Page 57

27f 60

Teesee is a large unwalled town, having no security against the attack of an enemy, except a sort of citadel, in which T iggity and his family constantly reside. This town, according to the report of the natives, was formerly inhabited only by a few Foulah shepherds, who lived in considerable affluence by means of the excellent meadows in the neighbourhood, in which they reared great herds o f cattle. But their prosperity attracting the envy of some Mandingoes, the latter drove out the shepherds, and took possession of their lands. The present inhabitants, though they possess both cattle and corn in abundance, are not over nice in articles of diet; rats, moles, squirrels, snakes, locusts, &c. are eaten without scruple by the highest and lowest. My people were one evening invited to a feast given by some of the townsmen, where, after making a hearty meal o f what they thought fish and kouskous, one of them found a piece of hard skin in the dish, and brought it along with him, to shew me what sort o f fish they had been eating. On examining the skin, I found they had been feasting on a large snake. Another custom still more extraordinary, is that no woman is allowed to eat an egg- This prohibition, whether arising from ancient supersti-' tion, or from the craftiness of .some old Bushreen who loved eggs himself, is rigidly adhered to, and nothing will more affront a woman of Teesee than to offer her an egg. The custom is the more singular, as the men eat eggs without scruple in the presence of their wives, and I never observed the same prohibition in any other of the Mandingo countries. The third day after his son’s departure, Tigg ity Sego.held a palaver on a very extraordinary occasion, which I attended ; and the debates on both sides of the question displayed much ingenuity. The case was this. A young man, a Kafir, of considerable affluence, who had recently married a young and handsome wife, applied to a very devout Bushreen, or Mussulman priest, of his acquaintance, to procure him sa- phies for his protection during the approaching war. The Bushreen complied with the request; and in order, as he pretended, to render the saphies more efficacious, enjoined the young man to avoid any nuptial intercourse with his bride for the space of six weeks. Severe as the injunction was, the Kafir strictly obeyed; and without telling his wife the real cause, absented himself from her company. In the mean time it began to be whispered at Teesee, that the Bushreen, who always performed his evening devotions at the door o f the Kafir’s hut, was more intimate with the young wife than he ought to be. At first, the good husband was unwilling to suspect the honour of his sanctified friend, and one whole month elapsed before any jealousy rose in his mind ; but hearing the charge repeated, h eat last interrogated his wife on the subject, who frankly confessed that the Bushreen had seduced her. Hereupon the Kafir put her into confinement, and called a palaver upon the Bush- reen’s conduct. The fact was clearly proved against him ; and he was sentenced to be sold into slavery, or to find two slaves for his redemption, according to the pleasure of the complainant. The injured husband, however, was unwilling to proceed against his friend to such extremity, and desired rather to have him publicly flogged before Tiggity Sego’s gate. This was


27f 60
To see the actual publication please follow the link above