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

the governor
himself, though appointed by Mansong, of the same sect. Thus was I in
danger of falling a second time into the hands of men who would
consider it not only justifiable, but meritorious, to destroy me, and this
reflection was aggravated by the circumstance that the danger increased
as I advanced in my journey, for I learned that the places beyond Jenne

were under the Moorish influence in a still greater degree than Jenne
itself, and Timbuctoo, the great object of my search, altogether in
possession of that savage and merciless people, who allow no Christian
to live there. But I had now advanced too far to think of returning to the
westward on such vague and uncertain information, and determined to
proceed; and being accompanied by the guide, I departed from the
village on the morning of the 24th. 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. The people were everywhere employed in collecting the fruit of
shea trees, from which they prepare the vegetable butter mentioned in
former parts of this work. These trees grow in great abundance all over
this part of Bambarra. They are not planted by the natives, but are
found growing naturally in the woods; and in clearing woodland for
cultivation every tree is cut down but the shea. The tree itself very
much resembles the American oak, and the fruit--from the kernel of
which, being first dried in the sun, the butter is prepared by boiling the
kernel in water--has somewhat the appearance of a Spanish olive. The
kernel is enveloped in a sweet pulp, under a thin green rind; and the
butter produced from it, besides the advantage of its keeping the whole
year without salt, is whiter, firmer, and, to my palate, of a richer flavour,
than the best butter I ever tasted made from cow's milk. The growth and
preparation of this commodity seem to be among the first objects of
African industry in this and the neighbouring states, and it constitutes a
main article of their inland commerce.
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. This place is much resorted to by the Moors,
who bring salt from Berroo, and beads and coral from the
Mediterranean, to exchange here for gold dust and cotton cloth. This
cloth they sell to great advantage in Berroo, and other Moorish
countries, where, on account of the want of rain, no cotton is cultivated.
I desired my guide to conduct me to the house in which we were to
lodge by the most private way possible. 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. As we proceeded,
three other canoes arrived, two with passengers and one with goods. I
was happy to find that all the negro inhabitants took me for a Moor,
under which character I should probably have passed unmolested, had
not a Moor, who was sitting by the river- side, discovered the mistake,
and, setting up a loud exclamation, brought together a number of his
countrymen.
When I arrived at the house of Counti Mamadi, the dooty of the town, I
was surrounded with hundreds of people speaking a variety of different
dialects, all equally unintelligible to me. At length, by the assistance of
my guide, who acted as interpreter, I understood that one of the
spectators pretended to have seen me at one place, and another at some
other place; and a Moorish woman absolutely swore that she had kept
my house three years at Gallam, on the river Senegal. It was plain that
they mistook me for some other person, and I desired two of the most
confident to point towards the place where they had seen me. They
pointed due south; hence I think it probable that they came from Cape
Coast, where they might have seen many white men. Their language
was different from any I had yet heard. The Moors now assembled in
great number, with their usual arrogance, compelling the negroes to
stand at a distance. They immediately began to question me concerning
my religion, but finding that I was not master of Arabic, they sent for
two men, whom they call Ilhuidi (Jews), in hopes that they might be
able to converse