In this dejected state of mind, they passed the night by the side of a dim fire.
In the course of the following day Mr.Park was informed, that a nephew of Demba Sego Jalla, the Mandingo king of Kasson, was coming to visit him.

The prince had been sent out on a mission to Batcheri, king of Kajaaga, to endeavour to settle some disputes between his uncle and the latter, in which, having been unsuccessful, he was on his return to Kasson, to which place he offered to conduct Mr.Park, provided he would set out on the following morning.
Mr.Park gratefully accepted this offer, and, with his attendants, was ready to set out by daylight on the 27th of December.

The retinue of Demba Sego was numerous, the whole amounting, on the departure from Joag, to thirty persons and six loaded asses.

Having proceeded for some hours, they came to a tree, for which Johnson had made frequent inquiry, and here, having desired them to stop, he produced a white chicken he had purchased at Joag for the purpose, and tied it by the leg to one of the branches; he then declared they might now proceed without fear, for their journey would be prosperous.

This circumstance exhibits the power of superstition over the minds of the negroes, for although this man had resided seven years in England, he retained all the prejudices imbibed in his youth.