INTERIOR COUNTRIES OF AFRICA. 181 



on the river Niger, above a thousand miles from the Atlantic ; and, 

 to use the words of major Rennell, brought to our knowledge more 

 important facts respecting the geography of western Africa, both 

 moral and physical, than have been collected by any former traveller, 

 Mr. Park set out from Pisania, a British factory on the banks of 

 the Gambia, on the 2d of December 1795, and took his route through 

 the kingdoms of Woolli, Bondou, Kayaaga, Kasson, Kaarta, and Lu- 

 damar, to Bambarra. The country of Woolli, he tells us, every where 

 rises into gentle acclivities, which are generally covered with ex= 

 tensive woods, and the towns are situate in the intermediate vallies ; 

 the chief productions are cotton, tobacco, and different kinds of corn,. 

 Medina, the capital of this kingdom, is a place of considerable extent, 

 and may contain from eight hundred to a thousand houses. The 

 country of Bondou, like that of Woolli, is very generally covered 

 with woods ; but in native fertility, in the opinion of our traveller, is 

 not surpassed by any part of Africa. The name of the capital of this 

 country is Fatteconda. The inhabitants are of the tribe of the Foulahs 9 

 who are in general of a tawny complexion, with small features, and 

 soft silky hair. The Foulahs of Bondou are naturally of a mild and 

 gentle disposition : but they evidently consider all the negro natives 

 as their inferiors ; and when talking of different nations, always rank 

 themselves among the white people. In Kayaaga, the next kingdom, 

 the air and climate are more pure and salubrious than at any of the 

 settlements towards the coast ; the face of the country is every where 

 interspersed with a pleasing variety of hills and vallies, and the wind- 

 ings of the Senegal river, which descends from the rocky hills of the 

 interior, make the scenery on its banks very picturesque and beauti- 

 ful. The inhabitants are called Serawoollies, or, as the French write 

 it, Seracolets. Their complexion is a jet black ; their government is 

 a despotic monarchy ; and they are habitually a trading people. In 

 the kingdom of Kasson, of which Kooniakarry is the capital, from the 

 top of a high hill Mr. Park had an enchanting prospect of the coun- 

 try. The number of towns and villages, and the extensive cultivation 

 around them, surpassed every thing he had yet seen in Africa. A 

 gross calculation may be formed of the number of inhabitants in this 

 delightful plain, from the fact that the king of Kagson can raise four 

 thousand fighting men by the sound of his war-drum. At Kenimoo 9 

 the capital of Kaarta, Mr. Park had an audience of the king, who 

 advised him to return to Kasson ; telling him it was not in his power 

 at present to afford him much assistance, for that all kind of com- 

 munication between Kaarta and Bambarra had been interrupted for 

 some time past, in consequence of a war between the two kingdoms. 

 Our traveller, however, resolved to continue his journey, and pro- 

 ceed, to Jarra, a town in the kingdom of Ludamar, whence he sent 

 presents to Ali, the sovereign, then encamped at Benowm, request- 

 ing permission to pass through his territories. Several days after- 

 wards, one of Ali's slaves arrived with instructions, as he pretended, 

 to conduct him as far as Goomba, en the farther frontier ; but before 

 he arrived there, he was seized by a party of Moors, who conveyed 

 him to Ali at Benowm, who detained him a prisoner more than three 

 months. He, however, at length found means to make his escape, in 

 the confusion which ensued in consequence of the success of the 

 army of the king of Kaatra, who had invaded the country. His joy 

 %\ his escape, he tells us, it is impossible to describe : but he soon 



