might enter his native town in a dignified manner; and he desired each of us to put a good charge of powder into our guns. The singing man now led the way, followed by the two brothers; and we were presently joined by a number of people from the town, all of whom demonstrated great joy at seeing their old acquaintance the blacksmith, by the most extravagant jumping and singing. On entering the town, the singing man began an extempore song in praise of the blacksmith, extolling his courage in having overcome so many difficulties, and concluding with a strict injunction to his friends to dress him plenty of victuals. When we arrived at the blacksmith's place of residence, we dismounted and fired our muskets. The meeting between him and his relations was very tender; for these rude children of nature, free from restraint, display their emotions in the strongest and most expressive manner. Amidst these transports, the blacksmith's aged mother was led forth, leaning upon a staff. Every one made way for her, and she stretched out her hand to bid her son welcome. Being totally blind, she stroked his hands, arms, and face, with great care, and seemed highly delighted, that her latter days were blessed by his return, and that her ears once more heard the music of his voice. From this interview I was fully convinced, that whatever difference there is between the Negro and European in the conformation of the nose and the colour of the skin, there is none in the genuine sympathies and characteristic feelings of our common náture. During the tumult of these congratulations, I had seated myself apart, by the side of one of the huts, being unwilling to interrupt the flow of filial and parental tenderness; and the attention of the company was so entirely taken up with the blacksmith, that I believe none of his friends had observed me. When all the people present had seated themselves, the blacksmith was desired by his father to give them some account of his adventures, and silence being commanded, he began; and after repeatedly thanking God for the success that had attended him, related every material occurrence that had happened to him, from his leaving Kasson to his arrival at the Gambia; his employment and success in those parts; and the dangers he had escaped in returning to his native country. In the latter part of his narration, he had frequently occasion to mention mc; and after many strong expressions concerning my kindness to him, he pointed to the place where I sat, and exclaimed, affiille ibi firing," see him sitting there." In a moment all eyes were turned upon me; I appeared like a being dropped from the clouds; every one was surprised that they had not observed me before; and a few women and children expressed great uneasiness at being so near a man of such an uncommon appearance. By degrees, however, their apprehensions subsided; and when the blacksmith assured them that I was perfectly inoffensive, and would hurt nobody, some of them ventured so far as to examine the texture of my clothes; but many of them were still very suspicious, and when by accident I happened to move myselfor look at the young children, their mothers would scamper off with them with the greatest precipitation. In a few hours, however, they all became reconciled to me. With these worthy people I spent the remainder of that, and the whole of the ensuing day, in feasting and merriment; and the blacksmith declared he would not quit me during my stay at Kooniakary, for which place we set out early on the morning of the 14th of January, and arrived about the middle of the day at Soolo, a small village three miles to the south of it. As this place was somewhat out of the direct road, it is necessary to observe, that I went thither to visit a Slatee, or Gambia trader, of great note and reputation, named Salim Daucari. He was well known to Dr. Laidley, who had trusted him with effects to the value of five slaves, and had given me an order for the whole of the debt. We luckily found him at home, and he received me with great kindness and attention. It is remarkable, however, that the king of Kasson was, by some means, immediately apprized of my motions; for I had been at Soolo but a few hours, before Sambo Sego, his second son, came with a party of horse, to enquire what had prevented me from proceeding to Kooniakary, and waiting immediately upon the king, who, he said, was impatient to see me. Salim Daucari made my apology, and promised to accompany me to Kooniakary the same evening; we accordingly departed from Soolo at sunset, and in about an hour entered Kooniakary. But as the king had gone to sleep, we deferred the interview till next morning, and slept at the hut of Sambo Sego. G My interview with the king, and the incidents which occurred to me in the kingdoms of Kasson and Kaarta, will be the subject of the ensuing chapter. CHAPTER VII. The Author is admitted to an audience of the king of Kasson, whom he finds well disposed towards him. Incidents during the author's stay at Kooniakary. Departs from thence to Kemmoo, the capital of Kaarta. Is received with great kindness by the king of Kaarta, who dissuades him from prosecuting his journey on account of approaching hostilities with the king of Bambarra. The author determines to proceed; and takes the path to Ludamar, a Moorish kingdom: Is accommodated by the King with a guide to Jarra, the frontier town of the Moorish territories, and proceeds for that place accompanied by three of the King's sons and two hundred horsemen. ABOUT eight o'clock in the morning of January 15, 1796, we went to an audience of the king, Demba Sego Jalla, but the croud of people to see me was so great, that I could scarcely get admittance. A passage being at length obtained, I made my