Great African Travellers | Page 9

AS HE GETS WESTWARD--A NEGRO MERCHANT
AT RAMMAKO RECEIVES HIM HOSPITABLY-- SETS OFF
WITH A SINGING MAN AS HIS GUIDE--CONDUCTED BY TWO
SHEPHERDS-- DESPOILED OF HIS CLOTHES AND HORSE BY
ROBBERS--IN DANGER OF PERISHING-- REACHES
SIBIDOOLOO--MANSA, THE CHIEF MAN, RECOVERS HIS
HORSE AND CLOTHES--SUFFERS FROM FEVER--PEOPLE
STARVING--CONTINUES HIS JOURNEY-- KINDLY TREATED
AT KAMATIA BY A BUSHREEN--KAFA TAURA--STARTS WITH
A SLAVE CARAVAN--ATTACKED BY BEES--DEATH OF A
SLAVE--SUFFERINGS OF SLAVES-- REACHES PISANIA--SAILS
BY WAY OF AMERICA FOR ENGLAND--REACHES HOME.
The time had arrived when, as Park felt, he must either again submit to
the tyrannical treatment of Ali, or perish possibly in attempting to
escape. At night he got ready a bundle of clothes, consisting of two
shirts and two pair of trousers, with a cloak and a few other articles; but
he had not a single bead to purchase food for himself or his horse.
About daybreak Johnson came and told him that the Moors were asleep.
The awful crisis had now arrived; a cold perspiration stood on his brow
as he thought of the dreadful alternative and reflected that one way or
the other his fate must be decided in the course of the day. To
deliberate was to lose the only chance of escape; so, taking up his
bundle, he stepped gently over the negroes sleeping in the air, mounted
his horse, bade Johnson farewell, desiring him to take particular care of
the papers with which he had intrusted him, and to say that he had left
him in good health, on his way to Bambarra.
He rode on, expecting every moment to be overtaken by the Moorish
horsemen. Some shepherds he encountered followed, hooting and
throwing stones at him. Scarcely was he out of their reach, and was

again indulging in the hopes of escaping, when he heard somebody call
behind him, and on looking back, he saw three Moors on horseback
galloping at full speed and brandishing their weapons. To escape was
vain. He stopped, and one of them, presenting his musket, told him that
he must go back to Ali. The effect of this announcement was to
benumb his faculties. He rode back with apparent unconcern, but he
had not gone far when the Moors, stopping, ordered him to untie his
bundle. Having examined the articles, they found nothing worth taking
except his cloak, and one of them, pulling it off, wrapped it about
himself. It had served to protect him from the rain in the day and the
dews at night, and was of the greatest value to him. He earnestly
begged the robbers to return it, but his petition was unheeded. As he
attempted to follow them to regain his cloak, one of the robbers struck
his horse over the head, and presenting his musket, ordered him to
proceed no further. Finding that the sole object of the Moors had been
to plunder him, he turned his horse's head towards the east, thankful to
have escaped with his life.
As soon as he was out of sight of the robbers, he struck into the woods
and pushed on with all possible speed. He had at length obtained his
liberty--his limbs felt light, even the desert looked pleasant. He soon
recollected, however, that he had no means of procuring food, nor a
prospect of finding water.
He directed his course by compass in the hopes of at length reaching
some town or village in the kingdom of Bambarra.
His thirst, in consequence of the burning heat of the sun, reflected with
double violence on the sand, became intense. He climbed a tree in the
hopes of seeing some human habitation. Nothing appeared around but
thick underwood and hillocks of white sand.
At sunset he again climbed a tree, but the same sight met his eyes.
Descending, after taking the saddle off his horse's back, he was
suddenly seized with giddiness, and fell to the ground believing that the
hour of death was fast approaching. He recovered, however, just as the
sun was sinking behind the trees, and now, summoning up all his
resolution, he determined to make another effort to prolong his

existence.
He had gone on some distance further when he perceived some
lightening in the north-east, a delightful sight, for it promised rain, and
soon he heard the wind roaring among the bushes. He was expecting
the refreshing drops, when in an instant he was covered with a cloud of
sand. It continued to fly for nearly an hour; then more lightening
followed and then down came a few heavy drops of rain, enabling him
to quench his thirst by wringing and sucking his clothes.
He travelled on during the night, which was intensely dark, till he
perceived a light ahead. Cautiously approaching it he heard the lowing
of cattle and the clamorous tongues of