On the 25th of March I was informed that the great canoe which was to convey us to Timbuctoo was in the port and ready for our reception. It was covered with mats, and laden with rice, millet, cotton, honey, vegetable butter, and other productions of the country. The canoe appeared to me very fragile; like the smaller ones its planks were joined with cords; its burthen was about sixty tons. We were occupied all day in getting the merchandise from the small canoe, and putting it on board the large one. There was on the shore a great concourse of people, all engaged in some kind of labour; they had pitched tents to shelter themselves from the heat, which was excessive. The negroes offered us their merchandise for sale. On seeing them I almost imagined myself in a market on the banks of the Senegal. The village is situated on a little eminence, and is scantily shaded by ronniers and mimosas. The heat was suffocating. I went to visit the market, which was very badly provided; for it was then the time of the Ramadan: there was a little milk, some pistachios, dry and fresh fish, maumies, and other light articles of food. The people looked at me with indifference. The young girls, who offered their merchandise for sale, had a very pleasing mode of address; but I bought nothing, on account of the presence of the Foulahs, who are even more fanatical than the Moors, and who, if they had seen me eat, would have set me down for an infidel. My hosts at Jenné had however made me promise that I would not fast on my passage, observing that I could make up by fasting at Timbuctoo for the number of days during which I might neglect the practice of that religious duty. I sat down beneath a tree on the bank of the river, and amused myself for a short time by observing a group of young negroes of both sexes, who were bathing, dancing and gamboling about in the water.