DEPARTURE FROM SEGO. 
impossible to protect him from their malignity. 
The character, indeed, in which Mr Park appear- 
ed, was extremely suspicious, and could hardly 
be distinguished from that of a vagabond or fugi- 
tive. When he related to the Bambarrans, that 
he had come from a great distance, and passed 
through many dangers, to behold the Joliba river, 
they naturally inquired whether there were no 
rivers in his own country, and whether one river 
was not like another, over all the world. The 
guide praised the hospitality of the Bambarrans, 
but related that Jenne was entirely under the in- 
fluence of the Moors, and only a nominal part 
of the [dominions of Bambarra. Mr Park, how- 
ever, had proceeded too far to recede upon vague 
report, and resolved to verify it on the spot ; and, 
for this purpose, leaving Sego on the ^3dy he ad- 
vanced by Kabba to Sansanding, The extensive 
city of Sego, the canoes with which the river was 
covered, the numerous population, and the im- 
proved state of cultivation in the beautiful coun- 
try which he traversed, presented a prospect of 
civilization which recalled more forcibly to his 
memory the centre of England, than the ideas he 
had formed of the heart of Africa, The inhabi- 
tants of the country were occupied in collecting 
the fruit of the shea-tree, from which the vege- 
table butter is prepared, which forms a principal 
article of commerce in the interior districts. The 
