Travels in the Interior of Africa, vol 1 | Page 3

mead which is produced from honey in Great Britain.
In their traffic with Europeans, the Feloops generally employ a factor
or agent of the Mandingo nation, who speaks a little English, and is
acquainted with the trade of the river. This broker makes the bargain;
and, with the connivance of the European, receives a certain part only
of the payment, which he gives to his employer as the whole; the

remainder (which is very truly called the cheating money) he receives
when the Feloop is gone, and appropriates to himself as a reward for
his trouble.
The language of the Feloops is appropriate and peculiar; and as their
trade is chiefly conducted, as hath been observed, by Mandingoes, the
Europeans have no inducement to learn it.
On the 26th we left Vintain, and continued our course up the river,
anchoring whenever the tide failed us, and frequently towing the vessel
with the boat. The river is deep and muddy; the banks are covered with
impenetrable thickets of mangrove; and the whole of the adjacent
country appears to be flat and swampy.
The Gambia abounds with fish, some species of which are excellent
food; but none of them that I recollect are known in Europe. At the
entrance from the sea sharks are found in great abundance, and, higher
up, alligators and the hippopotamus (or river-horse) are very numerous.
In six days after leaving Vintain we reached Jonkakonda, a place of
considerable trade, where our vessel was to take in part of her lading.
The next morning the several European traders came from their
different factories to receive their letters, and learn the nature and
amount of her cargo; and the captain despatched a messenger to Dr.
Laidley to inform him of my arrival. He came to Jonkakonda the
morning following, when I delivered him Mr. Beaufoy's letter, and he
gave me a kind invitation to spend my time at his house until an
opportunity should offer of prosecuting my journey. This invitation was
too acceptable to be refused, and being furnished by the Doctor with a
horse and guide, I set out from Jonkakonda at daybreak on the 5th of
July, and at eleven o'clock arrived at Pisania, where I was
accommodated with a room and other conveniences in the Doctor's
house.
Pisania is a small village in the king of Yany's dominions, established
by British subjects as a factory for trade, and inhabited solely by them
and their black servants. It is situated on the banks of the Gambia,
sixteen miles above Jonkakonda. The white residents, at the time of
may arrival there, consisted only of Dr. Laidley, and two gentlemen
who were brothers, of the name of Ainsley; but their domestics were
numerous. They enjoyed perfect security under the king's protection,
and being highly esteemed and respected by the natives at large,

wanted no accommodation or comfort which the country could supply,
and the greatest part of the trade in slaves, ivory, and gold was in their
hands.
Being now settled for some time at my ease, my first object was to
learn the Mandingo tongue, being the language in almost general use
throughout this part of Africa, and without which I was fully convinced
that I never could acquire an extensive knowledge of the country or its
inhabitants. In this pursuit I was greatly assisted by Dr. Laidley.
In researches of this kind, and in observing the manners and customs of
the natives, in a country so little known to the nations of Europe, and
furnished with so many striking and uncommon objects of nature, my
time passed not unpleasantly, and I began to flatter myself that I had
escaped the fever, or seasoning, to which Europeans, on their first
arrival in hot climates, are generally subject. But on the 31st of July I
imprudently exposed myself to the night-dew in observing an eclipse of
the moon, with a view to determine the longitude of the place; the next
day I found myself attacked with a smart fever and delirium, and such
an illness followed as confined me to the house during the greatest part
of August. My recovery was very slow, but I embraced every short
interval of convalescence to walk out, and make myself acquainted
with the productions of the country.
In one of those excursions, having rambled farther than usual, on a hot
day, I brought on a return of my fever, and on the 10th of September I
was again confined to my bed. The fever, however, was not so violent
as before; and in the course of three weeks I was able, when the
weather would permit, to renew my botanical excursions; and when it
rained, I amused myself with drawing plants, &c., in my chamber. The
care and attention of Dr. Laidley contributed