PARK'S SECOND JOURNEV. 107 



had been sent to the Gambia with despatches from the 

 Niger, to undertake a fresh journey to inquire after him. 

 At Sansanding, Isaaco was so far fortunate as to meet 

 Amadi Fatouma, who had been engaged to succeed him- 

 self as interpreter. From him he received a journal pur- 

 porting to contain the narrative of the voyage down the 

 river, and of its final issue. The party, it would appear, 

 had purchased three slaves, who, with the five Europeans 

 and Fatouma, increased their number to nine. They 

 passed Silla and Jenne in a friendly manner ; but at Rak- 

 bara (Kabra) and Timbuctoo several armed parties came 

 out to attack them, w ho were repelled only by a smart and 

 destructive fire. No particulars are given of any of those 

 important places ; nor of Kaffo, Gotoijege, and others, 

 which the discoverers are represented as having afterward 

 passed. At length they came to the village (more properly 

 city) of Yaour, where Amadi Fatouma left the party, his 

 services having been engaged only to that point. He had, 

 however, scarcely taken his leave, when he was summoned 

 before the king, who bitterly complained that the white 

 men, though they brought many valuable commodities with 

 them, had passed without giving him any presents. He 

 therefore ordered that Fatouma should be thrown into 

 irons, and a body of troops sent in pursuit of the English. 

 These men reached Boussa, and took possession of a pass, 

 where rocks, hemming in the river, allow only a narrow 

 channel for vessels to descend. When Park arrived, he 

 found the passage thus obstructed, but attempted, never- 

 theless, to push his way through. " The people began to 

 attack him, throwing lances, pikes, arrows, and stones. He 

 defended himself for a long time ; when two of his slaves 

 at the stem of the canoe were killed. The crew threw 

 every thing they had into the river, and kept firing ; 

 but being overpowered by numbers and fatigue, and unable 

 to keep up the canoe against the current, and seeing no 

 probability of escaping, Mr. Park took hold of one of the 

 white men, and jumped into the water. Martyn did the 

 same, and they were all drowned in the stream in attempt- 

 ing to escape. The only slave that remained in the boat, 

 seeing the natives persist in throwing weapons into it 

 without ceasing, stood up and said to them, — ' Stop throw- 

 ing now ; you see nothing in the canoe, and nobody but 



