TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 279 oppose our passage ; thus proving that he had all along been determined to prevent our proceeding eastward. He was, however, misinformed, for although I intended (and did take advantage ofa boat going to that place) to send all my baggage thither, I had determined on proceeding with the men and animals by a path on the north side of the river, where we should not meet any of the people of Bondoo, and few, if any, of any other tribes, as all the towns on that side had been either destroyed by the Kaartans, or deserted by their inhabitants. Almamy's arrival with his army at Baquelle, prevented Dhyabe from returning as soon as he otherwise would have done : I was therefore compelled to wait for him until the l6th, having sent off my baggage on the 9th.

We left Baquelle on the morning of the 17th, and travelled ese. until six p.m. when we halted for the night, all much fatigued, at a pool of muddy water in the woods. The country over which we travelled was low and flat, much covered with wood, and bore the marks of the late inundation. We met several herds of wild hogs and antelopes, and saw the recent footmarks of the elephant and hippopotamus in the vicinity of the small creeks we crossed. The following morning we moved forward in the * Samba's brother.