Chapter III

Major Gray takes the Command — Departure from Sierra Leone — Arrival at Bathurst, St. Mary’s — Occurrences there — Departure for, and Arrival at Kayaye — Description of a tribe of wandering Foolahs — Description of Kayaye, the surrounding Country, and Inhabitants — Their Amusements, &c. — Visit to Katoba — The King’s Visit to us — Arrival of Camels from Senegal — Our Guide’s proposal respecting the path — My Decision, and Reasons — Fatality among our Animals — Arrival of Mr. Partarrieau from St. Mary’s — Arrangements for Departure.

Such was the state of the expedition, when, in the month of November, 1817, I volunteered my services to conduct it. Mr. Dochard, who was second in command, had been despatched some time before, on board a transport to the Cape Verde Islands, to procure animals, and from thence proceed to Bathurst, St. Mary’s, river Gambia; but although Mr. Stokoe had packed, previous to his death, and sent forward with that officer, a part of the baggage, much yet remained at Sierra Leone in a confused state, the arranging and packing of which, together with selecting from amongst the men who composed the former expedition, such as were both willing and able to proceed on a second attempt, and equipping them, occupied so much time that it was not before the 14th of December, 1817, that we sailed, on board the colonial brig Discovery, from Sierra Leone for the Gambia.

We had been but a week at sea, when we fortunately found that the casks, which contained the water for our use, and that of eleven horses, were in so leaky a state that a few days more would have left us without a drop. This obliged us to put into the Isles des Loss, where, with the assistance of a Mr. Lee, then resident there, we soon remedied the evil, and again put to sea.

A strong north-west wind, and a heavy sea, opposed our progress for several days, and, as if all things combined to retard us in the very first stage of our proceedings, the brig sprung a leak, and nearly carried away her mainmast in a squall. In this state, with constant work at the pumps, we were kept out until the 13th of January, when we reached Cape St. Mary’s, with only one day’s half allowance of water on board. Our horses (one of which died) were reduced to the very last stage of want, having subsisted, for several days, on a little rice and biscuit dust, with a very small quantity of water.

On landing at Bathurst, St. Mary’s, I found Mr. Dochard had arrived there from the islands, where he could not procure more than ten horses and six mules, and he was in such very bad health, and apparently so ill calculated to undergo a second series of the exposures, privations, watchings, and disappointments incident to such a service, that I almost despaired of his being able to accompany me.

He had, a few days before my arrival, despatched Ensign Pattoun a second time to the islands, in order to procure if possible a few more horses.

I proceeded myself to Goree, to endeavour to obtain a few of any description at the towns on the opposite main. I so far succeeded as to purchase seven horses, and was fortunate enough to meet there fifteen camels that had been purchased at Senegal, by Governor M‘Carthy’s orders, for the use of the expedition, and had arrived there the day only before I intended leaving it.

On my return to the Gambia, I found Ensign Pattoun had arrived, having purchased eighteen horses; but as we had not yet a sufficient number, I sent Ensign Burton, of the Royal African Corps (who had volunteered to accompany the mission), up the river, to try if any could be procured there. I was, in the mean time, enabled to collect a few on the island, and having despatched Mr. Nelson on the 16th of February, and made all the necessary preparations, we left Bathurst on the 3rd of March.

On our voyage up the river, we called at Tendebar, where we were enabled to purchase three small horses. I also landed at Kawour in the Salum country. The ground for some distance in the vicinity of this town, bore the marks of cultivation, but at that season was completely destitute of verdure; the soil, which was a mixture of brown mould and light-colored sand, appeared good; a few small onions were the only vegetable I observed growing, and those were regularly watered morning and evening.

The town is a considerable one, and may contain from 500 to 800 inhabitants. Their huts are composed of cane reeds and long dry grass, and are very neat and comfortable. The natives, who are a mixture of Jaloffs and Soosoos, are a peaceable inoffensive race, and are chiefly engaged in trade, except when the approach of the rains summons them to the corn and rice grounds.

