The guide appointed by the king of Woolli being now to return, I
presented him with some amber for his trouble; and having been
informed that it was not possible at all times to procure water in
the wilderness, I made inquiry for men who would serve both as
guides and water-bearers during my journey across it. Three
negroes, elephant-hunters, offered their services for these
purposes, which I accepted, and paid them three bars each in
advance; and the day being far spent, I determined to pass the night
in my present quarters.

The inhabitants of Koojar, though not wholly unaccustomed to the
sight of Europeans (most of them having occasionally visited the
countries on the Gambia), beheld me with a mixture of curiosity and
reverence, and in the evening invited me to see a neobering, or
wrestling-match, at the bentang. This is an exhibition very common
in all the Mandingo countries. The spectators arranged themselves
in a circle, leaving the intermediate space for the wrestlers, who
were strong active young men, full of emulation, and accustomed, I
suppose, from their infancy to this sort of exertion. Being
stripped of their clothing, except a short pair of drawers, and
having their skin anointed with oil, or shea butter, the combatants
approached each other on all-fours, parrying with, and occasionally
extending a hand for some time, till at length one of them sprang
forward, and caught his rival by the knee. Great dexterity and
judgment were now displayed, but the contest was decided by superior
strength; and I think that few Europeans would have been able to
cope with the conqueror. It must not be unobserved, that the
combatants were animated by the music of a drum, by which their
actions were in some measure regulated.