Life and Travels of Mungo Park in Central Africa by Mungo Park

M >> Mungo Park >> Life and Travels of Mungo Park in Central Africa

Pages:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33

Ludamar has for its northern boundary the Great Desert of Sahara. From
the best inquiries I could make, this vast ocean of sand, which occupies
so large a space in Northern Africa, may be pronounced almost destitute
of inhabitants, except where the scanty vegetation which appears in
certain spots affords pasturage for the flocks of a few miserable Arabs,
who wander from one well to another. In other places, where the supply of
water and pasturage is more abundant, small parties of the Moors have
taken up their residence. Here they live in independent poverty, secure
from the tyrannical government of Barbary. But the greater part of the
Desert being totally destitute of water, is seldom visited by any human
being, unless where the trading caravans trace out their toilsome and
dangerous route across it. In some parts of this extensive waste, the
ground is covered with low stunted shrubs, which serve as land-marks for
the caravans, and furnish the camels with a scanty forage. In other parts
the disconsolate wanderer, wherever he turns, sees nothing around him but
a vast interminable expanse of sand and sky; a gloomy and barren void,
where the eye finds no particular object to rest upon, and the mind is
filled with painful apprehensions of perishing with thirst. "Surrounded
by this dreary solitude, the traveller sees the dead bodies of birds,
that the violence of the wind has brought, from happier regions: and as
he ruminates on the fearful length of his remaining passage, listens with
horror to the voice of the driving blast, the only sound that interrupts
the awful repose of the Desert."[11]

[11] Proceedings of the African Association, part 1.

The few wild animals which inhabit these melancholy regions are the
antelope and the ostrich, their swiftness of foot enabling them to reach
the distant watering places. On the skirts of the Desert, where water is
more plentiful, are found lions, panthers, elephants, and wild boars.

Of domestic animals, the only one that can endure the fatigue of crossing
the Desert is the camel. By the particular conformation of the stomach,
he is enabled to carry a supply of water sufficient for ten or twelve
days; his broad and yielding foot is well adapted for a sandy country;
and by a singular motion of his upper lip, he picks the smallest leaves
from the thorny shrubs of the Desert as he passes along. The camel is,
therefore, the only beast of burthen employed by the trading caravans,
which traverse the Desert in different directions, from Barbary to
Nigritia. As this useful and docile creature has been sufficiently
described by systematical writers, it is unnecessary for me to enlarge
upon his properties. I shall only add, that his flesh, though to my own
taste dry and unsavoury, is preferred by the Moors to any other; and that
the milk of the female is in universal esteem, and is indeed sweet,
pleasant, and nutritive.

I have observed that the Moors, in their complexion, resemble the
Mulattoes of the West Indies; but they have something unpleasant in their
aspect, which the Mulattoes have not. I fancied that I discovered in the
features of most of them a disposition towards cruelty and low cunning;
and I could never contemplate their physiognomy without feeling sensible
uneasiness. From the staring wildness of their eyes, a stranger would
immediately set them down as a nation of lunatics. The treachery and
malevolence of their character are manifested in their plundering
excursions against the Negro villages. Oftentimes, without the smallest
provocation, and sometimes under the fairest professions of friendship,
they will suddenly seize upon the Negroes' cattle, and even on the
inhabitants themselves. The Negroes very seldom retaliate. The
enterprising boldness of the Moors, their knowledge of the country, and,
above all, the superior fleetness of their horses, make them such
formidable enemies, that the petty Negro states which border upon the
Desert are in continual terror while the Moorish tribes are in the
vicinity, and are too much awed to think of resistance.

Like the roving Arabs, the Moors frequently remove from one place to
another, according to the season of the year, or the convenience of
pasturage. In the month of February, when the heat of the sun scorches up
every sort of vegetation in the Desert, they strike their tents, and
approach the Negro country to the south, where they reside until the
rains commence in the month of July. At this time, having purchased corn
and other necessaries from the Negroes, in exchange for salt, they again
depart to the northward, and continue in the Desert until the rains are
over, and that part of the country becomes burnt up and barren.

