FROM KAJAAGA TO KASSON.
THE kingdom of Kajaaga, in which I was now arrived, is called by the
French Gallam, but the name that I have adopted is universally used by
the natives. This country is bounded on the south-east and south by
Bambouk, on the west by Bondou and Foota-Torra, and on the north by the
river Senegal.
The air and climate are, I believe, more pure and salubrious than at any
of the settlements towards the coast; the face of the country is
everywhere interspersed with a pleasing variety of hills and valleys; and
the windings of the Senegal river, which descends from the rocky hills of
the interior, make the scenery on its banks very picturesque and
beautiful.
The inhabitants are called Serawoollies, or (as the French write it)
_Seracolets_. Their complexion is a jet black: they are not to be
distinguished in this respect from the Jaloffs.
The government is monarchical, and the regal authority, from what I
experienced of it, seems to be sufficiently formidable. The people
themselves, however, complain of no oppression, and seemed all very
anxious to support the king in a contest he was going to enter into with
the sovereign of Kasson. The Serawoollies are habitually a trading
people; they formerly carried on a great commerce with the French in gold
and slaves, and still maintain some traffic in slaves with the British
factories on the Gambia. They are reckoned tolerably fair and just in
their dealings, but are indefatigable in their exertions to acquire
wealth, and they derive considerable profits by the sale of salt and
cotton cloth in distant countries. When a Serawoolli merchant returns
home from a trading expedition the neighbours immediately assemble to
congratulate him upon his arrival. On these occasions the traveller
displays his wealth and liberality by making a few presents to his
friends; but if he has been unsuccessful his levee is soon over, and
every one looks upon him as a man of no understanding, who could perform
a long journey, and (as they express it) “bring back nothing but the hair
upon his head.”
Their language abounds much in gutturals, and is not so harmonious as
that spoken by the Foulahs. It is, however, well worth acquiring by
those who travel through this part of the African continent, it being
very generally understood in the kingdoms of Kasson, Kaarta, Ludamar, and
the northern parts of Bambarra. In all these countries the Serawoollies
are the chief traders. Their numerals are:—
One Bani.
Two Fillo.
Three Sicco.
Four Narrato.
Five Karrago.
Six Toomo.
Seven Nero.
Eight Sego.
Nine Kabbo.
Ten Tamo.
Twenty Tamo di Fillo.
We arrived at Joag, the frontier town of this kingdom, on the 24th of
December, and took up our residence at the house of the chief man, who is
here no longer known by the title of alkaid, but is called the _dooty_.
He was a rigid Mohammedan, but distinguished for his hospitality. This
town may be supposed, on a gross computation, to contain two thousand
inhabitants. It is surrounded by a high wall, in which are a number of
port-holes, for musketry to fire through, in case of an attack. Every
man’s possession is likewise surrounded by a wall, the whole forming so
many distinct citadels; and amongst a people unacquainted with the use of
artillery these walls answer all the purposes of stronger fortifications.
To the westward of the town is a small river, on the banks of which the
natives raise great plenty of tobacco and onions.
The same evening Madiboo, the bushreen, who had accompanied me from
Pisania, went to pay a visit to his father and mother, who dwelt at a
neighbouring town called Dramanet. He was joined by my other attendant,
the blacksmith. As soon as it was dark I was invited to see the sports
of the inhabitants, it being their custom, on the arrival of strangers,
to welcome them by diversions of different kinds. I found a great crowd
surrounding a party who were dancing, by the light of some large fires,
to the music of four drums, which were beat with great exactness and
uniformity. The dances, however, consisted more in wanton gestures than
in muscular exertion or graceful attitudes. The ladies vied with each
other in displaying the most voluptuous movements imaginable.
_December_ 25.—About two o’clock in the morning a number of horsemen came
into the town, and, having awakened my landlord, talked to him for some
time in the Serawoolli tongue; after which they dismounted and came to
the bentang, on which I had made my bed. One of them, thinking that I
was asleep, attempted to steal the musket that lay by me on the mat, but
finding that he could not effect his purpose undiscovered, he desisted,
and the strangers sat down by me till daylight.
I could now easily perceive, by the countenance of my interpreter,
Johnson, that something very unpleasant was in agitation. I was likewise
surprised to see Madiboo and the blacksmith so soon returned. On
inquiring the reason, Madiboo informed me that, as they were dancing at
Dramanet, ten horsemen belonging to Batcheri, king of the country, with
his second son at their head, had arrived there, inquiring if the white
man had passed, and, on being told that I was at Joag, they rode off
without stopping. Madiboo added that on hearing this he and the
blacksmith hastened back to give me notice of their coming. Whilst I was
listening to this narrative the ten horsemen mentioned by Madiboo
arrived, and coming to the bentang, dismounted and seated themselves with
those who had come before—the whole being about twenty in number—forming
a circle round me, and each man holding his musket in his hand. I took
this opportunity to observe to my landlord that, as I did not understand
the Serawoolli tongue, I hoped whatever the men had to say they would
speak in Mandingo. To this they agreed; and a short man, loaded with a
remarkable number of saphies, opened the business in a very long
harangue, informing me that I had entered the king’s town without having
first paid the duties, or giving any present to the king; and that,
according to the laws of the country, my people, cattle, and baggage were
forfeited. He added that they had received orders from the king to
conduct me to Maana, {70} the place of his residence, and if I refused to
come with them their orders were to bring me by force; upon his saying
which all of them rose up and asked me if I was ready. It would have
been equally vain and imprudent in me to have resisted or irritated such
a body of men; I therefore affected to comply with their commands, and
begged them only to stop a little until I had given my horse a feed of
corn, and settled matters with my landlord. The poor blacksmith, who was
a native of Kasson, mistook this feigned compliance for a real intention,
and taking me away from the company, told me that he had always behaved
towards me as if I had been his father and master, and he hoped I would
not entirely ruin him by going to Maana, adding that as there was every
reason to believe a war would soon take place between Kasson and Kajaaga,
he should not only lose his little property, the savings of four years’
industry, but should certainly be detained and sold as a slave, unless
his friends had an opportunity of paying two slaves for his redemption.
