Early in the following year Almamy, taking advantage of the absence of the Kartan army, laid siege to Toobab-en-Canê, having first fruitlessly attempted to storm two of Samba’s towns. So active were the besiegers, that the besieged found it impossible to obtain water from the river, although distant only thirty yards from the walls of the town, and so great was their want of that necessary article, that they dug wells within the walls upwards of forty feet deep.
Samba, feeling that a much longer continuance in that state must become insupportable from the want of provisions, contrived means to despatch two horsemen by night to demand relief from Modiba, and, in eight days after, four hundred horse made their appearance on the opposite bank of the river.
Almamy supposing the whole Kartan army had again made its appearance, did not think prudent to wait their nearer approach, raised the siege, and retreated to Lanel, a strong town of Samba’s, commanded by his brother-in-law, who basely gave it up, allowing the enemy of the country to defend himself in it.
When the Kartans had crossed the river, they advised Samba to attack Almamy without delay, and accordingly marched, amounting with his force to about nine hundred or one thousand men. On their arrival before the town they found Almamy so well defended, not only by the strong mud walls of the place, but his superior numbers increased by the men of it, that they thought it impossible to dislodge him, and returned to Toobab-en-Canê to wait the arrival of a large body of foot which was hourly expected from Karta. Almamy, on his side, sent to require reinforcements from Toro and Hawah Demba, but nearly a month elapsed before the reinforcements on either side arrived.
Samba’s army was then composed of all his own men, the Gedumahas of three towns on the right bank of the river, the Kartan army, and a detachment under Saferi, a prince of Kasson, in all amounting to about two thousand five hundred or three thousand men.
Almamy’s, which was said to be nearly double that number, consisted of his own army, strong detachments from Foota Toro, and Lower Kajaga, and a considerable body under Hawah Demba, who was nephew to Saferi, and the same who has been mentioned before.
They met in April 1818, when a bloody conflict ensued, ending in the defeat of Almamy, who made a hasty retreat to Foota Toro, leaving upwards of a hundred muskets on the field. The Kartan horse immediately entered Bondoo, where they again laid every thing waste that came in their way, and, making some prisoners, returned to their home.
Almamy, on his side, did every thing in his power to induce the chiefs of Foota Toro, to employ all their force, and oblige Samba to quit his own country, and retire to Karta. They were, however, too well aware of the difficulty of such an undertaking, and, instead of giving him any hopes of assistance from them, advised him strongly to think rather of making peace with that chief than to prolong a war, the issue of which must be very doubtful. A general assembly was consequently called to meet at Marsa, and one of the Foota chiefs was sent to commence a negociation with Samba for peace, which was concluded during the time we were in the country.
FOOTNOTES:
[15]This is composed of a large wooden bowl, nearly three feet diameter, covered with three skins, one of which is said to be that of a human being, another a hyena’s, and the third, or outside one, a monkey’s; this latter is covered with Arabic characters and passages from the Koran. See fig. 2, [pl. 9.]