On the 17th of April, at six in the morning, the flotilla stood to the north. We had not proceeded above four or five miles, when we were obliged to stop and wait for one of the great canoes which had sprung a leak, and was in momentary danger of sinking; the sailors on board set about repairing it; they plunged into the water with great agility and put oakum into the seams along the keel. About three in the afternoon all was put to rights, and we again pursued our course. The river was very wide and deep, and its banks were naked and marshy; it took a little turn to the east, and afterwards to the north: in every direction nothing was visible but marshes, without trees of any kind. At sun-set the new moon was saluted by several discharges of musketry, which so terrified the Soorgoos, that they hastened ashore, and I heard some of them exclaim in their little canoes, “God preserve us from gunpowder!” The only arms used by these people, are lances and poniards. About seven o’clock we passed Caratoo, a little village on the right bank, and about nine, we stopped at an uninhabited place. At five in the morning, of the 18th of April, we continued our voyage. The river turned eastward, and at seven o’clock we found its course changing to N. E.; it then became rather narrow, the banks being all along very low and bare. The immense marshes on both banks were covered with cattle belonging to the Soorgoos. These herds as I have already observed, are their chief property. At eight in the morning we stopped to say the prayer of the salam, it being the last day of the Ramadan, which the Mandingoes call _Sali_. We were within sight of Cabra, and the negroes testified their joy on perceiving the date trees of the village. They put on their finest dress, assembled in a large plain, and piously prostrated themselves in adoration of their God. I remained in the canoe, and observed them through the holes that I had made in the matting of my prison, where the heat was suffocating. I congratulated myself that I was not required to join in these religious ceremonies, and secretly offered up a prayer that my enterprise might be favoured by Heaven. Their devotions being ended, the negroes went to dinner, and good cheer compensated for their past abstinence, which, however, had not been very rigorously observed. An easterly wind obliged us to pass some part of the day at this spot.