266 ALI, THE GUIDE, QUITS THE AUTHOR. 
the selfish manner in which he had behaved towards me, 
they prevailed upon me to leave his hut the next morning. 
April 30th. A disagreeable circumstance of a different 
kind occurred this day. Ali left me ; Boukari accused him 
of tellino- the inhabitants of the villag^es throus^h which we 
passed, that I had a great quantity of merchandize, and thus 
causing them to charge me very dear for the provisions which 
they sold to me. Ali, stung by this charge, declared he would 
accompany me no longer. This Negro was certainly very 
useful to me, but I was attached to Boukari by the gratitude 
I felt for the zeal he had always shewn in my service. I 
endeavoured to re-establish concord between these two men, 
both of whom were so serviceable to me. My efforts were 
fruitless, Boukari having raised All's indignation to the 
highest pitch, by telling him that he was a Pagan, since he 
was so easily irritated. 
1 was therefore obliged to depart with this faithful guide, 
to whom I was indebted for the knowledge I had acquired of 
the sources of the four principal rivers of this part of Africa. 
His loss vexed me exceedingly, and I soon felt the want of him, 
for at a little distance from Lalia we could not discover any 
traces of our way ; luckily we were joined hj some Poula 
merchants, who were going to the market of Labbé, and who, 
observing our embarrassment, proposed that one of them should 
accompany us as a guide, for six charges of powder. I 
accepted the offer. We then crossed the Gambia, and a storm 
