LITERARY ASSEMBLY. 251 
Sangarary. Abdoulai, a common Marabout, who was entrusted 
with the government of the capital during the king's absence, 
on coming out from the council, ordered a weaver, a slave of 
Almamy's, to give us lodging. This old man at first refused to 
receive us, on account of the great dearth then prevailing at 
Timbo ; at last he consented to give us an asylum, fortunately 
for us, for the rain fell in torrents : it was the prelude to the 
rainy season. 
April 12. Early in the morning we were told that we 
could not leave Timbo till the return of Almamy, who was 
not expected for twenty-five days ; this was equivalent to an 
order to remain six months in this capital, for during the 
rainy season it is almost impossible to travel in a country 
where every petty stream is swelled into a large river. 
For a long time I had patiently accommodated myself to 
circumstances ; this new obstacle, therefore, did not irritate me. 
However I immediately went with Boukari to the house of 
Abdoulai, whom we found engaged in holding a literary con- 
ference with some Marabouts. One of these Marabouts was 
reading aloud ; some young men attentively followed him in 
their books ; and Abdoulai, who was blind, explained the 
difficult passages. The discussion afterwards turned upon the 
doubtful sense of different parts of the book, which was the 
history of Mahomet. One of the young men then took the 
book and read aloud ; the others, under the direction of a 
Marabout, corrected the faults which had crept into the copies 
K K 2 
