MR PARK'S FIRST JOURNEY. 389 
where they found the inhabitants very inhospita- 
ble. Next day they arrived at Manna, an unwal- 
led town, the inhabitants of which were collecting 
the fruit of the nitta-tree, the pod of which is long 
and narrow, containing a few black seeds, envelop- 
ed in a fine powder of a bright yellow colour, like 
the flower of sulphur, which has a sweet mucila- 
ginous taste. Upon this powder, and the seeds of 
the bamboo, which, when dressed, taste like rice, 
they were informed that the inhabitants of Kallo, 
the district of Jallonkadoo, which lies upon the 
Ba-fing, or black river, the principal branch of the 
Senegal, had subsisted during a famine, before 
their present crops were collected* 
The Jallonkas, like the Mandingoes, are govern- 
ed by petty independent chiefs, between whom ani- 
mosity commonly subsists. Their country is ex- 
tensive and hilly. Their language is different 
from the Mandingo, though many of the words 
have a great affinity. Their numerals, like those 
of the Feloops, Jalofft, Foulhas, and various 
other African nations, retain the traces of the ori- 
ginal digital arithmetic, suggested to rude nations 
by the five fingers ; for the series only proceeds 
to five, and then recommences five- one, five- 
two, &c. They crossed the Ba-fing, near Man- 
na, over a bridge constructed of bamboos, placed 
upon two tall trees, the tops of which are tied 
together, and left to float on the stream, while \h% 
