_TO LUDAMAR._
It must have been with no pleasant sensations that Park turned aside
from his direct route E.S.E. to the Niger, and proceeded north instead
to Ludamar. In addition to the increased distance, there were the
hundredfold greater dangers to be encountered. Houghton had preceded
him over the same road, with what results his successor only too well
knew. And yet, as matters turned out, it was perhaps as well that he
elected to try his fate by the more circuitous route. Before many
days were over Kaarta was desolated by the Bambarra army, which only
retired laden with spoil on finding that the last refuge of the king
could neither be stormed nor reduced by starvation. The trouble of the
Kaartans did not end with the war with Bambarra, for they fell out
with the people of Kasson, and before the year was ended had to face a
coalition of various enemies.
On the 13th February Park started for Ludamar. His escort of over two
hundred horsemen seems to have been of little use, for in the evening
the hut in which his luggage was deposited was entered, and some of his
rapidly diminishing stores stolen. Next day he came upon some negroes
gathering the fruit of the _Rhamnus lotus_, which being converted into
a species of bread, forms no inconsiderable addition to the food of
the natives of Kaarta and Ludamar. This shrub, Park does not doubt, is
the lotus mentioned by Pliny as the food of the Libyan Lotophagi.
The increased dangers of the new route were amply illustrated as
Ludamar was approached. Bands of marauding Moors were taking advantage
of the unsettled state of the country to carry off cattle with
impunity. At one town Park saw five Moors calmly select sixteen of the
finest oxen of a herd, and in the presence of five hundred negroes
drive them away without even a show of resistance. One young man who
had been out in the fields, and had shown more courage, had been shot,
and was brought in dying. His mother, frantic with grief, filled the
air with her shrill shrieks and lamentations, clapping her hands the
while. “He never told a lie” was the astonishing encomium passed upon
him, a phenomenal occurrence in a continent where lying is a virtue,
and the art is raised to its utmost perfection. On being assured that
all hope of saving the boy’s life was gone, some good Mohammedans did
their best to ensure him--though hitherto a Pagan--a place in Paradise,
by getting him to repeat the sacred formula of Islam, in which pious
effort they happily were successful.
On the 17th, Park, in company with numbers of people flying from
the terrors of war, travelled during the night, to escape the more
immediate danger of Moorish robbers. After resting during the early
morning, they resumed their journey at daybreak. Two hours later they
passed Simbing, from which Houghton had despatched the graphic letter,
already quoted, telling of his destitute condition, but unalterable
intention of proceeding to Timbuktu. At noon, Jarra, the southern
frontier town of Ludamar, was reached. It was from this place that
Park’s predecessor was decoyed into the desert by Moors, and after
being stripped, was left either to die of starvation or be murdered by
passing ruffians, a point never satisfactorily cleared up, though Park
was shown the spot where he breathed his last.
At Jarra, Park was hospitably received by a Gambia slatee, who had
borrowed goods from Dr. Laidley to the value of six slaves, for which
debt Park was provided with an order. The debt was acknowledged, but
the merchant pleaded inability to pay more than two slaves.
Our traveller had now entered a more inhospitable region. Ludamar was
found to be inhabited by negroes, an Arab race largely intermixed with
negro blood forming the rulers and possessing the worst characteristics
of both sides of descent.
Park and his attendants were not long in experiencing the brutal and
inhospitable character of this degraded hybrid people.
Difficulties had met them at every step of their journey, and now
nothing but new terrors loomed up before them. So great did these seem,
and so overbearing and threatening was the attitude of the Moors,
that Park’s servants declared they would rather lose everything they
possessed than proceed further. Not only were they liable to robbery
and ill-usage, but not improbable to slavery also. These facts were
so patent that, though unwavering in his own determination to push
on, Park could not bring himself to force his men to follow him.
Accordingly he made arrangements for parting with them. Among other
things, he prepared duplicates of his papers to put into the hands
of Johnson. Meanwhile a messenger had been sent to Ali, chief of the
country, to ask permission to pass through his country to Bambarra.