This wandering and restless way of life, while it inures them to
hardships, strengthens at the same time the bonds of their little
society, and creates in them an aversion towards strangers, which is
almost insurmountable. Cut off from all intercourse with civilized
nations, and boasting an advantage over the Negroes, by possessing,
though in a very limited degree, the knowledge of letters, they are at
once the vainest and proudest, and perhaps the most bigotted, ferocious,
and intolerant of all the nations on the earth, combining in their
character the blind superstition of the Negro, with the savage cruelty
and treachery of the Arab.

It is probable that many of them had never beheld a white man before my
arrival at Benowm; but they had all been taught to regard the Christian
name with inconceivable abhorrence, and to consider it nearly as lawful
to murder a European as it would be to kill a dog. The melancholy fate of
Major Houghton, and the treatment I experienced during my confinement
among them, will, I trust, serve as a warning to future travellers to
avoid this inhospitable district.

The reader may probably have expected from me a more detailed and copious
account of the manners, customs, superstitions, and prejudices of this
secluded and singular people; but it must not be forgotten, that the
wretchedness of my situation among them afforded me but few opportunities
of collecting information. Some particulars, however, might be added in
this place; but being equally applicable to the Negroes of the southward,
they will appear in a subsequent page.

CHAPTER XIII.

_Ali departs for Jarra, and the Author allowed to follow him
thither.--The Author's faithful servant, Demba, seized by Ali's order,
and sent back into slavery.--Ali returns to his camp, and permits the
Author to remain at Jarra, who, thenceforward, meditates his
escape.--Daisy, King of Kaarta, approaching with his army towards Jarra,
the inhabitants quit the town, and the Author accompanies them in their
flight.--A party of Moors overtake him at Queira.--He gets away from them
at daybreak.--Is again pursued by another party, and robbed; but finally
effects his escape._

Having, as has been related, obtained permission to accompany Ali to
Jarra, I took leave of Queen Fatima, who, with much grace and civility,
returned me part of my apparel: and the evening before my departure, my
horse, with the saddle and bridle, were sent me by Ali's order.

Early on the morning of the 26th of May, I departed from the camp of
Bubaker, accompanied by my two attendants, Johnson and Demba, and a
number of Moors on horseback; Ali, with about fifty horsemen, having gone
privately from the camp during the night. We stopped about noon at
Farani, and were there joined by twelve Moors riding upon camels, and
with them we proceeded to a watering-place in the woods, where we
overtook Ali with his fifty horsemen. They were lodged in some low
shepherds' tents near the wells. As the company was numerous, the tents
could scarcely accommodate us all; and I was ordered to sleep in the open
space in the centre of the tents, where every one might observe my
motions.

During the night, there was much lightning from the north-east; and about
daybreak a very heavy sand-wind commenced, which continued with great
violence until four in the afternoon. The quantity of sand which passed
to the westward in the course of this day must have been prodigiously
great. At times it was impossible to look up; and the cattle were so
tormented by the particles lodging in their ears and eyes that they ran
about like mad creatures, and I was in continual danger of being trampled
to death by them.

May 28th. Early in the morning the Moors saddled their horses, and Ali's
chief slave ordered me to get in readiness. In a little time the same
messenger returned, and taking my boy by the shoulders, told him, in the
Mandingo language, that "Ali was to be his master in future:" and then
turning to me, "the business is settled at last, (said he,) the boy, and
every thing but your horse, goes back to Bubaker; but you may take the
old fool (meaning Johnson the interpreter) with you to Jarra." I made him
no answer; but being shocked beyond description at the idea of losing the
poor boy, I hastened to Ali, who was at breakfast before his tent,
surrounded by many of his courtiers. I told him, perhaps in rather too
passionate a strain, that whatever imprudence I had been guilty of, in
coming into his country, I thought I had already been sufficiently
punished for it, by being so long detained, and then plundered of all my
little property; which, however, gave me no uneasiness, when compared
with what he had just now done to me. I observed, that the boy which he
had now seized upon was not a slave, and had been accused of no offence;
he was indeed one of my attendants; and his faithful services in that
station had procured him his freedom; his fidelity and attachment had
made him follow me into my present situation; and as he looked up to me
for protection, I could not see him deprived of his liberty, without
remonstrating against such an act, as the height of cruelty and
injustice. Ali made no reply, but with a haughty air and malignant smile,
told his interpreter, that if I did not mount my horse immediately, he
would send me back likewise. There is something in the frown of a tyrant
which rouses the most secret emotions of the heart; I could not suppress
my feelings; and for once entertained an indignant wish to rid the world
of such a monster.

