Chapter VII: Part 7

The governor of the island is the supreme head of the civil, military, and judicial administration: the last, though dependant on the governor, is not entirely military; the laws are not positive, but have been established from custom. It is seldom that either free Mulattos or Negro slaves are condemned to death. Before the revolution, Negroes who were found guilty, were sold and sent to the American colonies. If they happened to be slaves, the produce of the sale served to indemnify the injured party, and the surplus was given to the master, after the expences were discharged; but if the condemned Negroes were free, a part of the produce of the sale likewise went to the prosecutor, and the rest was vested in the king’s treasury. In both cases the governor gave an account of the prosecution to the minister of the marine. At present, I am assured that no other sentences are passed than that of imprisonment in irons, either for a limited time, or for life.

The Whites are tried by the same tribunal, and under the same forms. When any one disturbs the tranquillity of the inhabitants, he is arrested, banished from the colony, and embarked for France. If he have committed murder, burglary, or any capital crime, he is seized, and sent to France, to be tried according to the instructions sent from the Senegal. All disputes relative to commerce are decided before the governor, who endeavours to reconcile the parties; and if he cannot succeed, they appoint three arbitrators, who, with the governor at their head, give a final decision. If the parties be Europeans, the arbiters are Whites; and when they are Africans, their case is decided by Blacks: while a dispute between an European and an African is submitted to a person of each colour. The decisions thus elicited are strictly adhered to; and there is not an instance in which a subsequent contest has arisen. The same forms of proceeding took place at Goree, while it was in our possession, as well as at all our establishments in this part of the world. Since then several reductions have been made in the forces and branches of civil administration, which have done no good to the colony.

The governor or commandant is the chief of the military department and of the police; he is also intrusted with the political arrangements that are made with the native princes, and he occasionally visits or receives them at his own residence: these visits, however, form the most disagreeable part of his office; for they seldom last less than a week at a time, and nothing can be more tedious than the ceremonies observed on the occasion.

The prince is always followed by a numerous body of attendants and musicians, who never leave him. He neither speaks, walks, eats, nor indeed moves, except by the sound of instruments, which his _guiriots_, or band, play without interruption. The article most in use is the half of a calebash, to which is fixed a long handle; it has three strings of horse and camel hair, and resembles a guitar. Its sound is heavy and monotonous. The prince smokes continually; and the chief employment of his attendants is to fill and hand him the pipes in succession, and take care that he never is without one. The governor is obliged to feed and lodge all these fellows; and to get rid of them, he at last loads them with presents: but, however liberal he may be in this respect, they are never satisfied; and in order to obtain something more, they pretend to set no value upon what he has given them.

When companies assemble to regulate the commerce of the Senegal, the director-general is particularly incommoded by their visits; as he has to put up with the trouble, and defray the expence of the whole. This last appears to me to be just, as they have no other motive than commercial affairs; but I never suffered any thing more disgusting in the whole course of my administration.

Isle St. Louis produces only pulse and culinary vegetables, which are obtained in abundance by those who possess gardens. The neighbouring isles supply amply, quantities of rice and millet.

Hitherto the only importance which we attached to the possession of the Senegal, was in consequence of the trade carried on for slaves, gum, gold, elephants’ teeth, and ostrich feathers. Many years ago we used to derive from it wax and hides; but these articles are no longer comprised in our speculations. We give in exchange, brandy, silks, cottons, iron, and all the articles which have been previously mentioned, as forming the barter at other parts of the coast.

When the Negroes first began to trade with Europeans, the article on which they set most value was iron; because it served them to make agricultural and warlike instruments. Hence iron soon became the commodity from which they appreciated all other articles. Thus a certain quantity of merchandize of any other kind was estimated to be worth so many bars of iron, which gave rise to the commercial expression of a bar of merchandize: for example, twenty plants of tobacco were considered as a bar of tobacco; and a gallon was called a bar of brandy; while a bar of any merchandize whatever was considered equal in value to a bar of any other kind.

The bar therefore is an ideal sort of money; but it necessarily happened that the abundance or scarcity of merchandize was in proportion to the number of foreign ships which arrived; and hence as their relative value was in continual fluctuation, it was necessary to be more decisive. At present the Whites value a bar of any sort of merchandize at four livres sixteen sous (about 3s. 10d. sterling); thus a slave who is valued at 100 bars, costs 490 livres Tournois.

In exchanges of this nature, the White merchant has a great advantage over the Negro: for the bar which he gives at the value abovementioned, seldom costs him more than half that price. The African who suspects this, is very difficult to satisfy, and is petulant and tiresome, on account of his ignorance.

Isle St. Louis is the general rendezvous for the trade of the Senegal; and the average number of slaves sent there is about 12 or 1500 per annum; though it is asserted to have formerly amounted to 3000. The price of slaves has varied at different periods, on account of the competition and jealousy of different European traders. The Negroes of the Senegal are preferred to all the Blacks of the African coast, as their race is handsomer than the others. But it has been found that they are more fit for domestic services, and for the arts and trades, than for working in the fields, a labour too severe for their constitution.

