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

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Feb. 12th. At daylight we departed from Karankalla, and as it was but a
short day's journey to Kemmoo, we travelled slower than usual, and amused
ourselves by collecting such eatable fruits as grew near the road-side.
In this pursuit I had wandered a little from my people, and being
uncertain whether they were before or behind me, I hastened to a rising
ground to look about me. As I was proceeding towards this eminence, two
Negro horsemen, armed with muskets, came galloping from among the bushes:
on seeing them I made a full stop; the horsemen did the same; and all
three of us seemed equally surprised and confounded at this interview. As
I approached them, their fears increased, and one of them, after casting
upon me a look of horror, rode off at full speed; the other, in a panic
of fear, put his hands over his eyes, and continued muttering prayers
until his horse, seemingly without the rider's knowledge, conveyed him
slowly after his companion. About a mile to the westward, they fell in
with my attendants, to whom they related a frightful story: it seems
their fears had dressed me in the flowing robes of a tremendous spirit;
and one of them affirmed, that when I made my appearance, a cold blast of
wind came pouring down upon him from the sky, like so much cold water.
About noon we saw at a distance the capital of Kaarta, situated in the
middle of an open plain, the country for two miles round being cleared of
wood, by the great consumption of that article for building and fuel, and
we entered the town about two o'clock in the afternoon.

We proceeded without stopping to the court before the king's residence
but I was so completely surrounded by the gazing multitude, that I did
not attempt to dismount, but sent in the landlord and Madi Konko's son,
to acquaint the king of my arrival. In a little time they returned
accompanied by a messenger from the king, signifying that he would see me
in the evening; and, in the meantime, the messenger had orders to procure
me a lodging, and see that the crowd did not molest me. He conducted me
into a court, at the door of which he stationed a man, with a stick in
his hand, to keep off the mob, and then showed me a large hut, in which I
was to lodge. I had scarcely seated myself in this spacious apartment,
when the mob entered; it was found impossible to keep them out, and I was
surrounded by as many as the hut could contain. When the first party,
however, had seen me; and asked a few questions, they retired to make
room for another company; and in this manner the hut was filled and
emptied thirteen different times.

A little before sunset, the king sent to inform me that he was at
leisure, and wished to see me. I followed the messenger through a number
of courts surrounded with high walls, where I observed plenty of dry
grass bundled up like hay, to fodder the horses in case the town should
be invested. On entering the court in which the king was sitting, I was
astonished at the number of his attendants, and at the good order that
seemed to prevail among them; they were all seated, the fighting men on
the king's right hand, and the women and children on the left, leaving a
space between them for my passage. The king, whose name was Daisy
Koorabarri, was not to be distinguished from his subjects by any
superiority in point of dress; a bank of earth about two feet high, upon
which was spread a leopard's skin, constituted the only mark of royal
dignity. When I had seated myself upon the ground before him, and related
the various circumstances that had induced me to pass through his
country, and my reasons for soliciting his protection, he appeared
perfectly satisfied; but said it was not in his power at present to
afford me much assistance; for that all sort of communication between
Kaarta and Bambarra had been interrupted for some time past; and as
Mansong, the King of Bambarra, with his army had entered Fooladoo in his
way to Kaarta, there was but little hope of my reaching Bambarra by any
of the usual routes, inasmuch as, coming from an enemy's country, I
should certainly be plundered or taken for a spy. If his country had been
at peace, he said, I might have remained with him until a more favourable
opportunity offered; but as matters stood at present, he did not wish me
to continue in Kaarta, for fear some accident should befal me, in which
case my countrymen might say that he had murdered a white man. He would
therefore advise me to return into Kasson, and remain there until the war
should terminate, which would probably happen in the course of three or
four months; after which, if he was alive, he said, he would be glad to
see me, and if he was dead, his sons would take care of me.

