ACCOUNT OF KABOU. 
321 
was the stronger, as, being- a total stranger to the persons who 
lavished them upon me, I owed them solely to their hmnanity 
and benevolence. 
The stay I made at Geba, and which I prolonged in con- 
sequence of my weakness, and the rains that fell incessantly, 
enabled me to collect some information respecting the country 
of Kabou, which I had visited, and Geba, which I was about 
to quit. 
The country comprised between the Hio Grande, the 
Gambia, and the river of Geba, bears the name of Kabou ; 
it is very fertile ; the inhabitants cultivate rice, millet, and 
maize, and a little indigo and cotton. The rains which fall 
from the month of May till the end of October are very 
abundant ; but the winds do not blow with the same violence 
as in the countries situated more to the east. The climate is 
hot, damp, and unhealthy. As the country is composed 
of plains only, covered in several places by thick forests, 
the water stands upon it ; the people avail themselves of 
this circumstance for the cultivation of rice ; they dig the 
earth with a wooden instrument in the form of an oar, 
the extremity of which is shod with iron ; to break up 
the ground for maize they use hoes with very short handles. 
Kabou is inhabited by a mixture of several nations ; the 
Mandingos are the most numerous, and their language 
the only one in use. Their villages are large and populous, 
their fields are cultivated with care, but the inhabitants 
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