“Cultivation is carried on here on a very extensive scale; and, as the natives themselves express it, hunger is never known.”—(p. 187.)
“From the best inquiries I could make, I have reason to believe that Lego contains altogether about thirty thousand inhabitants.”—“The view of this extensive city, the numerous canoes upon the river, the crowded population, and the cultivated state of the surrounding country, formed altogether a prospect of civilization and magnificence, which I little expected to find in the bosom of Africa.”—(p. 195 & 196.)
“I was regarded with astonishment and fear, and was obliged to sit all day without victuals, in the shade of a tree, and the night threatened to be very uncomfortable, for the wind rose, and there was great appearance of a heavy rain; and the wild beasts are so very numerous in the neighbourhood, that I should have been under the necessity of climbing up the tree, and resting among the branches. About sun-set, however, as I was preparing to pass the night in this manner, and had turned my horse loose that he might graze at liberty, a woman, returning from the labours of the field, stopped to observe me, and perceiving that I was weary and dejected, inquired into my situation, which I briefly explained to her; whereupon, with looks of great compassion, she took up my saddle and bridle, and told me to follow her. Having conducted me into her hut, she lighted up a lamp, spread a mat on the floor, and told me I might remain there for the night. Finding that I was very hungry, she said she would procure me something to eat; she accordingly went out, and returned in a short time with a very fine fish, which, having caused to be half broiled upon some embers, she gave me for supper. The rites of hospitality being thus performed towards a stranger in distress, my worthy benefactress (pointing to the mat, and telling me I might sleep there without apprehension), called to the female part of her family, who had stood gazing on me all the while in fixed astonishment, to resume their task of spinning cotton; in which they continued to employ themselves great part of the night. They lightened their labour by songs, one of which was composed extempore, for I was myself the subject of it; it was sung by one of the young women, the rest joining in a sort of chorus. The air was sweet and plaintive, and the words, literally translated, were these:—“The winds roared, and the rains fell—The poor white man, faint and weary, came and sat under our tree—He has no mother to bring him milk, no wife to grind his corn.” Chorus: “Let us pity the white man; no mother has he,” &c. &c.—Trifling as this recital may appear to the reader, to a person in my situation the circumstance was affecting in the highest degree. I was oppressed by such unexpected kindness, and sleep fell from my eyes. In the morning I presented my compassionate landlady with two of the four brass buttons which remained on my waistcoat, the only recompence I could make her.” (pp. 197–198.)
“About eight o’clock we passed a large town called Kabba, situated in the midst of a beautiful and highly cultivated country, bearing a greater resemblance to the centre of England, than to what I should have supposed had been the middle of Africa.”—(p. 202).
“We passed, in the course of the day, a great many villages, inhabited chiefly by fishermen; and in the evening, about five o’clock, arrived at Sansanding, a very large town, containing, as I was told, from eight to ten thousand inhabitants.”—(p. 203.)
“We accordingly rode along between the town and the river, passing by a creek or harbour, in which I observed twenty large canoes, most of them fully loaded, and covered with mats, to prevent the rain from injuring the goods.
“He shewed me some gunpowder of his own manufacturing.”—(p. 206.)
“About fifteen years ago, when the present king of Bambarra’s father desolated Maniana, the dooty of Sai had two sons slain in battle, fighting in the king’s cause. He had a third son living; and when the king demanded a further reinforcement of men, and this youth among the rest, the dooty refused to send him. This conduct so enraged the king, that when he returned from Maniana, about the beginning of the rainy season, and found the dooty protected by the inhabitants, he sat down before Sai, with his army, and surrounded the town with the trenches I had now seen. After a siege of two months, the towns-people became involved in all the horrors of famine; and whilst the king’s army were feasting in their trenches, they saw with pleasure the miserable inhabitants of Sai devour the leaves and bark of the bentang tree that stood in the middle of the town. Finding, however, that the besieged would sooner perish than surrender, the king had recourse to treachery. He promised, that if they would open the gates, no person should be put to death, nor suffer any injury, but the dooty alone. The poor old man determined to sacrifice himself for the sake of his fellow-citizens, and immediately walked over to the king’s army, where he was put to death. His son, in attempting to escape, was caught and massacred in the trenches; and the rest of the towns-people were carried away captives, and sold as Slaves to the different Negro Traders.”—(p. 227.)
“The Mandingoes in particular are a very gentle race; cheerful in their dispositions, inquisitive, credulous, simple, and fond of flattery.”—(p. 261.)
“It is impossible for me to forget the disinterested charity, and tender solicitude, with which many of these poor heathens (from the sovereign of Sego, to the poor women who received me at different times into their cottages, when I was perishing of hunger) sympathized with me in my sufferings, relieved my distresses, and contributed to my safety.”—(p. 262.)