the filth and nakedness of their children ought at least to be
excluded.
For the medicines used by the Mandingoes, and for their
vegetable food, I must refer my readers to the Botanical Appendix.
Their manner of eating is like that of other blacks, clawing out of
the same calabash with their fingers. Most of them profess
Mahometanism, and speak Arabic, using the ancient form of salutation,
f Peace to thee,” now banished among the eastern Arabs'.
They are tall, slight, but well made, and though not so ugly as the
Fan tees, are by no means a handsome race, when compared to the
Jolofis. The natives of both countries wear very large cloths, or
pagnes. The superior classes of Mandingoes, and the travelling
Moors of the interior’, frequently assume a turban, and this, added
to their full and graceful pagnes, their red sandals, their elegantly
shaped scimitars, and their light bows and arrows, givès them a
very picturesque appearance. The older Alcades wear a large,
pointed, grass hat, looking like a portion from the thatched roof
of . their huts, while the younger chiefs have a white cap, beautifully
embroidered with coloured cottons, in diamonds, stars, and
other devices. The higher class of women generally wear a short
shift, and two pagnes of equal size ; their gold ornaments arè
numerous and massy, their ear-rings especially, which are often of
such a weight, as to require a string passing over the head to
support them, as they would otherwise tear the ears. Natives of
all shades, and both countries, assume very dark blue for mourning,
and lay aside their ornaments.
The mulatto women, who are mostly Jolofis from Goree, are some
pf them handsome, and pretend to approach nearer to European
manners and customs than those of other parts of Africa ; at the
same time, they religiously preserve their own superstitions and
r See Burckhardt. • See Plate 9.
cérémonies, some of which are disgusting, and others prejudicial :
among the latter, is that of shutting themselves up in a room with
every crevice stopped, and a large fire burning during child-birth,
and- neither mother jor infant are allowed to breathe the fresh air
under a fortnight. This practice is so totally different from that
of other mulatto women, that I have thought it worth mentioning.
They wear pagnes like other natives, and as they are generally tall
and gracefully formed, look very elegant. They add a covering to
the head, which, if it were not so enormously high, would be
pretty ; -it is a n ‘assemblage of several square handkerchiefs,
(frequently nine) put on much in the way of those of the French
peasantry, but rising in a very high cone at the back of the head,
and, on state occasions, ornamented with a broad gold band.
They generally wear shoes; and those who go without stockings
ornament their ancles.
The gold of the Gambia is much softer, and said to be superior
to that of the leeward CoaSti The gold merchants frequently
come from great distances, ■ even forcing their way through the
Country when it is covered With water. They never bring it in its
native1 stattè, alleging as a motive,-that the English would then
sow it in their own country, and destroy their market. Their
manner of working if ' is not to be compared with that of the
Ashantees, or even Fantees. The Mandingoes Use. earthen
vessels, made from the red clay of their neighbourhood, which are
very rude, not glazed, nor exhibiting the beautiful patterns of the
Ashahtees. Their calabashes are frequently well carved, and filled
up-with black. They weave ingenious baskets and mats of palm
leaves, and they contrive very light stools and bedsteads of bamboo,
fastened together ‘ with wooden pegs. They also fabricate very
neat wooden snuff boxes, for which they have frequent use, taking
the most poignant snuff, prepared by themselves, in enormous
quantities^' Their scimitars and quivers are well sheathed, and