Chapter XLII: Section IX

_Some Account of the Manners and Customs on the Gambia, and of the Elephant and Hippopotamus._

It now remains for me to relate what I observed and was informed of concerning this country, during my short stay. The religion of the Negroes of Gambia consists of various kinds of idolatry; they place great reliance on sorcery and other diabolical things, yet all believe in God. There are many Mahometans among them, who trade to many countries, yet are not settled in houses, because the natives are ignorant[1]. They live very much in the same manner with the natives of Senegal, and have the same kinds of provisions; but they cultivate more sorts of rice. They eat dogs flesh, which I never heard of being used anywhere else. They are clothed in cotton garments, and have great abundance of cotton in their country, which may be the reason of the Gambians not going naked, as those of Senegal do, where cotton is very scarce. The women dress in the same manner; and, when they are very young, take great delight in delineating figures on their necks, breasts, and arms, with the point of a hot needle, which are never obliterated, and which resemble the flowers and ornaments which are wrought on silk handkerchiefs. The country is excessively hot, and the heat increases as we go to the south; besides which, we found it much hotter up the river than at sea, owing to the immense number of trees with which the country everywhere abounds. Some of these trees are of very great dimensions. Near a spring where our sailors were in use to fill our water casks, not far from the banks of the river, there grew an exceedingly large tree, but its height was by no means proportional to its thickness; for, though it measured seventeen cubits in girth near the ground, its height, by estimation, was only twenty paces. This tree was hollow, but the branches were very large, avid extended to a great distance, forming a thick and ample shade. But there were many other trees much larger than this, by which the richness and fertility of the soil may be easily conceived; and the country is intersected by numerous streams.

There are many elephants in this country, but the natives are ignorant of the art of taming these animals, as is practised in other countries. One day, while we lay at anchor in the middle of the river, we observed three elephants come out from the wood and walk by the river side, on which we sent our boat with some of the people towards them, but they immediately returned into the wood. These were all I ever saw alive; but, sometime afterwards, Guumi-mensa[2], one of the Negro lords, shewed me a dead young elephant, which he had killed after a chase of two days. The Negroes hunt on foot in the woods, using only arrows and assagays, or javelins, which are all poisoned. When they hunt the elephant they conceal themselves behind trees, and even sometimes mount to their tops, leaping from one tree to another in pursuit of the elephant, which, being a large unweildy animal, is often wounded in many places before it can turn round, or place itself in a posture of defence; but, in an open field, no person dare attack one, nor could even the swiftest escape from their pursuit, as I have been informed by many of the Negroes. The teeth of this dead elephant, which was shewn me by Guumi-Mensa, one of which still remained in the jaw, did not exceed three spans long, which distinctly shews that it was quite young in comparison of those whose teeth are from ten to twelve spans in length; yet, small as it was for an elephant, we computed that the weight of its carcass was equal to five or six oxen. Guumi-Mensa made me a present of what part of this elephant I liked best, and gave the remainder to his huntsmen to feast on. Understanding that elephants flesh was eaten by the Negroes, I had some both roasted and boiled, of which I tasted, that I might be able to say that I had fed upon the flesh of an animal which had never been eaten by any of my countrymen; but I found it hard, and of an unpleasant relish. I brought one of the legs and a part of the trunk on board our caravel, together with some of the hair from its body, which was a span and a half long, of a black colour, and very thick. On my return to Portugal, I presented this hair to Don Henry, together with a part of the flesh salted up for that express purpose, which he received with much satisfaction, as it was the first of the kind that had been brought from the countries that were discovered under his auspices. The foot of the elephant is round, like that of a horse, but without hoofs; instead of which it is covered by a very thick, hard, black skin, and defended by five nails on the fore part, which are round and of the size of a _grossone_[3]. Though young, the foot of this elephant measured a span and a half in diameter. From the same Negro lord I received the foot of a full-grown elephant, the sole of which was three spans and an inch in diameter; which, together with a tooth of twelve spans long, I presented to Don Henry on my return, who sent it afterwards as a great curiosity to the Dutchess of Burgundy.

In the river Gambia, and in other rivers on this coast, besides the _Calcatrici_[4] and other animals, there is one called the _river horse_, or hippopotamus, of the same nature almost with the sea cow, and which lives both on land and in the water. This animal is as large in the body as a cow, with very short legs and cloven feet, having a large head like that of a horse, and two huge teeth like the tusks of a wild boar, some of which I have seen upwards of two spans long. This animal, when it gets out of the river, walks on the land like any other fourfooted beast; and, so far as I know, was never before discovered by any Christian traveller, except perhaps in the Nile. We saw likewise a number of bats, or rather owls, upwards of three spans long; and many other birds, quite different from those of our country, both in appearance and taste, yet very good to eat.

[1] The meaning of this expression is obscure. Perhaps it implies that
their Mahometan teachers had no mosques, because the Negroes were
ignorant of the means and method of construction. The knowledge of God
among the northern Negroes was assuredly due exclusively to the
Mahometan missionaries.--E.

[2] Called Gnumi-Mensa in Grynaeus. According to Jobson, Mensa, or Mansa,
signifies a king in the Mandingo language.--Astl.

[3] A Venetian silver coin, not exceeding a silver penny.--Astl.

[4] This animal is nowhere explained. Perhaps the crocodile or
alligator.--E.