Almamy, who was about paying a visit to the vessels, sent a messenger to me on the 7th of November, to request I would accompany him, and name a day for the purpose. Although I was by no means satisfied with his conduct towards me, and would willingly have dispensed with his company, I nevertheless suppressed my feeling of dislike to his royal presence, and consented to meet him at my own camp, on any day he might choose. The messenger was evidently afraid of my refusal, and had requested Osman to use his influence with me to yield; but this, from my ready compliance, was now unnecessary. This, no doubt, arose from a consciousness, on the part of Almamy, of his having treated me badly, and of the necessity there now was of his inducing me, by such a mark of what he thought royal favour, to forget the past, and sound his praises with his new visitors, with whom he fancied I had great influence, and who, he thought, would proportion their presents to the report I should make of him. I am satisfied that such was Almamy’s idea; but he was much deceived, as I was determined that his conduct towards me should be clearly stated to those officers, in order to put them on their guard in their transactions with him. He arrived at a small village near our camp on the 11th, and on the following morning, I accompanied him to Guinion, a village of Bondoo, within about four miles of Conghell. During the ride, we had much conversation on the subject of the arrival of the French at Galam, and, on a report which he said he had received by letter from Senegal, as to the intentions, not only of their expedition, but of mine, both of which had been stated to him to be fitted out for the purpose of affording assistance to his enemies the Kartans. I endeavoured to assure him that, although Europeans in general regretted to see so much warfare going on in Africa, it was, nevertheless, very immaterial to them whether the one or the other were victorious; and, that the only object the king of England (for whom I could vouch) had in view, was the civilization of Africa, and the introduction of commerce on a more extensive and liberal scale than at present existed. He, however, insinuated that he believed all Europeans to be more the friends of the pagan, than the Moslem inhabitants of Africa; in consequence of the more ready conversion of the former to Christianity; and, without taking into consideration the difference between the two nations, he adverted to an engagement which he said he knew had been entered into between the commandant of Senegal, when that place was in possession of the French several years before, and Daisey, the king of Karta, who had sworn an inviolable oath that neither himself nor his successors would ever give peace to the countries lying between them and St. Louis, until a woman with a basket on her head could travel unmolested from one place to the other. It was to no purpose I endeavoured to convince him that such an improbable arrangement had never been entered into between any European governor of Senegal and his enemies; and I likewise as ineffectually brought forward to support my assertion the friendly intercourse which had so long subsisted between the several English governors of Senegal and himself, and the very handsome and rich presents he, as well as his predecessors, had received from them and the vessels trading in the river. To all this he only answered in a general way, and finishing with the usual African expression of “All is in the hands of God.”
He was extremely ill, and so weak that he could not sit on his horse without the assistance of two men, who walked on each side, and on whose shoulders he placed his hands.
The country over which we travelled was thickly inhabited and well cultivated, the corn was then ripe, and the natives were busily employed in getting it in.
Almamy having halted at Guinion, I left him there, and went on to Conghell, where I was cordially welcomed by the French officers, one of whom, Captain Dechastelieu, was very ill, in consequence of which and my wish to return to the camp as soon as possible, I only remained two days with them, during which time they had moved to Baquelle, another town of Galam, about six miles lower down the river, where they intended building a fort, and forming a commercial establishment. This spot, being centrically situated between Foota, Bondoo, Gidemagh, Karta, Kasson, and Bambouk, was admirably calculated for such a purpose. The Moors too of the Dwoüsh tribe, who were great gum-holders, would there find a more convenient market for that as well as all the other productions of their country than at the marts lower down the river.
On my return to the camp, I called to see Almamy, and make him a small present. I found him extremely ill, lying on a mat, in the centre of a small hut, surrounded by three or four of his favourites, who were all conscious of his approaching end, and were endeavouring to get from him all they could before that event should take place. Soon after my entering the hut, he ordered them all to leave him as he had something particular to say to me. When they had gone out, he called me to his bed-side, by no means an agreeable situation, and placing his mouth to my ear, said, “They are all rogues; I did not know it before. I see I must soon die, but when I am gone, many, who now fear me, will then wish me back to no purpose.” He next asked me what I thought of the French, my new friends, as he called them; and, on receiving a favourable report, expressed his astonishment that people, who were so lately at war with each other, could so soon be such good friends.
Having explained to him the reason of my not being able to present him with the articles which I had promised at Goodeerie, with which he appeared well satisfied, I made him the small present, and, taking leave for the last time, returned to the camp, where I found all had gone on well during my absence.
The length of time that had again elapsed since I had heard from Mr. Dochard made me very uneasy on his account, and induced me to despatch a person to gain, if possible, some intelligence respecting him, or, in case of his having got to Sego with his party in safety, to follow him thither, and bring back such letters as Mr. Dochard might have to send me. The person I selected for this purpose was a man named Bakoro, a native of Nyamima, who had been left by Lamina to officiate in his place as the messenger of Dha, and who, from his respectability and knowledge of the country, could travel through it with less difficulty than any of my own men. I also sent with him as a companion, in case of accident, a man named Ismeina, who had been attached to the mission as a carrier; and in order that the journey might be performed as quickly as possible, I furnished them with a horse each, and, having provided them with a few articles of merchandize to enable them to procure provisions, and make small presents to those chiefs or others who might assist them on the road, they left the camp on the 25th November, and promised to make all possible haste.
The weather had for some time assumed that settled mild state which, in that country, always takes place after the rains, and is so admirably adapted for travelling. I regretted exceedingly that the absence of Mr. Partarrieau, and of those supplies I had sent for by him, prevented my taking advantage of it by moving slowly on with the whole expedition in the direction of Sego. I was then however so sanguine in my hope that the middle of December would bring him back to me, that I looked forward to that period with patient suspense, which was rendered the more supportable by occasional visits to the French officers, who, in common with myself, had to lament the loss of some of their companions from the effects of the late season, and were themselves so constantly subject to fever and ague, that they had not been able to commence their operations for the building of their fort, in the selection and purchase of a spot for which they had hitherto found as much difficulty as I had in the prosecution of my journey.
The latter end of December was fast approaching, and no information had been received by me respecting Mr. Partarrieau, whose delay so long beyond the time I expected caused me many sleepless nights and uneasy moments; this, added to the uncertainty I was in with respect to Mr. Dochard’s proceedings, had such an effect on my spirits that, had I not enjoyed the advantage of the occasional and agreeable society of the French officers at Baquelle, I must have sunk under the load.
The Christmas which I spent at Baquelle rolled over without any intelligence from him, and the first day of January 1819, being that on which I had fondly hoped to prosecute my journey eastward, found me at Samba Contaye with as bad prospects of being able to do so during that month as in the preceding.