On the 4th of August, the chief of the village came to see me, and brought me some colat-nuts and yams for my supper. The caravan was preparing to depart for Jenné, and my foot was not yet healed. The rains were incessant. I had to pass through a country intersected with rivers and large streams, which at this season overflow their banks, and marshes flooded with water. All this would of course render the journey dangerous and disagreeable. I reflected leisurely what plan I should adopt. I thought that with my wounded foot, which was getting worse and worse, I should incur the risk of being left on the road, or perishing in the marshes; for the Bambaras, who are an idolatrous people, would not willingly have allowed me to stay among them, and would probably have robbed me of all I possessed. I therefore determined to let the caravan depart without me, thinking it best to pass the month of August at Timé, and even to remain there until my recovery. I informed my host of my resolution, telling him that I would make him a present of a beautiful piece of coloured cloth and a pair of scissors, with which he appeared very well pleased. I was informed that there was a market once a week in the village, where I might purchase any provisions I wanted. The Bambaras of this part of Africa, which must be traversed in proceeding to Jenné, are poor and wretched. They do not trade beyond their own country. Not having joined the standard of the Prophet, they cannot travel but at the risk of being captured and made slaves. They are in general indolent. Their soil, unlike that of the Foulahs of the Wassoulo, is ill cultivated, and their villages are disgustingly dirty. Their food is very bad; they eat all sorts of animals, dogs, cats, rats, mice, serpents and lizards; nothing escapes their voracity. They cultivate a little cotton, which they exchange with the Mandingoes for salt. I observed weaving in some of their villages; but they make little cloth, scarcely enough to clothe themselves, for they go almost naked. They may have as many wives as their means enable them to support. They have but few slaves, and are always armed with bows and arrows.