324 CHARMS FOR DISORDERS. 
male and female, carried each of them on their heads a load 
of three thousand five hmidred colats, a weight which I 
could scarcely lift. They bring back, on their return, salt 
in the form of loaves or flat cakes. The inhabitants assured 
me that the value in salt of three thousand five hundred 
colats, when brought back to Time, was the price of two 
slaves ; but the profit, as I subsequently ascertained, is not 
considerable ; for great expenses are incurred on the road, 
not only for subsistence, but also for duties of transit. The 
price of the colats, a fruit which does not grow in this coun- 
try, varies considerably. On returning from these journeys, 
the traders travel far into the south to procure colats, with 
salt and cloth, which they manufacture with cotton pur- 
chased from the Bambaras, and spun by their women. 
On the 17 th of August, Baba gave me a large hut to live 
^ in. Here I installed myself as well as I could. A mat spread 
on the damp ground, over which I laid my cotton wrapper, 
was the only furniture of the place. This hut also served as 
a warehouse and contained yams and rice. 
On the 8th, I found myself very ill in consequence of 
the badness of the food, and I had an attack of fever. I took 
a few doses of sulphate of quinine, which had the effect of 
abating the fever for a few days. My host seemed much 
concerned at my indisposition. He searched through some 
old books which contained verses of the Koran, and brought 
me a scrap of paper well fumigated on which was written a 
charm in Arabic characters, assuring me that it was an excel- 
lent remedy for the disorder under which I was suflfering. 
He directed me to copy it on a little piece of wood which he 
brought me ; then, to wash off the writing with some water 
which I was to drink : he observed that this would to a cer- 
tainty relieve me. To please him I copied the writing as he 
directed and when he was gone washed the bit of board ; but 
instead of drinking the water I threw it away, which had 
quite as good an effect, for next day I found myself tolerably 
