Travels Of Richard And John Lander Into The Interior Of Africa For The Discovery Of The Course And Termination Of The Niger By Robert Huish
- Page 94 of 587 - First - Home
The Stings Were Picked Out, And Her Wounds
Washed And Anointed, But She Refused To Proceed Further.
The slatees
by the whip forced her to proceed about four or five hours longer,
when, attempting to run away, she fell down with extreme weakness.
Again was the whip applied, but ineffectually; the unfortunate slave
was unable to rise.
After attempting to place her upon an ass, on
which she could not sit erect, a litter of bamboo canes was made,
upon which she was tied with slips of bark, and carried on the heads
of two slaves for the remainder of the day. The coffle halted at the
foot of a high hill, called Gankaran-kooro. The travellers had only
eaten one handful of meal each during the day's journey, exposed to
the ardour of a tropical sun. The slaves were much fatigued, and
showed great discontent; several snapt their fingers, a certain
mark of desperation. They were all immediately put in irons, and
those who had shown signs of despondency were kept apart.
In the morning, however, they were greatly recovered, except poor
Nealee, who could neither walk nor stand, she was accordingly placed
upon an ass, her hands being fastened together under the neck, and
her feet under the belly, to secure her situation. The beast,
however, was unruly, and Nealee was soon thrown off, and one of her
legs was much bruised. As it was found impossible to carry her
forward, the general cry of the coffle was, "Kang tegi! kang tegi!"
(Cut her throat! cut her throat!) Mr. Park proceeded forwards with
the foremost of the coffle, to avoid seeing this operation performed,
but soon after he learned that Karfa and the schoolmaster would not
agree to have her killed, but had left her on the road. Her fate
diffused melancholy throughout the whole coffle, notwithstanding the
outcry before mentioned, and the schoolmaster fasted the whole day in
consequence of it. The coffle soon after crossed the Furkoomah, a
river the same size as the Wonda, and travelled so expeditiously,
that Mr. Park with difficulty kept up with it.
On the 26th April, the coffle ascended a rocky hill, called
Bokikooro, and in the afternoon, entering a valley, forded the Bold,
a smooth and clear river. About a mile westward of this river,
discovering the marks of horses' feet, they were afraid that a party
of plunderers were in the neighbourhood; and to avoid discovery and
pursuit, the coffle travelled in a dispersed manner through the high
grass and bushes.
The following day, hoping to reach a town before night, they passed
expeditiously through extensive thickets of bamboos. At a stream
called Nuncolo, each person ate a handful of meal, moistened with
water, in compliance with some superstitious custom. In the
afternoon, they arrived at Sooseta, a Jallonka village, in the
district of Kullo, a tract of country lying along the banks of the
Black River; and the first human habitation they had met with in a
journey of five days, over more than a hundred miles.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 94 of 587
Words from 48763 to 49272
of 309561