Chapter XIII

Description of Timé and its environs. — Character, manners, and customs of the inhabitants. — Period of circumcision for males, and excision for females. — Manufactures, trade, and agriculture. — Indigenous plants. — Diseases.

The village of Timé is situated at the distance of two days’ journey to the south of Sambatikila, fifteen to the north of Teuté and Cani, and ten to the north of Tangrera. The number of inhabitants is about five or six hundred, consisting partly of Mandingoes, and partly of Bambaras. A wall separates the two nations, but they live together on a friendly footing, notwithstanding the difference of religion; for the Mandingoes are Mahometans, and the Bambaras pagans. Such, however, as are the offspring of a Mandingo mother consider themselves superior to the unmixed Bambaras; they nevertheless, remain idolaters.

There is a chain of mountains to the east of the village. During the rainy season, the clouds collect in such masses around the summits of these mountains, that for five months and a half it rains almost without intermission. I did not experience any extraordinary heat during the rainy season. The air is always cool and damp, which renders it very unhealthy. In the months of December and January, a variable, but northerly, wind prevails, which still farther cools the atmosphere. The soil consists of good black mould and sand. In some parts it is irrigated by a number of small rivulets, the overflowing of which, fertilizes the land. The birds of the Senegal also inhabit the well-wooded banks of these streams. Green parrots are common, but I saw no paroquets.

The Mandingoes, who are naturally indolent, make their slaves work hard.[56] Those who have no slaves, are obliged to cultivate their own fields, but in that case they labour so inefficiently, that their harvest does not maintain them during the whole year. They, therefore, purchase from the Bambara negroes, who sell their surplus grain to procure salt.

The slaves, being regarded by the Mandingoes as their principal wealth, are not ill-treated; their food is the same as that of their masters, though sometimes it is not quite so abundant; they are dressed in a coarse pagne, which they wear to the last rag: they go naked until they are eighteen, or sometimes older. When they are not looked after, their natural indolence causes them to neglect their work: but towards that fault their masters are rather indulgent. They never punish them severely, except for theft or desertion. When it is suspected that a slave intends to run away, irons are put on his legs.

The Mandingoes measure time by years, months, weeks, and days, and I observed that they never miscalculated. They reckon the month by lunar revolutions, and twelve months make one year, which is called _sang_; their weeks consist of seven days. The market is held in the village once every week. They do not measure the day by hours, but divide it into four parts; the forenoon, until eleven o’clock, is called _soyoman_; from that hour to four o’clock, _télé_;[57] from four to seven o’clock, _oula_; and the night is called _soudo_.

The Mandingoes of this part of Africa are all traders; they travel much, even in the rainy season, but, being obliged to carry their merchandise on their heads, they take little with them, and journey at a slow pace. Their trade of course is not lucrative. They never travel without having about their garments abundance of amulets, or grigris, covered with scarlet. The inhabitants of this part of Soudan are not hospitable. The merchants are, therefore, obliged to purchase their provisions, and to pay for their lodgings, besides discharging the transit-duty, levied in each village. A considerable part of their profit is consequently expended in each journey. They carry bows and arrows, for fire-arms are not common in that country. They never travel without a small pot of vegetable butter, which they carry at their girdle, and every evening, after washing with warm water, they grease the head, face, and part of the body. They are so accustomed to anointing themselves in this manner, that the journey would be quite uncomfortable if they omitted to use the grease-pot. When they return from their journeys, they indulge in idleness and gormandizing, leaving agricultural labour to their slaves. They often go to the ourondé, where the slaves reside, to see if every thing be in good order, and to encourage them to work. They sometimes send them a good supper of foigné, which they make their wives prepare.

The Mandingoes have usually two meals a-day; they breakfast at eleven o’clock, take supper at seven in the evening; in the morning they sometimes eat a little rice porridge, which they call _baya_. The poor have but one repast a-day, but the greater part of them visit their neighbours to partake of their meals.

