Travels in the Interior of Africa — Volume 01Park, Mungo
History
Travels in the Interior of Africa — Volume 01
Park, Mungo
Africa -- Discovery and exploration; Niger River
gazing on me all the while in fixed astonishment, to resume their task of
spinning cotton, in which they continued to employ themselves great part
of the night. They lightened their labour by songs, one of which was
composed extempore, for I was myself the subject of it. It was sung by
one of the young women, the rest joining in a sort of chorus. The air
was sweet and plaintive, and the words, literally translated, were
these:—“The winds roared, and the rains fell. The poor white man, faint
and weary, came and sat under our tree. He has no mother to bring him
milk, no wife to grind his corn. _Chorus_.—Let us pity the white man, no
mother has he,” &c. &c. Trifling as this recital may appear to the
reader, to a person in my situation the circumstance was affecting in the
highest degree. I was oppressed by such unexpected kindness, and sleep
fled from my eyes. In the morning I presented my compassionate landlady
with two of the four brass buttons which remained on my waistcoat—the
only recompense I could make her.
_July_ 21.—I continued in the village all this day in conversation with
the natives, who came in crowds to see me, but was rather uneasy towards
evening to find that no message had arrived from the king, the more so as
the people began to whisper that Mansong had received some very
unfavourable accounts of me from the Moors and slatees residing at Sego,
who, it seems, were exceedingly suspicious concerning the motives of my
journey. I learned that many consultations had been held with the king
concerning my reception and disposal; and some of the villagers frankly
told me that I had many enemies, and must expect no favour.
_July_ 22.—About eleven o’clock a messenger arrived from the king, but he
gave me very little satisfaction. He inquired particularly if I had
brought any present, and seemed much disappointed when he was told that I
had been robbed of everything by the Moors. When I proposed to go along
with him, he told me to stop until the afternoon, when the king would
send for me.
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