Description of Bondoo — Extent — Boundaries — Face of the
Country — Productions — Commerce — Manufactures — Government
— Revenues — Religion, its influence on the Inhabitants — Their
Description, Dress, and Manner of Living — Military Equipments —
Force — Mode of Warfare — Cause of War with Karta — Almamy’s
sanguinary conduct — Attack of the Kartans on Boolibany.
Bondoo, which is situate between 14° and 15° latitude north,
and 10° and 12° longitude west, is bounded on the north by the
kingdom of Kajaga, on the south by Tenda and Dentilla, on the east
by the Fa-lemme, Bambouk and Logo, and on the west by Foota Toro,
the Simbani Woods, and Woolli; its greatest extent from east to west
does not exceed ninety British miles, and from north to south sixty.
The whole face of the country is in general mountainous, but
particularly so in the northern and eastern parts. Those mountains
which are chiefly composed of rock are small, and for the most part
thinly covered with low stunted wood, little of it being fit for
any other use than that of fuel.
The valleys, wherein are situated the towns and villages, are for
the most part cleared for the purpose of cultivation, to which the
soil, being a light sand mixed with brown vegetable mould, seems well
adapted. Innumerable beds of torrents intersect these valleys in all
directions, and serve during the rains, being dry at all other times,
to conduct the water collected by the high grounds to the Fa-lemme
and Senegal. Great numbers of tamarinds, baobabs, rhamnus lotus,
and other fruit-trees, are beautifully scattered over these valleys,
which are rendered still more picturesque by the frequent appearance
of a village or walled town, in whose vicinity are always a number
of cotton and indigo plantations.
The proportion of land cultivated is small, but sufficient to supply
the inhabitants abundantly with all the productions of the country;
these are corn in four varieties, together with rice, pumpions,
water-melons, gourds, sorrell, onions, tobacco, red pepper, pistacios,
cotton, and indigo.
The commerce, and in which the greater proportion of the
inhabitants are engaged, consists in the exchange of the cotton
cloths manufactured in the country, and the superabundance of their
provisions, for gold, ivory, and slaves brought thither by the people
of Bamboak, Kasson, and Foota Jallon; and for European merchandize,
such as fire-arms, gunpowder, India goods, hardware, amber, coral,
and glass beads, with all which they are supplied by the merchants
in the Gambia and Senegal.
The manufactures, although few, are well calculated to supply
the natives with clothing, the different articles of household
furniture which they require, together with implements of husbandry,
carpenters’, blacksmiths’, and leather workers’ tools, and knives,
spear and arrow heads, bridle bits, stirrups, and a variety of small
articles, such as pickers, tweezers, turnscrews, &c.; all which, taking
into consideration the very rough materials and tools employed, are
finished in a manner which evinces much taste and ingenuity on the part
of the workmen, who, in all cases, work sitting on the ground
cross-legged.
The people of those several trades are by far the most respectable
of the class which I have met with in Africa; so much so, that the
ministers, favourites, and officers are chiefly chosen from amongst
them; but this, I believe, arises in part from their being more
finished courtiers and flatterers than are to be met with amongst
the other classes of the people.
The government of Bondoo is monarchical, the whole authority being
vested in the hands of the almamy or king. He is, however, in most
cases, guided by the laws of Mahomet, which are interpreted by the
Imans, or chief priests, who, being much in his power, and from
example and habit of a crouching mean disposition, in all cases
where his Majesty’s interest is concerned, decide in his favour.
The revenues, which are solely the property of the King, at least
wholly at his disposal, are considerable, and consist in a tenth of
all agricultural produce, and a custom or duty paid by the travelling
merchants who pass through the country. This latter amounts to seven
bottles of gunpowder, and one trade musket, or their value in other
articles, for each ass load of European goods; and must be accompanied
by a present to the king and his head men. A refusal on the part
of any of those merchants to comply with the exorbitant demands
of these people, would inevitably lead to their being plundered,
and probably to personal ill treatment. This, however, seldom takes
place, as those merchants always endeavour, by some means or other,
to conceal the most valuable part of their goods, either about their
persons or in the house of their host, (whom it is also necessary
to bribe) before they entrust the remainder to the inspection of
the people appointed by the king for that purpose.