The negroes are extremely fond of social meetings. In the fine season, after evening prayer, they assemble with the whole neighbourhood, to take supper together. Each wife brings her husband’s supper on her head. Some have tau, others yams and rice; the sauce is usually separate, in a little plate called _birit_. These parties are always very merry. These worthy Musulmans vituperate those whom they call infidels, laugh heartily, and amuse themselves at the expense of absent friends. The women are not admitted to these meetings; they eat in their huts with their children, but never with their husbands. At the age of ten the male children take their meals with the father. When the repast is finished, the women come and collect their household utensils.

A custom which I observed to prevail generally among the negroes appeared to me very singular. At the end of every meal they thank each other reciprocally, and afterwards run through the village, repeating their thanks to every one they meet, which is equivalent to saying that they have dined or supped. It is easy to judge of the quality of the repast of which they have partaken, according to the expression of greater or less satisfaction with which the word signifying _thanks_ is pronounced. Some of them came to the door of my hut also to ejaculate their thanks.

The Bambaras, who are all pagans, marry as many wives as they are able to maintain; but the Mandingoes have never more than four: they do not, however, marry them all at once, but at different periods, sometimes after intervals of three or four years. Every new wife occasions a considerable expense, which they cannot defray, unless success in trade has enabled them to accumulate some profits. They must purchase slaves to present to the parents of their mistress; for otherwise no wife is to be had. This kind of dowry varies in amount, according to circumstances. If the female be of a good family, if she be handsome, or if her possession of superior qualities be generally acknowledged, the parents require three or four slaves, or the value of that number in merchandise. These unfortunate beings become henceforth the property of the mother. When the girl to be married is neither of a distinguished family nor handsome, then only two slaves are given. Throughout the whole of this country I met with no instance of a young woman living in a state of celibacy; pretty, or plain, they all get married. These wives are, however, only so many servants, whom the men secure to themselves, and of whose running away they have no reason to be afraid. The bridegroom must deliver his slaves before he obtains possession of his bride, to whom he also makes some little presents, besides sending her every day large calabashes full of rice. The two months prior to the nuptials form a holiday time for the bride, and the mother invites the neighbours to take part in the merrimaking. These customs undergo some modification in each country: at Cambaya, for example, if the bridegroom gives three slaves, two are for the mother-in-law, and the third follows the bride to the house of her husband. At Timé, and at Sambatikila, the relations of the bride receive every thing. When the bridegroom has gone through every formality, and made all the requisite presents, if the betrothed, or any of her relations, should after all refuse to conclude the marriage, they are obliged to indemnify him for all the expenses he has incurred; on the contrary, if the objection be made by the man, whether from jealousy or any other cause, he loses all he has given. When, however, a discussion arises between the bridegroom and the family of the bride, and the match is in consequence broken off, every thing that the relations have received must be returned. Among a selfish and avaricious people, it is a necessary effect of these rigid regulations, that the first engagements are seldom dissolved. In the result the women are always the victims; for the men, looking upon the other sex as an inferior order of beings, are always absolute masters in the domestic circle. Quarrels are, however, frequent, for the husbands are extremely rigorous, and the wives are not very tractable. These unfortunate women may indeed be considered on a level with the slaves as to the severe labours imposed upon them. They go to distant places for wood and water; their husbands make them sow, weed the cultivated fields, and gather in the harvest. When they travel with a caravan, they carry burthens on their heads, while the husbands proceed at their ease on horseback. The poor women are often severely reproved for the slightest mistake they commit; they then cry, storm, and run about the village, complaining loudly of the injustice of their husbands; little attention is however paid to them, for the husbands, in their own opinion, are never in the wrong, and the dispute ends by the wife receiving a sound drubbing; she then weeps and screams, until the elders of the village come to her relief and restore peace for a time to the hut. I observed, that after a beating they become very gentle. It is certain that they are not vindictive; and indeed they would gain nothing by being so. On the third or fourth day after the quarrel they are as cheerful as ever. The wife dare not lift a hand against her husband, even in her own defence; and she never ventures to indulge in the least joke upon him. The husband always speaks in the tone of a master: in fact, his wives are merely servants.

