180 
DEARTH AT COGNEDE, 
was unequal. At the foot of a rocky hill, which we descended, 
we found a small stream, the shallow current of which 
was almost stagnant. Notwithstanding- our precautions and 
efforts, my ass tumbled into it with all my merchandize, and 
we had great difficulty to extricate him from this species of 
slough. The water of this place, which may be dmnk by 
man, is poison to horses and cattle, from the vicinity of a 
tree called tali. It is one of the most beautiful trees I have 
met with in this part of Africa ; it is very large and high, and 
its foliage very thick. The Negroes make no use of the wood. 
It was noon before we could resume our route, and in a short 
time we arrived at Cognede. Unable to procure in this 
village any other provisions than a handful of pistachio-nuts, 
I sent Boukari to purchase some in the neighbouring hamlets : 
amber and coral were our only coin, and as nothing but scarlet 
cloth, muskets, and cloves, are of any value in this place, we 
were obliged to defer the hope of a dinner until the next day. 
Hunger drove us from Cognede before the heat had 
abated, and we set out in quest of better quarters. The 
curiosity of the chief of a village through which I passed, 
and where I remarked a number of papaw trees, occasioned 
a very unseasonable delay. He stopped us under the pre- 
text of enquiring the motive of our journey ; I made use 
of an argument with him which generally prevails every 
where : a present which I gave him purchased the liberty 
of departing. It was already dark when we perceived at a 