He derives also considerable emolument from a tenth of the salt
imported from the coast by the natives of the country, and from
an annual custom, or tribute, paid him by the Senegal Company’s
vessels trading in the river, and the French Government establishment
at Baquelle, where, as will appear in a subsequent article on Galam,
he has of late years acquired considerable influence and authority.
The peace offerings and presents from all those who have any business
to transact with the king, or favour to ask from him, although not
limited to any particular amount, do not compose the least valuable
part of his income: slaves, horses, cattle, poultry, rice, corn,
cotton cloths, gold, and indeed all the productions of the country,
are incessantly presented as douceurs.
The religion is Mahomedan, but its precepts are not so strictly
attended to in Bondoo as in some of the other states of Western
Africa. There are mosques of one kind or other in every town; some
of them, however, are nothing more than small square spaces enclosed
with stakes, and kept cleanly swept. Here, as in all the others,
prayers are publicly said five times every day; the usual Mahomedan
ceremonies of ablution, &c., are attended to. When praying, they
strip off all implements of war, or receptacles of money, tobacco, or
snuff, and make use of a string of beads or rosary, which they count
frequently after each act of devotion. This consists in facing the
east, and bowing the body several times, so as to allow the forehead
to touch the ground, at the same time repeating some short prayers
from the Koran, and frequently ejaculating the name of the Prophet
in the most apparently devout manner.
Had Almamy Amady, in embracing this religion, bad and unsound as it
is, been actuated by any other principle than that of self-interest,
and the desire of attaching to his cause the people of Foota Toro
and Jallon, he might have (at least by personal example) inspired his
subjects with a reverence for the divine character, and an inclination
to please him, by a just and upright line of conduct, to both which
they are entire strangers; evincing, in all their concerns, both
among themselves and with their neighbours, a low deceitful cunning,
which they endeavour to cloak by religious cant. In fact, I have
never seen a people who have more of the outward show of religion
with less of its inward influence.
There are schools in almost every town, for the instruction of those
youths who intend making the Mahomedan religion their profession,
and in the principles and practice of which, and reading and
writing Arabic from their sacred book, the Koran, they are solely
instructed. Numbers and their uses are unknown; they can scarcely
add two simple numbers together without having recourse to the usual
African methods, namely, counting the fingers, or making strokes in
the sand. The student or scholar is, in all cases, the servant of his
teacher, who may employ him in any menial capacity whatever. They go
about, when not at their lessons, begging, and sewing the country
cloths together, for any who may want to employ them: the produce
of those callings are brought to the master, who is always a priest,
and appropriated to his use.
