270 ALTERCATION WITH HIS GUIDE. 
and fallen upon the glass beads : a razor, which I had lent on 
the preceding day to Lamfia, to cut his mustaches, and 
which he had often begged me to give to him, had also 
disappeared. This man believed me to be richer than I was. 
He thought that I possessed silver, gold, and a good stock 
of amber and coral; he frequently asked me to sell him 
some, but I always took care to tell him I had none. On 
the day of the festival, I went out to the market, and also 
called upon a Mandingo, who wished to accompany me 
to Jenne and thence to travel to Mecca. He was about 
thirty-five or forty years old, and, notwithstanding his 
zeal for religion, he could not prevail on himself to dis- 
obey his father, who was very averse to his undertaking 
such a journey. Disobedience in such a case might well 
have been excusable, since it arose from a desire to please 
God. 
I took care to let my host know that I was aware of his 
having been alone in my hut : I told him this in the presence 
of several persons, who came to see me. He appeared to 
be much vexed at the loss 1 had sustained. He made a 
great noise, assuring the Mandingoes who were present, that 
every person had gone out to prayer on the day of the fes- 
tival, and that no one remained in the house but a little 
girl, ten or twelve years old. Not being able to throw the 
blame, as he before did, on the poor Foulah of the Fouta- 
Dhialon, he ordered the young slave to appear, and, ad- 
dressing her in a severe tone, laid hold of both her hands in 
one of his, and threatened to beat her, if she did not name the 
person who had been in the hut during our absence. The 
girl declared that no one had entered, and that she had not 
quitted the hut. Lamfia then suspended his threats, lest 
the girl might say something to criminate himself. He 
loosed her hands, and said to the by-standers, that it was 
impossible I could have been robbed. I was pretty sure that 
this theft had not been committed by strangers ; for I took 
