Avoiding Fouta Toro, whose inhabitants are fanatics and thieves, Partarieu entered Bondou. He would gladly have evaded visiting Boulibané, the capital and residence of the almamy, but was compelled to do so, owing to the refusal of the people to supply grain or water to the caravan, and also in obedience to the strict orders of Major Gray, who thought the almamy would let the travellers pass after paying tribute.
The terrible almamy began by extorting a great number of presents, and then refused to allow the English to visit Bakel on the Senegal. They might, he said, go through his states, those of Kaarta, to Clego, or they might take the Fouta Toro route. Both these alternatives were equally impossible, as in either case the caravan would have to travel among fanatic tribes. The explorers believed the almamy's object was to have them robbed and murdered, without incurring the personal responsibility.
They resolved to force their way. Preparations were scarcely begun for a start, when the caravan was surrounded by a multitude of soldiers, who, taking possession of the wells, rendered it impossible for the travellers to carry out their intentions. At the same time the war-drum was beaten on every side. To fight was impossible; a palaver had to be held. In a word, the English had to own their powerlessness. The almamy dictated the conditions of peace, mulcted the whites of a few more presents, and ordered them to withdraw by way of Fouta Toro.
Yet more—and this was a flagrant insult to British pride—the English found themselves escorted by a guard, which prevented their taking any other route. When night fell they revenged themselves by setting fire to all their merchandise in the very sight of the Foulahs, who had intended to get possession of them. The crossing of Fouta Toro among hostile natives was terribly arduous. The slightest pretext was seized for a dispute, and again and again violence seemed inevitable. Food and water were only to be obtained at exorbitant prices.
At last, one night, Partarieu, to disarm the suspicion of the natives, gave out that he could not carry all his baggage at once, and having first filled his coffers and bags with stones, he decamped with all his followers for the Senegal, leaving his tents pitched and his fires alight. His path was strewn with bales, arms, and animals. Thanks to this subterfuge, and the rapidity of their march, the English reached Bakel in safety, where the French welcomed the remnant of the expedition with enthusiasm.
| "He decamped with all his followers." |
Caillié, attacked by a fever which nearly proved fatal, returned to St. Louis; but not recovering his health there, he was obliged to go back to France. Not until 1824 was he able to return to Senegal, which was then governed by Baron Roger, a friend to progress, who was anxious pari passu, to extend our geographical knowledge with our commercial relations. Roger supplied Caillié with means to go and live amongst the Bracknas, there to study Arabic and the Mussulman religion.
Life amongst the suspicious and fanatic Moorish shepherds was by no means easy. The traveller, who had great difficulty in keeping his daily journal, was obliged to resort to all manner of subterfuges to obtain permission to explore the neighbourhood of his house. He gives us some curious details of the life of the Bracknas—of their diet, which consists almost entirely of milk; of their habitations, which are nothing more than tents unfitted for the vicissitudes of the climate; of their "guéhués" or itinerant minstrels; their mode of producing the excessive embonpoint which they consider the height of female beauty; the aspect of the country; the fertility and productions of the soil, &c.
The most remarkable of all the facts collected by Caillié are those relating to the five distinct classes into which the Moorish Bracknas are divided. These are the Hassanes, or warriors, whose idleness, slovenliness, and pride exceed belief; the Marabouts, or priests; the Zénagues, tributary to the Hassanes; the Laratines; and the slaves.