The people of Bondoo are a mixture of Foolahs, Mandingoes,
Serrawollies, and Joloffs, retaining, however, more of the manners and
customs of the first, and speaking their language exclusively. They
are of the middle size, well made, and very active, their skin of a
light copper colour, and their faces of a form approaching nearer to
those of Europe than any of the other tribes of Western Africa, the
Moors excepted. Their hair, too, is not so short or woolly as that
of the black, and their eyes are, with the advantage of being larger
and rounder, of a better colour, and more expressive. The women in
particular, who, without the assistance of art, might vie, in point
of figure, with those of the most exquisitely fine form in Europe,
are of a more lively disposition, and more delicate form of face than
either the Serrawollies, Mandingoes, or Joloffs. They are extremely
neat in their persons and dress, and are very fond of amber, coral,
and glass beads, of different colours, with which they adorn or bedeck
their heads, necks, wrists, and ancles profusely; gold and silver,
too, are often formed into small buttons, which are intermixed with
the former on the head, and into rings and chains worn on the wrists
and ancles. They always wear a veil thrown loosely over the head:
this is manufactured by themselves from cotton, and is intended to
imitate thin muslin, at which they have not by any means made a bad
attempt. The other parts of their dress are precisely the same as
that already described to be worn by the inhabitants of Kayaye,
and, with few exceptions of silk and printed cotton which they
obtain from the coast, are entirely of their own manufacture. They
are exceedingly fond of perfumes of every kind, particularly musk,
attar of roses, or lavender, but they can seldom procure these, and
therefore substitute cloves, which they pound into powder, and mix
up with a kernel, having something the flavour of a Tonquin bean,
which they likewise reduce to powder, and, with a little gum-water,
form it into beads about the size of a common garden pea. These
they string and hang round the neck; they sometimes string the
cloves themselves, and wear them in the same manner; but the way
in which they prefer wearing them is sewed up in small bags made of
rich coloured silk, a number of which are hung round the neck. The
hair, which is neatly braided into a profusion of small plaits,
hangs down nearly to the shoulders, and is confined (together with
the strings of amber, coral, and beads, which decorate it) round the
forehead with a few strings of small beads by the young girls, and,
by the married, with a narrow strip of silk, or fine cotton cloth,
twisted into a string about as thick as a finger. To complete their
dress, a pair of large gold ear-rings dangle almost to touch the
shoulders, and, in consequence of their great weight, would tear
their ears were they not supported by a little strap of thin red
leather, which is fastened to one ear-ring by a button, and passes
over the top of the head to the other. The walk of these ladies
is peculiarly majestic and graceful, and their whole appearance,
although strange to a European observer, is far from being inelegant.
The dress of the men, with the exception of being smaller and
more convenient, is precisely the same as that of the people at
Kayaye. Blue and white are the favourite colours. With the rich, the
manufacture of the country is replaced by India bafts and muslins,
both which are embroidered neatly with different coloured silks
or worsteds round the neck, and down the back and chest. The cap,
which is always white, is of a very graceful form, and is also
embroidered, but with white only. The Maroboos, and men advanced in
years, wear white turbans, with red or blue crowns, occasionally a
hat made of a sort of rush or grass, having a low conical crown,
with a broad rim. When on horseback, or going to war, the large
sleeves of their gowns are tied together behind the neck, being
brought over the shoulders; and the bodies, which would be otherwise
extremely inconvenient from being very loose, are secured round the
middle with a girdle, which, at the same time, confines their powder
horn and ball bag on the right side, and their grigri, or amulet
case, on the left. These are all suspended by strong cords of red,
yellow, or green silk or worsted, and are crossed in the same manner
as the belts of our soldiers. A dirk, about nine inches or a foot
long, hangs at the right side from the running string or strap,
which, at the same time, serves to tighten the trowsers above the
hips. A single, or double-barrelled gun, completes their equipment
in general; some of the princes and chiefs, however, add a sword,
confined at the right side by their girdle, and one or two pistols
which hang dangling in thin leather holsters, variously coloured,
at the pummel or front horn of their saddle. One leather bag,
to contain water, and another, a small store of dried cous cous,
for their own provision, together with a nose bag, and a fetter of
the same material, for their horse, make up the catalogue of their
marching baggage, and are all fastened, by leather straps, to the
back part of the saddle, which is at best but a bad one, being chiefly
composed of pieces of wood, tied together by thongs of raw cow hide,
and which, when wet, stretches so as to allow the wood to come in
contact with the horse’s back, and wound it in a shocking manner.
The disposable force of Bondoo from all the information I could
collect, does not exceed from 500 to 600 horse, and from 2000 to
3000 foot. When Almamy finds it necessary to call this army to the
field for the protection of the country, or with the intention of
invading the territories of some of his neighbours, he repairs with
his own immediate followers to some village at a short distance from
the capital, and there beats the war drum[15], which is repeated by
each village, and in this manner the call to arms is circulated over
the country.