I asked Baba why he did not sometimes make merry with his wives: he replied, that if he did he should not be able to manage them, for they would laugh at him when he ordered them to do any thing. Their marriages are celebrated by feasting and dancing, all the population of the village participating in the rejoicings; the consumption of eatables is great, and the husband pays all the expense: those who cannot attend have their suppers sent to them in calabashes; others who are absent have their share kept for them till they return home.

When the young bride repairs to her husband’s village, a fresh entertainment is prepared for her reception. Gaiety always prevails on these occasions. No religious ceremony unites the husband and wife; nevertheless, the link by which they are bound cannot be broken; for the dowry which the husband has given is a solemn act, which cannot be undone. The wife is not the less unfortunate: let her husband beat her as much as he pleases, she cannot obtain a separation, except by restitution; but that is with her impossible, since she possesses nothing, and her parents, if they should be able, would not restore what they have received.

With respect to physical suffering the fortitude displayed by the women is remarkable. While pregnant they continue to perform the severest labours until the very last moment of their time. They give birth to children without uttering a complaint, and one would almost believe that they are delivered without pain, for on the following day they resume their usual occupations. I observed that the child is born white, with only a shade of yellow, and that it grows gradually darker until the tenth day, when it is quite black. The new-born infant is bathed in a calabash of tepid water, and not in the river as several travellers have asserted. Adults seldom bathe in cold water; still less do children. The mothers watch over their infants with great tenderness, seldom trusting them to the care of others. They always suckle them themselves, and they carry them every where on their backs, fastened up in their pagne, as is the custom in almost all the negro countries. In all the parts of Africa which I have visited, boys and girls go about naked until the age of puberty.

The male Mandingoes are circumcised between the age of fifteen and twenty. The excision which females should undergo when they are marriageable is often delayed until they are promised in marriage. I even saw a married woman, who, after having a child, submitted to this operation. It is always performed by women, and on several patients at once, who are thereby rendered for some time unable to work. In this state they are taken care of by their mothers, who bathe the wound several times a day with an indigenous caustic, with the use of which they are acquainted. Their female neighbours go in quest of the wood and water of which they stand in need.

The day of circumcision is always a rejoicing day. On the following day, the girls who have undergone the operation promenade the village accompanied by an old woman. They stop at every door to solicit donations, the old women speaking for them. The young women never go out without a reed which they carry in the left hand. They also wear on this occasion a man’s cap of a large size, the front of which is supported by a piece of flexible wood put inside to make it stand up. With this head-dress these girls look like giantesses. Instead of a reed, I have seen some of them carrying an iron arrow, as an emblem of the circumcision. The persons whose hospitality is appealed to on the part of the newly circumcised, hasten to prepare, each in his turn, victuals sufficient for a great dinner or supper, into which they put salt, and which is distributed among the patients. All their friends and neighbours follow this example if they please; but those who are betrothed must not fail, and they continue to send dinners to the circumcised until their recovery, which in general is not completed until six weeks after the operation. Their fathers, who never live in the same hut, also send them more provisions than usual. Large platefuls of rice or tau are distributed by the mothers among the neighbours and relations. On these occasions I was never forgotten. The good negress, my landlady, always took care that I should have my share.