We lost one of our native soldiers in consequence of a slight cut in the hand, which caused mortification; the existence of which, and of cold spasms and rigours, deterred Mr. Dochard from performing amputation.

The country in the immediate vicinity of the river, is very low, and bears the evident marks of inundation during the rains. It is much wooded, some of which is large, and no doubt fitted for general use.

The hippopotamus and alligator are to be found in great numbers in the river, and are hunted by the natives, who make use of their flesh as food, and consider it a delicacy. The river swarms with a great variety of fish, but the natives are either unacquainted with the proper mode of taking them, or too indolent to take advantage of so valuable a supply, at least to the extent they might.

Soon after leaving Kawour, I went on shore on the right bank of the river, with the intention of walking to Yani Maroo, accompanied by Lamina, and two of my men armed. At about half a quarter of a mile from the water-edge, we came to a range of hills, running parallel with the river. On ascending them, I found they were flat on the top to a considerable distance, and covered with wood and long dry grass; they were composed of a red compact clay, light sand of the same colour, and large masses of red sand-stone. At the foot of one of the hills forming this range, I observed some small huts, in the vicinity of which was feeding a herd of black cattle, but I could not discern any people. I therefore descended to the huts, where I found an old man, the only person there. He, with much apparent apprehension for his own safety, desired me to keep off, which requisition he seemed determined to enforce, for he laid hold of his bow, and snatched up one of a few arrows that were lying at his side on the ground. By means of my interpreter, I endeavoured to explain to him his fears were without cause, and that chance only, not intention, led us to his retreat. This, however, did not convince him; he still desired us to keep off. A little tobacco, and a few beads, in exchange for which we requested some milk, induced him to think more favourably of us. It was, nevertheless, with much difficulty I convinced him of his error, and prevailed on him to go in search of his companions, who, on our approach, had ran into the woods, driving their cattle before them. In about fifteen minutes, he returned, and in a few more, the whole tribe made its appearance. The women and children, however, could not be induced to approach nearer than three hundred yards of us. Their numbers did not exceed four men, as many women, and ten or twelve children; the latter totally naked. They are of a dark copper colour, and belong to the Dhyangele tribe, the chief of which resides in a wilderness of three days’ journey, lying in latitude 14° and 15°, between the kingdoms of Joloff and Bondoo. There they always remain during the rains, at which time they find a sufficiency of pasturage and water for their cattle, but are obliged to wander in search of both after January; the banks of the rivers are their last resource. Their appearance is extremely filthy and poor. They subsist chiefly on milk, a little corn, which they obtain in exchange for butter when in the vicinity of towns, and such game as they can kill.

Their only furniture consists of a few mats to lie on, some wooden bowls and calabashes, and a few leather bags; the latter serve them as churns, and to carry water in when encamped at a distance from where it is to be found.

Their dress is very plain, being nothing more than a piece of cotton cloth, about two and a half yards long and three quarters wide, wrapped round the waist, and descending a little below the knees, with another of the same kind thrown over the shoulders. The men wear a cotton cap besmeared with grease, to which is sometimes added, by way of ornament, the end of a cow’s tail, died blue or red. Like all other pagans, they are very superstitious, and wear a great number of grigres, or charms, round their necks, arms and legs. They are inordinately fond of red cloth, which they make use of in covering those charms. Their weapons are long spears, bows and arrows, and occasionally a long gun. They are good marksmen with all these, and seldom throw away a shot; but this arises more from the difficulty they find in obtaining powder, ball, and small shot, than from any dislike to miss their mark.

WANDERING FOOLAH.

_Published Feb. 1825. by John Murray, London._]

We also visited the town of Yanimaroo. It is beautifully situated at a short distance from the river-side, on an elevated spot, thinly sprinkled with large shady trees of the mahogany kind, and interspersed with evergreens and other shrubs, and a great number of that kind of palm from which is extracted the palm wine.

The greater proportion of the inhabitants are pagans; a few, however, profess the Mahomedan religion, retaining many of their pagan superstitions. The latter are much respected, and enjoy a considerable degree of influence over their unenlightened brethren. The soil about Yanimaroo is a light yellow sand, mixed with stiff clay of the same colour, except where there are groves of palm trees, and then it is invariably a dark, rich, vegetable mould, mixed with a light red or white sand.

