INTERVIEW WITH ALMAMY. 
Ill 
that the object of my journey was to collect the remains of his 
fortune ; and that I hoped on my return to be able to make a 
liberal acknowledgment for the kindness he might show me. 
He approved my resolution, paid high encomiums to my 
filial piety, and told me that I was at liberty to depart. He 
strongly disavowed the conduct of the men who had stopped 
me at Diaba, and promised to punish them ; not only on 
account of the vexation which they had caused me, but more 
especially for their audacity in making use of his name. 
Profound silence pervaded this assembly, during the conver- 
sation between Almamy and myself. The moment I rose, a 
dreadful tumult commenced. The government of Foutatoro 
is an oligarchy, and the very populace possess power ; some 
censured, others approved the dismission granted me by 
Almamy ; each loudly supported his own opinion : but no 
one attempted to stop me when I was about to retire. I was 
scarcely out of the king's house, when the crowd, eager to see 
a white man, escorted me back to my hut. Setting aside the 
unpleasantness of being surrounded by so many people, I had 
no fault to find with the behaviour of these Negroes. Some 
took me kindly by the hand, or touched my beard; others 
expressed their high opinion of my person, declaring that I 
was a Marabout, a learned man, a doctor of laws, because I 
knew how to write. 
February 26. Almamy had come to Sedo, to recruit his 
