236 SOURCES OP THE GAMBIA AND RIO GRANDE. 
The valley in which they are situated, forms a kind of fun- 
nel, having no other outlets than the two defiles by which the 
rivers run oiF ; man has never dared to use the axe in the woods 
which overshadow these two springs, because the natives believe 
them to be inhabited by spirits ; their respect for these places is 
carried to such a pitch, that they are careful not to enter them, and 
if anyone had seen me penetrate within them, I should infallibly 
have been put to death. From the situation of these two sources, 
in a basin, between high mountains, covered with ferruginous 
stones and cinders, and almost entirely destitute of verdure, I 
am led to conjecture that they occupy the crater of an extinct 
volcano. The ground which resounded under my feet, probably 
covers one of the abysses whence the fiery eruptions issued. 
Fearful of awakening the suspicions of the inhabitants 
of the neighbourhood, we quickly left the village where we had 
halted, and marching to the south, soon arrived on the banks 
of the Gambia, which are adorned with trees of the greatest 
beauty ; on both sides the soil, of alluvial formation, is 
astonishingly fertile. We there saw fields of rice and tobacco, 
which promised an abundant crop ; the river meanders through 
the middle of this rich country ; its numerous windings 
obliged us to ford it several times to avoid lengthening our 
journey too much. I had witnessed, I may say, its progressive 
increase from its source ever since I left it. At the spot where 
I crossed it for the last time it was twenty feet wide, and its 
current scarcely perceptible ; its bed was formed of granitoid 
