Christian flock. He says, “ We are disposed to beheve: that
the words of their Koran are only a fetish and a c
the rank and file of their adherents, and that great super*,
tion prevails among them, and is propagated b j J | g § M P
how the Bishop can see a difference m this matter betwem
the use of the Koran and the Bible by the negr.o of Sierra
Leone it is difficult to understand; and judged by
S i of every-day conduct, the Mohammedan is m nine
cases in ten, the best man in West Africa. But he is, I gneve
say not thoroughly orthodox. The Koran I have seen
many of them using consists merely of extracts an ( u iP f c
written in Maghribi characters; and I have grave doubts
whe her they could read this any better than I could without
I dictionary" I have also frequently seen them pHymg
warrv and another game, the name whereof I know not, Out
it is played with little sticks of wood stuck m the ground, and S something on the rub,” or what corresponds to i t ; although
f g a m b i - d b s aw s f
some individuals from Accra, whom I once met, shoeked me
deeply by saying Mohammedans were divided into *two
classes Marabuts who do not drmk, and Sonniki w o .
do not know where they can have picked up this idea ; but
observed my acquaintances were “ hard-shelled’ Sonniki.
Again the lie r r a Leone and Lagos Mohammedans regard
working in leather and iron as quite respectable occupations
which is not in accordance with views M f e j p hlS
Mohammedan circles. Very good leather-work they cer^
m in lv to n ou t-b a g s , sheaths for. daggers, and such like, to
say no i ng of the quaint hats, made of the most brilliant
X . ' » f and t
f i t S y i t S brims hang down and shade .he
X * a i l k e y also shelter the eyes to such an extent that
i Sierra Leone after a Hundred Years.
the wearer can’t see without bending up the front brim pretty
frequently ;•—but then I notice there always is something
wrong with a rational article of dress. Then the bulbous
dome top keeps off the sun from the head, rain runs off the
whole affair easily, and bush does not catch in it. I f I had
sufficient strength of mind I would wear one myself, but
even if I decorated it with cat-tails, or antelope hair, as is
usually done, I do not feel I could face Piccadilly in one ;
and you have no right to go- about Africa in things you
would be ashamed to be seen in at home.
The leather-work that meets with the severest criticism
from the Christian party is the talisman or gri-gri bags,
and it must be admitted that an immense number of them are
sold. I have, however, opened at hazard some eighty-seven
of these, and always found in them that which can do no man
harm, be he black, white, or yellow, to wear over his heart;
namely', the beautiful 113th Sura of the Koran, the “ Sura
of the Day-break,” which says :— “ I fly for refuge unto the
Lord of the Day-break, that He may deliver me from the evil
o f those things which He has created; from the evil o f the
night when it cometh on ; and from the evil of blowers upon
knots, and from the evil of the envious when he envieth.”
This is written on a piece of paper, rolled or folded up tightly,
and enclosed in a leathern case which is suspended round the
neck. The talismans the Mohammedans make do not, however,
amount to a tenth part of those worn, the number
whereof is enormous. . I have never seen a negro in national
costume without some, both round his neck, and round his
leg, just under the knee ; and I dare say if the subject were
gone into, and the clothes taken off the more fully-draped
coloured gentlemen, you would hardly find one without an
amulet of some kind. The great majority of these other
charms are supplied by the ju-ju priests, or some enterprising
heathen who has a Suhman, or private devil, of his
own.
But to the casual visitor at Sierra Leone the Mohammedan
is a mere passing sensation. You neither feel a burning
jdesire to laugh with, or at him, as in the case of the country
folks, nor do you wish to punch his head, and split his. coat
C 2