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.
As the King of Kaarta had now got quit of his most formidable antagonist, it might have been hoped that peace would have been restored to his dominions; but an extraordinary incident involved him, immediately afterwards, in hostilities with Kasson; the king of which country dying about that time, the succession was disputed by his two sons. The younger (Sambo Sego, my old acquaintance) prevailed, and drove his brother from the country. He fled to Gedingooma; and, being pursued thither, Daisy, who had lived in constant friendship with both the brothers, refused to deliver him up; at the same time declaring that he would not support his claim, nor any way interfere in the quarrel. Sambo Sego, elated with success, and proud of the homage that was paid him as sovereign of Kasson, was much displeased with Daisy's conduct, and joined with some disaffected fugitive Kaartans in a plundering expedition against him. Daisy, who little expected such a visit, had sent a number of people to Joko, to plant corn, and collect together such cattle as they might find straying in the woods, in order to supply his army. All these people fell into the hands of Sambo Sego, who carried them to Kooniakary, and afterwards sent them in caravans, to be sold to the French at Fort-Louis, on the river Senegal.
This attack was soon retaliated; for Daisy, who was now in distress for want of provisions, thought he was justified in supplying himself from the plunder of Kasson. He accordingly took with him eight hundred of his best men; and, marching secretly through the woods, surprised in the night three large villages near Kooniakary, in which many of his traitorous subjects, who were in Sambo's expedition, had taken up their residence; all these, and indeed all the able men that fell into Daisy's hands, were immediately put to death.
After this expedition, Daisy began to indulge the hopes of peace; many of his discontented subjects had returned to their allegiance, and were repairing the towns which had been desolated by the war; the rainy season was approaching; and every thing wore a favourable appearance, when he was suddenly attacked from a different quarter.
The Jowers, Kakaroos, and some other Kaartans, who had deserted from him at the commencement of the war, and had shown a decided preference to Mansong and his army during the whole campaign, were now afraid or ashamed to ask forgiveness of Daisy, and being very powerful in themselves, joined together to make war upon him. They solicited the Moors to assist them in their rebellion, (as will appear hereafter,) and, having collected a considerable army, they plundered a large village belonging to Daisy, and carried off a number of prisoners.
Daisy immediately prepared to revenge this insult; but the Jowers, and indeed almost all the Negro inhabitants of Ludamar, deserted their towns, and fled to the eastward; and the rainy season put an end to the war of Kaarta, which had enriched a few individuals, but destroyed the happiness of thousands.
Such was the state of affairs among the nations in the neighbourhood of Jarra, soon after the period of my arrival there. I shall now proceed, after giving some description of that place, with the detail of events as they occurred.