The chief of each town or village with as little delay as possible
assembles his followers (or division, if it may be so called),
and proceeds to head-quarters, where those chiefs consult with the
king on the plan of attack or defence. No regular division of the
army takes place, nor is there any provision made for its support or
equipment; each man provides for himself such means of support, arms,
and ammunition, as he can afford, and so badly are they furnished
with the two latter, that when I saw the army assembled, a great
many indeed had no other weapons than a knife and a bludgeon of hard
wood. On some occasions, a favoured few receive two or three charges
of powder and ball with a couple of flints: and in some very solitary
instances indeed, his majesty confers marks of his royal favour on
one, by a present of a horse, and on another a gun. Provisions they
find as they can, and woe to the stores and cattle of that town
where they are assembled for any time.
Whenever the object of the campaign is not decided on within a few
days, the least effective persons disappear, and may be said to
reduce the whole force one-third, and even then many might be found,
who remain with no other object in view, than that of begging from
Almamy; amongst those are generally the priests and griots, or goulas.
When the king decides on sending a part only of the army to plunder
the frontier towns of some neighbouring state, a chief to command
the party is selected from amongst his own relatives, or favourites,
and few (if any) but the immediate followers of the king and the
chief chosen to command, or rather conduct this party, accompany
it. Their destination is known only to the king, his ministers,
and the commander, who seldom imparts to any of his attendants
until they are close to the scene of action. The general object of
these detachments is, the attack of some small town or village,
the inhabitants of which, together with their cattle, they carry
off. Sometimes, however, information of their coming reaches the
village in sufficient time before them, to enable the women and
children to retreat towards the interior of the country, taking with
them the cattle, and leaving the men to oppose the enemy, who not
unfrequently come off with the loss of one or more of their party,
and the failure of their attempt.
Several of these parties were sent out during our stay in Bondoo,
and with one or two exceptions, came off victorious, if the word
can be made use of with propriety, in describing the exploits of a
horde of plunderers, whose chief object is invariably the obtaining
of slaves, for whom they always find a market, either with the
travelling merchants of the country, or the Senegal vessels at Galam.
Woolli, Tenda, Dentilla, and Bambouk, are the frequent scenes of
these unnatural depredations, and in their turn often furnish Almamy
with ample means of procuring supplies of arms, ammunition, horses,
and the different articles of European merchandize in demand in his
dominions. To the frequency of these predatory excursions, and the
insecure nature of the lives and properties of the inhabitants in
consequence, may be attributed, in a great degree, the desertion of
many of the frontier towns in those states, and their subsequent
occupation by the Bondoo people, who of late years have extended
their dominions considerably in these directions.
Bondoo in its turn has often been attacked by its more powerful
neighbours, and suffered dreadfully, but an instance of retaliation
on the part of those weak states rarely occurs.
Many of the natives of Kayaye, Joloff, and Woolli, have settled in
Bondoo, and embraced the Mahomedan faith. Their towns are chiefly
on the western frontier, and are preeminent for their extent,
riches, and productive cultivation. The most effective division
of Almamy’s army is entirely composed of the Joloff and Woolli
people, who are proverbial for bravery. The greater number of those
of Kayaye being priests are exempt from the field by the payment of
a large yearly present to Almamy, who, in addition to the present,
often trespasses, in the form of a request (but which they dare not
refuse), on their stores of provisions and their herds of cattle,
with both which they are better supplied than any other class of
people in that country. But this is not the only advantage they
possess, for they enjoy a degree of respect and independence even
in their connexions with the princes, who look upon all belonging
to them as sacred, Almamy alone, being the head of the church,
daring to infringe on their rights and privileges.