Poor Demba was not less affected than myself: he had formed a strong
attachment towards me, and had a cheerfulness of disposition, which often
beguiled the tedious hours of captivity; he was likewise a proficient in
the Bambarra tongue, and promised on that account to be of great utility
to me in future. But it was in vain to expect anything favourable to
humanity from people who are strangers to its dictates. So having shaken
hands with this unfortunate boy, and blended my tears with his, assuring
him, however, that I would do my utmost to redeem him, I saw him led off
by three of Ali's slaves towards the camp at Bubaker.

When the Moors had mounted their horses, I was ordered to follow them;
and, after a toilsome journey through the woods, in a very sultry day, we
arrived in the afternoon at a walled village, called Doombani; where we
remained two days, waiting for the arrival of some horsemen from the
northward.

On the 1st of June we departed from Doombani towards Jarra. Our company
now amounted to two hundred men, all on horseback; for the Moors never
use infantry in their wars. They appeared capable of enduring great
fatigue; but from their total want of discipline our journey to Jarra was
more like a fox-chase than the march of an army.

At Jarra, I took up my lodging at the house of my old acquaintance, Daman
Jumma; and informed him of every thing that had befallen me. I
particularly requested him to use his interest with Ali to redeem my boy,
and promised him a bill upon Dr. Laidley, for the value of two slaves,
the moment he brought him to Jarra. Daman very readily undertook to
negotiate the business; but found that Ali considered the boy as my
principal interpreter, and was unwilling to part with him, lest he should
fall a second time into my hands, and be instrumental in conducting me to
Bambarra. Ali, therefore, put off the matter from day to day; but withal
told Daman, that if he wished to purchase the boy for himself, he should
have him thereafter, at the common price of a slave; which Daman agreed
to pay for him, whenever Ali should send him to Jarra.

The chief object of Ali, in this journey to Jarra, as I have already
related, was to procure money from such of the Kaartans as had taken
refuge in his country. Some of these had solicited his protection, to
avoid the horrors of war; but by far the greatest number of them were
dissatisfied men, who wished the ruin of their own sovereign. These
people no sooner heard that the Bambarran army had returned to Sego
without subduing Daisy, as was generally expected, than they resolved to
make a sudden attack themselves upon him, before he could recruit his
forces, which were now known to be much diminished by a bloody campaign,
and in great want of provisions. With this view, they solicited the Moors
to join them, and offered to hire of Ali two hundred horsemen; which Ali,
with the warmest professions of friendship, agreed to furnish, upon
condition that they should previously supply him with four hundred head
of cattle, two hundred garments of blue cloth, and a considerable
quantity of beads and ornaments. The raising this impost somewhat
perplexed them; and in order to procure the cattle, they persuaded the
king to demand one-half the stipulated number from the people of Jarra;
promising to replace them in a short time. Ali agreed to this proposal,
and the same evening (June 2d) the drum was sent through the town; and
the crier announced that if any person suffered his cattle to go into the
woods the next morning, before the king had chosen his quota of them, his
house should be plundered, and his slaves taken from him. The people
dared not disobey the proclamation; and next morning about two hundred of
their best cattle were selected, and delivered to the Moors; the full
complement was made up afterwards, by means equally unjust and arbitrary.

June 8th. In the afternoon Ali sent his chief slave to inform me, that he
was about to return to Bubaker; but as he would only stay there a few
days, to keep the approaching festival (_Banna Salee_), and then return
to Jarra, I had permission to remain with Daman until his return. This
was joyful news to me; but I had experienced so many disappointments,
that I was unwilling to indulge the hope of its being true, until Johnson
came and told me that Ali, with part of the horsemen, were actually gone
from the town, and that the rest were to follow him in the morning.

June 9th. Early in the morning the remainder of the Moors departed from
the town. They had, during their stay, committed many acts of robbery;
and this morning, with the most unparalleled audacity, they seized upon
three girls who were bringing water from the wells, and carried them away
into slavery.

The anniversary of _Banna Salee_, at Jarra, very well deserved to be
called a festival. The slaves were all finely clad on this occasion, and
the householders vied with each other in providing large quantities of
victuals, which they distributed to all their neighbours with the
greatest profusion; hunger was literally banished from the town; man,
woman, and child, bond and free, all had as much as they could eat.