They value at, a _piece of India_, a Negro from 15 to 25 years old, who is vigorous, well formed, and has no defect. Three Negro boys or girls, well made and about 10 or 12 years old, are worth two pieces of India; and two children, between 5 and 10, are given and received for one piece.

A pound of ivory generally sells on the spot for 1 livre 16 sous; and a drachm of gold, for 10 livres: these articles are paid for in merchandize, according to the value of the bars. Ostrich feathers have no determinate price, but are sometimes given as presents, and at others sold to a good account.

When speaking of the Moors, I shall give a description of the gum trade, which they exclusively carry on.

* * * * *

CHAP. XIII.

* * * * *

COURSE OF THE SENEGAL, AND DISTINCTION BETWEEN IT AND THE NIGER. — ACCOUNT OF THE PEOPLE WHO OCCUPY ITS BANKS. — KINGDOMS AND INHABITANTS ON THE LEFT SIDE. — ACCOUNT OF KING BRACK, AND HIS LUDICROUS CONDUCT AT AN INTERVIEW WITH THE GOVERNOR. — DEFEAT OF A MOORISH PRINCE. — BATTLE BETWEEN THE VICTOR AND THE KING OF CAYOR, WITH ITS RESULTS. — ANIMALS OF THE BANKS OF THE SENEGAL.

THE Senegal, on the banks of which almost all the commerce of western Africa is carried on, and which has given its name to the French establishment in this part of the world, runs from its source for forty leagues or thereabout N. N. W. and then turns due N. as far as the cataracts of Govina: thence it runs to the N. W. till it reaches the cataracts of Felou; W. as far as Galam; N. W. to Faribé; and W. to Serimpalé. From this part it turns abruptly to the S.; and after several curvations it continues the same direction to the sea. In its course it divides itself into several branches, and forms two large lakes and some isles, of which I shall have occasion to speak.

It has long been thought that the Senegal and the Niger were the same river; and they were indifferently called by each name. Several ancient and modern authors have maintained this opinion; and others have controverted it. But the discoveries of Mungo Park have irrevocably decided the point; as this traveller has found, that the Senegal and the Niger are two different rivers whose course is opposite; the former running in a western, and the latter in an eastern direction.

In all seasons, the Senegal is navigable for small vessels and large boats, from its mouth as far as Podor, and even to Domus, which is twelve leagues higher. It cannot be ascended higher so as to reach Galam, except in the rainy season, when there is sufficient water to navigate vessels from 130 to 150 tons burthen.

There are two lakes formed by this river, one called the Basket-lake; and the other taking its name from Cayor. The banks of the former are fertile, and well peopled; but the inhabitants being intolerably lazy, often suffer the greatest misery, particularly when the harvest happens to fail. They are likewise exposed to the ravages of locusts and other calamities; and yet they have never had the presence of mind to guard against such disasters.

The grass-hopper or locusts come from the deserts that lie to the S. W. in bodies so numerous, that they obscure the light of the sun. They follow the direction of the wind, which seems to drive them forwards; and wherever they stop, they spread desolation; they devour all the fruit, grain, herbage and the leaves, and shoots of trees, so as to leave nothing but the bark. They are about as thick as one’s finger, or rather longer; and have sharp and cutting teeth, the attacks of which nothing can resist.

The Moors are sometimes victims of these terrible animals; but they avenge themselves by eating them: they carefully collect them, put them into leather bags, skin them, and boil them in milk. When thus prepared, they afford a very delicate and wholesome food.

Near the abovementioned lake there is a forest of the finest black ebony in the world, the wood of which may be had for the trouble of cutting it, and conveying it to boats; the expence of which does not make it come to more than forty sous the cwt. Large supplies might be obtained every year when the waters have risen.

The other is situated to the right of the river, about fifty leagues from its mouth, is much larger than the one just described, and is inhabited by Moors and Negroes, who live in easy circumstances.

The Senegal in its course forms forty-one isles. Those in the neighbourhood of isle St. Louis have been already described; and the others are not of sufficient importance to deserve particular notice.

The banks of the Senegal are occupied by various tribes; the right is inhabited, to the north, by the Moors; and the left, to the south, by the Negroes. But this demarcation is not rigorously observed, as some hordes of Moors have long established themselves in the Negro country, where they follow the occupation of shepherds and farmers, and live on good terms with their neighbours.

The left bank comprises several kingdoms and various nations. The Yolofs, who inhabit a vast tract of country between the Senegal and Gambia, are a powerful, active, and warlike native people, who differ from the other Negroes not only in their language, but in their features and colour. Their noses are not so flat, nor their lips so thick as those of most other Africans; their skin is of a fine black; and the Europeans, who carry on the slave trade, consider them as the handsomest Negroes on that part of the continent. These people are divided into several kingdoms or independent states, which are frequently at war with each other, or with their neighbours. Their religion is that of Mahomet; and their manners, superstitions, and forms of government, bear a perfect resemblance to those of the Mandingos already described. They excel the latter in the art of manufacturing cotton, and they also spin the finest wool, which they card and weave into broad cloths. I have spoken of their dress and language in an early part of the present work.

