424 INSOLENCE OF THE SERVANT. 
The well was from fifteen to eighteen feet in depth^ and the 
water it contained clear and pleasant to the taste. It had 
no enclosure, and near it was a great hole, forming a pond, 
into which the negresses throw the water in which they 
wash their clothes. Although this water was very dirty, 
both men and women washed their faces in it every morn- 
ing ; and many persons belonging to our company followed 
their example. In the neighbourhood of Saracl^ there are 
some mimosas, and a great quantity of ces and nedds. 
Many traders from Sego, and other adjacent places, attended 
the market. From some of these people I learned that the 
capital of Bambara was four days' journey N. N. W. of 
Saracle. I sold in the market some glass wares, and some 
pieces of coloured calico, between eighteen and twenty inches 
long and four broad, for three hundred cowries each, (equal 
to one franc and fifty centimes). The women rolled these 
pieces of cloth round their heads, drawing them rather for- 
ward upon the brow. They wear no other kind of head- 
dress. 
On the 1 8th of February, as we were preparing to de- 
part, one of old Kai-mou's men laid hold of my baggage with 
a disdainful air, and threw it on one side, telling me in a 
very uncivil tone that henceforth I must carry it myself. I 
paid no attention to this impertinence, and turned my head 
another way, having nothing to do with the man, though I 
could plainly perceive that his intention was to insult me. 
During all the time I was among the Mandingoes I never 
saw a man so insolent as this : he was full of self-sufficiency, 
and often insulted the Bambaras whilst selling his mer- 
chandise to them. He despised them, and considered him- 
self their superior. He met with one, however, who, instead 
of giving way to him, shook his fist in his face, and threatened 
to punish him for his insolence. Our braggadocio who, like 
all cowards, was brave only when he believed himself the 
stronger, was silent immediately, and even appeared some- 