The fathers and mothers are extremely fond of their children, and they, in their turn, have a great veneration for their parents. Indeed, respect and obedience to the old is a rule rigorously observed. In all these countries I never saw a mendicant. The aged who are unable to support themselves are always maintained and treated with respect by their children. In this part of the interior I saw a blind man, but he did not beg, as is the custom for such persons in other negro countries. Many travellers have asserted that the children retain a stronger attachment to their mother than to their father; but for my part, though I had an opportunity of studying their character for some time, I cannot say that I observed this difference in their affection. When they have any business to transact they follow in preference the advice of their father, and they would feel extreme reluctance to disobey him; for the father is always the supreme head of the family. I shall cite, by way of example, Arafan-Abdalahi, a Mandingo of Kankan, a man of forty or forty-five, who relinquished the pleasure, and even the religious duty, of performing a pilgrimage to Mecca, that he might not displease his aged father whose consent he could not obtain. I did not observe that the Mandingoes quarrel often. It is dangerous to insult them and still more to offend their parents. They are however vindictive, inquisitive, envious, liars, importunate, selfish, avaricious, ignorant and superstitious. They are not strictly speaking thieves since they do not steal from each other; but their probity with respect to others is very equivocal and in particular towards strangers, who would be very imprudent to shew them any thing that might tempt their cupidity, such as scissors, knives, glass trinkets, gun-powder, paper, &c. articles which are exceedingly rare and valuable in those countries. The Mandingoes do not trust any thing, even in the hands of their relations, without first counting or measuring it several times. In general they are distrustful and far from scrupulous about the means of obtaining what pleases them. During my stay at Timé, I heard that a Bambara belonging to a distant village had killed one of his comrades, which occasioned much consternation in the neighbourhood, but I was never able to learn whether the murderer suffered any punishment for the offence. I can, however, affirm that such crimes are rare among the Bambaras, and never committed by the Mandingoes. These latter despise the poor Bambaras, whom they look upon as infidels, but I had good reason to think that they are themselves avaricious and inhospitable, and I firmly believe, that I should have perished during my illness, if I had not possessed wherewithal to pay for my food; and for my personal security I was indebted to my disguise. They all manifested the most decided aversion to the name of christian; for they entertain the very worst idea of us. However, they are not altogether devoid of sensibility: they pay much attention to their countrymen in sickness, and even to those of their own religion. It must be remembered that I was to them an indifferent being, and yet, some of them evinced sincere compassion for me. I however, experienced more hospitality and less annoyance among the Foulahs than from the Mandingoes.

When a negro enters the house of a chief or a man of quality, he leaves his sandals at the door, and announces himself, by repeating three times _Salam alékoum_. This formality is not observed towards their equals until after the door is closed.

Earthen pots are not manufactured at Timé, but are procured from the Bambaras, who barter them for salt and colat-nuts: all these pots are of an oval shape, and I have seen some of them from eighteen to twenty inches deep: they are of a grey colour and not so well made as in the Kankan and the Wassoulo. The women employ their leisure moments in spinning cotton, from which is manufactured a kind of coloured cloth; this cloth is exchanged on the road to Jenné for cowries, the money with which they purchase salt. The Mandingoes of Timé do not live as well as those of Kankan and the Fouta. Like the Bambaras they eat all kinds of quadrupeds, except cats and dogs. My host Baba had three slaves, only one of whom, was able to work. The other two, and especially a little boy, were treated with harshness, because they were unable to make themselves useful. He was therefore obliged to employ day-labourers. The people of Timé are not so neat in their dress as the inhabitants of the Fouta and the Kankan, but they are better clothed than the Bambaras. Two days after the birth of a child, the event is celebrated by dancing and feasting.

They are accustomed, summer and winter, to bathe in warm water, every evening on returning from the fields where they work; the women take care to have the water ready. They have fires every night in their huts, for they are naturally chilly.

I have seen among the Mandingoes at Timé large nets made of cotton and the bark of trees twisted together; with these nets they go out to hunt the gazelle and wild-boar. Having discovered the traces of the animals in the woods, they spread their nets, and scour the surrounding country in order to drive the game into them. As soon as the animal is caught it is killed with the poniard. They generally assemble in great numbers for these hunting expeditions, which however, often prove unsuccessful. When they kill an animal they always turn its head to the east. The women never kill poultry; that business is always performed by the men. The inhabitants of Timé do not however kill much poultry, though they breed a great deal; they prefer selling it to travellers; they keep some goats and sheep, but neither oxen nor cows, although the soil produces excellent pasturage. There are some cows in the neighbouring villages but they are never milked.