King Brack, the sovereign of Hoval, has an absolute power over his subjects, and can reduce them to slavery, or sell them with impunity. He is the owner of all the lands; and those which he has chosen for himself, are cultivated by any of the subjects whom he may fix on. During the journies which he makes, he is kept, and his expences are defrayed by his people. His revenues certainly are not considerable; but he wants for nothing. This prince receives annually from France, a duty in money, to the amount of 4915 livres.

In time of war all his subjects are obliged to take up arms at their own expence; the chiefs of each village conduct their troops, and unite round the prince. The greatest portion of this undisciplined military force is the cavalry. They march without provisions, and have no other advantage than what they derive from spoliation, of which the king has the greatest share. The princes and chiefs have nearly an equal portion, and they all profit more or less by the spoils of the vanquished party. The value and importance of such booty depend on the number of men taken and made slaves at the time of the engagement; and a single battle decides the fate of the country. The vanquished side capitulates in the field of action, and the conquerors return home; but the conditions being rarely observed, they cause a new war to break out, which leads to the same result.

I shall give a few particulars of the manners and customs of king Brack, which I observed during an interview that I had with him at his express desire.

In the beginning of April 1788, I made a journey to Podor, with the intention of reconnoitering the coast, ascertaining the course of the river, and making some regulations in the gum-trade. A few leagues before I arrived at the isle of Toddee, I perceived on the left bank, a numerous body of cavalry, and was informed, that king Brack wished for boats to be sent to bring him on board my vessel. I therefore sent two canoes, which returned with the king, five of his ministers, and four of his musicians. As soon as the prince embarked, I saluted him with nine pieces of cannon; and on reaching the ship, I paid him every attention which could flatter and please him.

His majesty was dressed in a white shirt, which hung down to his knees and was tied round him by a red swash; he had over it a large open tunic of a yellow colour; and his head and feet were naked, except that he wore a pair of yellow slippers. His suite were dressed according to the custom of the country.

I conducted the king under an awning placed on the deck, where we sat down together, and passed reciprocal protestations of friendship. I offered him some refreshments which he accepted; and was presented with Bourdeaux wine, but would not drink it. He asked me for brandy; on which I immediately ordered several flagons of that liquor to be placed before him: in a very short time he drank four large glasses full, and ate scarcely any thing. On taking a fifth he lost his speech; and the sixth set him fast asleep. His ministers and musicians were very sober, as they had drunk but little.

The king while in this state of inebriety was surrounded by his suite: some of them endeavoured to purify the air by agitating over his head, and in every direction with great violence, a pagne or cotton cloth; which manner of renewing the air is in general use in that country. The rest were occupied in keeping off the flies from his person, lest they should disturb his sleep.

I amused myself with this ridiculous farce, till my people informed me that dinner was on table, when I invited the ministers to accompany me; but they refused to quit their master: I therefore sat down to table alone. Shortly after his majesty awoke, and asked to see me, when they told him I was at dinner. “What,” observed he, “without letting me know? This white man is very unkind.” He then got up, came into the cabin, where the cloth was laid, stepped upon a chair, jumped on the other side; and at last seating himself at one of the windows, placed his feet upon the table.

In this posture, which caused me to laugh heartily, his majesty was supplied with what he wished to eat, but he would drink nothing but brandy. I therefore ordered the attendants to present him with as much he chose, on which he drank the same quantity as at first, and soon afterwards he fell dead drunk upon the floor.

His ministers raised him up, and attempted to carry him upon deck, by lifting him over the table; but his majesty was sufficiently awake to express his regret at leaving it: he therefore suddenly seized hold of a hare by the head, and carried it with him. I think I still see him holding the hare like a sceptre.

After my dinner, which I had much difficulty to finish for laughing, I went upon deck, to inquire after his majesty; and found him a little refreshed. We then talked for a few minutes on commercial affairs. Nothing worth notice afterwards occurred till it was time to separate; when I made him the customary presents, with which he appeared satisfied; and I did not forget to repeat the dose of brandy, nor to give the ministers and musicians what they had a right to expect. All the company then returned me thanks, and we parted on the best terms imaginable. While he was proceeding to the shore, I again saluted him with nine guns; and on landing, I saw him mount his horse, put himself at the head of his troops, and proceed towards his village.

In the evening he entered into conversation with his ministers, and wished to know what I had given them. Each of them told him what he had received; and they all acknowledged that they had been favoured with a tolerable portion of brandy. This his majesty insisted on abridging, in order to increase his own stock; and one person only refused to obey his orders, for which he was immediately seized. The negro made some resistance, and was wounded severely in the shoulder by a sabre. The next morning this ex-minister, a man of fine figure, tall and robust, was brought on board my ship, loaded with irons, and sold for a hundred bars.

