white men went away without giving you or him anything. They have a
great many things with them and have given nothing. This Amady Fatouma
now before you is a bad man, and has made a fool of you." Poor Amady
was forthwith put in irons and all his goods confiscated, with the
exception of his Arabic charms, which they dared not touch. The next
morning the King sent his army to Boussa and posted it on a rock which
straddled the width of the river, leaving only a narrow opening for
the current to race through. Mungo Park, seeing the danger,
nevertheless resolved to force a passage. But the odds were terrific.
It took half the men to keep the canoe moving against the current,
while the rest fired at the enemy as they hurled stones and assegais
upon their heads. At last the two steersmen were slain, and the canoe
went adrift. In a desperate attempt to lighten it, they cast all the
baggage into the river, but still could make no headway. Overpowered
by numbers and fatigue, and with no chance of killing a whole army,
they saw but one hope of escape--namely, to make for the shore and get
away into the bush. Taking hold of one of the white men, Mungo Park
leapt into the river, Martin, with another white man, following after;
but, fine swimmers as they were, the current proved too strong for
them and all four were drowned. The one Negro left in the canoe
surrendered, and both he and the canoe were dragged to shore and
carried to the King.

After being kept three months in irons, Amady was released and in part
consoled with a concubine. But he made it his first business before
departing to visit the slave taken in the canoe, and learn from him
the sad details of Mungo Park's destruction. The only thing that was
found in the canoe after its capture was a sword belt which the King
used as a saddle-girth for his horse.

IX

Such was Amady Fatouma's tale, that Isaaco had journeyed for nine
months to hear. And as he was a "good, honest, and upright man" and
had sworn truth upon the _Koran_, there was nothing to do but believe
and carry back the mournful tidings. To make "assurance double sure,"
Isaaco sent to Yaour a native who bribed a slave girl to steal the
sword belt from the king's charger. Then, passing homeward through
Sego, he told the news to Dacha, who was so furious that he despatched
his army to wipe the country of Haoussa off the face of the earth. But
Isaaco set his face for Senegal, to exchange his Arabic _Journal_