MR PARK'S FIRST JOURNEY. 365 
It/, and W. long. 2° 26' ; 618 miles from Medi- 
na, the capital of Woolli, contains about 30,000 
inhabitants. It consists of four distinct towns, 
two of which are situated on the northern, and two 
on the southern, bank of the Niger. They are 
surrounded with high mud walls ; the houses are 
of a square form, with flat roofs, and are built of 
clay ; some of them consist of two stories, and many 
are white-washed. The streets are narrow, and 
Moorish mosques appear in every quarter. It 
was a market-day when Mr Park arrived at Sego, 
and such crowds were crossing the river, that he 
waited above two hours for a passage. In the 
meantime, Mansong, the king, was informed that a 
white man was coming to see him ; and, having 
been prepossessed against him by the Moors and 
Slatees residing at Sego, sent one of his chief men 
to forbid him to pass the river, till the king was 
informed concerning the object of his journey. 
The messenger directed him to lodge at a distant 
village, and promised to visit him in the morning. 
Mr Park observed, that the canoes upon the river 
were of considerable size, but had neither decks 
nor masts. They were formed of two large trees, 
made concave, and united longitudinally, with their 
ends to each other, which structure rendered them 
inconveniently long, and disproportionally narrow. 
The language of Bambarra he found to be a cor- 
rupted species of Mandingo, which he soon under- 
