the Senegal. About
two miles farther to the eastward, we passed a large town called Madina;
and at two o'clock came in sight of Jumbo, the blacksmith's native town,
from whence he had been absent more than four years.
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