passing through his country, the good old king appeared not only perfectly satisfied, but promised me every assistance in his power. He informed me that he had seen Major Houghton, and presented him with a white horse ; but that after crossing the, kingdom of Kaarta, he had lost his life among the Moors ; in what manner he could not inform me. When this audience was ended we returned to our lodging, and I made up a small present for the king, out of the few effects that were left me : for I had not yet received any thing from Salim Daucari. This present, though inconsiderable in itself, was well received by the kingi who sent me in return a large white bullock. The sight of this animal quite delighted my attendants ; not so much on account of its bulk, as from its being of a white colour ; which is considered as a particular mark of favour. But although the king himself was. well disposed towards me, and readily granted me permission to.pass throug;h his territories, I soon discovered that very great and unexpected obstacles were likely to impede my progress. Besides the war which was on the point of breaking out between Kasson and Kajaaga, I was told that the next kingdom of Kaarta, through which my route lay, was involved in the issue ;.and was furthermore threatened with hostilities on the part of Bambarra. The king himself informed me of these circumstances; and advised me to stay in the neighbourhood o f Kooniakary, till such time as he could procure proper information respecting Bambarra, which he expected to do in the course o f four or five days, as he had already, he said, sent four messengers into Kaarta for that purpose. I readily submitted to this proposal, and went to Soolo, to stay there till the return of one of those messengers. This, afforded me a favourable opportunity of receiving what money Salim Daucari could spare me on Dr. Laidley's account. • I succeeded in receiving the value of three slaves, chiefly,in gold.dust; and being anxious to proceed as quickly as possible, I begged Daucari to use his interest with the king to allow me a guide by the way of Fooladoo, as I was informed that the w^r had already commenced between the Kings of Bambarra and Kaarta. Daucari accordingly set out for Kooniakary on the morning of the 20th, and the same evening returned with the king’s answer, which was to this purpose ; that the king had, many years ago, made an agreement with. Daisey, King of Kaarta, to send all merchants and travellers through his dominions ; but that if I wished to take the route through Fooladoo, I had his permission so to do ; though he could not, consistently with his agreement, lend me a guide. Having felt the want of regal protection in a former part of my journey, I was unwilling to hazard a repetition of the hardships I had then experienced, especially as the money I had received was probably the last supply that I should obtain ; I therefore determined to-wait for the return of the messengers from Kaarta. In the interim, it began to be whispered abroad that I had received plenty of gold from Salim Daucari; and on the morning of the 23d, Sambo Sego paid me a visitwith a party of horsemen. He insisted upon knowing the exact amount of the money I had obtained ; declaring, that whatever the sum was, one half of it must go to the king ; besides which, he intimated that he expected a handsome present for himself, as being the
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