flight.  When their country has been desolated, and their ruined towns and villages deserted by the enemy, such of the inhabitants as have escaped the Sword and the chain generally return, though with cautious steps, to the place of their nativity—­for it seems to be the universal wish of mankind to spend the evening of their days where they passed their infancy.  The poor negro feels this desire in its full force.  To him no water is sweet but what is drawn from his own well, and no tree has so cool and pleasant a shade as the tabba tree {8} of his native village.  When war compels him to abandon the delightful spot in which he first drew his breath, and seek for safety in some other kingdom, his time is spent in talking about the country of his ancestors; and no sooner is peace restored than he turns his back upon the land of strangers, rebuilds with haste his fallen walls, and exults to see the smoke ascend from his native village.

The other species of African warfare is distinguished by the appellation of tegria (plundering, or stealing).  It arises from a sort of hereditary feud which the inhabitants of one nation or district bear towards another.  No immediate cause of hostility is assigned, or notice of attack given, but the inhabitants of each watch every opportunity to plunder and distress the objects of their animosity by predatory excursions.  These are very common, particularly about the beginning of the dry season, when the labour of the harvest is over and provisions are plentiful.  Schemes of vengeance are then meditated.  The chief man surveys the number and activity of his vassals as they brandish their spears at festivals, and, elated with his own importance, turns his whole thoughts towards revenging some depredation or insult which either he or his ancestors may have received from a neighbouring state.

Wars of this description are generally conducted with great secrecy.  A few resolute individuals, headed by some person of enterprise and courage, march quietly through the woods, surprise in the night some unprotected village, and carry off the inhabitants and their effects before their neighbours can come to their assistance.  One morning during my stay at Kamalia we were all much alarmed by a party of this kind.  The king of Fooladoo’s son, with five hundred horsemen, passed secretly through the woods a little to the southward of Kamalia, and on the morning following plundered three towns belonging to Madigai, a powerful chief in Jallonkadoo.

The success of this expedition encouraged the governor of Bangassi, a town in Fooladoo, to make a second inroad upon another part of the same country.  Having assembled about two hundred of his people, he passed the river Kokoro in the night, and carried off a great number of prisoners.  Several of the inhabitants who had escaped these attacks were afterwards seized by the Mandingoes as they wandered about in the woods or concealed themselves in the glens and strong places of the mountains.