It happened that in her visits to the river, Kaloolah's appearance
attracted the attention of an old Moor from Morocco, who had crossed
the desert to Timbuctoo on a trading speculation, and thence had pushed
on up the Niger to Jennie. He was now about to return, and after
making some inquiries, proposed to Kinka to purchase her with the inten-
tion of taking her home with him, where her white skin would be no
objection, and her peculiar beauty would be better appreciated. " Who
knows," thought the old speculator, " but that she may find favor in the



226 KALOOLAH.
eyes of Muly Abderrhaman himself, and if so she will prove one- of the
best bargains that I have yet made."

In a few days after this change of masters Kaloolah and the Moor
embarked in one of the large boats employed upon the river for the
famed city of Timbuctoo. There were forty or fifty other slaves, with a
dozen or more negro and Moorish traders, besides a crew of fifteen or
twenty men, and a heavy cargo of rice, millet, butter, honey, onions, pis-
tachios, colat-nuts, preserved fruits, and manufactured stuffs.
