At half after nine we passed the village of Gangele, and soon entered a wood which I knew to be the same I had traversed the evening I left the camp, and which was not more by my reckoning than three or four miles from us. It was then noon, and exceedingly hot, but as, by continuing our march, we should reach the camp at too early an hour, we halted in the woods, and sent two men back to Gangele to procure some water, and, if possible, a guide to conduct us by the shortest path to the camp. We waited their return with impatience until half after three, when the atmosphere to the east became overspread, and bearing every appearance of an approaching tornado. I moved back slowly towards the village, with the hope of meeting them, but the tornado came on with such rapidity and violence, that all was soon complete darkness, and the path, which was previously not very distinctly marked, now became imperceptible. We continued marching east for some time without meeting the men, to whom I began to fear something unpleasant had happened; but nevertheless we marched on in hopes of meeting them as long as we could perceive our way by the compass. During the violence of the rain, four of the men with the moors, and three bullocks, separated themselves from the remainder of the party, and, although I fired several shots as soon as I discovered they were not with us, I did not again see them.
It being quite dark at eight o’clock, we halted in the woods and lighted a fire, at which we spent the night, and half dried our clothes which were completely drenched with the rain; and at daylight the following morning again moved forward to the east, and in about an hour heard the lowing of cattle in that direction; fifteen minutes more brought us clear of the wood, when we perceived a village at a short distance. On our arrival at it we were informed that Mr. Partarrieau had removed from Looboogol to a village about four miles from where we then were.
Having procured a guide we moved on at a smart pace, and soon arrived in front of the village, where were assembled a number of armed men apparently waiting our arrival; for on our approaching them, they desired us to keep off, and would have proceeded to force had not our guide told them our intentions were good. One of the villagers, apparently a chief, then came forward, and, offering me his hand, invited me to the shade of a tree, where we were no sooner arrived than surrounded by a crowd of armed men, who without further ceremony attempted to tear the clothes off my men’s backs, and their arms out of their hands. This sort of treatment was too rough to be borne with sang froid. My men, eleven in number, therefore made some resistance, and removed in a body to a short distance from where I was standing, but had scarcely moved when the war-cry was set up by the Foolahs, and a fire of musquetry opened by them on my men, whose arms were almost useless from the rain of the preceding night, and consequently they were unable to make the resistance they might otherwise have done. Three of them were already wounded, as were three of the Foolahs, when Thierno Bayla arrived from the village and offering me his hand said, that if I would go quietly with him, no one should molest me. I complied, as resistance would have been vain; but notwithstanding all he could say or do, the rabble endeavoured to tear my clothes from my back, and my sword from my side. Bayla to no purpose endeavoured to keep them off. They were become so outrageous, that three of them snapped their guns at me, but, from the careless manner in which they did it, I doubted their being loaded.
On entering the town, we were conducted into a hut, and a man placed at the door to keep off the crowd. By that time Mr. Partarrieau had been informed of what had taken place, and came to the hut where we were. He informed me that Isaaco had arrived only the day before, and, having informed Bayla that I was coming with an army, and left my horse in his hands, returned to Baquelle. He next told me that he had agreed with Bayla to be allowed to go to the village of Fadgar, about ten miles from Gowde Bofê, and there await the return of our messengers from Foota. The first thing however to be thought of was my own release and that of the men with me, and for that purpose Bayla accompanied Mr. Partarrieau to the camp, where it was settled that we should be permitted to go that evening or the next morning, and that all the things taken from me or the men would be restored on our arrival at Fadgar.
We left our prison at seven in the morning of the 14th, as I supposed to go to our camp, but were not a little surprised at finding that it was not the intention of Bayla to permit our doing so. I demanded of him the fulfilment of his promise, but the only answer I received was an order to mount a miserable looking horse, held by one of his followers. To refuse would have been useless. Bayla was mounted on mine, and attended by about one hundred armed men. We moved towards the camp, where all were ready to move, and apparently waiting our arrival; but we were not allowed to join them. Having marched at a very smart pace until two P.M., we reached a large straggling village, which on enquiry I found to be called Samba Jamangele, and distant twelve miles west of Fadgar, the place agreed on, and whither Mr. Partarrieau was gone. This annoyed me a little, but there was now no remedy, except patiently awaiting the issue.
On our approach to the village, we were met by the women and children, who came forth in hundreds to welcome the return of their husbands, fathers, brothers, &c. Many of the young men and boys, who had never apparently seen a white man before, approached me, and after examining my face with evident surprise and fear, favoured me with the epithets of ‘unbeliever’, ‘son of a hog’, ‘hater of God’, and ‘offspring of an unlawful connexion’. One old woman, apparently very short-sighted, and no doubt mistaking me for one of the people of the village, approached my horse’s side, and was in the act of giving me her hand, when she perceived mine to be white, and, shrieking, she almost fell to the ground with fright.
Bayla, who had gone to Fadgar with Mr. Partarrieau, called in the afternoon, and told me that he would call again the following morning, and allow me to return with my men to our camp. But his promises were made to be broken; I did not see him until the 16th, when he appointed a person to conduct us to Fadgar.
I left Samba Jamangele at two o’clock on the morning of the 17th of June, and arrived at the camp at half after five, which, to my astonishment, I found deserted. The tents were standing, and some weak asses, and other articles which would necessarily impede their march, were left behind.
The idea that they had gone for Baquelle, and what place they must at that hour have been near, could alone compensate for the disappointment I felt at their unexpected absence.
Bayla’s men, who appeared more taken up with searching the tents, and every thing else they could lay their hands on, in hopes of finding money, as they call it, than with the departure of the mission, wished me to follow Mr. Partarrieau’s steps, which I would willingly have done could I have prevailed on even one of them to accompany me. But the hope they entertained of finding some valuables in the camp, was too sanguine to admit of their leaving it; in consequence of which I declined doing so, as I was not only ignorant of the path, but aware that the inhabitants of the first village I might come to, finding me unattended by any of Bayla’s people, would stop me, and most probably treat me worse than he had done. I therefore proposed our immediate return to Samba Jamangele, where I should endeavour so to arrange matters with Bayla, as to obtain from him permission to proceed, and guides to conduct me to Baquelle.