128 
TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 
destroyed by the Kartan army in one of their 
attacks on Almamy — which must have been san- 
guinary, as the ground for a considerable dis- 
tance round it is thickly strewed with the now 
whitened bones of the slain, whose bodies were 
allowed to putrify on the spot where they fell, 
or be devoured by the birds and beasts of prey. 
The mother of the boy given to us by Alma- 
my, came to our huts to see her son, whom we 
had by this time so convinced of his real situ- 
ation, that he implored us on his knees and with 
tears in his eyes to work the same change in his 
unfortunate mother's situation, who together 
with his brother, an infant, were in the most de- 
plorable state of slavery, in the possession of 
Moosa Yeona Mahck. The poor woman herself 
was too much pleased with the respectable ap- 
pearance of her son, and with the account he 
gave her of the comparative happiness of his 
present situation, to prevent a gleam of satisfac- 
tion from making itself evident, through the 
otherwise truly miserable and desponding evi- 
dence of her feelings but too strongly depicted 
in her face and actions; the former being bathed 
in tears, and the latter more becoming of a per- 
son imploring assistance or protection from the 
divine, than a human being. 
It is needless to say we promised her every 
exertion in her favour, and fulfilled the promise, 
