consisted of about twenty, for many of Ibrahim’s relations remained without waiting for the ceremony of an invitation. All ate with great avidity, and yet no one seemed satisfied. When the company had retired, my guide sent for me to partake of some couscous, made of very good cow’s milk, and then invited me to retire to rest on a bullock’s hide, which he had ordered to be prepared for me in the hut of one of his wives. Although the weather was very hot, a fire had been lighted in the hut, and I found myself very much annoyed by the heat, and particularly by the smoke, which had no vent but through the straw-covered roof. My guide’s wife lay in the middle of the hut, surrounded by her children. On the 11th of May, at eight in the morning, Ibrahim came to pay his respects to me, and asked me to go and see his father, the chief of the village of Cambaya. He was an old blind man, and we found him lying in his hut, on a kind of platform of earth, raised six inches from the ground. It was three feet broad and six and a half or seven feet long, and was covered with a mat. At one end of this couch, a smooth plank was fixed, and above that was laid another piece of wood six inches thick, intended to raise the head and serve the purpose of a pillow. The old man appeared to be at least eighty years old. He had been informed of my arrival on the preceding evening, and his son introduced me, saying that I had come to salute him. He raised himself with some difficulty from his couch, and stretched out his hand to me, with the usual salutation, _Salam alekoum_. He passed his hand over the whole of my person, saying _el-arab, el-arab acagnie_ (Arab, thou art good). He appeared to regret that he could not see me, and asked me if I was quite determined to return to my country, promising me a safe escort thither, and every now and then asking me in a jocose manner to remain among the Mandingoes. He treated me with great kindness, and made me a present of two colat-nuts which Ibrahim ate, for they were too bitter for me. My guide introduced me to several of his friends, who received me kindly. My hut was all day filled with people who came to visit me out of curiosity, and who asked me a thousand questions. Several of them informed me that they had been at Sierra-Leone, where they had seen many whites; adding that I was very like them, and that they did not believe I was an Arab. They said to each other _Lo forto, forto_, (he is a European). Some said this merely in jest; but others sincerely believed it. However, Ibrahim manfully took my part, asserting that I was a _souloca-tigui, tigui_ (a real Arab) and that a christian would never perform the salam and study the Koran.