226 
MOUNTAINS OF NIOKOLO AND BANDEIA. 
the recompence I had promised him in advance. I gave him 
three grains of amber, promising to satisfy him according to 
his desire if I had reason to be content with him ; he on his 
side swore to lead me wherever I wished to go. In a wood 
which extended westward to bare ferruginous mountains, my 
guide pointed out a tree called bori ; it is small, its bark black 
and rugged ; by boiling its leaves, the people of the country 
extract from them a salt which they use in their food. On 
quitting this wood, I traversed some dry rice fields, situated 
on the declivity of a lofty mountain, on which stands the 
village of Songui. We found only women there, the men were 
gone to sell slaves at Kakandé on the Rio Nunez. 
We were now in Fouta Jallon, properly so called. The 
districts of Niebel or Niokolo, and Bandéia, through which 
we had just travelled, are indeed subject to the same sovereign, 
but his power is not so absolute there. 
The appearance of the mountains of Niokolo and Bandéia 
proves this country to have been volcanic. Earthquakes are 
very frequent there : one had been felt two months previous 
to my arrival, the shocks of which had extended to Timbo. 
It had been so violent that the inhabitants believed it to be 
the end of the world. The mountain to the north of Bandéia, 
and which is covered with ashes, as I have before observed, 
is often shaken. My guide told me that one night being 
seated under a tree with his companions, little flames issued 
