I saw, in this country a climbing plant, with a very broad leaf, and containing a large quantity of blue dye. It is very common at Sierra-Leone. The young women do not dye the cotton thread; that task is always consigned to the old women, who also cultivate little gardens round their huts, where they raise various kinds of herbs which they use for making their sauces, &c. In these gardens they also grow tobacco, which is sown in September and transplanted in October. Very little attention however is bestowed on its cultivation. That which I saw at Timé and in its neighbourhood is of a small species, and it is not gathered until it runs to seed. The leaves, after being dried in the sun, are reduced to powder. This is the only way in which the inhabitants use tobacco. I never saw any prepared in the European manner at Timé.
They have small hard beans of a grey colour which they boil. The giraumon also grows here. It is cooked with pistachio-nuts and pimento. This last plant, so common in hot countries, does not thrive well here; the inhabitants therefore purchase it in their journeys to the south, where they also procure a long kind of pepper which they are very fond of. They call it cani, the name of the place whence it is brought, and merchants carry this pepper to Jenné to exchange it for salt.
The most common distempers at Timé are ophthalmia, eruptive sores, swellings of the neck and throat, fevers and leprosy. Scurvy also makes its appearance sometimes. I never saw any deformed person in these parts. Colds are very common.
CHAPTER XIV.
Departure from Timé, January 9th, 1829. — The name of Kong, applied by Mungo Park to a chain of mountains, is a generic term. — Use of bells in caravans. — Loubakho. — Cacoron. — Dancing and music of the Bambaras. — Sananso. — Dhio. — The oil palm-tree. — Talé. — Customs of the inhabitants. — Borandou. — Grotesque mask. — Tangrera.
On the 9th of January, after a slight repast of yams, which the old negress prepared for us, we got ready to leave Timé. I made my hostess a handsome present, which she received with pleasure, and I also gave Baba some merchandise, which I had promised him, as a compensation for the time I had stayed with him.
About nine o’clock in the morning we left the village, after taking leave of the good old chief, who wished us a prosperous journey.
My guide brought his wife to carry my baggage, which had now become very light, and his brother Baba was to accompany us a short distance on the road. We directed our course to the S.S.E. and gained the foot of the chain of mountains, which is composed of masses of granite. In crossing this chain, I observed several trees growing among the rocks, principally the cé. Numerous springs rise in the mountains and fertilize the country, the soil of which, composed of black mould mixed with grey sand, is exceedingly fertile. The country was stripped of all its charms: the grass was burned up, the trees had lost half their foliage, and the birds had flown from the woods to the margins of the streams. All was sad and desolate, and the dreary appearance of the hills of granite augmented the sombre effect of the scene. We entered a Bambara village named Dsagoé, where I saw several fine plantations of tobacco, of which the inhabitants consume a great quantity. We rested for a moment under the shade of a bombax, and refreshed ourselves with a calabashful of water, given to us by the inhabitants, who pressed eagerly round me, and kept their eyes fixed upon me. The morning’s journey had fatigued me, for I was still weak, and could scarcely walk; which sufficiently proved that, if I had followed my inclination to set off sooner, I should not have been able to accomplish the journey. We took our leave of these inquisitive people, and proceeded towards the S.E. over a country covered with large rocks of quartz. We saw some Bambaras preparing the ground for the purpose of planting yams.
After proceeding about ten miles, we arrived about two o’clock in the afternoon at Kimba, a small village where the caravan bound to Jenné was waiting. At the distance of about two miles from this village there is a chain of mountains extending from N.E. to S.W. and as high as those we crossed in the morning. I at first imagined that these might be the Kong mountains, mentioned by Mungo Park, though it is impossible to suppose that he saw them, as they are low, and at a considerable distance from Ségo. I may also observe that Kong is not the name, which the natives give to these mountains, for among the Mandingoes, Kong or Kongké signifies mountain. Park, no doubt, confounded the general with the particular name. The country is entirely covered with hills. In the village I saw some tobacco growing. As my breakfast had been but slight, I went up to a Bambara, whom I saw sitting in his hut with a calabash of yams, and asked him to sell me a few of them for some glass trinkets which I shewed him. The good negro immediately took out a handful of yams, which he put into a calabash with some sauce, and gave it to me. I presented him with some glass beads in payment, which he was at first reluctant to accept, but I forced him to take them as a present for his wife. At night-fall he paid me a visit at my hut, and made me a present of a very large yam.