Transcriber.]) Which Pass Current As Money
In Many Parts Of The East Indies As Well As Africa.
In Bambarra, and
the adjacent countries, where the necessaries of life are very cheap,
one hundred of them would commonly purchase a day's provisions for
myself, and corn for my horse.
I reckoned about two hundred and fifty
Kowries equal to one shilling.
CHAPTER XVI.
_Departure from Sego, and arrival at Kabba. - Description of the shea, or
vegetable butter tree. - The Author and his guide arrive at
Sansanding. - Behaviour of the Moors at that place. - The Author pursues
his journey to the eastward. - Incidents on the road. - Arrives at Modiboo,
and proceeds for Kea; but obliged to leave his horse by the way. - Embarks
at Kea in a fisherman's canoe for Moorzan; is conveyed from thence across
the Niger to Silla - determines to proceed no further eastward. - Some
account of the further course of the Niger, and the towns in its
vicinage, towards the East._
Being, in the manner that has been related; compelled to leave Sego, I
was conducted the same evening to a village about seven miles to the
eastward, with some of the inhabitants of which my guide was acquainted,
and by whom we were well received.[13] He was very friendly and
communicative, and spoke highly of the hospitality of his countrymen; but
withal told me, that if Jenne was the place of my destination, which he
seemed to have hitherto doubted, I had undertaken an enterprise of
greater danger than probably I was apprized of; for, although the town of
Jenne was nominally a part of the King of Bambarra's dominions, it was,
in fact, he said, a city of the Moors; the leading part of the
inhabitants being Bushreens, and even the governor himself, though
appointed by Mansong, of the same sect. Thus was I in danger of falling a
second time into the hands of men who would consider it not only
justifiable; but meritorious, to destroy me; and this reflection was
aggravated by the circumstance that the danger increased as I advanced in
my journey; for I learned that the places beyond Jenne were under the
Moorish influence, in a still greater degree than Jenne itself; and
Tombuctoo, the great object of my search, altogether in possession of
that savage and merciless people, who allow no Christian to live there.
But I had now advanced too far to think of returning to the westward, on
such vague and uncertain information, and determined to proceed; and
being accompanied by the guide, I departed from the village on the
morning of the 24th. About eight o'clock, we passed a large town called
Kabba, situated in the midst of a beautiful and highly cultivated
country; bearing a greater resemblance to the centre of England, than to
what I should have supposed had been the middle of Africa. The people
were everywhere employed in collecting the fruit of the Shea trees, from
which they prepare the vegetable butter, mentioned in former parts of
this work. These trees grow in great abundance all over this part of
Bambarra. They are not planted by the natives, but are found growing
naturally in the woods; and in clearing wood land for cultivation, every
tree is cut down but the Shea. The tree itself very much resembles the
American oak; and the fruit, from the kernel of which, being first dried
in the sun, the butter is prepared by boiling the kernel in water, has
somewhat the appearance of a Spanish olive. The kernel is enveloped in a
sweet pulp under a thin green rind; and the butter produced from it,
besides the advantage of its keeping the whole year without salt, is
whiter, firmer, and, to my palate, of a richer flavour than the best
butter I ever tasted made from cow's milk. The growth and preparation of
this commodity seem to be among the first objects of African industry in
this and the neighbouring states; and it constitutes a main article of
their inland commerce.
[13] I should have before observed, that I found the language of
Bambarra a sort of corrupted Mandingo. After a little practice, I
understood and spoke it without difficulty.
We passed, in the course of the day, a great many villages, inhabited
chiefly by fishermen; and in the evening about five o'clock arrived at
Sansanding, a very large town, containing, as I was told, from eight to
ten thousand inhabitants. This place is much resorted to by the Moors,
who bring salt from Beeroo, and beads and coral from the Mediterranean,
to exchange here for gold-dust and cotton-cloth. This cloth they sell to
great advantage in Beeroo, and other Moorish countries, where, on account
of the want of rain, no cotton is cultivated.
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.
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