Niger

All the Gambia slave-huts were filled with the
merchandise, awaiting shipment, and in a few days
Captain Charles Harris had disposed of his cargo
of rum and tobacco in exchange for a hundred
blacks. Then he proposed to sail up the coast to
Goree and complete his cargo there.
Mungo sat and debated the matter. To go with
the Charlestown would mean that he would be taken
far out of his direct route, and cross the Atlantic
twice. But no English ship might put into Gambia
waters for another six months. He made his
arrangements with the slaver-captain.
On the 17th day of June, 1797, he leaned over
the rails of the Charlestown and watched the town of
Kayee fade back into the green glare of the man¬
grove swamps, with Laidley and the Ainslies
waving goodbye from the shore. It was hot moist
weather and the river raised up a mist that speedily
blinded from his eyes sight of that shore he had
hailed so eagerly, in spite of his cool exterior—that
shore that led to the hinterlands where he had
adventured so terribly and ludicrously in search of
the Niger’s waters.
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