70 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

and were left on the path in a dying state. To transport the loads of those animals we were obliged to hire carriers, a sufficient number of which we had much difficulty in procuring. Our own men were obliged to assist. The town of Pisania, which formerly stood within a short distance of Tandicunda, was then a heap of ruins, having been some years since abandoned by Mr. Amsley, in consequence of the annoyance he frequently experienced from the people of Bondoo and Woolli. Its situation was extremely beautiful, being close to the river- side, on an elevated spot shaded with large trees, and most conveniently placed for commercial purposes.

We left Tandicunda at five o'clock on the morning of the S9th, and travelled to the east, over a country beautifully diversified, to Samee, a small walled town containing about a hundred and twenty huts. The inhabitants are Sonikeas or Pagans. Dyeing with indigo is here carried on to some extent. About a quarter of a mile to the south-east, by a small creek or branch of the Gambia, its water good and plentiful, we halted, under a large tree, which afforded the most grateful shelter to all from the excessive heat of the sun. One of our moors had so severe an attack of remittent fever as to be unable to keep up ; one of the native civilians was left with him.