I saw this reasoning in its full force, and determined to do my utmost to
preserve the blacksmith from so dreadful a fate. I therefore told the
king’s son that I was ready to go with him, upon condition that, the
blacksmith, who was an inhabitant of a distant kingdom, and entirely
unconnected with me, should be allowed to stay at Joag till my return.
To this they all objected, and insisted that, as we had all acted
contrary to the laws, we were all equally answerable for our conduct.
I now took my landlord aside, and giving him a small present of
gunpowder, asked his advice in such critical a situation. He was
decidedly of opinion that I ought not to go to the king: he was fully
convinced, he said, that if the king should discover anything valuable in
my possession, he would not be over scrupulous about the means of
obtaining it.
Towards the evening, as I was sitting upon the bentang chewing straws, an
old female slave, passing by with a basket upon her head, asked me _if
had got my dinner_. As I thought she only laughed at me, I gave her no
answer; but my boy, who was sitting close by, answered for me, and told
her that the king’s people had robbed me of all my money. On hearing
this, the good old woman, with a look of unaffected benevolence,
immediately took the basket from her head, and showing me that it
contained ground nuts, asked me if I could eat them. Being answered in
the affirmative, she presented me with a few handfuls, and walked away
before I had time to thank her for this seasonable supply.
The old woman had scarcely left me when I received information that a
nephew of Demba Sego Jalla, the Mandingo king of Kasson, was coming to
pay me a visit. He had been sent on an embassy to Batcheri, King of
Kajaaga, to endeavour to settle the disputes which had arisen between his
uncle and the latter; but after debating the matter four days without
success, he was now on his return, and hearing that a white man was at
Joag, on his way to Kasson, curiosity brought him to see me. I
represented to him my situation and distresses, when he frankly offered
me his protection, and said he would be my guide to Kasson (provided I
would set out the next morning), and be answerable for my safety. I
readily and gratefully accepted his offer, and was ready with my
attendants by daylight on the morning of the 27th of December.
My protector, whose name was Demba Sego, probably after his uncle, had a
numerous retinue. Our company, at leaving Joag, consisted of thirty
persons and six loaded asses; and we rode on cheerfully enough for some
hours, without any remarkable occurrence until we came to a species of
tree for which my interpreter Johnson had made frequent inquiry. On
finding it, he desired us to stop, and producing a white chicken, which
he had purchased at Joag for the purpose, he tied it by the leg to one of
the branches, and then told us we might now safely proceed, for that our
journey would be prosperous.
At noon we had reached Gungadi, a large town where we stopped about an
hour, until some of the asses that had fallen behind came up. Here I
observed a number of date-trees, and a mosque built of clay, with six
turrets, on the pinnacles of which were placed six ostrich eggs. A
little before sunset we arrived at the town of Samee, on the banks of the
Senegal, which is here a beautiful but shallow river, moving slowly over
a bed of sand and gravel. The banks are high, and covered with
verdure—the country is open and cultivated—and the rocky hills of Fellow
and Bambouk add much to the beauty of the landscape.
_December_ 28.—We departed from Samee, and arrived in the afternoon at
Kayee, a large village, part of which is situated on the north and part
on the south side of the river.
The ferryman then taking hold of the most steady of the horses by a rope,
led him into the water, and paddled the canoe a little from the brink;
upon which a general attack commenced upon the other horses, who, finding
themselves pelted and kicked on all sides, unanimously plunged into the
river, and followed their companion. A few boys swam in after them; and,
by laving water upon them when they attempted to return, urged them
onwards; and we had the satisfaction in about fifteen minutes to see them
all safe on the other side. It was a matter of greater difficulty to
manage the asses; their natural stubbornness of disposition made them
endure a great deal of pelting and shoving before they would venture into
the water; and when they had reached the middle of the stream, four of
them turned back, in spite of every exertion to get them forwards. Two
hours were spent in getting the whole of them over; an hour more was
employed in transporting the baggage; and it was near sunset before the
canoe returned, when Demba Sego and myself embarked in this dangerous
passage-boat, which the least motion was like to overset. The king’s
nephew thought this a proper time to have a peep into a tin box of mine
that stood in the fore part of the canoe; and in stretching out his hand
for it, he unfortunately destroyed the equilibrium, and overset the
canoe. Luckily we were not far advanced, and got back to the shore
without much difficulty; from whence, after wringing the water from our
clothes, we took a fresh departure, and were soon afterwards safely
landed in Kasson.