reached Sooseeta, a small Jallonka village, situated in the district of Kullo, which comprehends all that tract of country lying along the banks of the Black river, or main branch of the Senegal. These were the first human habitations we had seen, since, we left the village to the westward of Kenytakooro ; having travelled in the course of the last five days, upwards of one hundred miles. Here, after a great deal of entreaty, we were provided with huts to sleep in ; but the master of the village plainly told us that he could not give us any provisions, as there had lately been a great scarcity in this part of the country. He assured us, that before they had gathered in their present crops, the whole inhabitants of Kullo had been for twenty-nine days without tasting corn ; during which time,' they supported; themselves entirely upon the yellow powder which is found in the pods of the nitta, so called by the natives, a species of mimosa ; and upon the seeds of the bamboo cane, which, when properly pounded and dressed, taste very much like rice. As our dry provisions were not yet exhausted, a considerable quantity of kouskous was dressed for supper, and many of the villagers were invited to take part of the repast; but they made a, very bad return for this kindness ; for in the night they seized upon one of the schoolmaster’s boys, who had fallen asleep under the Bentang tree, and carried him away. The boy fortunately awoke before he was far from the village, and setting up a loud scream, the man who carried him, put his hand upon his; mouth, and run with him into the- woods ; but afterward understanding that he belonged to the schoolmaster, whose place o f residence is only three day’s journey distant, he thought, I suppose, that he could not retain him as a slave, without the schoolmaster’s knowledge; and therefore stripped off the boy’s clothes, and permitted him to return. April 28th. Early in the'morning' we departed from Sooseeta, and about ten o’clock, came to an unwalled town called Manna ; the inhabitants of which were employed in collecting the fruit of the nitta trees, which are very numerous in this neighbourhood. - The pbds are long and narrow, and contain a few black seeds enveloped iff the fine mealy powder before mentioned ; the meal itself is of a bright yellow colour, resembling the flour of sulphur, and has a sweet mucilaginous taste i when eaten by itself it is clammy, but when mixed with milk or water, it constitutes a very pleasant and nourishingarticle of diet. The language of the people of Manna,, is the same that is spoken all over that extensive and hilly country called Jallon- kadoo. Some of the wordshave a great affinity to the Man- dingo, but the natives themselves consider it as a distinct language : their numerals are these, One ■ ------ Kidding. Tw o ------ Fidding. Three ------ Sarra. Four ------ Nani. Five ------ Soolo. Six — — Sent. Seven — Soolo majidding. Eight ------ Soolo ma sarra. Nine ------ Soolo ma nani. Ten ■— — Nuff. X x
27f 60
To see the actual publication please follow the link above