Bondoo has been, for some years, involved in a war with the king of
Karta, which arose, as most of the wars in Africa do, in an act of
aggression in this case on the part of Bondoo, to explain which, it
will be necessary to detail, at some length, the circumstances which
led to the act itself. This will, at the same time, serve to give a
just idea of the politics of those people, and to prove how well they
are versed in the principles of self interest and aggrandizement,
the natural consequence of the comparative state of civilization to
which they have attained.
About forty years previous to the time we visited Bondoo,
Abdoolghader, a Mahomedan priest, and chief of a tribe of Foolahs
that had come from Massina, and settled in Toro (then ruled by the
Dileankey family), made so many converts to this faith among the
people of that country, and acquired such influence with them, that
he succeeded in leading them to dethrone that family, and proclaim
him king or almamy.
At the time Karta was invaded by the Sego Bambarras, and its chiefs,
and many of the inhabitants obliged to leave it for a short time,
a large detachment of them, under the command of a prince, arrived
at Galam, where they were well received, and whence they despatched
messengers to Abdoolghader to apprize him of their intention to
put his hospitality to the test, but which they were prevented from
doing by his assembling his army, and marching to attack them. They,
having received early information of his intentions, left Galam, and,
on their return to Karta, destroyed some towns belonging to Gedumah,
in revenge upon the inhabitants of that country for having refused
to assist them against their Sego enemies.
The chief of one of those towns, an Iman, of considerable
respectability in the country, called on Abdoolghader, at his camp
in Bondoo (where he made some stay, with a part of his army, after
the retreat of the Kartans), and preferred a complaint against Sega,
the reigning chief of Bondoo, for having assisted the Kartans in
the destruction of his town, and carried off his wife and daughter,
both of whom he added to the list of his concubines, and for having
destroyed his religious books, written by himself, and said to be
so voluminous as to be a sufficient load for an ass. He expatiated
on the enormity of these crimes, and called on Abdoolghader, in the
name of God and their prophet, to obtain for him the satisfaction
to which he conceived himself so justly entitled.
Abdoolghader being himself a Mahomedan prelate of the first rank,
and anxious to give every proof of his attachment to his religion,
immediately summoned Sega to appear before the laws of Mahomet. This
prince, whether from being too well aware of Abdoolghader’s power
to force his compliance, or from being badly advised by some who
wanted to compass his fall, made his immediate appearance before
the angry monarch, who, without hearing half what Sega had to say
in his defence, judged the affair against him, and sentenced him to
be banished to Toro, where he was to be taught how to live; but,
on their departure from Marsa[16], they had not gone one hundred
yards from the walls, when Sega was barbarously murdered by some
of Abdoolghader’s followers, and his body thrown, without further
ceremony, into a ravine.
A prince, named Amadi Paté, was chosen (by the influence of
Abdoolghader) to succeed the deceased, to whom he also was an
inveterate enemy. This step was taken contrary to the wishes of a
powerful party in Bondoo, under the command of Amadi Isata, a brother
of the deceased, and caused a civil war, which terminated in the death
of Paté, and the succession of Isata, who was assisted, during the
struggle, by Samba Congole, a prince of Upper Kajaga or Galam. Amadi
Isata’s first step was to secure himself from the attacks of
Abdoolghader, by attaching to his cause the Kartan king, to whom he
agreed to pay a yearly tribute of a moulo[17] of gold, and who was
himself anxious for an opportunity to revenge himself on Abdoolghader,
who, on hearing of this act of Isata’s, assembled part of his army,
and marched towards the frontier of Bondoo, where he remained several
days in anxious expectation of the arrival of the remainder of his
forces, under the command of their several chiefs. He was, however,
sadly disappointed; for they were so averse to his government, and
anxious for an opportunity to throw off their allegiance to him,
that, instead of joining him, they prepared to oppose his return.
