478 
PARKAS SECOND JOURNEY. 
have roasted a sirloin. On the 2d of October, 
two of the soldiers died. He did not touch at 
Sego, but proceeded direct to the place of his 
destination. 
Sansanding is a large town, said to contain 
eleven thousand inhabitants, and is the theatre 
of a very considerable trade. The market-place 
is an extensive square, constantly crowded with 
people, and where the different articles are ex- 
posed on stalls shaded by mats from the heat of 
the sun. Each stall contains generally only one 
article ; some beads only ; some indigo in balls ; 
others wood ashes in balls ; others Houssa and 
Jinnie cloth ; and one was observed with no- 
thing but antimony in small bits. Salt, the sta- 
ple of the place, has a corner of the square ap- 
propriated to it. There is also a butcher and a 
beer market, both well supplied. Upon the 
whole, the arrangements made for the conve- 
nience of trade, and the minute subdivision of 
labour, exhibit a maturity of commercial im- 
provement, such as we could little have expected 
to find in the heart of Africa. A list is given of 
the prices which goods bear in this market ; 
some of the leading articles of which may de- 
serve to be extracted. The value is given in 
cowries, that species of small shells which form 
the general currency of interior Africa. 