There are, on the banks of the river, a little above Yanimaroo, a great number of the self-consuming tree. We never saw any of them on fire, nor yet smoking, but their appearance would lead a person to suppose they had been burnt.

On our arrival at Kayaye, we landed our men, animals, and baggage, and encamped on an elevated spot between the river and the town, which are distant from each other about half a quarter of a mile.

Mr. Bellaby, a British merchant resident there, accommodated us with a large mud house, which served at the same time as quarters for the officers, and a store for some of our baggage.

Kayaye is but a very small and insignificant village, and is remarkable for nothing but its situation, and the residence of a Mulatto lady, who possesses considerable influence in the country. The town does not contain above fifty huts; its inhabitants are all either relatives to, or dependants on Madame Eliza Tigh, whose name the place takes, being called by the natives Tigh Cunda, or the town of Tigh. The people of Kayaye, and the neighbouring towns, are a mixture of Mandingoes and Sousous; the former from a country in the interior so called, and the latter from the south bank of the river. They are chiefly engaged in trade and agriculture, and are a very shrewd active race, subject to the king of Katoba, and professing the Mahomedan religion; but I believe the greater proportion of them do so, not from any religious motive, but in order to ensure to themselves that protection which the followers of Mahomet invariably meet with, wherever they go in their trading excursions. Caravans from the interior frequently stop there, on their way to the settlements on the coast, and dispose of their goods to the masters of some of the small trading vessels from St. Mary’s, or to the native merchants, who carry on at that place, and the towns lower down the river, a very considerable trade in gold, ivory, and bees’ wax; in exchange for which they receive fire-arms, powder, India-goods, coral, amber, glass beads, iron, tobacco, rum, and cutlery.

The dress of these people is far from being inelegant or inconvenient: the men wear on the head a white cotton cap, very neatly worked with different coloured silks or worsteds; a close shirt of white cotton, with short sleeves, next the skin, covers the body from the neck to the hips, and is surmounted by a very large one of the same materials, with long loose sleeves, not unlike a surplice; this descends below the knees, and is embroidered, in the same way as the cap, about the shoulders and breast. The small-clothes, which are very roomy above, descend about two inches below the knee, where it is only sufficiently large not to be tight. This part of their dress is generally blue. They wear their hair cut close, and make use of none of the grease or rancid butter of which the Joloff men are so lavish. Sandals or slippers protect their feet from the heat of the sand, and from thorns; and complete the catalogue of their wardrobe.

The dress of the women is neither so decent nor so clean. The body, from the waist upward, is almost always naked, except when _enceinte_, in which case a sort of short chemise, without sleeves, covers the neck and stomach. They plat their hair neatly into a profusion of small braids, but are so lavish of butter or palm oil on them and their skins (which are generally of a very fine black) that they cannot be approached without experiencing the very unpleasant effects of such anointings, rendered doubly offensive by the addition of profuse and constant perspiration.

The huts and yards of these people are extremely clean, and, although small, are comparatively comfortable. The walls of both are, for the most part, composed of split cane formed into a sort of wicker work resembling hurdles. The roofs of the former are conical, and covered with long dry grass, fastened on with a small line made from the inner bark of the monkey-bread tree. On the whole, their houses have a very neat appearance.

The amusements of these people are confined to dancing and music, which take place almost every fine evening at a late hour, in the centre of the village, where, when the moon does not afford them light, a large fire is made for that purpose.

The young of both sexes, dressed in their gayest attire, attend on these occasions; a ring is formed by them and the spectators, and the former dance in regular succession by pairs. The instrument which accompanies this dance is called a ballafo[6], and affords better music than might be expected from such rude materials; it is composed of cane and wood, in the following manner. A frame, three feet long, eighteen inches wide at one end, and nine at the other, is made of cane, split very thin, and supported at the corners, about nine inches from the ground, by four upright sticks of nearly an inch diameter; across this frame are laid twenty pieces of hard wood, diminishing in size in the same proportion progressively, from one end to the other, as the frame to which they are slightly attached with thin twine. Under each of these cross pieces, is suspended an empty gourd, of a size adapted to the tone of note required, having a hole in the part where it comes in contact with the stick, and another at the bottom; the latter is covered with a thin piece of dried sheep’s gut. It is played on with two small sticks, by a man who sits cross legged on the ground, and is accompanied by one or more small drums.