Abdoolghader being thus foiled in his intended attack on Isata,
and incapable, from the very limited number of his attendants,
to resume his authority at home, crossed the Senegal, and sought
refuge amongst the Gedumahas, where he remained for some time,
but was at length recalled by some of the chiefs of Toro, who,
having chosen another king during his absence, and disapproved of
his conduct, also were now glad to have a man of such acknowledged
abilities as he was, to head them in forcing the other, named Moctar
Coodega, from the throne. On his return to Toro, he was accompanied
by a small army, under Hawah Demba, a prince of Kasson, and a few
Gedumahas. They reached Woro Sogee, a small village of Toro, where
they were attacked and beaten by the friends of Moctar Coodega. The
check they received, in their first step, threw such a damp on the
ardour of those who solicited his return, that they were not only
afraid to join him, but actually declared against him, which obliged
him to return to his friends the Gedumahas, amongst whom were several
of the Dileankeys, whose country had been usurped by this very man,
and to whom he was so obnoxious that, finding his life in danger,
he was obliged to leave that country. He then repaired to Moodeerie,
a town of Galam, inhabited by priests.
About that time, Almami Isata had entered into an alliance with
the chiefs of Foota Toro, and of a part of Kajaga, to annihilate
Abdoolghader, who, from his great reputation as a Maraboo, was much
respected and feared in the country. Modiba, the king of Karta,
who, as I before said, wished for such an opportunity, brought a
considerable force to their assistance.
Hawah Demba, who was with Abdoolghader at Moodeerie, seeing so many
powerful chiefs assembled for the purpose of attacking his friend,
feared his own safety, and advised him to seek shelter in the desert
amongst the Moors, where, from the scarcity of water, so large an army
could not follow him. This advice he rejected, and was deserted by
Hawah Demba, who returned to Kasso. Abdoolghader repaired to Goorick,
a town of Toro, there to await patiently the arrival of his enemies,
and defend himself to the last with the few followers, whom even
all the reverses he had met with could not deter from sharing with
him his last adversities.
Almamy Amadi, accompanied by the Kartan army, and part of his own,
soon met him, when a bloody, though unequal conflict, ensued, ending
in the death or capture of every one of Abdoolghader’s men. He
himself descended from his horse, and sat down on the ground to count
his beads and say his prayers, in which situation he was found by
Almamy Amadi, who, having saluted him three times in the usual manner
without receiving an answer, said, “Well! Abdoolghader, here you
are; you little thought, when you murdered my brother, Amadi Sega,
that this sun would ever dawn on you; but, here, take this, and
tell Sega, when you see him, that it was Amadi Isata sent you”;
and, drawing out a pistol, put an end to his existence. He is said
to have received the ball with all the indifference imaginable. He
was upwards of eighty years of age.
When Modiba, king of Karta, was informed of this, he was so
exasperated that he told Amadi Isata that, were it not that he was
his friend indeed, he should treat him in the same way, and recalled
to his recollection the noble conduct of Damel[18], king of Cayor,
when the deceased had fallen into his hands. To wash out the stain,
Modiba desired that Bondoo should pay him as much gold as would fit
in Abdoolghader’s scull, when divested of its flesh and brains by
boiling; but this very circumstance, and the haughty language used
by Modiba on the occasion, was one of the prominent reasons for the
breach between these two chiefs.
A general peace, or cessation of hostilities, which followed this
barbarous act, did not last long.
The people of Foota, fearing that Amadi Isata’s connexion with so
powerful a pagan chief as Modiba would militate against the advance
of the Mahomedan faith in Bondoo, and might ultimately lead the
Kartans into their country, called a general assembly, and required
the attendance of Amadi Isata and Samba Congole. The former obeyed
the summons, but the latter, either not wishing to go, knowing the
object of the assembly, or not thinking himself safe in doing so,
sent one of his brothers.
The Foota chiefs proposed that all parties should break off
intercourse or alliance with the Kartans (whose assistance they were
not now in want of, in consequence of the death of Abdoolghader),
and collectively oppose their again entering those countries on
any pretence.