This advice was certainly well meant on the part of the king; and perhaps
I was to blame in not following it; but I reflected that the hot months
were approaching; and I dreaded the thoughts of spending the rainy season
in the interior of Africa. These considerations, and the aversion I felt
at the idea of returning without having made a greater progress in
discovery, made me determine to go forwards; and though the king could
not give me a guide to Bambarra, I begged that he would allow a man to
accompany me as near the frontiers of his kingdom as was consistent with
safety. Finding that I was determined to proceed, the king told me that
one route still remained, but that, he said, was by no means free from
danger; which was to go from Kaarta into the Moorish kingdom of Ludamar,
from whence I might pass, by a circuitous route, into Bambarra. If I
wished to follow this route, he would appoint people to conduct me to
Jarra, the frontier town of Ludamar. He then enquired very particularly
how I had been treated since I had left the Gambia, and asked in a
jocular way how many slaves I expected to carry home with me on my
return. He was about to proceed, when a man mounted on a fine Moorish
horse, which was covered with sweat and foam, entered the court, and
signifying that he had something of importance to communicate, the king
immediately took up his sandals, which is the signal to strangers to
retire. I accordingly took leave, but desired my boy to stay about the
place, in order to learn something of the intelligence that this
messenger had brought. In about an hour the boy returned, and informed me
that the Bambarra army had left Fooladoo, and was on its march towards
Kaarta; that the man I had seen, who had brought this intelligence, was
one of the scouts or watchmen employed by the king, each of whom has his
particular station, (commonly on some rising ground,) from whence he has
the best view of the country, and watches the motions of the enemy.

In the evening the king sent me a fine sheep; which was very acceptable,
as none of us had tasted victuals during the day. Whilst we were employed
in dressing supper, evening prayers were announced; not by the call of
the priest, as usual, but by beating on drums, and blowing through large
elephants' teeth, hollowed out in such a manner as to resemble
bugle-horns; the sound is melodious, and, in my opinion, comes nearer to
the human voice than any other artificial sound. As the main body of
Daisy's army was, at this juncture, at Kemmoo, the mosques were very much
crowded; and I observed that the disciples of Mahomet composed nearly one
half of the army of Kaarta.

Feb. 13th. At daylight I sent my horse-pistols and holsters as a present
to the king, and being very desirous to get away from a place which was
likely soon to become the seat of war, I begged the messenger to inform
the king, that I wished to depart from Kemmoo as soon as he should find
it convenient to appoint me a guide. In about an hour the king sent his
messenger to thank me for the present, and eight horsemen to conduct me
to Jarra. They told me that the king wished me to proceed to Jarra with
all possible expedition, that they might return before any thing decisive
should happen between the armies of Bambarra and Kaarta; we accordingly
departed forthwith from Kemmoo, accompanied by three of Daisy's sons, and
about two hundred horsemen, who kindly undertook to see me a little way
on my journey.

CHAPTER VIII.

_Journey from Kemmoo to Funingkedy.--Some account of the Lotus.--A youth
murdered by the Moors--interesting scene at his death.--Author passes
through Simbing.--Some particulars concerning Major Houghton,--Author
reaches Jarra--situation of the surrounding states at the period of his
arrival there, and a brief account of the war between Kaarta and
Bambarra._

On the evening of the day of our departure from Kemmoo, (the king's
eldest son and great part of the horsemen having returned,) we reached a
village called Marina, where we slept. During the night some thieves
broke into the hut where I had deposited my baggage, and having cut open
one of my bundles, stole a quantity of beads, part of my clothes, and
some amber and gold; which happened to be in one of the pockets. I
complained to my protectors, but without effect. The next day (Feb. 14th)
was far advanced before we departed from Marina, and we travelled slowly,
on account of the excessive heat, until four o'clock in the afternoon,
when two Negroes were observed sitting among some thorny bushes at a
little distance from the road. The king's people, taking it for granted
that they were runaway slaves, cocked their muskets, and rode at full
speed in different directions through the bushes, in order to surround
them, and prevent their escaping. The Negroes, however, waited with great
composure until we came within bowshot of them, when each of them took
from his quiver a handful of arrows, and putting two between his teeth,
and one in his bow, waved to us with his hand to keep at a distance upon
which one of the king's people called out to the strangers to give some
account of themselves. They said that "they were natives of Toorda, a
neighbouring village, and had come to that place to gather _tomberongs_."
These are small farinaceous berries, of a yellow colour and delicious
taste, which I knew to be the fruit of the _rhamnus lotus_ of Linnaeus.
The Negroes showed us two large baskets full, which they had collected in
the course of the day. These berries are much esteemed by the natives,
who convert them into a sort of bread, by exposing them for some days to
the sun, and afterwards pounding them gently in a wooden mortar, until
the farinaceous part of the berry is separated from the stone. This meal
is then mixed with a little water, and formed into cakes; which, when
dried in the sun, resemble in colour and flavour the sweetest
gingerbread. The stones are afterwards put into a vessel of water, and
shaken about so as to separate the meal which may still adhere to them;
this communicates a sweet and agreeable taste to the water, and, with the
addition of a little pounded millet, forms a pleasant gruel called
_fondi_, which is the common breakfast in many parts of Ludamar, during
the months of February and March. The fruit is collected by spreading a
cloth upon the ground, and beating, the branches with a stick.

