thing wore a favourable appearance, when he was suddenly attacked from a different quarter.

The Jowers, Kakaroos, and some other Kaartans, who had deserted from him at the commencement of the war, and had shewn a decided preference to Mansong and his army during the whole campaign, were now afraid or ashamed to ask forgiveness of Daisy, and being very powerful in themselves, joined together to make war upon him. They solicited the Moors to assist them in their rebellion (as will appear hereafter) and having collected a considerable army, they plundered a large village belonging to Daisy, and carried off a number of prisoners.

Daisy immediately prepared to revenge this insult; but the Jowers, and indeed almost all the Negro inhabitants of Ludamar, deserted their towns and fled to the eastward; and the rainy season put an end to the war of Kaarta, which had enriched a few individuals, but destroyed the happiness of thousands.

Such was the state of affairs among the nations in the neighbourhood of Jarra, soon after the period of my arrival there. I shall now proceed, after giving some description of that place, with the detail of events as they occurred.

CHAPTER IX.

Some Account of Jarra, and the Moorish Inhabitants.-The Author applies for, and obtains Permission from Ali, the Moorish Chief or Sovereign, of Ludamar, to pass through his Territories. -Departs from Jarra, and arrives at Deena-ill treated by the Moors.-Proceeds to Sampaka-finds a Negro who makes Gunpowder.-Continues his Journey to Samee, where he is seized by some Moors who are sent for that Purpose by Ali-is conveyed a Prisoner to the Moorish Camp at Benowm, on the Borders of the Great Desert.

THE town of Jarra is of considerable extent: the houses are built of clay and stone intermixed; the clay answering the purpose of mortar. It is situated in the Moorish kingdom of Ludamar; but the major part of the inhabitants are Negroes, from the borders of the southern states, who prefer a precarious protection under the Moors, which they purchase by a tribute, rather than continue exposed to their predatory hostilities. The tribute they pay is considerable; and they manifest towards their Moorish superiors the most unlimited obedience and submission, and are treated by them with the utmost indignity and contempt. The Moors of this, and the other states adjoining the country of the Negroes, resemble in their persons the Mulattoes of the West Indies to so great a degree, as not easily to

be distinguished from them; and in truth, the present generation seem to be a mixed race between the Moors (properly so called) of the North, and the Negroes of the South; possessing many of the worst qualities of both nations.

Of the origin of these Moorish tribes, as distinguished from the inhabitants of Barbary, from whom they are divided by the Great Desert, nothing farther seems to be known than what is related by John Leo, the African; whose account may be abridged as follows:

Before the Arabian Conquest, about the middle of the seventh century, all the inhabitants of Africa, whether they were descended from Numidians, Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Romans, Vandals, or Goths, were comprehended under the general name of Mauri, or Moors. All these nations were converted to the religion of Mahomet, during the Arabian empire under the Kaliphs. About this time many of the Numidian tribes, who led a wandering life in the Desert, and supported themselves upon the produce of their cattle, retired southward across the Great Desert, to avoid the fury of the Arabians; and by one of those tribes, says Leo, (that of Zanhaga) were discovered and conquered the Negro nations on the Niger. By the Niger, is here undoubtedly meant the river of Senegal, which in the Mandingo language is called Bafing, or the Black River.

To what extent these people are now spread over the African continent, it is difficult to ascertain. There is reason to believe, that their dominion stretches from West to East, in a narrow line or belt, from the mouth of the Senegal (on the northern side of that river) to the confines of Abyssinia. They are a subtle

and treacherous race of people; and take every opportunity of cheating and plundering the credulous and unsuspecting Negroes. But their manners and general habits of life will be best explained, as incidents occur in the course of my narrative.

On my arrival at Jarra, I obtained a lodging at the house of Daman Jumma, a Gambia Slatee. This man had formerly borrowed goods from Dr. Laidley, who had given me an order for the money, to the amount of six slaves; and though the debt was of five years standing, he readily acknowledged it, and promised me what money he could raise. He was afraid, he said, in his present situation, he could not pay more than two slaves' value. He gave me his assistance however in exchanging my beads and amber for gold, which was a more portable article, and more easily concealed from the Moors.

The difficulties we had already encountered, the unsettled state of the country, and, above all, the savage and overbearing deportment of the Moors, had so completely frightened my attendants, that they declared they would rather relinquish every claim to reward, than proceed one step farther to the eastward. Indeed the danger they incurred of being seized by the Moors, and sold into slavery, became every day more apparent; and I could not condemn their apprehensions. In this situation, deserted by my attendants, and reflecting that my retreat was cut off by the war behind me, and that a Moorish country of ten days' journey lay before me, I applied to Daman to obtain permission from Ali, the chief or sovereign of Ludamar, that I might pass through his country unmolested, into Bambarra ; and I hired one of Daman's slaves to accompany me thither, as

1

soon as such permission should be obtained. A messenger was dispatched to Ali, who at this time was encamped near Benowm; and as a present was necessary, in order to insure success, I sent him five garments of cotton cloth, which I purchased of Daman, for one of my fowling-pieces. Fourteen days elapsed in settling this affair; but, on the evening of the 26th of February, one of Ali's slaves arrived with directions, as he pretended, to conduct me in safety, as far as Goomba; and told me I was to pay him one garment of blue cotton cloth for his attendance. My faithful boy observing that I was about to proceed without him, resolved to accompany me; and told me, that though he wished. me to turn back, he never had entertained any serious thoughts of deserting me, but had been advised to it by Johnson, with a view to induce me to return immediately for Gambia.

Feb. 27th. I delivered most of my papers to Johnson, to convey them to Gambia as soon as possible, reserving a duplicate for myself, in case of accidents. I likewise left in Daman's possession a bundle of clothes, and other things that were not absolutely necessary; for I wished to diminish my baggage as much as possible, that the Moors might have fewer inducements to plunder us.

Things being thus adjusted, we departed from Jarra in the forenoon, and slept at Troomgoomba, a small walled village, inhabited by a mixture of Negroes and Moors. On the day following (Feb. 28th) we reached Quira; and on the 29th, after a toilsome journey over a sandy country, we came to Compe, a watering place belonging to the Moors; from whence on the morning following, we proceeded to Deena, a large town,