Caravans of saracolets often pass through Timé on their way to the south to purchase slaves. The saracolets are not a nation but, as I have before mentioned, a class of merchants, who travel in every part of Africa. There are saracolets in all the negro countries, Mandingoes and Bambaras, Fouta-Dialonkés, in Kayaya, Bondou, &c. They are all Mahometans, and use in conversation among themselves a particular dialect, which the other negroes, even those of their own nation, do not understand. They scarcely ever remain in their native country, and have every where the reputation of being rich and very much inclined to theft.

When a stranger arrives at Timé, who happens to find any relations or friends there, if he does not immediately go to them, as soon as they hear of his arrival they prepare a great dinner for him. This repast, of which a fowl seasoned with salt forms part, they send by their wives to the new comer. They do not touch it themselves, but prepare a dinner for themselves as usual. Soon afterwards they call on their friend and receive his thanks; and, should they even find him at his meal, they would not partake of any portion of it. After his repast the stranger goes to pay his visit, which he would not have done, if the fowl had not been sent to him. This custom is very general throughout the country.

The huts of Timé are neither so large nor so neat as those of the Fouta and Kankan, though they are built in the same form, and surrounded by a similar wall of earth, six feet high and five inches thick; it is the women’s business to cover this wall with cow-dung, which is purchased at the market for a few colats. The huts are roofed with straw, and contain no furniture except some mats spread upon the ground, which serve for seats in the day-time and beds at night, a few earthen pots for culinary purposes, wooden plates, calabashes, spatules for stirring the tau, and an earthen jar to hold water. The women keep their wood in a corner of their huts, lest their indolent neighbours might make free with it to save the trouble of procuring some for themselves. When they collect their wood, they make little presents of portions of it to the aged women in their vicinity. The inhabitants of this village do not use large earthen jars for holding grain, like the people of Fouta and Kankan, which shows that they neither grow so much, nor are so rich as the latter. Half a mile from the village there is a beautiful clear spring, where the inhabitants fetch water for their consumption. This spring is shaded by large trees, the name of which I do not know, but which would I believe, be very fit for building. The few productions of the soil cultivated by the people of Timé are left in the fields, with small pieces of written paper affixed to them, to keep off thieves; and no one ever touches them. During my stay at Timé, I only saw one man whose yams had been stolen out of the ground; but, said the negroes, they were not protected by grigris.