I was much affected at the fate of this unfortunate man, and had him conducted to isle St. Louis, where his wounds were dressed and speedily cured. In the end his friends came to beg him off, and I restored him to his family.

The kingdom of the Foulahs, which is next to that of Hoval, begins at Ivory island, near Podor, and is governed by a prince named Siratick. This is likewise a name of dignity, which the king adds to that of his family: his states are much greater than those of Brack, as they extend along the banks of the river, as far as the kingdom of Galam, a distance of 200 leagues; their width is unknown. The country is well peopled, and the lands are good and rich.

The Foulahs have a deep black skin, and are neither so large, nor so handsome as the Yolofs. Siratick is more powerful than Brack, and has a more numerous cavalry. His states are divided into several provinces, each of which is governed by a lieutenant who commands its army, and whose power is absolute.

The religion, constitution, manners, &c. are like those of Brack, nearly similar to the Mandingo regulations; but the language differs. We pay to Siratick and his princes, an annual duty of 4333 livres. The crown amongst the Foulahs is hereditary, and descends to the eldest son of the king, if he be married to a princess of the blood royal: in the contrary case, it devolves to the eldest brother of the king or his nephew. In case of any disputes, which may afterwards happen, the great people unite, and elect a king; but they can only take him from amongst the reigning family.

In my time this country was governed by a Marabou negro, named _Almamy Abdulkader_: This prince had a very high character for his sanctity and valour, and had the absolute confidence of his own subjects, as well as of the neighbouring states; insomuch that people came from all parts to buy his _gris-gris_, and kiss his feet. He had reason to complain of Alikoury, a Moorish king of the Trarzas tribe, and marched against him with a numerous army: in his way he passed through the states of Hamet Mocktar, another Moorish prince, who was king of the Bracknas, formed an alliance with him, and at length arrived on the territories of Alikoury. This Moorish prince met his enemies, fought valiantly, and was killed; on which Almamy returned more powerful and revered than ever.

Alikoury was with me at isle St. Louis, when he was informed of the march of Almamy: he immediately set off with the utmost calmness, though without dissimulating as to the danger with which he was threatened; and took of me his last farewell. This brave man foresaw his destiny, and might have avoided it by retreating to the desert; but flight with him would have been cowardice, and he preferred death.

After this event Damel, king of Cayor, who was jealous of the power of Almamy, and of his influence over other states, was invaded by him and personally insulted. The following is the manner in which this event has been related. Almamy set no bounds to the authority which he had usurped, till his successes and the flatterers to whom he listened, had nearly cost him his head. One day he sent an ambassador to Damel, accompanied by two men, each of which carried a large sabre fixed to the end of pole. On obtaining an audience, the ambassador stated the intention of his master, and on laying the two blades before him said, “with this weapon Almamy will shave the head of Damel, if he, like a true Mussulman, refuses to acknowledge himself his vassal; and with this Almamy will cut the throat of Damel, if he refuse to subscribe to those conditions.” Damel answered coldly, that he had no choice to make; and that he would neither have his head shaved, nor his throat cut. He then politely dismissed the ambassador.

Almamy was irritated at this unexpected resistance; and putting himself at the head of a powerful army, he entered the states of Damel. On his approach, the inhabitants of the towns and villages stopped up their wells, destroyed their stores, and abandoned their houses; he therefore marched from place to place, without meeting with any opposition. Nevertheless his army suffered greatly for want of water, and many soldiers dropped dead on the road. At length he conducted his forces to a wood where he found water: the soldiers then allayed their thirst, and overcome with fatigue, laid down, and fell asleep. In this situation they were attacked by Damel, and completely defeated; many were trodden to death by the horses; others who attempted to escape were killed, and the remainder made prisoners. Almamy himself was made a slave, and taken before Damel, whom he had dared to threaten: he prostrated himself upon the ground before this generous king, who, instead of running him through with his lance, as is the custom in such cases, regarded him with pity, and said, “if I were in your place, what would you do to me?” “I would kill you,” replied Almamy, with much firmness, “and I know that is the fate which I am to expect.” “No,” replied Damel,“my lance is tinged with the blood of your subjects killed in battle; and I will not stain it deeper. The dipping of it in your’s would not restore my towns, or give life to the men who died in the wood. You shall not therefore die by my hand; but I shall keep you, till I am certain that your presence in your own states will no more be dangerous to your neighbours.” Almamy after this remained prisoner at the court of Damel for about three months; and instead of being reduced to the condition of a slave, was treated with the greatest distinction. At the end of that period, Damel yielded to the solicitations of the subjects of Almamy, and gave them back their king.

Almamy profited by this lesson: he governed with more prudence and wisdom; never disturbed his neighbours, but rendered his own people happy.

From the details which I have given, it will be seen, that the soil on all this side of the Senegal is of the richest kind, and gives food to a vast number of wild animals. There are besides abundance of oxen, sheep, poultry, and fish. Amongst the domestic animals is the camel: it carries great burdens, and is patient and submissive. They cause it to undergo great fatigues, and to travel several months together over burning sands, with very little food or water; its milk furnishes excellent drink; the Moors even drink its urine, and its flesh is their principal food.

