INTERIOR OF AFRICA. 47 
king ; for which he was to receive five bars ; and before my 
departure I wrote a few lines to Dr. Laidley, and gave my letter 
to the master of a caravan bound for the Gambia. This cara- 
van consisted of nine or ten people, with five asses loaded with 
ivory. The large teeth are conveyed in nets, two on each side 
of the ass ; the small ones are wrapped up in skins, and secured 
with ropes. 
December 14th. We left Tallika, and rode on very peace- 
ably for about two miles, when a violent quarrel arose between 
two of my fellow-travellers, one of whom was the blacksmith, 
in the course of which they bestowed some opprobrious terms 
upon each other ; and it is worthy of remark, that an African 
will sooner forgive a blow, than a term of reproach applied to 
his ancestors : " Strike me, but do not curse my mother," is a 
common expression even among the slaves. This sort of abuse, 
therefore, so enraged one of the disputants that he drew his 
cutlass upon the blacksmith, and would certainly have ended the 
dispute in a very serious manner, if the others had not laid hold 
of him, and wrested the cutlass from him. I was obliged to inter- 
fere, and put an end to this disagreeable business, by desiring the 
blacksmith to be silent, and telling the other, who I though was 
in the wrong, that if he attempted in future to draw his cutlass, 
or molest any of my attendants, I should look upon him as a rob- 
ber, and shoot him without further ceremony. This threat had 
the desired effect, and we marched sullenly along till the after- 
noon, when we arrived at a number of small villages scattered 
over an open and fertile plain ; at one of these called Ganado 
we took up our residence for the night : here an exchange of 
