Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 3.djvu/351

 residence. Near Bissandu, on the Milo, a small affluent of the Niger from the east, lies Kankan, the chief trading place in the country, inhabited by Mandingan and Sarakolé merchants, who monopolise the whole trade of the Upper Niger basin. Kankan is the hotbed of Mohammedanism in this region, and is frequently at war with the pagan Torons, or Torongos, who occupy the southeastern highlands, supposed to be the cradle of the now widespread Bambara race.

In the basin of the Bakhoy, or eastern Niger, the chief markets are Tengrera, Debena, and Kong, that is, "The Mountain," a large Mandingan town famous in all the surrounding lands for its wealth in gold, woven goods, corn, and horses, Kong lies on one of the main trade routes traversing this almost unknown region, which appears to be one of the most prosperous in the whole of Africa.

Falaba, on the right, and Falama, near the left bank of the Niger, mark the section of the river which forms the eastern limit of French Sudan. Here it is joined by the Tankisso, or Bafing, from the Jallonké-dugu and Baleya districts, and in the immediate neighbourhood are the gold-fields of Buré, which like those of Bambuk are worked chiefly by the women. In Buré the surface, everywhere undermined with pits, frequently gives way, and when any of the miners get crushed they are left to their fate, the popular belief being that the evil genius wishes to keep them as slaves in the other world. But a year after the accident the pit is reopened, and if much gold is found collected about the dead, it is concluded that they have been protected from the demons by the good spirits, and the gold is accepted as an indemnity for the loss sustained by the miners.

The hamlet of Didi, residence of one of the chief rulers of Buré, was the farthest