174 
RED APES. 
About ten in the morning, we halted near a little spring 
shaded by lofty trees^ which seemed to rear their majestic 
heads to the very clouds. The spring is in a ravine^ forty 
or fifty feet deep, and surrounded by huge masses of quartz. 
The neighbourhood is inhabited by numbers of red apes, 
who come to the spring to drink. Two of these animals, 
which spied me, suddenly stopped and began to bark like 
dogs. They advanced upon me and as 1 was unprovided 
with any defensive weapon, I must confess that I felt some- 
what alarmed. Fortunately, however, at this moment I 
perceived two Mandingoes of our party, who were coming 
to fetch some water. At their approach, the apes ran off 
to the woods, and we were left in undisturbed possession of 
the spring. About noon, we again resumed our course, 
proceeding to south east. Our road was less stony than it 
had been during the morning, but it was interspersed with 
hillocks, which obliged us to make frequent windings. The 
country was covered with large trees, the shade of which 
skreened us from the excessive heat of the day. I observed 
many wild fig-trees, and a sort of plum-tree, which the 
negroes call caura. This tree bears a very good fruit, it is 
shaped like a plum. The pellicle is reddish and marked 
with somewhat lighter spots. Beneath the pellicle is a 
pulp, which is very agreeable to the taste. It is not more 
than four lines thick, and it envelops a kernel as large as 
that of the peach. The negroes are very fond of this 
fruit. 
After proceeding about nine miles, we passed the ruins of 
a village, and then continued for a mile and a half in the same 
direction. The road became more stony than hitherto ; and 
at three in the afternoon, we arrived, greatly fatigued, at the 
village of Daourkiwar, or Daour-Kiwarat, where we passed 
the night. This village contains about four hundred inhabit- 
ants, partly Foulahs and partly Mandingoes. It is situated 
near a lake, the water of which is very good. This lake is 
