Cayor, formerly part of the- dominion of the Bourba-Iolof,
or Iolof emperor, but now u. 'separate -state. All the Iolfjfs
were formerly united in one nation, and governed by one
chieftain. Different parts of this empire have been disinem-
bered, but the Iolof empire yet exists, and some degree of
respect is stilL-attached to the ancient title, and the Bôufba-
Iolof reigns,- though obscurely, in the interior, over a considerable
extent of country little visited by Europeans. From
the dismemberment of the empire rose the states of the Sira-
tik, which is that of the Fuiahs or Peuls, Owal or Brak,
Bondou, Cayor, Darnel, the kingdoms of the Baol, Sin or
Barbe-Sin, and Salum or Bur-Salum.* The Iolof nation still
occupies, according to M. Golberry, all the country comprised
between the Atlantic and the river Falémé> the wesfe
em boundary of Bambouk. This limitation comprises a vast
region. Mungo Park, who describes the Iolofs as a powerful,
active, warlike people, says, that they occupy the district’s'
southward of the Senegal as far as thuMandingo states bordering
on the Gambia. These petty kingdoms now occupy
all the maritime country between the mouth of theiSpneg&l
and the neighbourhood of the Gambia, where the Mandingo
states be-Gg?-in.
The Iolofs, according to M. Mollien, are tall, hàvetfegu-
lar features, and an air of dignity. M.„Golberry says;-‘that
they are remarkable for an air of haughtiness, originating in
pride on account of the superiority of their race. They are
disposed to. social habits and civilization, and are veiy hospitable.
The probity and kindness of their character identifies
them, as M. Golberry thinks, with the “ blameless Ethiopians-”
of Homer. “ They are always well made,” . Golberry affirms,
“ their features are regular, and like those of Europeans, except
that their nose is rather-round, and their lips thick. They are
said to be' remarkably handsome, their women beautiful. 'The
complexion of the race is a fine, .transparent, deep black ;
* Golberry’s Travels in Africa, English Translation, vol. i. p. 259. M. Durand
gives the same account, more in detail, of the dismemberment of the empire
of the Bourbayolof. See Durand’s Voyage au Sénégal, tom. i. p. 94, and the
Journey of M. Rabault in the Yolof Countries, related in the same work, tom. ii.
p. 139, et seq.
their hair is? crisp and woolly. They are cheerful and indolent,
when they are not roused by necessity to exertion.”
The fact that the Iolofs, at a distance from the equator,
and nearly undei; the Ifropic, are*of a,, deep-black' colour, has
drawn the, flow in g observation from M. Golberry: “ This
race of Negroes, the most handsome and the finest black of
all those- dependent upeth the government of,’'the Senegal,
proves that the?,$eepest Colour arise solely from the
heat of the climate, nor the being more subjected to the vertical
rays of the sun, bu^esmlts from other .’causes. For the
Iolgjfe. age*; to the north of^N-igritia, and the further you recede
from them, and approach; towards. the line.,, the black
colour of .the'Negroes' becqjnesj les's, and legs Strong and urn
mingled.” *
2, Of the ^eriejres.
The tradition, which represents the, Fuiahs and .Iolofs as
foreign invaders/6f thq^ountry southward of the Senegal, and
J^Bftrr'fires. hs its original inhabitants/ can only blj^tablished
o,r,disproved by a comparison of the languages of these-races:
The. Serreres are a people of very simple habits,, who wander
about with-their flocks, in. the neighbourhood of Cape Yerd,
and in the borders of countries occupied by the Iolofs, with
wfipm t-fiey^fqpaerly carried*, on perpetuak^ostilities^ Verdun
de la Crenne has described them, and has given a vocabulary
of their language, of which Professor Vater. has extracted a
specimen.f In this there appears to. be quite’ sufficient resemblance
to the idiom of the Iolofs to proye/an affinity in
the two races., The following words are closely allied :
Brother
Sister
Ear
Tongue
Iolof Words.
Quiamegne
Guiguienne
Noppe
Lammegue
Serreres’ Words.
Quiamejme.
Quieguienesse.
Noffe,,
Delemme.
* In another passage, M. Golbérïy marks out thé limits of Iolof more precisely.
It is hounded, lie says, by the ocean/ the banks of the Senegal as far as Podor,
the northern limits of the Fülah-Peuls, the western banks of the River Falémé,
and a line from the sources of-that river, fallowing the northern banks of the
Gambia for twenty leagues to the sources,of thé river of Sülima.
"t See specimens of the Iolof'and Serreres language from Verdun de la Crenne,
in Vater’s Mithridates, th, iii. p, 160.