I also observed here a sort of amusement, or rather inquisitorial exhibition, called by the natives Kongcorong. It was thus: a man, covered from head to foot with small boughs of trees, made his appearance in the afternoon near the town, and gave notice to the young women and girls that he would pay them a visit after sunset. At the appointed time he entered the village, preceded by drums, and repaired to the assembly place, where all were collected to meet him with the music and singing. He commenced by saying that he came to caution the ladies to be very circumspect in their conduct towards the whites, meaning the men of the Expedition, and related some circumstances, with which he said he was acquainted, little to their credit:—but, as it was his first time, he would neither mention names, nor inflict the usual punishment, namely, flogging. He, however, would take advantage of the first opportunity which they would be imprudent enough to afford him.

All he said was repeated by the girls in a sort of song, accompanied by the music and clapping of hands. Every one who had any thing to fear from his inquisitorial authority, made him a present; and I observed that not one of the girls withheld this proof of their fear of his tongue, or of their own consciousness of guilt. He remained with them until near midnight.

FIG. I.]

_Published Feb. 1825. by John Murray, London._]

An instance of the manner in which the young men of that country obtain wives, also came under our observation. One of the inhabitants of the neighbouring villages, having placed his affections, or rather desires, on a young girl at Kayaye, made the usual present of a few colas to her mother, who, without giving her daughter any intimation of the affair, consented to his obtaining her in any way he could. Accordingly when the poor girl was employed preparing some rice for supper, she was seized by her intended husband, assisted by three or four of his companions, and carried off by force. She made much resistance, by biting, scratching, kicking, and roaring most bitterly. Many, both men and women, some of them her own relations, who witnessed the affair, only laughed at the farce, and consoled her by saying that she would soon be reconciled to her situation.

Soon after our arrival at Kayaye, we paid a visit to the chief, or, as he is there called, the king of Katoba. He resides at a town of that name distant from Kayaye about twenty miles north. The road or path to it lies over a flat uncultivated country thinly covered with brush wood and stunted trees. The soil, for the most part, is an ocre-coloured clay intermixed here and there with small fragments of ferruginous stone, which, in several places, makes its appearance above the surface in the form of large rocks. Some small eminences are entirely composed of this rock, which the natives say contains a large proportion of iron, but, from the facility the river affords them of procuring an abundant supply of that metal from the English merchants, they do not now think it worth the trouble of extracting. The blacksmiths of the country say, that it is more malleable than English iron, and better suited to all their wants, were the process of obtaining it not so difficult.

The king received us hospitably, and, on being made acquainted with the purport of our visit, promised every protection and assistance he could afford us, adding that whenever we wished to proceed on our journey, he would furnish us with a guide to Woolli.

On our way to this town, which is a walled one, of no very great extent or respectable appearance, we passed only two small villages, one of which is about a mile from Kayaye, and is solely inhabited by Mahomedan priests (_bushreens_).

From the very great want we were in of a sufficient number of animals, to transport our baggage, in consequence of the death of all our camels and some of our horses, since our arrival at Kayaye, and the difficulty, nay impossibility, of procuring a supply there, we had determined on leaving behind us a large proportion of it, and moving without delay; for which purpose it became necessary to open the greater number of the packages, to select the most valuable articles. This had scarcely been begun, when Mr. Partarrieau, whom I had sent from Bathurst to Senegal to purchase camels, arrived, bringing intelligence that he had despatched a moor, named Bon-ama, from that place before he had left it, with ten camels and five horses, whom I might expect to see in a few days, as he was coming by the shortest land route from Senegal, namely, through Kayor and Salum.

