DETENTION OF THE AUTHOR AT BANAI. 127 
two, and they advised me to repair without resistance to 
the chief of Banai. I accompanied them to hini. When 
we were in the presence of this chief, he seated himself 
under a tree, and interrogated us ; he asserted that we dis- 
guised the object of our journey, and that we were going- to 
the Bambaras. I replied that I had seen Almamy, and 
that this prince had permitted me to pass through his 
dominions. " Why has he not given you a letter ?" rejoined 
the chief. This observation appeared perfectly natural, and 
proved, that in this part of Africa at least, the natives have 
correct notions of the regulations to which travellers ought to 
be subject. I could not complain of injustice towards me, for 
in Europe, the want of a passport would in like manner have 
caused me to be arrested. After a long deliberation, it was 
decided that my Marabout should mount my horse and repair 
to Almamy ; and that till his return, my goods should be 
deposited in a storehouse, to preserve them from pillage. Such 
a decision proved to me more strongly than a thousand 
arguments, that Foutatoro is really under a regular govern- 
ment, that the police is administered in the name of 
the prince, and that the machine of government is 
calculated to promote the public welfare. The storehouse in 
which my goods were placed was thirty-two feet in circum- 
ference, and eighteen high in the loftiest part ; the door formed 
an oval as large as the body of a man ; it had a lock, Avhich 
I fastened when I was settled within, However, all the cliildren 
