280 
BAG A RAY A. 
kindness^ and seemed anxious to anticipate all my wishes ; 
he even carried his attention to the length of servility. As 1 
was leaving the mosque the people all thronged round me, 
and looked at me with great curiosity; Lamfia replied to 
their questions, and informed them of the circumstances 
which occasioned me to visit their country : he told them I 
was a sherif of Mecca,* doubtless with the view of rendering 
me an object of greater respect than I should otherwise have 
been. The village of Bagaraya is inhabited partly by 
Dhialonkes and partly by Mandingoes : its population is 
between three and four hundred. There is a mosque appro^ 
priated to the women, who, according to the Mahometan 
custom, cannot enter that which is attended by the men. 
On our return to our hut, we had a visit from the chief, who 
sat a short time with us ; he talked very much, and asked 
me many questions about the way in which I had been 
treated by the christians : 1 endeavoured to remove the bad 
opinion he entertained of us : he imagined that I must have 
been beaten and ill-treated by the infidels. 
We were obliged to stay at Bagaraya the whole of the 
31st of May, having to wait for some Mandingo merchants, 
who proposed travelling in our company ; our road to Baleya 
led through woods which are infested by robbers, and, as 
our party was not sufficiently strong to resist an attack, we 
thought it prudent to wait for the merchants who were to 
join us. 
In the course of the day I had many visiters, and 
received a present of a fowl, together with some rice and 
milk, which we had for supper. The Mandingoes of Cam- 
baya, to whom I had given medicine and advice, were not 
by any means so grateful as the Dhiolonkes of Bagaraya. 
These good people told me they were highly gratified in 
* The sherifs are the descendants of the Prophet ; they are the Arabian 
nobilityo 
