THE MANDINGOES. 
19 
touched my knees. I had been particularly recommended 
to the care of this negro by the sherif Oulad-Marmou ; but 
he paid no regard to the directions he had received^ and 
showed as little pity for me as the rest of the crew. I ought, 
however, to exempt from this censure a young Foulah from 
Massina, to whom the sherif had also recommended me. 
He was the only one who had behaved to me with any kind- 
ness. He went on shore whenever I asked him, bought me 
milk, and rendered me all the service he could. He even 
endeavoured to console me w^hen I expressed dissatisfaction 
at the inattention with which 1 was treated by the rest. 
He often reprimanded the slaves, who, following the ex- 
ample of their superiors, behaved with the grossest insolence 
towards me. In short, T should have been much worse off had 
it not been for the attention of this kind-hearted young man. 
In the course of my travels I have often had intercourse 
with the Mandingoes, and, vrith the single exception of those 
of Cambaya, in the Fouta, I have always found them arrogant 
when possessed of any little authority, while they are fawning, 
mean, and servile, to their superiors. 1 have seen them, in 
the passage from Tinnd to Jenne, insult the poor Bambaras 
while selling their merchandise, speaking harshly to them, 
and even abusing them in their own language ; but when- 
ever the Bambaras showed a disposition to resent this treat- 
ment, the Mandingoes became all at once silent and humble. 
The women have the same faults, in addition to which they 
have insufferably harsh voices. 
On the 1st of April, the wind continued blowing till 
four in the evening, when it fell a little. We rowed in a 
northern direction. Near half past six in the evening we 
halted at To'i. The river still continued the same ; the 
banks being low and bare, and in many places not a single 
shrub can be seen. At nine o'clock, we started, and all 
night advanced towards the north. The river makes a 
few small windings to the east. 
c 2 