Almamy Amadi smarting under the disgrace he felt at Modiba’s
treatment of him, for his brutal conduct to Abdoolghader, and finding
himself strengthened by this alliance with Toro, readily consented,
and pressed much the necessity of the Galam prince’s following
his example. To this, however, Samba’s brother would not consent,
assuring the assembly that Samba, and the part of Kajaga under his
control, would never break their alliance with the Kartans as long as
they conducted themselves to his satisfaction. The assembly broke up;
but Almamy Amadi displeased with Samba for his non-compliance with
the terms of Toro, and wishing, in consequence, for an opportunity
to fall out with him, granted to some of the Bondoo people a piece
of corn-ground in Samba’s territories, and, when remonstrated with,
gave an answer not at all satisfactory.
This, added to some difference which arose shortly after about a
horse, gave Samba such an opinion of Almamy’s injustice and wish
to quarrel, that he sent him word not to meddle with his affairs
in future.
In this state things remained until the year 1815, when Modiba sent
his messengers to Bondoo to receive the customary tribute, which was
refused by Almamy, and who, to crown his other barbarous atrocities,
put to death the two chief messengers, and sold all their attendants
as slaves, with the exception of one, whom he sent back to let Modiba
know that the only tribute he might ever expect to receive from him,
would be bullets from the muskets of Bondoo.
Almamy, however, did not give the messenger time to reach Modiba’s
town in Karta, but assembled his army and marched to Kasson, for the
purpose of being joined by the forces of Hawah Demba, and entering
Modiba’s territories with as little delay as possible.
Modiba, being advised of this movement, also assembled his army,
and, instead of waiting to receive Almamy, left a detachment to
defend the frontier, and made forced marches to Dramanet, where he
crossed the Senegal, and rested a few hours in order to give Samba
time to collect his forces and accompany him.
On entering Bondoo they found nearly all the villages had been
deserted by the few men Almamy had left behind, and the women and
children; they, therefore, met no opposition until they arrived at
Boolibany, and even then so little resistance was made, that they
soon laid the whole town in waste, with the exception of Almamy’s
palace, which was so resolutely defended by a handful of men that
all attempts to reduce it proved fruitless.
They had, however, made a great number of slaves, particularly women
and children, and had collected immense herds of black cattle, sheep,
and goats, together with an abundant supply of corn for their horses,
all which they secured within the half-ruined walls of a part of
the town; and, having repaired that part of them, and supposing that
Almamy would never dare to face them, sat down to amuse themselves
with their captive ladies, occasionally sending small parties in
different directions through the country to collect cattle, corn, &c.,
and pick up all stragglers. In this state they thought of nothing but
plunder, in their pursuit of which, and their wanton and barbarous
cruelties to the poor defenceless inhabitants who came within their
merciless grasp, they expended their small store of ammunition.
Modiba, whose avarice was as great as his cruelty, made many attempts
to reduce Almamy’s palace, but always failed, in consequence of an
ill-judged threat to all those he brought against it, that if any
of them should lay hands on the smallest particle of the treasure
he fancied it contained, he would take off their heads.
This, instead of urging his men to great exertions, had the very
opposite effect, and deterred them from exposing their lives for
an object, the attainment of which could be of no advantage to a
people who enter the field of war from no other motive than that of
acquiring riches. The consequence was, the chiefs gave it as their
opinion the thing was impossible, and dispersed themselves through
the country in search of every thing they could remove.
It was in this situation that Almamy, who got intelligence of
Modiba’s leaving Karta for Bondoo, found them on his return
(a circumstance so unexpected by the Kartans that they did
not even secure the prisoners they had taken by sending them to
Toobab-en-Canê[19] whence Almamy could never have recovered them),
and succeeded in gaining possession of his own palace, being but
feebly opposed by those who remained as a sort of body-guard over
Modiba.