The lotus is very common in all the kingdoms which I visited; but is
found in the greatest plenty on the sandy soil of Kaarta, Ludamar, and
the northern parts of Bambarra, where it is one of the most common shrubs
of the country. I had observed the same species at Gambia. The leaves of
the desert shrub are, however, much smaller; and more resembling, in that
particular, those represented in the engraving given by Desfontaines, in
the Memoires de l'Academie Royale des Sciences, 1788, p. 443.

As this shrub is found in Tunis, and also in the Negro kingdoms, and as
it furnishes the natives of the latter with a food resembling bread, and
also with a sweet liquor, which is much relished by them, there can be
little doubt of its being the lotus mentioned by Pliny as the food of
the Lybian Lotophagi. An army may very well have been fed with the bread
I have tasted, made of the meal of the fruit, as is said by Pliny to have
been done in Lybia; and as the taste of the bread is sweet and agreeable,
it is not likely that the soldiers would complain of it.

We arrived in the evening at the village of Toorda; when all the rest of
the king's people turned back except two, who remained with me as guides
to Jarra.

Feb. 15th. I departed from Toorda, and about two o'clock came to a
considerable town called Funingkedy. As we approached the town the
inhabitants were much alarmed; for, as one of my guides wore a turban,
they mistook us for some Moorish banditti. This misapprehension was soon
cleared up, and we were well received by a Gambia Slatee, who resides at
this town, and at whose house we lodged.

Feb. 16th. We were informed that a number of people would go from this
town to Jarra on the day following; and as the road was much infested by
the Moors, we resolved to stay and accompany the travellers. In the
meantime, we were told, that a few days before our arrival, most of the
Bushreens and people of property in Funingkedy had gone to Jarra, to
consult about removing their families and effects to that town, for fear
of the approaching war; and that the Moors, in their absence, had stolen
some of their cattle.

About two o'clock, as I was lying asleep upon a bullock's hide behind the
door of the hut, I was awakened by the screams of women, and a general
clamour and confusion among the inhabitants. At first I suspected that
the Bambarrans had actually entered the town; but observing my boy upon
the top of one of the huts, I called to him to know what was the matter.
He informed me that the Moors were come a second time to steal the
cattle, and that they were now close to the town. I mounted the roof of
the hut, and observed a large herd of bullocks coming towards the town,
followed by five Moors on horseback, who drove the cattle forward with
their muskets. When they had reached the wells, which are close to the
town, the Moors selected from the herd sixteen of the finest beasts, and
drove them off at full gallop.

During this transaction, the townspeople, to the number of five hundred,
stood collected close to the walls of the town; and when the Moors drove
the cattle away, though they passed within pistol shot of them, the
inhabitants scarcely made a show of resistance. I only saw four muskets
fired, which, being loaded with gunpowder of the Negroes' own
manufacture, did no execution. Shortly after this I observed a number of
people supporting a young man upon horseback, and conducting him slowly
towards the town. This was one of the herdsmen, who, attempting to throw
his spear, had been wounded by a shot from one of the Moors. His mother
walked on before, quite frantic with grief, clapping her hands, and
enumerating the good qualities of her son. _Ee maffo fonio_, (he never
told a lie,) said the disconsolate mother, as her wounded son was carried
in at the gate--_Ee maffo fonio abada_, (he never told a lie; no, never.)
When they had conveyed him to his hut, and laid him upon a mat, all the
spectators joined in lamenting his fate, by screaming and howling in the
most piteous manner.

