18 STATE OF GANDIOLLE. 
several presents for the Darnel, such as brandy, tobacco, 
and beads. 
Having landed opposite to Gandiolle, we crossed an un- 
cultivated and nearly naked plain, interspersed with ponds 
of salt water, which, when evaporated by the sun, leave a 
whitish crust, that dazzles the eyes. Gandiolle, ever since 
the arrival of the Darnel, resembled a pillaged town ; how 
different from Europe, where the presence of the sovereign 
generally brings with it pleasure and abundance ! Most of 
the huts were forsaken or destroyed. Neither w^omen, chil- 
dren, nor old men were to be seen in the streets : those feebler 
, members of the community, the ordinary victims of the 
rapacity of the African princes, had removed to Babagua, to 
avoid the vengeance of the Daniel. He had demanded of the 
inhabitants of Gandiolle a contribution of eighty-three slaves ; 
which, on their refusal to pay it, he exacted by force. 
Gandiolle, transformed into a camp, was filled with horse 
and foot, who flocked together from the whole surrounding 
country, to fresh pillage. 
Before I arrived at the thatched palace of the king, 1 
was obliged to go through several streets crowded with 
princes and horsemen ; they were followed by griots, or public 
singers, chanting their praise. At length, after ascending 
a sand hill, we perceived some princes and warriors below 
us, ranged round a hut: it was the first of those which 
composed the Louvre of the King of Cayor. A gloomy 
