spread burnt dung over the ground which they intend to sow: they also burn all kinds of roots and grass for the same purpose. I approached the Tankisso, the banks of which are well covered with trees: indeed, I saw the branches of several extend across the river, the navigation of which could only be attempted in the rainy season. I bathed, and found the water up to my arm-pits. The banks of the river, I observed, are composed of grey argillaceous earth, mixed with fine sand. I rejoined Ibrahim, and we went together to see the huts of the slaves. An old woman was employed in preparing the dinner of the husbandmen, who provide their own food. Behind their huts there are small plantations of caribbee cabbage, which the women cultivate. As we were sitting near the labourers, the old woman gave her master a portion of the dinner, which she had just prepared; consisting of a calabash of foigné boiled without salt, with the addition of a sauce of different herbs and gombo, which the want of butter and salt rendered very unpalatable. I ate about a handful of it; but my guide, a little more dainty than I, refused to take any; the poor slaves, however, seemed to relish it. I was informed that, in the Fouta-Dhialon, the negroes are allowed two days in the week to work in their own fields, that is to say, the ground which furnishes their subsistence. One of Ibrahim’s women brought for our dinner a calabash full of rice and milk, which she had carried on her head. We did not return to the village until a short time before day-break. My guide behaved very kindly to me, and in the evening, sitting with him in his court-yard, I amused myself by playing with his children. However, at my departure, I thought to penetrate to the east, and learned, with regret, that Ibrahim would not accompany me to Bouré, according to his promise. He alleged that he was prevented from going with me by the necessity of attending to his plantations; but that if I would wait for him, he would fulfil his promise. This proposition was far from being satisfactory to me, for I was very anxious to see myself to the east of the Fouta. I was afraid of being discovered by the Foulahs, and wished to reach Kankan before the rains, which already began to be very frequent, should have fairly set in. On the 17th of May, I went with Ibrahim to the village, to see a drum made, which is used by these people in time of war. There were twenty Mandingoes employed in making it. The drum consisted of a large bowl, formed of the trunk of a tree, three or four feet in circumference, and from six to eight inches deep, covered with a piece of untanned bullock’s hide. At the bottom of the drum were pasted a great many bits of paper, inscribed with Arabic characters. These were amulets, to preserve them from their enemies. They were employed a whole day at this work, which they regarded as an amusement.