After their grief had subsided a little, I was desired to examine the
wound. I found that the ball had passed quite through his leg, having
fractured both bones a little below the knee. The poor boy was faint from
the loss of blood, and his situation withal so very precarious, that I
could not console his relations with any great hopes of his recovery.
However, to give him a possible chance, I observed to them that it was
necessary to cut off his leg above the knee. This proposal made every one
start with horror; they had never heard of such a method of cure, and
would by no means give their consent to it; indeed, they evidently
considered me as a sort of cannibal for proposing so cruel and unheard-of
an operation, which, in their opinion, would be attended with more pain
and danger than the wound itself. The patient was therefore committed to
the care of some old Bushreens, who endeavoured to secure him a passage
into paradise, by whispering in his ear some Arabic sentences, and
desiring him to repeat them. After many unsuccessful attempts, the poor
Heathen at last pronounced, _la illah el allah, Mahomet rasowl
allahi_;[9] and the disciples of the Prophet assured his mother that her
son had given sufficient evidence of his faith, and would be happy in a
future state. He died the same evening.

[9] There is but one God, and Mahomet is his Prophet.

Feb. 17th. My guides informed me, that in order to avoid the Moorish
banditti, it was necessary to travel in the night; we accordingly
departed from Funingkedy in the afternoon, accompanied by about thirty
people, carrying their effects with them into Ludamar, for fear of the
war. We travelled with great silence and expedition until midnight, when
we stopped in a sort of enclosure, near a small village; but the
thermometer being so low as 68 deg., none of the Negroes could sleep on
account of the cold.

At daybreak on the 18th we resumed our journey, and at eight o'clock
passed Simbing, the frontier village of Ludamar, situated in a narrow
pass between two rocky hills, and surrounded with a high wall. From this
village Major Houghton (being deserted by his Negro servants, who refused
to follow him into the Moorish country) wrote his last letter with a
pencil to Dr. Laidley. This brave but unfortunate man, having surmounted
many difficulties, had taken a northerly direction, and endeavoured to
pass through the kingdom of Ludamar, where I afterwards learned the
following particulars concerning his melancholy fate. On his arrival at
Jarra he got acquainted with certain Moorish merchants who were
travelling to Tisheet (a place near the salt pits in the Great Desert,
ten days' journey to the northward) to purchase salt; and the Major, at
the expense of a musket and some tobacco, engaged them to convey him
thither. It is impossible to form any other opinion on this
determination, than that the Moors intentionally deceived him, either
with regard to the route that he wished to pursue, or the state of the
intermediate country between Jarra and Tombuctoo. Their intention
probably was to rob and leave him in the Desert. At the end of two days
he suspected their treachery, and insisted on returning to Jarra. Finding
him persist in this determination, the Moors robbed him of every thing he
possessed, and went off with their camels; the poor Major being thus
deserted, returned on foot to a watering place in possession of the
Moors, called Tarra. He had been some days without food, and the
unfeeling Moors refusing to give him any, he sunk at last under his
distresses. Whether he actually perished of hunger, or was murdered
outright by the savage Mahomedans, is not certainly known; his body was
dragged into the woods, and I was shown at a distance the spot where his
remains were left to perish.

About four miles to the north of Simbing, we came to a small stream of
water, where we observed a number of wild horses; they were all of one
colour, and galloped away from us at any easy rate, frequently stopping
and looking back. The Negroes hunt them for food, and their flesh is much
esteemed.

About noon we arrived at Jarra, a large town situated at the bottom of
some rocky hills. But before I proceed to describe the place itself, and
relate the various occurrences which befel me there, it will not be
improper to give my readers a brief recital of the origin of the war
which induced me to take this route; an unfortunate determination, the
immediate cause of all the misfortunes and calamities which afterwards
befel me. The recital which I propose to give in this place will prevent
interruptions hereafter.

This war, which desolated Kaarta soon after I had left that kingdom, and
spread terror into many of the neighbouring states, arose in the
following manner. A few bullocks belonging to a frontier village of
Bambarra having been stolen by a party of Moors, were sold to the Dooty
or chief man of a town in Kaarta. The villagers claimed their cattle, and
being refused satisfaction, complained of the Dooty to their sovereign,
Mansong, King of Bambarra, who probably beheld with an eye of jealousy
the growing prosperity of Kaarta, and availed himself of this incident to
declare hostilities against that kingdom.

