396 . Mungo Park. 
the negroes, who use paddles. In stating this, she made the 
motion. 2 ae rowing with oars, so as to leave no doubt that she 
had seen a vessel in the European fashion, and manned by white 
. people.—Adams arrived at this place August 23, 1812, and re- 
mained theve till September 1813. 
Many of the slaves purchased at Tombuctoo and other places, 
aud brought by the. Moors and Arabs across the Great Desert, 
come from countries very far to the eastward; it is therefore 
not improbable to suppose that the place from whence this 
woman came inight be the kingdom of Ghana, or Cano, on the 
Niger, lying between the 10th and 15th degrees of east longi- 
tude. Supposing this correct, the curious relation of this per- . 
son will atford reasonable ground for conjecturing that Mr, Park 
had made further progress on the Niger than where the guide 
states he parted with him; andas Mr. Park’s death was by 
drowning, together with his companions, and only occurred the 
day after the alte gave up his charge, he could not have made 
any great progress in his voyage. The time that intervened be- 
tween the departure of Mr. Park from Sansanding, where he em- 
barked on the Niger the 17th of November 1805, and his re- 
ported death at Siila, either in March or early in April 1806, 
would greatly admit of his having reached a territory more di- 
stant than Kanno. That this enterprising traveller has met his 
death is almost certain; but the time, place, or circumstances 
wnder which it occurred, are enveloped in mystery, and rest 
alone on the bare assertion of his guide, who, it must be recol- 
lected, was not an eye-witness of the event, but obtained the 
information from others. 
At Wed-noon, the only white person whom Adams found 
there was a Frenchman, who had been shipwrecked and taken 
into slavery. The temptation which had been held out to this 
man, as is invariably done by the followers of Mahomet to all 
Christians who unfortunately fall into their power, was too strong 
for him to resist. He had therefore turned Mahometan, and 
was in consequence circumcised ; by which means he was im- 
mediately removed from slavery, ‘allowed to marry, and was the 
father of several children. At this place he had resided twelve 
years, and obtained a livelihood by making gunpowder, which 
was purchased with great avidity by the Moors and Ar abs, all of 
whom were entirely ignorant of the process used in its manu- 
facture. ‘This secret ‘the Frenchman studiously kept from them, 
and always made the gunpowder alone in a room of his house, 
to which no one else had access. It is reported that he is since 
dead. 
S1EAM 
