206 
TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 
and accordingly marched, amounting with his 
force to about nine hundred or one thousand 
men. On their arrival before the town they 
found Almamy so well defended, not only by 
the strong mud walls of the place, but his su- 
perior numbers increased by the men of it, that 
they thought it impossible to dislodge him, and 
returned to Toobab-en-Cane to wait the arrival 
of a large body of foot which was hourly ex- 
pected from Karta. Almamy, on his side, sent 
to require reinforcements from Toro and Hawah 
Demba, but nearly a month elapsed before the 
reinforcements on either side arrived. 
Samba's army was then composed of all his 
own men, the Gedumahas of three towms on 
the right bank of the river, the Kartan army, 
and a detachment under Saferi, a prince of Kas- 
son, in all amounting to about two thousand five 
hundred or three thousand men. 
Almamy's, which was said to be nearly dou- 
ble that number, consisted of his own army, 
strong detachments from Foota Toro, and 
Lower Kajaga, and a considerable body under 
Hawah Demba, who was nephew to Saferi, and 
the same who has been mentioned before. 
They met in April 1818, when a bloody con- 
flict ensued, ending in the defeat of Almamy, 
who made a hasty retreat to Foota Toro, leav- 
ing upwards of a hundred muskets on the field. 
