With the exception of the good old chief at Timé, who was, indeed, of the Bambara nation, no inhabitants of that village ever paid me so much civility, during the time I stayed there.
In the village of Kimba I saw several men, assembled under a tree, playing at various games, which I had seen played by the negroes of the Senegal. Small holes made in the sand served for a chess-board, and bits of wood, five inches long, for the men. In this village I saw, for the first time since I left Fouta-Dhialon, the women sitting with the men, and mixing in their conversation, while employed in spinning cotton. The Mandingo women do not enjoy this privilege. Baba’s brother prepared us an excellent supper of rice, and sauce made of pistachio-nuts, with some salt to render it more palatable.
On the 10th of January, about nine in the morning, the caravan prepared to depart. The women, with heavy loads of colats on their heads, took the lead, followed by the men, similarly laden. They all had a bell hung at their breasts; some had as many as a dozen attached to different parts of their dress. These appendages produce a deafening jingle, which highly pleases the negroes. They were all armed with bows and arrows, and marched in a file like a procession. The chiefs and the proprietors of merchandise leading the asses, closed the rear.
On leaving the village, Baba quitted us: he did not appear much affected at our separation; however, he recommended me to his brother, to whom I promised to make a handsome present on arriving at Jenné, and I placed my baggage on his ass. The negroes give several names to this city: they call it Dhienné, and often Dhiendé.
We advanced to the S.E., crossing several large rivulets, which delayed us some time, for the asses threw their loads off their backs, and the negroes were obliged to push them forward to make them advance. At length we entered the village of Zangouiriré, which contains from three to four hundred inhabitants, of the Bambara race, the only people met with on this road as far as Jenné. We continued our journey over a level country: the soil was fertile, and composed of grey sand, mixed with black earth. We had a chain of low hills both to the right and left of our road. Every minute the asses were throwing off their loads, which caused great trouble and delay. Among the female slaves who accompanied our caravan, I observed with pain, girls of twelve or fifteen years old carrying heavy loads of colats on their heads. The poor creatures were unable to endure the fatigue, and sometimes let their burthens fall. The heat was excessive, and an easterly wind annoyed us extremely; we had, however, the comfort every now and then of getting some water to quench our thirst. In about an hour and a half, we arrived at Dioumiégué, having travelled nine miles. The women belonging to the caravan had gone a little in advance, and prepared dinner for the men, who had no sooner come up, than they fell to eating, and then they lay down to rest themselves. The people came in crowds to look at me. They appeared very gentle and refrained from importuning me. Some of them made my guide presents of yams, which we ate for supper; others gave him colat-nuts. In the village I observed many small herds of oxen and cows. The latter are not milked.
We quitted Dioumiégué on the 11th of January, at six o’clock in the morning, after paying our passage-money to the chief. We kept to the east along a very fertile plain, where I perceived some husbandmen planting yams. Leaving the plain, we crossed a chain of hills, composed of large blocks of granite, intermixed with white quartz, veined with bright rose-colour. We crossed many small rivulets, which made a thousand windings in the passes of the mountains. We travelled two miles to the east, along very difficult roads, and then descended into a plain well cropped with yams, and thronged with people engaged in agricultural labour. After proceeding about ten miles in the same direction, we arrived about noon at Sinisso, where we halted. This village is surrounded by a wall, and contains about a hundred huts. My umbrella, which my guide displayed to the notice of the inhabitants, greatly excited their curiosity. The hut where we lodged was full of visiters the whole evening: for those who had obtained a sight of the wonder eagerly told their companions, who came running in their turn to behold it. They could not understand how the machine could be made to open and shut at pleasure. They called it a libri, a word in their language, signifying a hat; but notwithstanding their curiosity, they were far from being so troublesome as the Mandingoes.
At this season of the year, the women cook in the open air. For this purpose they kindle fires in their yards, round which the men sit and take their meals. They all invited me to partake of their supper of boiled yams.
On the 12th of January, at five in the morning, after paying for our lodging, we left this village, and directed our course to the N.E., over a soil consisting of a mixture of earth and gravel, but which is, nevertheless, very fertile. Having proceeded about four miles, we arrived at Salasso, through which we passed without stopping. Again continuing our course for four miles, we arrived about the middle of the day at Loubakho, where we halted. Loubakho is a large walled village, containing from six to seven hundred inhabitants. It is situated in a beautiful plain of very rich grey sand. About six or seven miles N.E. of the village, there is a high pointed mountain, which extends N.W. and E.S.E. The inhabitants of Loubakho keep some horned cattle, and they brought us milk, which we purchased with glass beads. In the afternoon I received a visit from a saracolet, who had come from Sambatikila and was proceeding to Jenné. As it is the custom in this country to make some presents to visiters, I directed my guide to give him in my name some colat-nuts, for which he overwhelmed him with acknowledgments. I also gave my guide a bit of coloured stuff to make him a cap. In the evening I purchased a large fowl for our supper. My guide gave it to his woman to cook; and after boiling it, she made a very good sauce of the liquor with pistachios, and a little salt for seasoning. I expressed a wish that we should partake of the fowl together. The Mandingoes, however, out of respect declined taking any. This was an instance of self-denial, which I was far from expecting. In the evening it lightened in the west. The day had been extremely hot, but during the night I could bear my woollen wrapper.
