VISIT TO THE SOURCES OF THE FALEME. 245 
children, accompanied nie with their chief, and on quitting- 
me, respectfully took me by the hand. We soon arrived at 
Courbari ; the chief who lodged us presented his two sons to 
me. The skin of these unhappy creatures fell olF in scales, 
owing- to the bite of a large saake, very common in this 
country. 
April 17th. At sun-rise I started with the intrepid Ali 
for the sources of the Faleme : we told the inhabitants of 
Courbari, that we were going a-hunting. Boukari remained 
in the village, pretending- that he was too much fatigued to 
accompany us. We first waded through a morass, up to our 
waists in water ; then burying ourselves in the woods, we forced 
a way, at the risk of tearing our hands, legs, and faces with the 
thorns. In spite of the severe pain I was suffering from fever, 
I walked with an ardour and a strength of which I had not 
felt myself capable for a long time. We were more than 
once on the point of being discovered : some shepherds and 
other persons who passed us on the road to Timbo, enquired 
whither we were going; the adroit manner in which Ali 
answered these questions, satisfied those who addressed us ; 
and we continued our route without exciting their suspicions. 
After proceeding for an hour to the north-north-west, we 
arrived at the source of the Faleme, called Thené by the 
Poulas. I should never have discovered it without a guide, 
for at this moment it was very low ; it is situated, like the 
sources of the Gambia and Rio Grande, in a basin surrounded 
