2^4< TRAVELS IN THE 
attempt it. 1 readily admitted that such an attempt was an 
act of rashness, but I assured him that I had now no alter- 
native; for having no money to support myself, I must either 
beg my subsistence, by travelling from place to place, or perish 
for want. Karfa now looked at me with great earnestness, 
and inquired if I could eat the common victuals of the country ; 
assuring me he had never before seen a white man. He added, 
that if I would remain with him until the rains were over, he 
would give me plenty of victuals in the meantime, and a hut to 
sleep in; and that after he had conducted me in safety to the 
Gambia, I might then make him what return I thought proper. 
I asked him, if the value of one prime slave would satisfy him. 
He answered in the affirmative ; and immediately ordered one of 
the huts to be swept for my accommodation. Thus was I de- 
livered, by the friendly care of this benevolent Negro, from a 
situation truly deplorable. Distress and famine pressed hard 
upon me; I had, before me, the gloomy wilds of Jallonkadoo, 
where the traveller sees no habitation for five successive days, 
I had observed at a distance, the rapid course of the river Ko- 
koro. I had almost marked out the place, where I was doomed, 
I thought, to perish, when this friendly Negro stretched out* his 
hospitable hand for my relief. 
In the hut which was appropriated for me, I was provided 
with a mat to sleep on, an earthen jar for holding water, and a 
small calabash to drink out of ; and Karfa sent me from his 
own dwelling, two meals a day ; and ordered his slaves to supply 
me with fire-wood and water. But I found that neither the kind- 
ness of Karla, nor any sort of accommodation could put a stop 
