INTERIOR OF AFRICA. 4,1 
Tambacunda, and departing from thence early the next morn- 
ing, the 10th; we reached in the evening Kooniakary, a town 
of nearly the same magnitude as Kolor. About noon on the 
11th we arrived at Koojar, the frontier town of Woolli, towards 
Bondou, from which it is separated by an intervening Wilder- 
ness of two days' journey. 
The guide appointed by the King of Woolli being now to 
return, I presented him with some amber for his trouble: and 
having been informed that it was not possible at all times to 
procure water in the wilderness, I made inquiry for men who 
would serve both as guides and water-bearers during my jour- 
ney across it. Three Negroes, elephant hunters, offered their 
services for these purposes, which I accepted, and paid them 3 
bars each in advance, and the day being far spent, I determined 
to pass the night in my present quarters. 
The inhabitants of Koojar, though not wholly unaccustomed 
to the sight of Europeans (most of them having occasionally 
visited the countries on the Gambia) beheld me with a mixture 
of curiosity and reverence, and in the evening invited me to see 
a neobering, or wrestling match, at the Bentang. This is an 
exhibition very common in all the Mandingo countries. The 
spectators arranged themselves in a circle, leaving the interme- 
diate space for the wrestlers, who were strong active young 
men, full of emulation, and accustomed I suppose from their 
infancy to this sor t of exertion. Being stripped of their clothing, 
except a short pair of drawers, and having their skin anointed 
with oil, or shea butter, the combatants approached each other 
on all fours, parrying with, and occasionally extending a hand 
G 
