At eight in the evening we stopped before the little village of Cora, which, perhaps, contains two hundred inhabitants. Here we had another visit from the Soorgoos. They immediately went on board the canoe of the chief of the flotilla, to demand the contributions. Each canoe was ordered to put ashore a bag of millet for their supper, and the order was obeyed without hesitation. I was informed that the chief had engaged to pay at Cabra the exactions for allowing us to pass; which exactions consisted of millet, rice, honey, butter, manufactured stuffs, and preserved articles.
During the whole of the evening lightning flashed from the east. The heat was oppressive, and we had no rain.
On the 16th of April, we were detained at Cora until ten in the morning; the negro inhabitants of this village came to sell us milk, for which we gave them millet in exchange; they often want provisions, though they cultivate a great deal of rice; but they are continually robbed and harassed by the Soorgoos, who make these poor creatures supply them with food. At ten in the morning we stood to the N. E. There were some Soorgoos on board the canoes, and others were following us on horseback along the seashore. About one in the afternoon we lay to near some trees and shrubs, and collected a little fire-wood. At two we continued our course. At the point we reached at sun-set the river turned to the north, and was very wide and deep. The sailors now used their oars instead of their poles. At eight in the evening we halted before a camp of the Soorgoo. The discussions which arose with these people occasioned considerable delay, and were a source of great annoyance, especially to me, who was shut up in my hiding-place, suffocated with heat, and only able to observe what was going on through the holes which I had made in the mats of my prison. We were continually harassed by troops of these banditti: some were in small canoes, others mounted on fine horses, gallopping along the shore, and by the most horrid yells instigating their companions in the canoes to board us. This tumult was insufferable. We did not entirely get rid of our tormentors until our arrival at Cabra. Every evening our canoes were obliged to give them rice and millet for their supper, in return for which they presented the chief of the flotilla with a little bull, which was killed and distributed among the masters of the different canoes. The reports of the muskets which the negroes fired before the camp, frightened the horses of those Soorgoos who had ridden from the interior for the purpose of sharing the spoil.
On the 17th of April, at six in the morning, the flotilla stood to the north. We had not proceeded above four or five miles, when we were obliged to stop and wait for one of the great canoes which had sprung a leak, and was in momentary danger of sinking; the sailors on board set about repairing it; they plunged into the water with great agility and put oakum into the seams along the keel. About three in the afternoon all was put to rights, and we again pursued our course. The river was very wide and deep, and its banks were naked and marshy; it took a little turn to the east, and afterwards to the north: in every direction nothing was visible but marshes, without trees of any kind. At sun-set the new moon was saluted by several discharges of musketry, which so terrified the Soorgoos, that they hastened ashore, and I heard some of them exclaim in their little canoes, “God preserve us from gunpowder!” The only arms used by these people, are lances and poniards. About seven o’clock we passed Caratoo, a little village on the right bank, and about nine, we stopped at an uninhabited place.
At five in the morning, of the 18th of April, we continued our voyage. The river turned eastward, and at seven o’clock we found its course changing to N. E.; it then became rather narrow, the banks being all along very low and bare. The immense marshes on both banks were covered with cattle belonging to the Soorgoos. These herds as I have already observed, are their chief property.
At eight in the morning we stopped to say the prayer of the salam, it being the last day of the Ramadan, which the Mandingoes call Sali. We were within sight of Cabra, and the negroes testified their joy on perceiving the date trees of the village. They put on their finest dress, assembled in a large plain, and piously prostrated themselves in adoration of their God. I remained in the canoe, and observed them through the holes that I had made in the matting of my prison, where the heat was suffocating. I congratulated myself that I was not required to join in these religious ceremonies, and secretly offered up a prayer that my enterprise might be favoured by Heaven. Their devotions being ended, the negroes went to dinner, and good cheer compensated for their past abstinence, which, however, had not been very rigorously observed. An easterly wind obliged us to pass some part of the day at this spot.
About four in the afternoon it became somewhat calm, and preparations were made for pursuing our voyage; but the Soorgoos opposed our departure until they had received four sacks of millet from each boat, independently of the duties we should be obliged to pay them on arriving at Cabra. This exaction on their part led to a long discussion: all the masters of canoes gathered round the chief of the flotilla, attended by the chiefs of the Soorgoos, and each party defended their own interests and those of their employers with considerable warmth. The Soorgoos were not inclined to abate their demands; but, by dint of entreaty and resistance, the contributions were reduced to one-half the amount which had been at first demanded.
About nine in the evening the canoes received orders to send on shore two sacks of millet; which was done without delay. These sacks were of the height of a man, and as wide as the sacks commonly used in France. I suppose they might contain nearly two hundred pounds of grain. Never did any day appear to me so long and tedious as this. I was almost within sight of Timbuctoo, and durst not shew my face: I was obliged to hide myself the whole day; and, if at any time the Soorgoos came on board, the crew obliged me to muffle myself up in a large woollen wrapper, and to pretend to sleep. At night I left my prison, for then the Soorgoos could not distinguish my complexion from that of the negroes, and I breathed the pure air until day-break.
On the 19th of April, at five in the morning, we stood to N. E., and at sun-rise passed a large branch of the river, which flows for a short space to W. S .W. About seven o’clock we found ourselves near a camp of Tooariks, the aspect of which was most miserable. The tents which the Moors inhabit on the right bank of the Senegal are palaces in comparison with the dwellings of these savages: a few stakes, three or four feet high, supporting a covering of untanned bulls’ hides, and encircled by mats, in the form of a palisade, compose the abode of the chief, as well as of his meanest sujects. The interior of these habitations appeared to correspond perfectly with their exterior.
As we were very near the shore, I could observe a woman who had the clear copper complexion of the Moorish females, whom she still further resembled in dress: she was enormously fat, and was sitting on a sheep-skin spread on the ground; she was doubtless amusing herself by looking at the vessels as they passed. During my travels among the Braknas I never saw a woman who had attained such a degree of corpulency, though that quality constitutes the principal charm of female beauty among these people. This Tooarik Venus must have required four slaves at least to assist her in walking. The river now turned a little to the east. After having passed the camp, we came to a large island, off which we halted till eight o’clock, having to wait for some boats, which could not proceed as fast as ours. This island is very flat and sandy, but I observed some specimens of the mimosa, balanitis ægyptiaca, and other stunted shrubs.