Travels in the Interior of Africa, vol 1 | Page 2

committee
allowed was sufficiently large, and I made no stipulation for future
reward. If I should perish in my journey, I was willing that my hopes
and expectations should perish with me; and if I should succeed in

rendering the geography of Africa more familiar to my countrymen,
and in opening to their ambition and industry new sources of wealth
and new channels of commerce, I knew that I was in the hands of men
of honour, who would not fail to bestow that remuneration which my
successful services should appear to them to merit. The committee of
the Association having made such inquiries as they thought necessary,
declared themselves satisfied with the qualifications that I possessed,
and accepted me for the service; and, with that liberality which on all
occasions distinguishes their conduct, gave me every encouragement
which it was in their power to grant, or which I could with propriety
ask.
It was at first proposed that I should accompany Mr. James Willis, who
was then recently appointed consul at Senegambia, and whose
countenance in that capacity, it was thought, might have served and
protected me; but Government afterwards rescinded his appointment,
and I lost that advantage. The kindness of the committee, however,
supplied all that was necessary. Being favoured by the secretary of the
Association, the late Henry Beaufoy, Esq., with a recommendation to
Dr. John Laidley (a gentleman who had resided many years at an
English factory on the banks of the Gambia), and furnished with a letter
of credit on him for 200 pounds, I took my passage in the brig
Endeavour--a small vessel trading to the Gambia for beeswax and ivory,
commanded by Captain Richard Wyatt--and I became impatient for my
departure.
My instructions were very plain and concise. I was directed, on my
arrival in Africa, "to pass on to the river Niger, either by way of
Bambouk, or by such other route as should be found most convenient.
That I should ascertain the course, and, if possible, the rise and
termination of that river. That I should use my utmost exertions to visit
the principal towns or cities in its neighbourhood, particularly
Timbuctoo and Houssa; and that I should be afterwards at liberty to
return to Europe, either by the way of the Gambia, or by such other
route as, under all the then existing circumstances of my situation and
prospects, should appear to me to be most advisable."
We sailed from Portsmouth on the 22nd day of May, 1795. On the 4th
of June we saw the mountains over Mogadore, on the coast of Africa;
and on the 21st of the same month, after a pleasant voyage of thirty

days, we anchored at Jillifrey, a town on the northern bank of the river
Gambia, opposite to James's Island, where the English had formerly a
small fort.
The kingdom of Barra, in which the town of Jillifrey is situated,
produces great plenty of the necessaries of life; but the chief trade of
the inhabitants is in salt, which commodity they carry up the river in
canoes as high as Barraconda, and bring down in return Indian corn,
cotton cloths, elephants' teeth, small quantities of gold dust, &c. The
number of canoes and people constantly employed in this trade makes
the king of Barra more formidable to Europeans than any other
chieftain on the river; and this circumstance probably encouraged him
to establish those exorbitant duties which traders of all nations are
obliged to pay at entry, amounting to nearly 20 pounds on every vessel,
great and small. These duties or customs are generally collected in
person by the alkaid, or governor of Jillifrey, and he is attended on
these occasions by a numerous train of dependants, among whom are
found many who, by their frequent intercourse with the English, have
acquired a smattering of our language: but they are commonly very
noisy and very troublesome, begging for everything they fancy with
such earnestness and importunity, that traders, in order to get quit of
them, are frequently obliged to grant their requests.
On the 23rd we departed from Jillifrey, and proceeded to Vintain, a
town situated about two miles up a creek on the southern side of the
river. This place is much resorted to by Europeans on account of the
great quantities of beeswax which are brought hither for sale; the wax
is collected in the woods by the Feloops, a wild and unsociable race of
people. Their country, which is of considerable extent, abounds in rice;
and the natives supply the traders, both on the Gambia and Cassamansa
rivers, with that article, and also with goats and poultry, on very
reasonable terms. The honey which they collect is chiefly used by
themselves in making a strong intoxicating liquor, much the same as
the