]98 
THE BA-FING. 
sent me my supper of rice and milk which the negroes had 
given me. They would not partake of it although I pressed 
them. They invited me to take some of theirs, which I at 
first declined 3 but, as they urged me, I took a handful and 
withdrew. I really wondered how the poor creatures could 
eat this rice) for it was without either salt or butter. They 
did not like to touch my supper because they were slaves. 
We said prayers together, and lay down upon mats ; but I 
was kept awake all night by the thunder. 
On the 8th of May, at six in the morning, after eating a 
piece of the cassava which was cooked the evening before we 
took leave of our hostess ^ for the lads were already gone to 
the fields. We proceeded eastward ; then turning into the 
mountains, we were obliged to climb from rock to rock. 
There is, however, some very good soil. We arrived on the 
banks of the Ba-fing (the black river) so called because its bed 
consists of enormous rocks of black granite. Some of these 
rocks are pointed and very sharp, so that they often cut the 
feet of the negroes in crossing the river. The Ba-fing is 
the principal tributary of the Senegal : it runs from south to 
north among the mountains. The masses of granite, of 
which its bed is composed, form several islets. Its current is 
astonishingly rapid and white with foam, which I supposed to 
be occasioned by some cataract. I questioned the negroes 
on the subject and their answers verified my conjecture. 
They told me they had seen the cataract in going to Timbo, 
and assured me that it fell from a great height with a loud 
noise. We were very near the source of the river, which in 
this part might be about a hundred feet wide and a foot or 
eighteen inches deep ; but its depth varies. We crossed it 
not without some difficulty and with the assistance of poles. 
I saw with some alarm a poor negro tottering beneath his 
load ; however, we all reached the left bank without any 
serious accident. Several of our party had their feet cut by 
the sharp rocks, and although 1 had nothing to carry I did 