The horses of this country are generally smaller than those of Europe; but they are well made, strong, active, and cunning.

The most remarkable of the wild animals, are the elephant, lion, and tiger: the wild boar, buffalo, tiger-cat, civet, gazelle, panther, leopard, stag, hind, and common deer are equally numerous.

The elephant is celebrated for its sagacity, docility, courage, strength, and size, and particularly for its attachment to its owner. The Africans have been mistaken in, or they despise the benevolent disposition of this animal; and instead of endeavouring to tame it, and apply it to useful purposes, they hunt it, kill it, eat its flesh, and sell its teeth.

The country also contains a vast number of apes of a small species: those of Galam are larger; the people often go into the woods to amuse themselves with their tricks. When they wish for young ones in order to tame them, they hunt the dams, which always carry their young in their arms: they fire at them, and the dam generally falls either dead or mortally wounded, pressing her young to her bosom. The hunter then takes it from the mother, which, if not dead, expires through despair.

After the accounts of Buffon and Daubenton, nothing remains for me to say of the lion, tiger, &c. The river horse which I have already described, is common in the Senegal.

The birds of Africa have likewise been described by several naturalists. The paroquets of the Senegal are not esteemed: they speak with difficulty, and pronounce badly; in fact this is a heavy, melancholy, and stupid bird. A species, however, unknown either at Senegal or in Europe, was discovered by chance during my governorship, in the isle of Sor: it was a young bird, and as yellow as a lemon. A Negro made me a present of it; I reared it with care, and in a short time it began to speak, but its voice was broken and harsh. As it grew up it acquired a few green feathers; but the yellow colour was always predominant. In the course of time it spoke much better than at first. This extraordinary bird which I wished to present to our naturalists, came to an unfortunate end. Being saved with me at the time of my shipwreck on the coast of Wales, it was seized and eaten by a cat on the very night of my landing.

* * * * *

CHAP. XIV.

* * * * *

OF THE MOORS WHO OCCUPY THE RIGHT BANK OF THE SENEGAL, WITH AN ACCOUNT OF THEIR ORIGIN, MANNERS, CUSTOMS, RELIGION, AND LANGUAGE. — OF THE GUM TRADE, WHICH THEY EXCLUSIVELY CARRY ON. — NATURE AND RESULT OF THAT TRAFFIC. — DESCRIPTION OF THE TREE WHICH PRODUCES THE GUM.

THE right bank of the Senegal is under the dominion of the Negro kings, Brack and Siratick, who, as we have already stated, reside on the left bank; but their sovereignty on the right side is almost nugatory: for there begins the immense desert which runs from east to west, from the sea as far as Galam; and from south to north, from the Senegal to the kingdom of Morocco. This sea of sand is known by the name of the _Great Desert of Sahara_, and is inhabited by the Moors, who, instead of acknowledging the authority of the Negro kings, are their irreconcilable enemies.

The name of _Moors_, which is given to all the tribes of the desert, seems to indicate that they are formed of the aborigenes; that is to say, that they have all descended unmixed from the Numidians, who, in the earliest times of which history informs us, inhabited the coasts of Africa, and the whole of the countries called Numidia and Mauritania; but their manners, customs, religion, and particularly their language, invincibly prove that the primitive race has been intermixed with other people, who brought them those ideas and that idiom which prevailed in another part of the world. They are at present distributed into tribes of greater or less extent, which are independent of each other, and each of which has its chief. Every tribe is divided into hordes; and each horde encamps on such a spot as will afford pasturage for their cattle; so that a whole tribe is never united in the same quarter.

In the interior of the desert reside the tribes of the Wadelims, of Labdesseba, Laroussye, Chelus, Tucanois, Ouadelis, Gedingouma, Jafanon, Ludamar, and several others. The first two are the most formidable, and extend their predatory system as far as the environs of Morocco, whose emperor is in constant alarm at their excesses. They are composed of large, strong, and well-made men; have generally a stiff hair, a long beard, a furious look, large pendent ears, and nails like talons: they even convert these into a formidable kind of weapon, in the quarrels which they have with their neighbours. The Wadelims in particular are the most arrogant and warlike race, and spread terror wherever they pass; though, like all the other Moors, their courage fails them, unless they have a decided superiority of numbers in their favour.

These people live under tents, which they move about at will: they are of a round form, terminating in a cone, and are covered with a thatch made of camel’s hair, so compact, that rain never penetrates through it. This covering is made by the women, who also prepare the leather of which the saddles, bridles, and various other articles, are manufactured.

The furniture of these dwellings consists of two large leather sacks, which hold a few rags and scraps of iron-work: sometimes they have a box or two, which become the object of cupidity amongst a whole horde. Three or four goat-skins, in which they keep their milk and water, several wooden platters, two large stones for pounding barley, a lesser one for driving in the pickets of the tents, some osier mats, which serve them for beds and covering, and a small copper kettle, are the whole of the goods which distinguish the rich from the poor.

