4 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.

soldiers and civilians, amounting to 100 indivi-

duals, and a train of 200 animals. We called at

Goree, where we remained until the 26th, when

being joined by a vessel from the Cape de

Verde Islands, having on board some horses and

mules for our use, we proceeded and arrived,

after a tedious passage of sixteen days, at Ka-

kundy, a factory belonging to a Mr. Pearce, on

the left bank of the Rio Nunez.

While waiting for the tide at the mouth of

that river, we visited a small island formed by

the alluvial matter brought down with the

stream, and collected by a ridge of rocks which

run nearly across its embouchure. It is called

Sandy Island, from its soil being almost wholly

composed of that substance. It is about a mile

in length, and from a quarter to half a mile in

breadth, having a gentle rise towards the centre,

where it is covered by a grove of palm trees. We met on it a party of about twenty of the

Bagoo tribe, who had come thither to collect

palm wine, for the celebration of a mournful ce-

remony over one of their chiefs, who had died

a short time before. At a little distance from

the spot where we met them, there is an ar-

bour, on approaching which we were stopped,

and told the place was sacred, as it contained

their idols ; of those we could not obtain even

an indistinct view.