On the 13th, at four in the morning, we prepared to depart; but, before I proceed farther, I will endeavour to give a description of the whole economy of our caravan. It was composed of from forty to fifty Mandingoes, and thirty-five women, all carrying loads on their heads. There were eight chiefs leading their asses, about fifteen in number. With these chiefs were their slaves and women, whose business it was to carry the baggage and cook at every halt for the whole caravan. The women always proceeded first, and the men in the rear. The ringing of their bells gave notice of their approach. The Mandingoes are very fond of bells, the jingling of which diverts them on their journey. They make these bells themselves of iron and copper, which they purchase at Jenné, and in other markets on the banks of the Dhioliba, where they likewise procure bells ready made. On arriving at a village, the women of the caravan fetch water and bruise the millet for dinner. This meal being over, they prepare warm water for the men’s baths: the water is heated in large vessels, which they borrow from the people of the village where they stop. This task being ended, they again set about bruising millet for supper. It is the business of the slaves to procure fire-wood for cooking. The free negroes are exempted from all this trouble; they lie down and rest themselves until their meals are ready: they then go through the village with their calabashes, containing colats, which they exchange with the inhabitants for cowries. With these they purchase grain for the supply of the caravan. The women employ their leisure moments in spinning cotton, which they purchase with the colats given to them by their husbands. I have seen them spin by the light of a lamp fed with vegetable butter; the produce of this labour is their own little perquisite. On their arrival at Jenné, they sell their spun cotton for cowries, with which they buy salt and glass trinkets. The women likewise wash the men’s clothes. The men, as soon as they have rested themselves, inspect the loads of colats, especially those which during the journey have fallen from the asses’ backs. They cover the fruit with fresh leaves, in order to keep it cool; they then go into the village to dispose of their cloth; they also settle the payment of the passage money; for all foreign merchants, however numerous they may be, are obliged in every place they halt to pay for the whole of the company, a small tax, the amount of which sometimes varies, but is generally about twenty colats for each load: these twenty colats are worth two hundred cowries, (about twenty sous, French money). When the caravan is numerous, which often happens, for it gains accessions on the road, some person who has but a small load goes forward, and arrives first in the village to procure lodgings for his companions; he then deposits his load and returns to meet his friends, whom he directs to their respective destinations. Those who do not adopt this prudent precaution have the trouble of seeking through the village for a place to put up at, and are often obliged to proceed farther. It is customary for the parties who first reach the village to return and help the others with their burdens, especially when the journey has been long.
On the 13th of January, we set out at four o’clock in the morning, in order to take advantage of the cool air. We proceeded to the N.E. for the distance of four miles, over a soil composed of very hard grey sand. The country was pretty flat, with the exception of some granite blocks, rising six or seven feet above the ground. The cé was very abundant, but the nédé much less common than in the parts through which we had previously journeyed. We passed near Couraniso, and then the road became rather stony. We went on for five miles more without seeing the least trace of cultivation, and at ten o’clock in the morning arrived at Cacoron, where we halted. This village contains from five to six hundred inhabitants, to whom I was an object of great curiosity. As I had not yet breakfasted, I went to a Bambara woman, who was pounding boiled yams; I bought some of her for a few glass beads, and she gave me separately, in a small pot, some gombo sauce. On dipping my yams into this sauce, I discovered, to my great mortification, some little paws, and immediately ascertained that the sauce was made of mice; however, I was hungry, and I continued my meal, though, I must confess, not without some feelings of disgust. The negroes, when they take their yams without sauce, never mash them: those which I bought from the negress were ready prepared. In the evening I saw many women chopping mice to make sauce for their suppers. I observed that they gut the animals, and, without taking the trouble of skinning them, merely draw them across the fire to singe off the hair: thus prepared, they lay them in a corner of the hut, and it is not unusual to keep them there for seven or eight days before they are cooked. The mice, which make their way into the jars of millet, are caught by the women and children without the aid of traps.