72 INTERVIEW WITH THE KING OF THE JOLOFFS. 
to request our attendance. We first passed through a straw hut, 
the door of which was made of planks cut with a hatchet ; we 
then entered a court with a similar door, and saw the king- 
seated under a tree on a sheep-skin. This sovereign 
amused himself by sometimes rolling small fruit between his 
fingers, at others in smoking. A slave respectfully covered 
his expectorations with sand. I seated myself before him with 
my hat on, and my gun at my side. A numerous and silent 
circle formed around us ; all eyes were soon fixed on me. The 
Bourb-Joloflis was an old man of low stature ; his open coun- 
tenance announced a frank and sincere disposition ; nothing 
distinguished him from other Negroes, except that his sub- 
jects saluted him on their knees. His white tunic, the sign of 
royalty, was falling to rags. He had nothing on his head, 
which was completely bald. 
The monarch addressed several questions to me ; he par- 
ticularly asked if I had brought any brandy ; I replied that 
I had not. He then enquired the object of my journey. 
" There is no gold then in thy country !" cried he, when he 
learned I was going to Oulli. " Thou wishest for a guide," 
added he ; " thou shalt have one to-morrow." The visits paid by 
a European traveller to an African sovereign are always the 
more tiresome, as even these black princes have an etiquette 
which must be observed. The pride of a white man is hurt 
on account of the distance at which he is obliged to keep from 
the prince. Besides, these kings very rarely address them- 
