TIMICORO. 
319 
three o^clock we halted, thoroughly fatigued, at Timicoro, 
a small Bambara village. The environs are woody, and 
covered with high straw; the fields are five or six miles 
from the huts, whether on account of the soil being better, 
or to save the grain from the ravages of goats and poultry, I 
know not. My guide took me to the house of one of his 
acquaintance, who supplied us with a small, damp, and dirty 
lodging. I had a good fire lighted immediately to dry my 
coussabe and my breeches ; for the rain had been pelting at 
our backs all day ; it continued through the night, and it was 
a small constant rain, which rendered the air cold. At this 
village I saw many goats and fowls, but the inhabitants have 
no horned cattle. At nightfall, the men came home from 
work j they were all nearly naked, having nothing but a 
tight cotton band which they pass between their thighs. I 
remarked that these men had necklaces on their necks, ear- 
rings of glass beads, and a great many amulets, such as 
goat's horns, sheep's tails, &c. All these things supply the 
place of grigris, in which they have great faith. They gave 
us a supper of tau, with herb-sauce, but no salt ; I ate a 
little of this dish, but the sauce was so bad that I could not 
relish it. 
In the evening a dispute arose between two men of the 
village, who began to fight, and would even have used their 
poniards, if the inhabitants had not collected round them to 
make peace. Nothing was heard but the shrieks of the women, 
who made great lamentations, and the crowd was immense ; 
all spoke at once, and shouted to make themselves heard, so 
that there was a tremendous uproar. My guide informed 
me, that the chief of the village was blind, otherwise he 
would have come to the spot and restored order. I never 
could learn what was the cause of this scuffle, which took 
place precisely in the court where we lodged, and lasted a 
very long time, though the rain was pouring in torrents. 
On the 3rd of August, in the morning, my guide cooked 
