INTRODUCTION. 
7 
flavour : we subsequently found many such, which were of 
great service to us. 
A sailor, having in vain tried all means to allay his 
thirst, and set about seeking fruits, was deceived by the re- 
semblance borne by one to that which M. Partarrieu had given 
to me. He ate it, and it set his mouth on fire as if it had 
been pimento : from the retching and the violent pains with 
which he was seized we concluded that he was poisoned ; 
every one cheerfully gave up to him some of his allowance 
of drink ; but he appeared to be relieved so suddenly that I 
have since thought his illness was only a feint to excite 
pity and get a little more water. I was not, however the worst 
off, for I saw several drink their urine. 
We arrived at length at Boulibaba, a village inhabited 
by pastoral Foulahs, who live during part of the year in 
the woods and subsist entirely upon milk seasoned with 
the fruit of the baobab. To us Boulibaba was a paradise ; 
we there found limpid and abundant springs : the water 
which we eagerly drank seemed to us excellent, but we had 
to pay a high price for it, the Foulahs to whom it belonged 
being poor and very selfish. We encamped near the village, 
the straw houses of which are in the form of a sugar-loaf 
truncated at top : the door is so low that, in order to enter, 
the inhabitants are obliged to crawl on all fours. 
No sooner was our arrival known than the whole vil- 
lage sallied forth to look at us : a Foulah came to the foot of 
the tree where 1 was resting and asked me in the Wolof, 
which I understood, for a grigri^ to confer riches. 1 wrote 
one for him, and out of gratitude he gave me a bowl of milk. 
I was nevertheless his dupe, for scarcely was he gone when 
I perceived that he had stolen my black silk cravat. 
On quitting Boulibaba we had another desert without 
water to traverse : before we entered it, we thought it ad- 
visable to recruit ourselves from the fatigues which we had 
* Grigri a kind of writing which these people consider as a talisman. 