The request was accompanied by a present of fine garments of cotton
cloth which Park purchased from the slatee in exchange for his
fowling-piece. Fourteen days elapsed before an answer was returned, and
then he was told to follow Ali’s messenger to Gumba.
On preparing to depart, hopeful as ever that yet he should live to see
the Niger, he was further cheered by the fidelity of his boy Demba,
who seeing his master was not to be dissuaded from his determination
to proceed, resolved not to desert him, whatever might be the result.
It then came out that Johnson, whose residence among Europeans had
only served to corrupt him, had treacherously tried to seduce Demba to
return with him and leave the white man to his fate.
To diminish the inducements to plunder, Park, before starting, left
as many of his personal effects behind him as he could spare. For two
days the little party toiled over a sandy country. On the third day
they reached Dina, a large town built of stone and clay. The reception
Park here met with at the hands of the natives was atrocious. Every
opprobrious epithet which their vocabulary could supply was hurled at
him. Not content with words, they proceeded to spit upon and otherwise
heap ignominy upon the stranger, ending by tearing open his bundles
and helping themselves to whatever they had a mind. For the victim of
these outrages there was nothing but patience and resignation, with
which virtues, indeed, he seems to have been amply endowed. He might
be robbed of his material resources, but his spiritual stores remained
untouched. With him, while there was life there was hope.
Not so with his servants. They had no magnet to draw them on, no
higher impulse than monetary reward. Further forward they would not
go. So be it! Their retreat was excusable, but _Onward_ must be their
master’s watchword so long as any pencil of light glimmered through a
loophole--_Onward_ as long as limbs and strength and hope held out.
Not daring to face another day of insult and plunder, nor yet a night
of gloomy reflection, Park gathered together such valuables as he could
carry, left the village under cover of darkness, and with magnificent
resolution started alone on his forlorn hope of reaching the Niger.
As the huts disappeared behind him, the moon shone out bright and
clear in the heavens, filling the night with its mellow beauty, both
literally and figuratively lighting up the dark path before him.
From all sides came the roar of wild beasts, adding to the terrors of
the situation. Undismayed, however, and still unwavering, he plodded
onward through the night. He had not proceeded far when a clear halloo
stopped his resolute footsteps. The accents sounded familiar, and in a
few moments more he was joined by his faithful servant Demba. Park then
found that the boy had made up his mind to stand by him, though Ali’s
messenger returned to his master.
The little party of two now continued their journey, travelling
steadily on over a sandy country covered with asclepias. At midday they
reached a few huts, but were prevented from drawing water from the
village well by the appearance of a lion. They therefore had to endure
the pangs of thirst with patience till the evening, when they entered
a town occupied by Fulahs. Park now seemed to have touched the bottom
of his misfortunes. For several days he proceeded unmolested through
Ludamar, each new day, each mile nearer his goal, filling his sanguine
mind with brighter and fresher hopes.
On the 5th March he reached Dalli. The villagers, hearing that a
white man had arrived, deserted the revelries attendant on a feast,
and hastened to see the phenomenal stranger. Not pell-mell, however,
like the rude mob of Dina, but in a decorous procession, and headed by
flute-players, as if they felt themselves honoured by the visit. Round
Park’s hut they continued to dance and sing till midnight, during which
time he had to keep himself continuously on exhibition to satisfy their
simple and kindly if somewhat overwhelming curiosity.
Next day Park moved on to a village to the east of Dalli to escape
the crowd which usually assembled there in the evening. Again his
reception was most hospitable. The head man considered himself highly
distinguished by having such a guest in his house, and showed it
practically by killing two fine sheep to feast him and his own friends.
Park was now only two days from Gumba, the first town of Bambarra. He
had but to reach that place to be safe from the thieving and brutal
half-caste Moors, whose rule of the unhappy negroes was but another
name for rapine and plunder. His hopes were high that now the success
of his mission was almost assured. In fancy he saw himself already on
the bank of the Niger, which he had come so far and suffered so much to
see. His imagination revelled in a thousand delightful scenes in his
future progress.
