On the next day Park departed, leaving the guide at the village
of Yaour, where he was put in irons by order of the king, from a
supposition that he had aided the white men in defrauding him of the
customary presents, which the chief of Yaour had in fact received, but
retained for himself. “The next morning, early,” continues the guide,
“the king sent an army to a village called Boussa, near the river-side.
There is before this village a rock across the whole breadth of the
river. One part of the rock is very high; there is a large opening in
that rock in the form of a door, which is the only passage for the
water to pass through; the tide current is here very strong. This army
went and took possession of the top of this opening. Mr. Park came
there after the army had posted itself; he nevertheless attempted to
pass. The people began to attack him, throwing lances, pikes, arrows,
and stones. Mr. Park defended himself for a long time; two of his
slaves at the stern of the canoe were killed; they threw every thing
they had in the canoe into the river, and kept firing; but being
overpowered by numbers, and fatigued, and unable to keep up the canoe
against the current, and no probability of escaping, Mr. Park took hold
of one of the white men and jumped into the water; Martyn did the same,
and they were drowned in the stream in attempting to escape. The only
slave remaining in the boat, seeing the natives persist in throwing
weapons at the canoe without ceasing, stood up and said to them, ‘Stop
throwing now, you see nothing in the canoe, and nobody but myself;
therefore cease. Take me and the canoe, but don’t kill me.’ They took
possession of the canoe and the man, and carried them to the king.
“I was kept in irons three months; the king released me, and gave me a
slave (woman). I immediately went to the slave taken in the canoe, who
told me in what manner Mr. Park and all of them had died, and what I
have related above. I asked him if he was sure nothing had been found
in the canoe after its capture; he said nothing remained in the canoe
but himself and a sword-belt. I asked him where the sword-belt was; he
said the king took it, and had made a girth for his horse with it.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account