Niger

there was one—northwards, over the hills, to the
town of Sibidooloo. Sibidooloo attained, Mungo
might, with the aid of God and great good luck,
travel forward through Manding, the original home
of all the Mandingoes.
An itinerant Jilli Kea, or singing man, offered to
guide Mungo over the hills to Sibidooloo. They
set off on the morning of the 24th of August up a
rocky glen. The rocks were ironstone and schistus,
with detached pieces of white quartz, Mungo noted
in a sudden recrudescence of geological interest.
Possibly his companion was similarly engaged, for,
reaching a village in an hour or so, he declared that
they had strayed from the right road, and would
never reach Sibidooloo at this rate. Thereat,
slinging his drum upon his back, he clambered up
the hills and disappeared, absent-mindedly for¬
getting Mungo and his needs. The latter, after
sardonically admiring the black bard’s agility,
sought through the hills for a path that his horse
could travel.
He was in a maze of small valleys. To the
south-east towered gigantic a misty range of
mountains. Villagers told him that these guarded
the mysterious kingdom of Kong. But Kong was
out of the question for him to visit.
Night was coming. He had attained the north¬
west side of the hills and was looking around for a
suitable tree to shelter under in the fashion to which
he had become all too accustomed, when the horse’s
weary pace brought him to the lips of a fertile
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