It is also the business of the women to prepare the provisions, fetch water, and attend to the horses and cattle, which always lodge in the same tent. Those who are in easy circumstances keep Negro slaves to do the principal part of the labour; but they are always obliged to wait upon their husbands themselves. In short, nothing can exceed the arrogance of a Moor to his wife, nor the humility of the woman in presence of her husband.

The women, when a horde changes its situation, strike the tents, load and unburden the camels; and when the husband mounts his horse, his wife holds the stirrup: they are not even admitted to eat with the men, but when dinner is ready, they retire, and wait till they are called on, to take what is left.

These women are in some degree the property of their husbands: for a Moor does not marry till he is able to buy himself a wife. The fathers sell their daughters; and he who has most of them, is considered the richest man. The price agreed on is always paid in advance; and the husband may afterwards put away his wife, but what he has given for her is never returned. Nevertheless a Moor cannot turn away his wife without obtaining permission from the oldest people of the horde, but which they never refuse to give; so that the demand is a simple matter of form.

The women are treated by the Moors with the most sovereign contempt; they never take the names of their husbands, nor do the children even bear the names of their fathers. Amongst almost all the hordes they admit only of four or five different names. The men are distinguished by that of their tribe, and have some kind of surname.

Although the women in question are so badly used, and though they are very indecent in their manners and gestures, they are faithful to their husbands. An instance to the contrary seldom occurs; but when it does, the offender is driven from the house of her lord, and his relations generally revenge themselves by her blood, for the disgrace which she has brought upon their family.

The Moors consider the women as an inferior race of beings, created solely for their pleasure and caprice. With respect to female beauty they have singular ideas. An elegant shape, majestic walk, a mild and expressive physiognomy; in short, all the charms which delight our eyes, are to them without attraction. They must have women particularly fat; for with them corpulence seems to be every thing. Hence those women who only require the assistance of two slaves to help them to walk, can have but moderate pretensions; but those who cannot stir, and who are obliged to be conveyed upon camels, are considered perfect beauties, particularly if they have long teeth projecting out of the mouth.

This taste of the Moors for massive beauties induces the women to take the greatest care to make themselves fat. Every morning they eat an enormous quantity of cuscus, and drink several jugs of camel’s milk. The girls are obliged to take this food, whether they have an appetite or not; and when they refuse they are beaten to compliance. This forced diet does not occasion indigestion or any other disease; on the contrary, it induces that degree of fatness which passes for perfection in the eyes of the Moors. The Moorish girls are in other respects little attended to; and their education is totally neglected. These people think nothing of moral qualifications: for voluptuousness, submission, and corpulence are all that the Moors admire.

The boys are better treated; they are generally taught to read and write the Arabic language; and as soon as they begin to grow up, they are respected by the Moorish women, and even by their mothers, who no longer eat with them. At an early period they are accustomed to use the poniard adroitly, and to tear out with their nails the bowels of their adversaries: they are taught to give a lye the semblance of truth; are, in short, familiarized with wickedness, and are instructed to commit a crime with as much pleasure as they would do a good action.

A plurality of wives being permitted amongst the Moors, a hut is seldom seen with less than eight or ten children. The women live together under the same tent, and are witnesses of the partial attachment of the husband, without betraying any marks of jealousy.

The tent destined to receive a new married couple is ornamented with a little white flag, and the bridegroom has a band round his forehead of the same colour; and whether he be young or old, or be married for the first or sixth time, he is always decorated with the symbol of virginity.

On the day of the ceremony the bridegroom causes a camel to be killed, for the purpose of regaling the guests. The bride, with the women and young girls of her acquaintance, dance all day round a kettle-drum, and their motions are of a most indecent kind. They dance singly, and one after the other. She who begins the performance stretches out her neck, and makes the most shocking grimaces, which are repeated by the spectators with astonishing precision. They beat time with their hands; and at length all the company put themselves in motion.

The day after the wedding the bride is separated from her husband, and her friends wash her from head to foot; they afterwards comb her, plait her hair, redden her nails, and clothe her in a new drapery. She then pays visits through the camp, and in the evening is taken back to her spouse.

The Moors are extremely fond of their women and children, by whom they in return are tenderly loved. It is difficult to reconcile these sentiments of affection with the obdurate and barbarous conduct which they display in their families. For the slightest fault the offender is corrected with a revolting degree of severity; and the girls are always ill used, as they are indifferent both to the father and to the mother.

Nothing can exceed the joy of the parents on the birth of a son. The mother has neither doctor nor midwife to assist her; and she is most frequently alone and extended on the sand at the time of her _accouchement_. She immediately lays down her infant, takes some milk to refresh herself, and then goes to bed for the night. The mother who gives birth to a son, in order to testify her joy, blackens her face for forty days. On the birth of a daughter, she only daubs it half over, and keeps it so no longer than twenty days. A woman so disguised is a horrid and disgusting spectacle.

