S A N K H A-G U I B I L A. 
7 
pleasure which these poor creatures experienced during their 
temporary release from bondage. They appeared perfectly 
happy. They tried to walk^ but it was with difficulty that 
they could move a few steps, for the chains which they had 
worn since they left Jenne had wounded their feet. 
Having nothing more to detain us in the village, we left 
it in the afternoon during a calm, taking a northern direction. 
The large canoe did not get on so well as the small one 
which we had left behind us, consequently we scarcely made 
two miles an hour. 
About five o'clock we passed Taguetia, situated on the 
left bank. In front of this village a marigot, or branch, 
about twenty-five or thirty fathoms wide, runs off to the 
east. The village of Sangouno is on one of the banks 
of this branch. At its mouth are two little islands, 
about a quarter of a mile in circumference, on which 
are some fishermen's huts. The river still continues of the 
same width, running to the north. It is very deep, and its 
banks are low and barren. 
At ten at night we stopped at Sankha-guibila. At this 
place the river takes a turn to the east, and then to the 
north. The inhabitants hold a little market, to which they 
bring milk and dried fish, which the negroes of the canoes 
purchase, and pay for in cowries, the only money current on 
the banks of the river as far as Timbuctoo. People came 
from all sides with earthen pots, calabashes, mats, and va- 
rious other kinds of merchandise. This village probably 
contains about four hundred inhabitants, consisting of Fou- 
lahs, Mandingoes, and Bambaras from Jenne. 
At three o'clock on the morning of the 26th, we quitted 
the village of Sankha-guibila, the huts of which are all of 
straw, and badly constructed. We advanced slowly to the 
west. At sun-rise we found the river take a turn to the 
north. Its banks are adorned with a few dwarf shrubs. 
At four in the afternoon we passed Diebe, situated on the 