June 12th. Two people, dreadfully wounded, were discovered, at a
watering-place in the woods; one of them had just breathed his last, but
the other was brought alive to Jarra. On recovering a little, he informed
the people, that he had fled through the woods from Kasson; that Daisy
had made war upon Sambo, the king of that country; had surprised three of
his towns, and put all the inhabitants to the sword. He enumerated by
name many of the friends of the Jarra people, who had been murdered in
Kasson. This intelligence made the death-howl universal in Jarra for the
space of two days.

This piece of bad news was followed by another not less distressing. A
number of runaway slaves arrived from Kaarta on the 14th, and reported
that Daisy, having received information concerning the intended attack
upon him, was about to visit Jarra. This made the Negroes call upon Ali
for the two hundred horsemen, which he was to furnish them, according to
engagement. But Ali paid very little attention to their remonstrances;
and at last plainly told them that his cavalry were otherwise employed.
The Negroes, thus deserted by the Moors, and fully apprised that the King
of Kaarta would show them as little clemency as he had shown the
inhabitants of Kasson, resolved to collect all their forces, and hazard a
battle, before the king, who was now in great distress for want of
provisions, should become too powerful for them. They, therefore,
assembled about eight hundred effective men in the whole; and with these
they entered Kaarta on the evening of the 18th of June.

June 19th. This morning the wind shifted to the south-west; and about two
o'clock in the afternoon we had a heavy tornado, or thunder squall,
accompanied with rain, which greatly revived the face of nature, and gave
a pleasant coolness to the air. This was the first rain that had fallen
for many months.

As every attempt to redeem my boy had hitherto been unsuccessful, and in
all probability would continue to prove so whilst I remained in the
country, I found that it was necessary for me to come to some
determination concerning my own safety, before the rains should be fully
set in; for my landlord, seeing no likelihood of being paid for his
trouble, began to wish me away; and Johnson, my interpreter, refusing to
proceed, my situation became very perplexing. If I continued where I was,
I foresaw that I must soon fall a victim to the barbarity of the Moors;
and yet if I went forward singly, it was evident that I must sustain
great difficulties, both from the want of means to purchase the
necessaries of life, and of an interpreter to make myself understood. On
the other hand, to return to England, without accomplishing the object of
my mission, was worse than either. I therefore determined to avail myself
of the first opportunity of escaping, and to proceed directly for
Bambarra, as soon as the rains had set in for a few days, so as to afford
me the certainty of finding water in the woods.

Such was my situation, when, on the evening of the 24th of June, I was
startled by the report of some muskets close to the town, and inquiring
the reason, was informed that the Jarra army had returned from fighting
Daisy, and that this firing was by way of rejoicing. However, when the
chief men of the town had assembled, and heard a full detail of the
expedition, they were by no means relieved from their uneasiness on
Daisy's account. The deceitful Moors having drawn back from the
confederacy, after being hired by the Negroes, greatly dispirited the
insurgents, who, instead of finding Daisy with a few friends concealed in
the strong fortress of Gedingooma, had found him at a town near Joka, in
the open country, surrounded by so numerous an army, that every attempt
to attack him was at once given up; and the confederates only thought of
enriching themselves, by the plunder of the small towns in the
neighbourhood. They accordingly fell upon one of Daisy's towns, and
carried off the whole of the inhabitants; but, lest intelligence of this
might reach Daisy, and induce him to cut off their retreat, they returned
through the woods by night, bringing with them the slaves and cattle
which they had captured.

June 26th. This afternoon, a spy from Kaarta brought the alarming
intelligence, that Daisy had taken Simbing in the morning, and would be
in Jarra some time in the course of the ensuing day. A number of the
people were immediately stationed on the tops of the rocks, and in the
different passages leading into the town, to give early intelligence of
Daisy's motions, and the women set about making the necessary
preparations for quitting the town as soon as possible. They continued
beating corn, and packing up different articles, during the night; and
early in the morning, nearly one half of the townspeople took the road
for Bambarra, by the Way of Deena.

