INTERIOR OF AFRICA. 2^7 
Kancaba, a large town on the banks of the Niger; and a great 
slave-market. Most of the slaves, who are sold at Kancaba, 
come from Bambarra ; for Mansong, to avoid the expence and 
danger of keeping all his prisoners at Sego, commonly sends 
them in small parties, to be sold at the different trading towns ; 
and as Kancaba is much resorted to by merchants, it is always 
well supplied with slaves, which are sent thither up the Niger 
in canoes. When Karfa departed from Kamalia, he proposed 
to return in the course of a month; and during his absence I 
was left to the care of a good old Bushreen, who acted as 
schoolmaster to the young people of Kamalia. 
Being now left alone, and at leisure to indulge my own re- 
flections; it was an opportunity not to be neglected of augment- 
ing and extending the observations I had already made, on the 
climate and productions of the country ; and of acquiring a more 
perfect knowledge of the natives, than it was possible for me 
to obtain, in the course of a transient and perilous journey 
through the country. I endeavoured likewise to collect all 
the information I could, concerning those important branches of 
African commerce, the trade for gold, ivory, and slaves. Such 
was my employment, during the remainder of my stay at Ka- 
malia; and I shall now proceed to lay before my readers the 
result of my researches and inquiries; avoiding, as far as I can, 
a repetition of those circumstances and observations, which 
were related, as occasion arose, in the narrative of my journey. 
LI 