bow to the monarch, whom we found sitting upon a mat, in a large hut; he appeared to be a man of about sixty years of age; his success in war, and the mildness of his behaviour in time of peace, had much endeared him to all his subjects: He surveyed me with great attention; and when Salim Daucari explained to him the object of my journey, and my reasons for passing through his country, the good old king appeared not only perfectly satisfied, but promised me every assistance in his power. He informed me that he had seen Major Houghton, and presented him with a white horse; but that after crossing the kingdom of Kaarta, he had lost his life among the Moors; in what manner he could not inform me. When this audience was ended we returned to our lodging, and I made up a small present for the king, out of the few effects that were left me; for I had not yet received any thing from Salim Dau cari. This present, though inconsiderable in itself, was well received by the king, who sent me in return a large white bullock. The sight of this animal quite delighted my attendants; not so much on account of its bulk, as from its being of a white colour; which is considered as a particular mark of favour. But although the king himself was well disposed towards me, and readily granted me permission to pass through his territories, I soon discovered that very great and unexpected obstacles were likely to impede my progress, Besides the war which was on the point of breaking out between Kasson and Kajaaga, I was told, that the next kingdom of Kaarta, through which my route lay, was involved in the issue; and was furthermore threatened with hostilities on the part of Bambara. The king himself informed me of these circumstances; and advised me to stay in the neighbourhood of Kooniakary, till such time as he could procure proper information respecting Bambarra, which he expected to do in the course of four or five days, as he had already, he said, sent four messengers into Kaarta for that purpose, I readily submitted to this proposal, and went to Soolo, to stay there till the return of one of those messengers. This afforded me a favourable opportunity of receiving what money Salim Daucari could spare me on Dr. Laidley's account. I succeeded in receiving the value of three slaves, chiefly in gold dust; and being anxious to proceed as quickly as possible, I begged Daucari to use his interest with the king, to allow me a guide by the way. of Fooladoo, as I was informed, that the war had already commenced between the kings of Bambarra and Kaarta. Daucari accordingly set out for Kooniakary on the morning of the 20th, and the same evening returned with the king's answer, which was to this purpose; that the king had many years ago, made an agreement with Daisey, king of Kaarta, to send all merchants and travellers through his dominions; but that if I wished to take the route through Fooladoo, I had his permission so to do; though he could not, consistently with his agreement, lend me a guide. Having felt the want of regal protection in a former part of my journey, I was unwilling to hazard a repetition of the hardships I had then experienced, especially, as the money I had received was probably the last supply I should obtain; I therefore determined to wait for the return of the messengers from Kaarta. In the interim, it began to be whispered abroad, that I had received plenty of gold from Salim Daucari; and on the morning of the 23d, Sambo Sego paid me a visit with a party of horsemen. He insisted upon knowing the exact amount of the money I had obtained; declaring, that whatever the sum was, one half of it must go to the king; besides which, he intimated that he expected a handsome present for himself, as being the king's son; and for his attendants, as being the king's relations. The reader will easily perceive, that if all these demands had been satisfied, I should not have been overburthened with money; but though it was very mortifying to me to comply with the demands of injustice, and so arbitrary an exaction, yet, thinking it was highly dangerous to make a foolish resistance, and irritate the lion when within reach of his paw, I prepared to submit; and if Salim Daucari had not interposed, all my endeavours to mitigate this oppressive claim would have been of no avail. Salim at last prevailed upon Sambo to accept sixteen bars of European merchandize, and some powder and ball, as a complete payment of every demand that could be made upon me in the kingdom of Kasson. January 26th, in the forenoon, I went to the top of a high hill to the Southward of Soolo, where I had a most enchanting prospect of the country. The number of towns and villages, and the extensive cultivation around them, surpassed every thing I had yet seen in Africa. A gross calcula tion may be formed of the number of inhabitants in this delightful plain, by considering, that the king of Kasson can raise four thousand fighting men by the sound of his war drum. In traversing the rocky eminences of this hill, which are almost destitute of vegetation, I observed a number of large holes in the crevices and fissures of the rocks, where the wolves and hyænas take refuge during the day. Some of these animals paid us a visit on the evening of the 27th; their approach was discovered by the dogs of the village, and on this occasion it is remarkable, that the dogs did not bark, but howl in the most dismal manner. The inhabitants of the village no sooner heard them, than, knowing the cause, they armed themselves; and providing bunches of dry grass, went in a body to the inclosure in the middle of the village, where the cattle were kept. Here they lighted the bunches of grass, and, waving them to and fro, ran hooping and hallooing towards the hills. This |