176 GOUMEL — LANGUE. 
not ventured to approach me ; the slightest motion that I 
made had put them to flight. What was my surprise, on 
awaking, to find myself in the hands of a troop of Negresses, 
who w ere employed in an inquisitive examination of my person. 
When I opened my eyes, they shrieked with fright, and spread 
consternation through the whole village. 
■ - When we resumed our route, the people, preceded by a 
singer, conducted us to the entrance of a wood at some dis- 
tance, where we saw several herds of wild cattle. Notwith- 
standing the rapidity of our march, we did not arrive till 
sun-set at Goumel, a village chiefly inhabited by Jolofls. It 
was the hour of prayer, all the blacks were assembled before 
the mosque, a square building constructed of earth, and 
covered with straw. When prayers were finished, a Negro 
led us into his hut, where we passed the night. The frontiers 
of the kingdom of OuUi are half a day's journey to the south- 
west of Goumel. 
March 18th. Our march was fatiguing; during the heat 
of the sun we had to traverse a thick wood, in which the air 
could not circulate. Langue, a village where we halted, is 
inhabited by JolofFs, whom famine has driven from Oulli. 
The master of the hut which was offered to us, informed us he 
could not give us any thing to eat, and for the first time we 
were obliged to fast. The wealth of Langué consists in honey, 
which is generally very abundant ; their bee-hives are shaped 
like ours, but placed lengthwise ; the entrance is at the bottom 
