30 
HOSPITALITY OF SALI FOUM. 
dispatched Boukari's slave to St, Louis, to request my friend 
to send me some European clothes. 
Fali Louni was the name of the chief of Niakra, who 
invited us to enter liis hut, which he gave up to our use. 
This old man pitying the fatigues that I had undergone in 
my journey, asked my Marabout what dishes I liked best. 
He learned with astonishment that his table would be mine. 
When supper was ready he awoke me, and we all three 
seated ourselves before a wooden bowl filled with boiled millet, 
which is known by the name of couscous. The daughter of 
Fali Loum brought us water for our ablutions, and presented 
it to me on her knees, a kind of homage paid to the superiority 
of the whites, which made me augur favourably of the success 
of my journey. 
Twenty-four hours had been sufficient to transport me 
from a European table to that of a negro. I no longer saw 
rare dishes, highly seasoned ragouts, expensive wines : we had 
nothing but milk and couscous, and water was our only drink. 
The guests raised the food to their mouths with the right 
hand alone. ^Vliat a change in so short a space of time ! 
Fali Loum remarking my want of appetite, said to me, 
" Thou dost not find here the good cheer of white men ; thou 
never wilt be able to accustom thyself to our mode of life." 
A mat spread upon the ground served me for a bed. Fatigue 
prevented me from being sensible of its difference from that 
which I had quitted. 