Thus buoyed up with glowing thoughts, he abandoned himself with
unrestrained gaiety to the harmless festivities organised by his negro
host, whose manners were in striking contrast to his experience of
those of the Ludamar Moors.
But just when his golden dream was at its brightest, it was shattered
by a rude awakening. Messengers arrived from Ali with orders to convey
the white man either peaceably or by force to his camp at Benaun. Park
was struck dumb with painful emotions, though slightly relieved on
hearing that the sole cause of his being taken back was the curiosity
of Fatima, Ali’s favourite wife. That lady’s desire to see a white man
being satisfied, the chief promised that he should be conveyed safely
on his way to Bambarra.
There was no gainsaying Ali’s orders, and argument was of no avail.
Once more Park must fall back on his patience and his hope. Now
practically prisoners, he and his faithful boy Demba were carried back
to Dina, where his reception had already been so brutal. Here he was
brought before one of Ali’s sons, who soon gave him a taste of the
dangers and indignities in store for him. Barely was he seated when a
gun was handed to him, and he was told to repair the lock and dye the
stock blue. Knowing nothing of such matters, Park could only declare
his ignorance. He was then ordered to produce his knives and scissors,
and hand them over to the young tyrant. On Demba attempting to explain
that they had no such articles, their tormentor sprang up in a fury,
seized a musket, and was about to blow out the poor boy’s brains, when
the bystanders interfered and saved his life.
After this unpleasant incident master and man beat a hasty retreat from
the hut, and it is little to be wondered at that the latter tried to
escape altogether.
Next day the prisoners were conveyed to Benaun, the headquarters of
the paramount chief of Ludamar, under a terrible sun, and over burning
sands. They travelled all day with almost no water, the pangs of thirst
being slightly alleviated by the use of gum, which keeps the mouth
moist and allays the pain in the throat. In the evening they arrived
at their destination, a temporary camp, consisting of a great number
of dirty-looking tents scattered without order, among which were large
herds of camels, cattle, and goats. At the outskirts of the camp, Park,
by much entreaty, procured a little water.
The arrival of the white traveller was the signal for a great
commotion. Women hastened from their domestic avocations and forsook
their waterpots at the well. The men mounted their horses--every one
came running or galloping helter-skelter, amid wild screaming and
shouting. In a ferocious mob they surrounded the unhappy cause of
their excitement, pouncing upon him like a pack of hyenas, tugging
and pulling his clothes, threatening him with all sorts of penalties
if he would not acknowledge the One God and His Prophet. In this sad
plight, half dead with the pangs of thirst and the fatigues of a
desert march, he was hustled and pulled towards the chief’s tent. When
at last he found himself in the presence of the great man, a single
glance at his face was sufficient to dispel the last hope of better
treatment. Ali was an old man, with an Arab cast of countenance, on
whose every lineament were marked sullenness and cruelty. While he
passively examined the unfortunate man before him, the women of his
household were more actively engaged inspecting the dress of the victim
and searching his pockets. They affected to doubt that he was a man
at all, and counted his fingers and toes to assure themselves that he
was indeed like themselves. Not content even with that, they must needs
have a peep at his white skin, and pushed aside his garments in order
to effect their purpose.
When the excitement was at its height, the sacred call to prayers
resounded through the camp, but before the people fell upon their knees
before the One God All Compassionate and Merciful, with bent body and
face pressed in the dust to acknowledge His Omnipotence, they had a new
indignity to put upon the helpless stranger. Showing him a wild hog,
they bade him kill and eat it. This he wisely refused. The hog was then
let loose in the belief that it would at once attack the white man, but
instead it rushed at his tormentors. The sport thus missing its mark,
the Moors proceeded to their devotions, and Park was conveyed to the
door of the tent of Ali’s chief slave, where after much entreaty he was
supplied with a little boiled corn with salt and water, and then left
to pass the night on a mat, exposed to cold and the dews, and still
worse, to the insults and ribald mirth of the mob which swarmed about
him.