It is difficult to form an idea of the pride and ignorance of the Moors; they think themselves the finest people in the world, and suppose that the sun rises for them alone. “Contemplate that planet,” said a Moor to a Christian slave; “it is unknown in thy country: during the night you are not enlightened like us, by that orb which rules on our days and our fasts, or by those luminaries which fill the celestial arch, and indicate the hours for our prayers;—(he alluded to the stars.) You have no trees, nor camels, nor sheep, nor sand, nor goats,” continued he; “nor are your women made like ours. You do not inhabit the earth, but are born, live, and die in your houses that float on the sea.”

The greatest luxury of a Moor is to see his wives and daughters richly dressed, and on them he exhibits all his opulence by ornamenting their ears, arms, and legs with rings of gold and silver.

They have no knowledge of the arts and trade, though they make in a rude manner, pikes, knives, and even kettles, from the native iron which is furnished to them by the Negroes. Everything else for which they have occasion comes to them either directly or indirectly from the Europeans. They are a pastoral kind of people; and when at peace, rear great numbers of oxen, cows, sheep, goats, and horses. They make their oxen carry burdens, and cross rivers, on which occasions they ride them like horses.

They have no knowledge of cultivating land. The person who is charged with the labour, repairs to a spot which appears most moistened by rain, and scatters indifferently the seeds of millet, barley, and wheat, which he covers by drawing over them a plough harnessed to a camel. This implement, without breaking the ground, makes a simple furrow at its surface. If the subsequent rains promote the growth of the seed, each person takes the portion that belongs to him, and retires to his camp. Sometimes, instead of waiting till the grain comes to maturity, they cut it down and dry it on hot ashes, by which they deprive themselves of an abundant harvest, as well as of the straw that would feed their horses. But the Moors have no regard for futurity; they think only of the present.

Their common course of provisions is millet, barley, wheat, milk, honey, locusts, and wild animals. They make no use of poultry or domestic animals, except at the last extremity, or on solemn occasions, such as the visits of princes or distinguished friends, the birth of sons, marriages, or deaths. They pass alternately from abstinence to voracity. Their religion subjects them to frequent and rigorous fasts: in their travels they endure hunger and thirst; but when they find an opportunity of satisfying their appetite, they eat at a single meal more than three Europeans, and drink in proportion. Several of them, particularly the kings and great people, deprive themselves of wine, either from a religious principle or by way of example. But those who have connections with the Europeans are less scrupulous, and drink inordinate quantities of wine and brandy.

These people are almost always at war; frequently among themselves, but oftener with the Negroes. In battle, those who are mounted on horses are hidden in clouds of dust; but the camel, whose pace is heavy, though it takes long steps, is scarcely less useful than the horse: for, animated by the shouting of its rider, it dashes amongst the crowd, and produces more carnage by its bites than is effected by the musquetry. The Moors never make their attack in order of battle; but as many men as there happen to be, so many separate combats take place; and he who throws his adversary to the ground, seizes on his arms, and retires precipitately with the fruit of his conquest; but if the person conquered be a Negro, he is detained and made a slave. On some occasions two combatants of equal strength will give each other several stabs with their poniards, and then reciprocally tear out their entrails with their nails.

Such incursions generally ruin one party or the other. Those who possessed a considerable stock of cattle, are reduced in one day to the most dreadful misery, and despoiled by others, who, the evening before, had no property at all. The weaker tribes are of course the most exposed, and therefore take care to live at a distance from the others, especially from the Wadelims and Labdessebas.

Their ordinary arms are sabres, sagayes, and arrows, the last two of which they throw with great strength and accuracy. Some of them procure from the Europeans or Negroes musquets or pistols; but they cannot make use of them for any length of time, because those which are brought to them from Europe are of a very bad kind; besides which, the humidity of the climate causes them to be speedily covered with rust, while the heat spoils the temper of the metal: they therefore become good for nothing, and there are no workmen clever enough to repair them.

The Moors are very hospitable: every stranger, of whatever country or tribe he may be, or whether known to them or not, is kindly received. If several travellers arrive at any place together, the inhabitants defray amongst them the expences of their reception. They all, without distinction, go before a new comer, congratulate him upon his arrival, assist him in taking off his luggage, and convey it to a place of security. He is then conducted behind a bush to pass the night: for it is an invariable custom amongst these people never to admit a stranger into their tents. When this ceremony is over, the people sit down around him, and enquire the news of the country from which he comes; they ask, for example, whether such a horde have evacuated the spot on which they last encamped, whether he have met with others on his passage, &c. They then enquire the motives for and extent of his journey, and ask about the tribe to which he belongs. They never put any questions about his health till he has satisfied them on all the other points of their curiosity.

