This was one of those rainy days which are said not to be unusual towards the end of January and the beginning of February in this quarter along the river, though, in the other parts of Negroland that I had visited, I had never beheld anything of the kind. But the quantity of rain that fell even here was very little, for the sky, which had been cloudy in the morning, cleared up about noon; and although in the afternoon it became again overcast, with thunder in the distance followed by lightning towards evening, yet there fell only a few drops of rain in the course of the night. On the 16th, having made a good breakfast on a goat roasted whole before the fire, we returned again into the town, where I was desired to cure a man of a disease over which I had no power. The character and position of the person would have rendered it a circumstance of the highest importance to me if I had been able to do so. The chronic disease under which Mohammed ben ʿAbd-Alláhi, for this is the person of whom I speak, was labouring, cast a melancholy gloom over him. I admired his manners, and the fine expression of his features; but I was disappointed to find that, although well versed in his religious books, he did not possess any historical knowledge as to the former state of these countries, which formed an object of the highest interest to me. The arrival of this person made my protector forget all the thoughts of my immediate departure. Besides this circumstance, nothing of interest happened for some days, all the people exhorting me to patience; and, my departure being again put off, fresh attempts were made to convert me, even by my friends, who from sheer friendship could not bear to see me adhere to a creed which they thought erroneous. But I withstood all their attacks, and at times even ventured to ridicule freely some of their superstitious notions. I was far from laughing at the chief principles of their doctrine; but, as they always recurred in their arguments to their belief in sorcery and demons, I declared one day that, as for us, we had made all the demons our “khóddemán.” This is an expression with which these people are wont to denote the degraded and servile tribes; and I represented the Europeans as having obtained a victory over the spirits, by ascending in balloons into the higher regions, and from thence firing at them with rifles. The idea that the Christians must have subjected to their will the demoniacal powers, occurs very easily to the mind of the Mohammedan, who does not understand how the former are able to manufacture all the nice things which issue from their hands.