FAUBRISSO. 
409 
soil in the vicinity of the village consists of very productive 
sand, in part cultivated. The Bambara inhabitants did not 
understand the Mandingo language ; but we had the good 
fortune to meet with a woman who acted as our interpreter. 
On the 3rd of February, at six in the morning, we 
proceeded in the direction of N. E. Our caravan was now 
very strong, being augmented by that which we had joined the 
preceding evening. We pursued our course over a soil com- 
posed of sand and very hard earth, covered with stones and 
gravel, which rendered the road very fatiguing. The country 
was, however, well wooded with ces and nedes. We crossed 
three large streams, by which we were detained a long time 
on account of our asses. The banks of these streams were 
thickly wooded, and in the shady parts grew many palm-trees. 
The natives are not aware that this tree furnishes an in- 
toxicating liquor; they extract the oil, which they are very fond 
of, and with which they anoint their bodies. The palm -tree 
does not grow so abundantly here as on the coast. About 
ten o'clock in the morning we arrived at Facibrisso, where 
there is a great market for colat-nuts, allspice, long pepper, 
which is brought from the south, cloth manufactured in the 
country, and salt brought from the banks of the Dhioliba, be- 
sides a considerable quantity of millet, cotton, pistachios, 
and other native produce. The huts, which have flat roofs 
and only a ground-floor, are built of bricks baked in the sun. 
They are extremely inconvenient and so slight that they 
frequently fall down. All the villages, as far as Jenne, are 
built in the same way, and in general shaded by numerous 
bombaces and baobabs. The inhabitants gather the fruit of 
the baobab and sell it to the caravans. They even carry it 
to Jenne, where it is scarce, and from Jenne it is exported 
to Timbuctoo. The ce and the nede are astonishingly abun- 
dant in all this part of the country. Proceeding towards 
the north, the baobabs become less common and the bom- 
