The actors in these mimic wars are armed with sabres, bows, and muskets; they leap and dance to the sound of the instruments, assuming menacing attitudes, as though they would destroy their adversaries: they discharge their muskets, and shoot their arrows, and afterwards, as if they had been victorious in battle, they leap and dance in token of rejoicing, and make a thousand other grimaces of that sort. This spectacle collected together almost all the inhabitants of the place. After looking on for a short time, I returned to my hut, for I was afraid of being insulted. When Lamfia joined me, he told me that the dance we had just witnessed was a representation of the way in which these people make war against the infidels. CHAPTER IX. Description of Baléya. — Arrival on the banks of the Dhioliba. — Courouassa. — Sambarala. — Bouré, a mountainous country, rich in gold. — Crossing the Dhioliba. — The river Yendan. — Kankan. — Description of the town. — The market. — Gold of Bouré. — A religious festival. — Ordeal of fire. — Critical situation of the traveller. — Diseases of the country. The soil of Baléya is an argillaceous sand, compact, but extremely fertile, producing all the necessaries of life in abundance. It is bounded on the west by the Fouta; on the south by Sangaran, through which runs the Dhioliba; on the east by the little country of Amana; and on the north by forests. All the villages in this part are surrounded with a double wall of mud, surmounted by battlements. These walls are from ten to twelve feet high. The villages contain each from a hundred to a hundred and twenty-five huts, made of straw.