88 TRAVELS IN THE 
king's son ; and for bis attendants, as being the king's rela- 
tions. The reader will easily perceive, that if all these demands 
had been satisfied, I should not have been overburthened with 
money ; but though it was very mortifying to me to comply 
with the demands of injustice, and so arbitrary an exaction, 
yet, thinking it was highly dangerous to make a foolish resist- 
ance, and irritate the lion when within the reach of his paw, I 
prepared to submit ; and if Salim Daucari had not interposed, 
all my endeavours to mitigate this oppressive claim would have 
been of no avail. Salim at last prevailed upon Sambo to ac- 
cept sixteen bars of European merchandize, and some powder 
and ball, as a complete payment of every demand that could be 
made upon me in the kingdom of Kasson. 
January 26th, in the forenoon, I went to the top of a high 
hill to the southward of Soolo, where I had a most enchanting 
prospect of the country. The number of towns and villages, 
and the extensive cultivation around them, surpassed every 
thing I had yet seen in Africa. A gross calculation may be 
formed of the number of inhabitants in this delightful plain, by 
considering, that the King of Kasson can raise four thousand 
fighting men by the sound of his war drum. In traversing the 
rocky eminences of this hill, which are almost destitute of ve- 
getation, I observed a number of large holes in the crevices and 
fissures of the rocks, where the wolves and hyenas take refuge 
during the day. Some of these animals paid us a visit on the 
evening of the 27th ; their approach was discovered by the dogs 
of the village ; and on this occasion it is remarkable, that the 
clogs did not bark, but howl in the most dismal manner. The 
