At daybreak my fellow-travellers, the Serawoollies, took
leave of me, with many prayers for my safety. About a mile from Ganado,
we crossed a considerable branch of the Gambia called Neriko. The banks
were steep, and covered with _mimosas_; and I observed in the mud a
number of large muscles, but the natives do not eat them. About noon, the
sun being exceedingly hot, we rested two hours in the shade of a tree,
and purchased some milk and pounded corn from some Foulah herdsmen, and
at sunset reached a town called Koorkarany, where the blacksmith had some
relations; and here we rested two days.
Koorkarany is a Mahomedan town, surrounded by a high wall, and is
provided with a mosque. Here I was shown a number of Arabic manuscripts,
particularly a copy of the book before mentioned, called _Al Shara_. The
_Maraboo_ or priest, in whose possession it was, read and explained to me
in Mandingo, many of the most remarkable passages; and in return I showed
him Richardson's Arabic grammar which he very much admired. On the
evening of the second day (Dec. 17th) we departed from Koorkarany. We
were joined by a young man who was travelling to Fatteconda for salt; and
as night set in we reached Dooggi, a small village about three miles from
Koorkarany.
Provisions were here so cheap that I purchased a bullock for six small
stones of amber; for I found my company increase or diminish according to
the good fare they met with.
