32 
D A G A N A. 
to lodge at the house of Moctar Boubou, the chief of the 
village^ and minister of Hamet-Dou, king of the Braknas, 
to whom I wished to go for the purpose of completing my 
Arabic education, that I might the more easily penetrate 
into the interior of the country, and visit every part of that 
immense desert, respecting which we possess but vague 
and scanty information. 
At this marabout's I found the agents of Hamet-Dou, 
who had been to St. Louis to receive the customs which the 
government annually pays to that prince. They were de- 
lighted to hear that it was my intention to embrace Islamism, 
congratulating me at great length upon it, and encouraging 
me to persist in my resolution. They also promised to 
serve me as guides in my journey to their king; but, on 
the 1st of September, when they set out, they refused to 
take me along with them, alleging that the camp was ten 
days' march distant, and that I should not be able to sup- 
port the fatigue of the voyage. 1 guessed the motive which 
induced them to act thus : I offered two gourdes^ to Bou- 
bou-Fanfale, the chief of the party ; he agreed to take me 
w^ith him and we started at eight in the morning. 
We went back down the Senegal for two miles, towards 
the factory of the Cock or the Braknas. At the call of my 
guides, a negro brought us from the opposite bank a large 
canoe, into which the merchandise was put ; we then went 
on board ourselves, ten in number. They made the bul- 
locks swim after us, pulling them along by the cord passed 
through their nostrils ; in this manner we reached without 
accident the right bank of the river. The bullocks were re- 
loaded, and about eleven we were ready to resume our jour- 
ney. The two negroes accompanied us to the marigot of 
Koundy. Our road lay through a black clayey soil, en- 
riched by the relics of vegetables which cover it. Large 
* Piastres : at the Senegal five and six franc pieces are called gourdes. 