The butter-tree, or cé, is very abundant in the neighbourhood of Timé. It grows spontaneously, and in height and appearance resembles the pear-tree. The leaves grow in tufts, supported by a very short foot-stalk. They are round at top, and when the tree is young, they are six inches long. When the tree grows old the leaves become smaller, and resemble those of the Saint-Jean pear-tree. It blossoms at the extremity of its branches, and the flowers, which are small, grow in clusters, and are supported by a very strong pedicle. The petals are white, and the stamina are numerous and scarcely perceptible to the naked eye. The fruit, when mature, is as large as a Guinea-hen’s egg, of oval shape, and equal at both ends. It is covered with a pale-green pellicle, beneath which is a green farinaceous pulp, three lines thick, of an extremely agreeable flavour. The negroes are very fond of it, and I liked it myself. Under this pulp there is a second pellicle, very thin, and resembling the white skin which lines the inside of an egg-shell. This covers the kernel, which is of a pale coffee colour. The fruit being disengaged from the two pellicles and the pulp, is enclosed in a shell as thin as that of an egg, and the kernel is of the size of a pigeon’s egg. The fruit is exposed several days to the sun, in order to dry it, then pounded in a mortar, and reduced to flour which is of the colour of wheat bran. After being pounded, it is placed in a large calabash; luke-warm water is thrown over it, and it is kneaded with the hands until it attains the consistence of dough. To ascertain whether it is sufficiently manipulated, warm water is thrown over it, and if greasy particles are detached from the dough and float, the warm water is repeated several times, until the butter is completely separated, and rises to the surface. The butter is collected with a wooden spoon, and placed in a calabash. It is then boiled on a strong fire, being well skimmed to remove any pulp that might remain with it. When sufficiently boiled, it is poured into a calabash with a little water at the bottom to make it turn out easily. Thus prepared it is wrapped in the leaves of the tree, and will keep two years without spoiling. The butter is of an ash-grey colour and as hard as tallow. It is an article of trade with the negroes, who use it both for food and for anointing their bodies. They also employ it to burn for light; and they told me that it was an excellent ointment for pains and sores. The fruit of the cé is much larger in Baléya and Amana than in Timé. The seed of this tree, which is so valuable to the people of these countries, could not be transported to Europe for sowing, unless packed in small earthen vessels, otherwise it loses its germinative power, which does not last long. I have already mentioned that there is at Timé a fruit called _taman_, which also produces an unctuous substance very good for eating and more firm than the cé. It might be advantageously employed in Europe for burning. The grease or fat, called by the natives _taman-toulou_, is extracted by the same process as that employed with the cé. The tree, which produces the _taman_ grows on the banks of rivulets, and is very common in the south. These two trees are so abundant at Cani and Teuté, that the inhabitants of those places, I was told, though possessing plenty of cows, never eat any butter except that produced by the trees. Palm-oil is also met with here, though not in great quantity. The kernel of the taman is of the size of a horse-chesnut, somewhat elongated, of a beautiful pink colour, deepening a little towards the outside. It is exceedingly hard; and the women, after setting it on the fire in earthen pots, crush it between two flints, previously to pounding it in the mortar. The butter of the taman is of a light yellow colour. It is firmer than that of the cé, and has no smell. I preferred this to the other.

Indigo grows spontaneously in the environs of Timé. The women use it for dyeing their cotton thread; which the men weave into cloths. The process employed to extract the dye is very simple. They do not take the trouble to cut the plant, but gather the leaves, which they bruise; and then making them up into small cakes they lay them in the sun to dry.

This process has been followed for a very long period. When the dye is wanted, the cakes are bruised, and put into a large earthen pot, made for this purpose; cold water is then poured over them and time is allowed for the leaves to soak. After leaving them twenty hours to ferment, ley is made with the ashes of the straw of foigné, and cold water is added. This has the effect of dissolving the indigo. The dye being thus prepared, the articles to be dyed are put into the pot. Cotton requires to be thus soaked for a whole night, or even longer; and when taken out, I have seen it of a beautiful blue colour. In proportion as the water diminishes, more is added, and the same leaves serve to dye for a whole week; but the first tint is always the finest.

I saw, in this country a climbing plant, with a very broad leaf, and containing a large quantity of blue dye. It is very common at Sierra-Leone. The young women do not dye the cotton thread; that task is always consigned to the old women, who also cultivate little gardens round their huts, where they raise various kinds of herbs which they use for making their sauces, &c. In these gardens they also grow tobacco, which is sown in September and transplanted in October. Very little attention however is bestowed on its cultivation. That which I saw at Timé and in its neighbourhood is of a small species, and it is not gathered until it runs to seed. The leaves, after being dried in the sun, are reduced to powder. This is the only way in which the inhabitants use tobacco. I never saw any prepared in the European manner at Timé.

They have small hard beans of a grey colour which they boil. The giraumon also grows here. It is cooked with pistachio-nuts and pimento. This last plant, so common in hot countries, does not thrive well here; the inhabitants therefore purchase it in their journeys to the south, where they also procure a long kind of pepper which they are very fond of. They call it cani, the name of the place whence it is brought, and merchants carry this pepper to Jenné to exchange it for salt.

The most common distempers at Timé are ophthalmia, eruptive sores, swellings of the neck and throat, fevers and leprosy. Scurvy also makes its appearance sometimes. I never saw any deformed person in these parts. Colds are very common.