In this situation both armies remained some days, exchanging shots
from the turrets of their respective stations, but the Kartan army
having totally expended their ammunition, and a supply sent for to
Toobab-en-Canê not having arrived, Almamy made so spirited and
determined an attack on their position, that they were unable to
withstand it, and retreated in the utmost confusion, leaving such
an immense number of stragglers all over the country, so ignorant
of what had taken place, that the very women of Bondoo made some of
them prisoners, all of whom, on this occasion, and in retaliation
for similar conduct on the part of Modiba towards every male his
army had taken, were inhumanly butchered. This affair took place in
the spring of 1817.
Early in the following year Almamy, taking advantage of the absence
of the Kartan army, laid siege to Toobab-en-Canê, having first
fruitlessly attempted to storm two of Samba’s towns. So active were
the besiegers, that the besieged found it impossible to obtain water
from the river, although distant only thirty yards from the walls
of the town, and so great was their want of that necessary article,
that they dug wells within the walls upwards of forty feet deep.
Samba, feeling that a much longer continuance in that state must
become insupportable from the want of provisions, contrived means to
despatch two horsemen by night to demand relief from Modiba, and,
in eight days after, four hundred horse made their appearance on
the opposite bank of the river.
Almamy supposing the whole Kartan army had again made its appearance,
did not think prudent to wait their nearer approach, raised the siege,
and retreated to Lanel, a strong town of Samba’s, commanded by
his brother-in-law, who basely gave it up, allowing the enemy of
the country to defend himself in it.
When the Kartans had crossed the river, they advised Samba to attack
Almamy without delay, and accordingly marched, amounting with his
force to about nine hundred or one thousand men. On their arrival
before the town they found Almamy so well defended, not only by the
strong mud walls of the place, but his superior numbers increased
by the men of it, that they thought it impossible to dislodge him,
and returned to Toobab-en-Canê to wait the arrival of a large body
of foot which was hourly expected from Karta. Almamy, on his side,
sent to require reinforcements from Toro and Hawah Demba, but nearly
a month elapsed before the reinforcements on either side arrived.
Samba’s army was then composed of all his own men, the Gedumahas
of three towns on the right bank of the river, the Kartan army, and
a detachment under Saferi, a prince of Kasson, in all amounting to
about two thousand five hundred or three thousand men.
Almamy’s, which was said to be nearly double that number, consisted
of his own army, strong detachments from Foota Toro, and Lower Kajaga,
and a considerable body under Hawah Demba, who was nephew to Saferi,
and the same who has been mentioned before.
They met in April 1818, when a bloody conflict ensued, ending
in the defeat of Almamy, who made a hasty retreat to Foota Toro,
leaving upwards of a hundred muskets on the field. The Kartan horse
immediately entered Bondoo, where they again laid every thing waste
that came in their way, and, making some prisoners, returned to
their home.
Almamy, on his side, did every thing in his power to induce the
chiefs of Foota Toro, to employ all their force, and oblige Samba to
quit his own country, and retire to Karta. They were, however, too
well aware of the difficulty of such an undertaking, and, instead of
giving him any hopes of assistance from them, advised him strongly to
think rather of making peace with that chief than to prolong a war,
the issue of which must be very doubtful. A general assembly was
consequently called to meet at Marsa, and one of the Foota chiefs
was sent to commence a negociation with Samba for peace, which was
concluded during the time we were in the country.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 15: This is composed of a large wooden bowl, nearly
three feet diameter, covered with three skins, one of which is said
to be that of a human being, another a hyena’s, and the third,
or outside one, a monkey’s; this latter is covered with Arabic
characters and passages from the Koran. See fig. 2, pl. 9.]
[Footnote 16: The town of Bondoo, where Abdoolghader had been
sojourning.]
[Footnote 17: A measure used in Africa for corn, and containing
about two quarts.]
[Footnote 18: Park’s First Travels.]
[Footnote 19: Samba Congole’s Town.]