12 
MODE OF NAVIGATION. 
not without difficulty^ by a long pole instead of a rudder. 
He experiences a good deal of trouble in managing the un- 
wieldy machine, so that it is often found necessary for two 
others to assist him. A rudder like that attached to the 
boats which descend the Seine, would be extremely service- 
able, but at present the people are ignorant of the use of 
such a thing. Each of these vessels has a captain, who 
maintains great authority over his crew, and I never wit- 
nessed any abuse of this authority, as is sometimes the case 
with us, especially in the merchant service. All the negro 
sailors who navigate the river are slaves ; there are also 
some captains of this class, whose employers give them half 
of what they earn. Free men think themselves degraded by 
accepting such employment. 
On the 2Sth, at four o'clock in the morning, the wind 
fell and we continued our course towards the north. The 
breadth of the river did not vary, and its banks continued 
low and naked. About seven o'clock in the morning the 
N. E. wind blew stronger than on the preceding day, and 
we were obliged to anchor before a large plain of white quick- 
sand, which, when inundated by the rising of the waters, 
forms a great bank ; the channel is on the left side of the 
river. The wind, blowing up the sand in great quantities, 
added to the inconvenience we were suffering from the 
heat. 
To lighten the canoe all the slaves were set on shore, 
and the rice- grinders were sent to continue their work on 
the plain. At sunset the wind fell a little, and the oars 
might have been used during the whole of the night, but 
the negroes, to whom time is of no value, and who are never 
in a hurry to reach their destination, thought proper to wait 
till morning. 
The slaves, male and female, all Bambaras, began to 
leap, dance, and amuse themselves in various ways. Their 
gaiety, however, proved the cause of some trouble to us, for 
