On Tuesday the 3rd of August 1824, at four in the afternoon, I set out from St. Louis, accompanied by two men and a woman, all three inhabitants of N’pâl, to which village they engaged to serve me as guides. About seven, we arrived at Leybar, a village situated two leagues S.E. ¼ E. from St. Louis. We there passed a wearisome night, on account of the musquitoes which devoured us. The weather was stormy; the thunder rolled the whole night, and the rain fell in torrents. We went to bed on our arrival: at ten o’clock we were called up to supper, for which a very good fish couscous[6] was provided.
On the morning of the 4th we pursued our journey. My fellow-travellers met with a little incident which delayed our progress: a sheep, destined for the celebration of the festival of the Tabasky[7], escaped from the negress who was driving it; we were obliged to run after the animal, but after several useless attempts to catch it, we continued our route. At ten in the morning we arrived at Gandon, a village only one league E. ¼ S.E. from Leybar. A most delightful country presented itself to our view. I saw many fields of cotton, which the negroes cultivate with success; indigo grows there without culture; there is but little millet in the environs of the village.
We sat down under a great tree, where travellers usually rest themselves till some one comes to offer them hospitality: on that day there was a great number of them, who took me for a Moor, because I wore the Moorish dress; but, being undeceived by my guides, who told them that I was about to become a convert to Islamism, they congratulated me upon my intention.
My companions, who were much grieved at the loss of their sheep, went back to look for it. I rested myself for about an hour, and then proceeding eastward, set out alone for N’ghiez. Between these two villages the traveller who pays any attention to the beauties of nature is enchanted by the view of the groups of verdure scattered over the plain. They consist of mimosas, the thick branches of which support the slender and flexible stems of asclepias and of different species of cynanchum, which, after climbing to their tops, droop down in garlands, and by the diversity of their flowers produce an admirable effect. They frequently meet with other plants; their stems mutually entwine, and their numerous branches become so closely united and twisted together as to form an aerial canopy, through which the eye perceives at a distance other groups, frequently fantastic, but always wonderful. The plain is covered with a carpet of verdure, the pleasing smoothness of which is broken by numerous shrubs, all differently decorated by the climbing plants which grow about them.
The parinarius senegalensis, which is very common in the plain, also embellishes the scene, and heightens the interest of the view to the traveller reposing in the shade of its thick foliage. All these beauties, with which nature is adorned, irrestibly lead the mind up to its Creator and fill it with admiration of his profound wisdom.
These delightful plains are intersected by marshes, wherein grow a great number of aquatic plants; as the road crosses these marshes, I was up to the knees in water. I reached N’ghiez about one in the afternoon: I rested there but a very short time: then, continuing my course eastward, I passed through some fields of millet. My way then led me into a desert plain, but clothed with vegetation, and I arrived at N’pâl by sunset, quite tired with my day’s journey, which I had performed barefoot and carrying my baggage on my head. I sought a lodging with a woman of St. Louis, who had her family at N’pâl: she received me very kindly, and thanks to her attentions, I passed a good night, which made me some amends for the preceding one.
On the 5th I remained at N’pâl. I spent the day in visiting the environs of the village, which is charmingly situated, amidst an immense plain, fertilized by the rains of the tropic. The inhabitants grow in abundance all that is requisite for their wants: accustomed to lead a very temperate life, they frequently have a surplus, which they carry for sale to St. Louis, bringing back in exchange fire-arms for their defence, and amber, coral, and glass trinkets to adorn their wives. This village is reputed to be the wealthiest in the neighbourhood of St. Louis. Its population may be estimated at two thousand, all marabouts. The natural advantages of their soil and situation have a visible influence on their manners; less slothful, less insolent, and less treacherous, than the negroes of other parts, they bestow hospitality without ostentation, and always in a generous manner which heightens its value. Every stranger is sure of finding an asylum among them.
Situated between the country of Cayor and Wâlo, twenty miles eastward of Gandon, this village, entirely independent, is governed by a marabout who is its absolute master. At his death he is succeeded by his eldest son; if the latter dies without children, the supreme power devolves to his nearest kinsman. This chief levies an impost on millet, which is paid to him in kind at harvest-time, and amounts to one tenth. The inhabitants are armed with muskets and lances. When the neighbouring villages are threatened with pillage by the damel, or king, of Cayor, their inhabitants seek refuge at N’pâl, where they are not only received, but also find generous allies who take up their defence.
Throughout the whole country the huts are small, ill constructed, and extremely filthy; the door is so low that to enter you are obliged to crawl on all fours. The residence of each family is composed of several huts surrounded by quick hedges, planted at random and without taste: sometimes this inclosure is formed merely of posts and rails, or a kind of palisade of straw. The streets are extremely narrow, winding, and dirty, all sorts of filth being thrown into them. Both men and women are very uncleanly, as in all the negro villages in this country, and they rub a great quantity of butter upon their heads.
Few idle persons are to be seen among them. The men employ themselves in the cultivation of their fields during the rainy season, and in clearing the land required for fresh crops during the dry season: the women have to attend to the household concerns; they spin cotton; some dye cloths blue with the indigo which the country supplies almost without culture; and the cleverest of them traffic in the productions of the soil, which they procure in exchange for the glass beads, amber, and coral, purchased at St. Louis, whither they repair to sell the corn and cloths, by which they make a great profit.