All preparations being made, we only waited the arrival of Bon-ama, who not making his appearance on the 15th, I began to apprehend that some accident had happened, either to himself, or the animals. The 17th, however, brought him to Kayaye, having had two of his horses killed by lions, and been obliged to leave two of the camels sick at a village about fifteen miles from us. His arrival at that moment was particularly fortunate, as it enabled us to take forward the whole of our baggage, and a good supply of rice, which we had just received from St. Mary’s.

On the 18th, the king, whose presence we had requested, in order to make him a present, arrived, accompanied by about fifty people, armed with guns and spears. He was himself mounted on a most wretched animal in the shape of a horse, and was attended by a troop of drums and singing people (_Jallikeas_), making a most hideous attempt at instrumental and vocal music, intended to inspire their royal master with a high idea of his own dignity.

In a few minutes we went to see him; he was seated in a small hut, surrounded by his followers, but the place was so crowded and intolerably hot (not to say any thing of the impurity of the air) from tobacco smoke, and other vapours, that we were obliged to request he would move to one of our huts. This being done, we mentioned to him our intention of leaving Kayaye in a few days, and requested that he would appoint a guide to conduct us to Medina, the capital of Woolli. He made some objections, of an irrelevant nature, but at length consented, in consideration of a present, amounting to about one hundred bars in baft, muslin, coral, amber, tobacco, scarlet cloth, and a pair of pistols. He was drunk and extremely vociferous. The interview, however, terminated amicably, and his majesty was present at a dance which the inhabitants of the village brought forward in honour of his arrival, and in order to amuse him.

We had seen several of the chiefs of Western Africa, both moors and negroes, but never saw any so wretchedly poor and unlike what he intended to represent as this man; he is intolerably fond of rum, and would be for ever drunk if he could obtain the means of being so; his last demand was for two bottles of it, which I gave him. He left us on the 19th, in a state of excessive inebriety, as were most of his followers.

Aware of the great respectability Bon-ama, in his character of Mahomedan priest, would enjoy in all the countries in the interior, and of his having before offered his services to Governor M‘Carthy, we endeavoured to prevail on him to accompany us to Sego, Tombuctoo, or further, but it was not without much difficulty and objection on his part, together with the promise of a very large reward, that he could be induced to do so. He, however, at length agreed, in consideration of a recompense of five hundred pounds British, to accompany us to Tombuctoo or Jinnê, but no sum, however large, or other advantage, he said, would induce him to go further. He made it a previous article in his agreement, to be allowed to return to Cayor, to arrange some private affairs, and promised to join us in Bondoo. We did every thing in our power to induce him to give up this point, but to no effect: it was his _sine qua non_. We bought a camel from him, and hired two moors, who came along with him, to conduct and have the care of those animals as far as we went.

Lamina, our Sego guide, told us, on the 20th, that it was now time he should inform us, that as he was sent by the king of Bambarra, to conduct the expedition to that country, he felt it his duty to say, that the road leading through Woolli, Bondoo, Kasson, and Fooledoo, was the only one in which he thought it safe to take us, as there were, in all those countries, people belonging to his master waiting to escort us; that he had himself received from those in Bondoo, a horse to ride, and six asses to carry his baggage. As there appeared nothing in this request but what was fair, and, as we conceived (in case of any unforeseen delay, we should be obliged to make a halt during the rains), that Bondoo, from its high situation and its vicinity to the river Senegal, would be most advantageous for that purpose, we acceded to his proposal, and were moreover induced to take this step in consequence of the very high and upright character we were taught, by Mr. Partarrieau, who had been before in that country, to entertain of Almamy Isata, the king: the result will prove how much our informant was himself deceived in his opinion of that man, and how little confidence can be placed in any information but that obtained by the most strict self observation, in all matters connected with this unfortunate country.

Our means of transport decreased daily; we had lost since the 2d, one camel, one mule, and four horses, and there was no possibility of procuring any at Kayaye; the camels left on the road by Bon-ama, had not yet come up, although we had despatched a man to bring them. Every thing, however, being ready, we fixed the 25th for our departure.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 6: See figure 1, plate 9.]