Their departure was very affecting; the women and children crying; the
men sullen and dejected; and all of them looking back with regret on
their native town, and on the wells and rocks, beyond which their
ambition had never tempted them to stray, and where they had laid all
their plans of future happiness; all of which they were now forced to
abandon, and to seek shelter among strangers.

June 27th. About eleven o'clock in the forenoon, we were alarmed by the
sentinels, who brought information that Daisy was on his march towards
Jarra, and that the confederate army had fled before him without firing a
gun. The terror of the townspeople on this occasion is not easily to be
described.--Indeed, the screams of the women and children, and the great
hurry and confusion that everywhere prevailed, made me suspect that the
Kaartans had already entered the town; and although I had every reason to
be pleased with Daisy's behaviour to me when I was at Kemmoo, I had no
wish to expose myself to the mercy of his army, who might, in the general
confusion, mistake me for a Moor. I therefore mounted my horse, and
taking a large bag of corn before me, rode slowly along with the
townspeople, until we reached the foot of a rocky hill, where I
dismounted, and drove my horse up before me. When I had reached the
summit I sat down, and having a full view of the town, and the
neighbouring country, could not help lamenting the situation of the poor
inhabitants, who were thronging after me, driving their sheep, cows,
goats, &c. and carrying a scanty portion of provisions, and a few
clothes. There was a great noise and crying everywhere upon the road; for
many aged people and children were unable to walk, and these, with the
sick, were obliged to be carried, otherwise they must have been left to
certain destruction.

About five o'clock we arrived at a small farm, belonging to the Jarra
people, called Kadeeja; and here I found Daman and Johnson employed in
filling large bags of corn, to be carried upon bullocks, to serve as
provisions for Daman's family on the road.

June 28th. At daybreak, we departed from Kadeeja; and, having passed
Troomgoomba, without stopping, arrived in the afternoon at Queira. I
remained here two days, in order to recruit my horse, which the Moors had
reduced to a perfect Rosinante, and to wait for the arrival of some
Mandingo Negroes, who were going for Bambarra in the course of a few
days.

On the afternoon of the 1st of July, as I was tending my horse in the
fields, Ali's chief slave and four Moors arrived at Queira, and took up
their lodging at the Dooty's house. My interpreter, Johnson, who
suspected the nature of this visit, sent two boys to overhear their
conversation; from which he learned that they were sent to convey me back
to Bubaker. The same evening, two of the Moors came privately to look at
my horse, and one of them proposed taking it to the Dooty's hut; but the
other observed that such a precaution was unnecessary, as I could never
escape upon such an animal. They then inquired where I slept, and
returned to their companions.

All this was like a stroke of thunder to me, for I dreaded nothing so
much as confinement again among the Moors, from whose barbarity I had
nothing but death to expect. I therefore determined to set off
immediately for Bambarra, a measure which I thought offered almost the
only chance of saving my life, and gaining the object of my mission; I
communicated the design to Johnson, who, although he applauded my
resolution, was so far from showing any inclination to accompany me, that
he solemnly protested he would rather forfeit his wages than go any
farther. He told me that Daman had agreed to give him half the price of a
slave for his service, to assist in conducting a coffle of slaves to
Gambia, and that he was determined to embrace the opportunity of
returning to his wife and family.

Having no hopes, therefore, of persuading him to accompany me, I resolved
to proceed by myself. About midnight I got my clothes in readiness, which
consisted of two shirts, two pairs of trowsers, two pocket-handkerchiefs,
an upper and under waistcoat, a hat, and a pair of half-boots; these,
with a cloak, constituted my whole wardrobe.--And I had not one single
bead, nor any other article of value in my possession, to purchase
victuals for myself, or corn for my horse.

About daybreak, Johnson, who had been listening to the Moors all night,
came and whispered to me that they were asleep. The awful crisis was now
arrived, when I was again either to taste the blessing of freedom, or
languish out my days in captivity. A cold sweat moistened my forehead as
I thought on the dreadful alternative, and reflected, that, one way or
the other, my fate must be decided in the course of the ensuing day. But
to deliberate was to lose the only chance of escaping. So, taking up my
bundle, I stepped gently over the Negroes, who were sleeping in the open
air, and having mounted my horse, I bade Johnson farewell, desiring him
to take particular care of the papers I had entrusted him with, and
inform my friends in Gambia that he had left me in good health, on my way
to Bambarra.

Pages:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33