D O U A S S O. 
417 
persons weaving under trees. In the evening our host pre- 
sented us with a fowl, some pistachios, and a fresh fish of the 
carp kind, which is very common in the marshes : to catch it, 
the natives use a basket made of the branches of a tree. My 
old guide, whose name was Kai-mou, returned thanks for the 
present by a long prayer, and after assuring our host that he 
would go to Mahomet's paradise, he gave him eight colat- 
nuts, valued in that country at forty -eight cowries. 
After supper I took my seat on a sheep-skin in the 
court, to enjoy the cool air. Here we saw a Mandingo 
merchant, a native of Kong, who was returning from Jenne 
to trade in salt. He was alone, and carried his merchandise 
on his head. I entered into conversation with him, and ob- 
tained all the information I could respecting his country. 
He told me that Kong, his native place, was a large town, 
the capital of a district, inhabited by Mahometan Mandin- 
goes. From Douasso, where we were, he said it would take 
him a month and a half to travel to Kong, with his load on 
his head. I asked him in what direction his country lay, 
and he several times pointed to the S. S. E. and S.^ S. E. 
I had a pocket compass, which I was afraid to make use of, 
except when alone. Had it been seen, it would probably 
have brought me into trouble. In order to ascertain as cor- 
rectly as I could the situation of Kong, as described by the 
Mandingo, I remarked attentively the place where he sat, 
and fixed upon an object near the point of the horizon, which 
he had indicated. Next morning, without being seen by any 
person, 1 satisfied myself of its situation. The merchant told 
me that, on his return, he should leave Tangrera on his left, 
and pass through a great trading village, inhabited as he said, 
by Mandingoes, and a month's journey from Douasso ; he 
called it Dierisso. From that place he said it would take 
fifteen days to reach Kong. He likewise told me that the 
soil of his country was level and sandy ; but very productive 
in millet, rice, yams, cassava, giraumons, ces, n^des, bao- 
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