If the stranger do not know any person amongst the horde which he visits, it is the richest of them who is obliged to shew him the rights of hospitality; but this is not the case when the travellers do not come alone. They give to each a large porrenger of milk, and barley flour steeped in milk porridge or in water, when they happen to have any. If the visiter be able to read, they confer on him the honour of saying prayers; and on this occasion the table, or subordinate priest of the horde, places himself by his side as master of the ceremonies.

If the stranger have friends amongst the horde, and be distinguished either by his rank or property, they kill a goat or sheep, and sometimes an ox, for the purpose of regaling him. One of their wives prepares the feast. Before cooking the meat, she separates the suet, and serves it up to the guests in its raw state. As soon as the meat is dressed, she sets the share of her husband before his friends and neighbours; as it would be an irreparable error not to offer them this portion. She then puts the share of the stranger upon a layer of straw; and the Arabian who gives the treat, causing either a Christian or a negro slave to carry it, goes and offers it himself. This repast is never served up till ten o’clock at night, even though the stranger should have arrived in the morning. The Moors offer nothing except at night by the light of the moon, or round a large fire, which they generally kindle in all seasons. The traveller never fails to invite the person who treats him to do him the honour of eating with him; but the latter always beg to be excused, and his reason is, the respect which he bears for and ought to shew to strangers.

The next day the traveller continues his route, and goes off without taking leave of any one: if he happen to remain longer, it is considered an infringement upon their hospitality, and they let him know it by giving him a smaller allowance, which they continue to diminish as long as he stays, and thus politely force him to depart.

Amongst the Moors justice is prompt and decisive. Civil rights are little respected; but they know the necessity of checking men from committing crimes by the example of punishment. On these occasions, and in ordinary cases, the guilty individuals are conducted before the king of the tribe, who judges them alone and according to his caprice. When a man is accused of a capital offence, the prince calls in the most ancient people of the horde, and pronounces his judgment according to their opinion, which is instantly carried into execution. Capital punishments, however, are only inflicted upon Negroes: those of the Moors are merely fine, restitution, or banishment.

The most common diseases of the Moors are intermittent fevers and dysenteries, which are speedily cured by sudorifics, a few simple syrups, and a mild diet. Indeed, the patients often abandon themselves to the sole aid of nature, and quickly recover. The Moors have no physicians, and the old women are employed in taking care of the sick. There may be seen amongst them a great number of old men, who enjoy full health and vigour, though their whole time has been passed in continual exertions, and under all the fatigues and privations inseparable from their mode of life. It has, however, been remarked, that the less they have been connected with Europeans, the less have they been liable to infirmity and disease; because while they remained in their frugal and simple mode of life, their constitution was not affected by strong drinks or high-seasoned food.

The small-pox makes from time to time great ravages amongst the Moors, from whom it passes amongst the southern Negroes: those of the Senegal and the Gambia practise inoculation. At length the Moors, after a long career, come, like other men, to the end of their existence, and receive the last duties of their family and the whole of their horde. Amongst them a death is announced by terrible cries, and the women are employed to make the notification. On this occasion, all those belonging to an encampmant repair to the tent of the deceased, where some cry, and others sing his praises. Very often they change parts; so that the women cry, laugh, and sing alternately. Afterwards the body is washed, dressed, and carried to an elevated spot, where it is placed in a grave with the face turned towards the east, and the head rather raised. They cover the grave with stones, to secure the corpse from the attacks of certain carnivorous animals.

Their dress is very simple. The rich wear trowsers and pagnes, or pieces of cotton, which hang down to the ground: the latter forms a sort of great-coat without buttons, which they pass over the breast, and fasten with a belt; in this belt they place a poniard or large knife, sometimes two; and as they have no pockets, they put in their bosom whatever they have occasion to carry about them. A handkerchief is attached to the belt, but they use it more for wiping their hands and face than any other purpose: those who are of some respectability carry two. The common people have their head, legs, and feet naked; but the others wear, when they can get them, Morocco slippers, or sometimes half-boots, and always round the head a roll of white linen, which forms a turban. The latter likewise wear a woollen cloak, which is of a white colour, very finely made, and is brought to them from Morocco or Tunis: this cloak is very simple, and has at top a pointed cape, with which they cover their heads; at the end of this hood is a long string with a tassel. They never wear sabres except in the army; and then they either carry them in the hand, or pass them between the belt and their body. They do not know the use of regular belts; and though some richly embroidered ones have been sent to them as presents, they disdain to use them in battle, but make a parade of them when they go on visits. When they ride on horseback, the princes wear a sort of jockey boots of Morocco, and a mass of arms, which are fastened to the saddle bow; and they carry a lance or sagay in their hands. The others ride almost naked, but are always armed either with muskets, bows and arrows, or sagays.

The kings are always dressed in finer stuffs than the other Moors; they have likewise larger tents, and are remarkable for being covered with white linen or cotton.

The head-dress of the Moorish women is generally composed of a bandeau of white cotton, a part of which is larger than the rest, and serves as a veil for the face when they go in the sun: they often go veiled from head to foot. They have fine and long hair, which they plait, and leave flowing on their shoulders.