A402, 
houses to more than.a thousand fa- 
milies, whose tenements had been 
consumed, and anxiously exerted 
themselves for Major Houghton’s 
Telief. 
Oo the Sth of May the Major 
proceeded on foot, in company with 
a slave-merchant, whose; servants 
drove his two remaining asses, 
which, carried the wreck. of his. for- 
tune; and journeying by a north- 
east course, he arrived in five days 
at the uninhabited frontier which 
separates the kingdoms of Woolli 
and Bondou. ' 
A journey of 150 miles, through 
a country before unvisited by Euro- 
peans, of which the population is 
numerous and extensive, and where 
his companion traded in every town, 
conducted him to ibe south-western 
boundary of the kingdom of Bam- 
bouk. This kingdom is inhabited 
by a nation whose woolly hair and 
sable complexions. denote them to 
be of the negro race: but their cha- 
racter seems to be varied in propor- 
tion as the country, rises from, the 
plains of its western division, to the 
highlands on the east. The people 
are here, as in the kingdoms, of 
Woolli and Bondou, distinguished 
by the tenets. of Mohammedans and 
Deists; but they are equally at peace 
with each other, and) mutually to- 
lerate the respective opinions. they 
condemn, 
Agriculture and pasturage are the 
chief occupations of this people; 
but they have made. sufficient pro» 
gress in the arts to smelt their iron- 
ore, and fabricate from it the seve- 
ral instraments of husbandry and 
war. Cloth of cotton, which seems 
to be universally worn, they appear 
to weave by adifficult and laborious 
process; and hence probably it is, 
that the measure ofjvalue is not, as 
‘ANNUAL REGISTER, 1702. 
on the Adantic coast,, a:bar of. iron, 
but a piece of cloth. The vegetable 
food of the inhabitants jis: rice; their 
animal, beef and mutton. A drink 
prepared from fermented, honey 
supplies the place of wine, and fur- 
nishes the means of festive enter-- 
tainments, which constitutethe prin= 
cipal luxury of the court of Bam- 
bouk. Ud 
Major Houghton arrived) at the 
river Falemé, which separates the: 
kingdoms of Bondou and Bambouk,. 
just at the termination of a war be- 
tween those kingdoms; by which 
the former had obtained the cession: 
of some part of the low lands, be- 
longing to the latter ; and in these: 
conquests the King of Bondou, re- 
sided. The Major hastened to pay 
his respects to the victorious princes. 
and offer him a present; but he 
met with an ungracious reception. 
He was permitted to leave the pre- 
sent ; but ordered, to repair to the: 
frontier town from whence: he: 
came ; and the next day the King’s 
son, with an armed. attendance, 
entered the house where he had 
taken up:his abode, and took, from: 
him such articles. as) he choses, 
particularly: a: blue: coat,. in. which 
the. Major hoped to have been, 
introduced: to, the: Sultan of Tom-= 
buctoo. 
Major Houghton next set out om 
a visit to the King of Bambouk ; 
but unfortunately lost his way in 
one of the vast woods of that coun 
try; and the wet season: having 
commenced on the 4th of July, he 
was obliged to pass the night om 
ground deluged by rain, while: the 
sky exhibited that continued blaze 
of lightning which in those latitudes 
often accompanies, the tornado, 
This brought on a fever; and it 
was with great difficulty that he 
reached 
i 
f 
