252 INTERVIEW WITH ABDOULAI, 
of the same work which they held in their hands. The most 
profound silence prevailed among these young men, who 
appeared to be really studious. Boukari, my Marabout, had 
an opportunity of displaying the depth of his knowledge in 
the Arabic language, for they addressed divers questions to 
him, which he answered in a manner that surprised all his 
hearers. The class was held in Abdoulai's cottage, which 
was completely that of a scholar ; a bed made of a mat, a 
leather bag filled with books, a pitcher of water, and two or 
three vessels for ablution, composed the whole of the furniture. 
When they had finished reading Abdoulai introduced us into 
the audience chamber, and there enquired the purpose of my 
journey. " I am come," answered I, " to salute your powerful 
king, and to offer him my gun as a present. The governor 
of St. Louis, having learned that your commerce decreases in 
the stations (escales) of the Rio Nunez, has ordered me to come 
to Almamy, to beg him to encourage his subjects to a more 
active intercourse with our colony, where every kind of mer- 
chandize abounds, and after they reach Galam, two months will 
be sufficient to proceed by the river to St. Louis.* On under- 
* Induced by the written assurance I had given, that the inhabitants of 
Fouta Jallon would be protected at Senegal, many of them repaired thither, to 
sell gold, after a journey of six months. Among these traders I recognized 
Boubakar, chief of Boié, whom I presented to M. de Fleuriau. The governor 
made him a present, the value of which, though moderate, appeared to him so 
great, that he swore, on his return to Fouta Jallon to prevail upon his country- 
men to visit St. Louis. . ^ - 
