SCARCITY OF PROVISIONS. 
313 
purpose ; they grow maize and cassava round their huts, and 
find them a great resource. In the evening the ahnamy of 
Sambatikila sent us nothing, and we had made up our minds 
to fast, when we were agreeably surprised, about seven 
o'clock, by the sight of a dish of boiled rice without salt, 
which was sent by my guide, Arafanba, who knew that I was 
suffering from scanty diet. In truth, I could not be too 
grateful to this generous negro, who deprived himself for my 
sake of part of his supper^ at a time when he found it very 
difficult to provide for his family. Provisions were so scarce 
and so dear in the village, that nobody thought of eating 
more than one meal a day, and the night was chosen for the 
purpose, because the negroes would rather go without food 
all day than retire to rest without supper. 
On the 31st of July, at six in the morning, the almamy, 
recollecting probably that he had given us nothing the day 
before, sent us some rice for breakfast. A good saracolet^ 
belonging to the caravan which had just arrived, and who 
had travelled often to Jenne, brought me some rice and milk^ 
which he begged me to accept : I gave him some glass ware 
in return for his present. He was acquainted with many 
Moorish merchants at Jenne, and assured me I should be 
Avell received by them. This negro spoke a little Arabic ; he 
told me, that on my road to Jenne I should find provisions 
very scarce, salt in particular. The son of the almamy came 
every now and then to see us, and to inquire whether we 
wanted warm water for our ablutions *, he took care that we 
should never be short of mate?', but as to provisions, he did 
not inquire very particularly, and I suspect that the poor 
devil was little better off than ourselves ; I noticed that he 
passed the whole day without food, as if it had been the 
Ramadan, and at night, after prayer, he ate a little tau with 
four other negroes. In spite of these compulsory fasts, they 
all seemed very merry, and never failed to go every morning 
to chant the Koran ; the almamy himself also chanted from 
