INTERIOR OF AFRICA. 255 
to the fever which weakened me, and which became every day 
more alarming. I endeavoured as much as possible to conceal my 
distress; but on the third day after my arrival, as I was going 
with Karfa to visit some of his friends, I found myself so faint 
that I could scarcely walk, and before we reached the place, I 
staggered, and fell into a pit from which the clay had been 
taken to build one of the huts. Karfa endeavoured to console 
me with the hopes of a speedy recovery ; assuring me, that if I 
would not walk out in the wet, I should soon be well. I deter- 
mined to follow his advice, and confine myself to my hut ; but 
was still tormented with the fever, and my health continued to 
be in a very precarious state, for five ensuing weeks. Sometimes 
I could crawl out of the hut, and sit a few hours in the open air; 
at other times I was unable to rise, and passed the lingering 
hours in a very gloomy and solitary manner. I was seldom 
visited by any person except my benevolent landlord, who 
came daily to inquire after my health. When the rains became 
less frequent, and the country began to grow dry, the fever left 
me; but in so debilitated a condition, that I could scarcely 
stand upright, and it was with great difficulty that I could 
carry my mat to the shade of a tamarind tree, at a short dis- 
tance, to enjoy the refreshing smell of the corn-fields, and 
delight my eyes with a prospect of the country. I had the 
pleasure, at length, to find myself in a state of convalescence; 
towards which, the benevolent and simple manners of the 
Negroes, and the perusal of Karfa's little volume, greatly 
contributed. 
In the meantime, many of the Slatees who resided at Ka- 
1 
