e was the same evening conducted to a village about seven miles to the
eastward, where he was well received. His guide told him that if Jenne
was really the place of his destination, the journey was one of greater
danger than he might suppose; for, although that town was nominally a
part of the King of Bambarra's dominions, it was in fact a city of the
Moors--the chief part of the inhabitants being Bushreens, a fanatical
Mahommedan sect. He heard, too, that Timbuctoo, the great object of his
search, was entirely in possession of that savage and merciless people,
who allow no Christian to live there. He had, however, advanced too far
to think of returning with uncertain information, and he determined to
proceed.

Being provided with a guide, he left the village on the morning of the
24th, travelling through a highly cultivated country, the scenery
bearing a greater resemblance to that of England than he had expected to
find in the middle of Africa.

The people were everywhere employed in collecting the fruit of the shea
trees, from which they prepared vegetable butter. In the evening he
reached the large town of Sansanding, the resort of numerous Moorish
caravans from the shores of the Mediterranean. In the harbour he
observed twenty large canoes, and others arrived while he was there. He
was received into the house of the _dooty_, Counti Mamadi. Scarcely had
he arrived when hundreds of people surrounded him, all speaking
different dialects, several of them declaring that they had seen him in
various parts of the continent. It was evident that they mistook him
for somebody else. One of them, a _shereef_, from Suat, declared that
if he refused to go to the mosque he would carry him there. He had
little doubt that the Moor would have put his threat into execution had
not his host interposed in his behalf. The latter said that, if he
would let his guest alone for the night, in the morning he should be
sent about his business. This somewhat appeased them, but even after he
had retired to his hut the people climbed over the pailings to look at
him.

At midnight, when the Moors had retired, Mamadi paid him a visit and
earnestly desired him to write a _saphie_, or charm, observing, "If a
Moor's _saphie_ is good, a white man's must needs be better." Park
readily furnished him with one, which was in reality the Lord's Prayer,
a reed serving for a pen, charcoal and gum-water for ink and a thin
board for paper.

A