With this view he sent a messenger and a party of horsemen to Daisy, King
of Kaarta, to inform him that the King of Bambarra, with nine thousand
men, would visit Kemmoo in the course of the dry season; and to desire
that he (Daisy) would direct his slaves to sweep the houses, and have
every thing ready for their accommodation. The messenger concluded this
insulting notification by presenting the king with a pair of _iron
sandals_; at the same time adding, that "until such time as Daisy had
worn out these sandals in his flight, he should never be secure from the
arrows of Bambarra."

Daisy, having consulted with his chief men about the best means of
repelling so formidable an enemy, returned an answer of defiance, and
made a Bushreen write in Arabic, upon a piece of thin board, a sort of
proclamation, which was suspended to a tree in the public square; and a
number of aged men were sent to different places to explain it to the
common people. This proclamation called upon all the friends of Daisy to
join him immediately; but to such as had no arms, or were afraid to enter
into the war, permission was given to retire into any of the neighbouring
kingdoms; and it was added, that provided they observed a strict
neutrality, they should always be welcome to return to their former
habitations; if, however, they took any active part against Kaarta, they
had then "broken the key of their huts, and could never afterwards enter
the door." Such was the expression.

This proclamation was very generally applauded; but many of the Kaartans,
and, amongst others, the powerful tribes of Jower and Kakaroo, availing
themselves of the indulgent clause, retired from Daisy's dominions, and
took refuge in Ludamar and Kesson. By means of these desertions, Daisy's
army was not so numerous as might have been expected; and when I was at
Kemmoo, the whole number of effective men according to report, did not
exceed four thousand; but they were men of spirit and enterprise, and
could be depended on.

On the 22d of February, (four days after my arrival at Jarra) Mansong,
with his army, advanced towards Kemmoo; and Daisy, without hazarding a
battle, retired to Joko, a town to the north-west of Kemmoo, where he
remained three days, and then took refuge in a strong town called
Gedingooma, situated in the hilly country, and surrounded with high walls
of stone. When Daisy departed from Joko, his sons refused to follow him,
alleging that "the singing men would publish their disgrace, as soon as
it should be known that Daisy and his family had fled from Joko without
firing a gun." They were therefore left behind with a number of horsemen
to defend Joko; but, after many skirmishes, they were totally defeated,
and one of Daisy's sons taken prisoner; the remainder fled to Gedingooma,
which Daisy had stored with provisions, and where he determined to
make his final stand.

Mansong, finding that Daisy was determined to avoid a pitched battle,
placed a strong force at Joko to watch his motions, and separating the
remainder of his army into small detachments, ordered them to overrun the
country, and seize upon the inhabitants, before they had time to escape.
These orders were executed with such promptitude, that in a few days the
whole kingdom of Kaarta became a scene of desolation. Most of the poor
inhabitants of the different towns and villages, being surprised in the
night, fell an easy prey; and their corn, and every thing that could be
useful to Daisy, was burnt and destroyed. During these transactions,
Daisy was employed in fortifying Gedingooma: this town is built in a
narrow pass between two high hills, having only two gates, one towards
Kaarta and the other towards Jaffnoo: the gate towards Kaarta was
defended by Daisy in person; and that towards Jaffnoo was committed to
the charge of his sons. When the army of Bambarra approached the town,
they made some attempts to storm it, but were always driven back with
great loss; and Mansong, finding Daisy more formidable than he expected,
resolved to cut off his supplies, and starve him into submission. He
accordingly sent all the prisoners he had taken into Bambarra, and having
collected a considerable quantity of provisions, remained with his army
two whole months in the vicinity of Gedingooma, without doing any thing
decisive. During this time, he was much harassed by sallies from the
besieged; and his stock of provisions being nearly exhausted, he sent to
Ali, the Moorish King of Ludamar, for two hundred horsemen, to enable him
to make an attack upon the north gate of the town, and give the
Bambarrans an opportunity of storming the place. Ali, though he had made
an agreement with Mansong at the commencement of the war, to afford him
assistance, now refused to fulfil his engagement; which so enraged
Mansong, that he marched part of his army to Funingkedy, with a view to
surprise the camp of Benowm; but the Moors having received intelligence
of his design, fled to the northward; and Mansong, without attempting any
thing farther, returned to Sego. This happened while I was myself in
captivity in Ali's camp, as will hereafter be seen.

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