This piece of bad news, was followed by another, not less distressing. A number of runaway slaves, arrived from Kaarta on the 14th, and reported that Daisy, having received information concerning the intended attack upon him, was about to visit Jarra. This made the Negroes call upon Ali for the two hundred horsemen, which he was to furnish them, according to engagement. But Ali paid very little attention to their remonstrances; and at last plainly told them, that his cavalry were otherwise employed. The Negroes, thus deserted by the Moors, and fully apprized that the king of Kaarta would shew them as little clemency, as he had shewn the inhabitants of Kasson, resolved to collect all their forces, and hazard a battle before the king, who was now in great distress for want of provisions, should become too powerful for them. They therefore assembled about eight hundred effective men in the whole; and with these they entered Kaarta, on the evening of the 18th of June.
June 19th. This morning the wind shifted to the south-west; and about two o’clock in the afternoon, we had a heavy tornado, or thunder squall, accompanied with rain, which greatly revived the face of nature, and gave a pleasant coolness to the air. This was the first rain that had fallen for many months.
As every attempt to redeem my boy had hitherto been unsuccessful, and in all probability would continue to prove so, whilst I remained in the country; I found that it was necessary for me to come to some determination concerning my own safety, before the rains should be fully set in; for my landlord, seeing no likelihood of being paid for his trouble, began to wish me away; and Johnson, my interpreter, refusing to proceed, my situation became very perplexing. If I continued where I was, I foresaw that I must soon fall a victim to the barbarity of the Moors; and yet if I went forward singly, it was evident that I must sustain great difficulties, both from the want of means to purchase the necessaries of life, and of an interpreter to make myself understood. On the other hand, to return to England without accomplishing the object of my mission, was worse than either. I therefore determined to avail myself of the first opportunity of escaping, and to proceed directly for Bambarra, as soon as the rains had set in for a few days, so as to afford me the certainty of finding water in the woods.
Such was my situation, when, on the evening of the 24th of June, I was startled by the report of some muskets close to the town, and inquiring the reason, was informed that the Jarra army had returned from fighting Daisy, and that this firing was by way of rejoicing. However, when the chief men of the town had assembled, and heard a full detail of the expedition, they were by no means relieved from their uneasiness on Daisy’s account. The deceitful Moors having drawn back from the confederacy, after being hired by the Negroes, greatly dispirited the insurgents; who, instead of finding Daisy with a few friends concealed in the strong fortress of Gedingooma, had found him at a town near Joka, in the open country, surrounded by so numerous an army, that every attempt to attack him was at once given up; and the confederates only thought of enriching themselves, by the plunder of the small towns in the neighbourhood. They accordingly fell upon two of Daisy’s towns, and carried off the whole of the inhabitants; but lest intelligence of this might reach Daisy, and induce him to cut off their retreat, they returned through the woods by night, bringing with them the slaves and cattle which they had captured.
June 26th. This afternoon, a spy from Kaarta, brought the alarming intelligence, that Daisy had taken Simbing in the morning, and would be in Jarra some time in the course of the ensuing day. A number of people were immediately stationed on the tops of the rocks, and in the different passages leading into the town, to give early intelligence of Daisy’s motions; and the women set about making the necessary preparations for quitting the town as soon as possible. They continued beating corn, and packing up different articles, during the night; and early in the morning, nearly one half of the townspeople took the road for Bambarra, by the way of Deena.
Their departure was very affecting: the women and children crying; the men sullen and dejected; and all of them looking back with regret on their native town; and on the wells and rocks, beyond which their ambition had never tempted them to stray, and where they had laid all their plans of future happiness; all of which they were now forced to abandon, and to seek shelter among strangers.
June 27th. About eleven o’clock in the forenoon, we were alarmed by the centinels, who brought information that Daisy was on his march towards Jarra, and that the confederate army had fled before him without firing a gun. The terror of the townspeople on this occasion is not easily to be described.—Indeed, the screams of the women and children, and the great hurry and confusion that every where prevailed, made me suspect that the Kaartans had already entered the town; and although I had every reason to be pleased with Daisy’s behaviour to me, when I was at Kemmoo, I had no wish to expose myself to the mercy of his army, who might, in the general confusion, mistake me for a Moor. I therefore mounted my horse, and taking a large bag of corn before me, rode slowly along with the townspeople, until we reached the foot of a rocky hill, where I dismounted, and drove my horse up before me. When I had reached the summit, I sat down, and having a full view of the town, and the neighbouring country, could not help lamenting the situation of the poor inhabitants, who were thronging after me, driving their sheep, cows, goats, &c. and carrying a scanty portion of provisions, and a few clothes. There was a great noise and crying every where upon the road; for many aged people and children were unable to walk, and these, with the sick, were obliged to be carried, otherwise they must have been left to certain destruction.
About five o’clock we arrived at a small farm, belonging to the Jarra people, called Kadeeja; and here I found Daman and Johnson employed in filling large bags of corn, to be carried upon bullocks, to serve as provisions for Daman’s family on the road.
June 28th. At daybreak, we departed from Kadeeja; and, having passed Troongoomba, without stopping, arrived in the afternoon at Queira. I remained here two days, in order to recruit my horse, which the Moors had reduced to a perfect Rosinante, and to wait for the arrival of some Mandingo Negroes, who were going for Bambarra in the course of a few days.
On the afternoon of the 1st of July, as I was tending my horse in the fields, Ali’s chief slave and four Moors arrived at Queira, and took up their lodging at the Dooty’s house. My interpreter, Johnson, who suspected the nature of this visit, sent two boys to overhear their conversation; from which he learnt that they were sent to convey me back to Bubaker. The same evening, two of the Moors came privately to look at my horse, and one of them proposed taking it to the Dooty’s hut, but the other observed that such a precaution was unnecessary, as I could never escape upon such an animal. They then inquired where I slept, and returned to their companions.