III.] THE AFRICAN NEGRO : I. SUDANESE. 45 



Most of the Wolofs profess themselves Muhammadans, the 

 rest Catholics, while all alike are heathen at heart ; 

 only the former have charms with texts from the Nations " 8 

 Koran which they cannot read, and the latter 

 medals and scapulars of the "Seven Dolours" or of the Trinity, 

 which they cannot understand. Many old rites still flourish, the 

 household gods are not forgotten, and for the lizard, most popular 

 of tutelar deities, the customary milk-bowl is daily replenished. 

 Glimpses are thus afforded of the totemic system which still 

 survives in a modified form amongst the Bechuanas, the Man- 

 dingans, and several other African peoples, but has elsewhere 

 mostly died out in Negroland. The infantile ideas associated 

 with plant and animal totem tokens have been left far behind, 

 when a people like the Serers have arrived at such a lofty con- 

 ception as Takhar, god of justice, or even the more materialistic 

 Tiurakh, god of wealth, although the latter may still be appealed 

 to for success in nefarious projects which he himself might 

 scarcely be expected to countenance. But the harmony between 

 religious and ethical thought has scarcely yet been reached even 

 amongst some of the higher races. 



Mandingans, In the whole of Sudan there is scarcely a 

 more numerous or wide-spread people than the 

 Mandingans, who with their endless ramifications, 



Kassonke, Tallonke, Soninke. Bcuiibara. Vei and Culture and 



Industries. 



many others occupy most of the region between 

 the Atlantic and the Joliba (Upper Niger) basin, as far south as 

 about 9 N. latitude. Within these limits it is often difficult to 

 say who are, or who are not members of this great family, whose 

 various branches present all the transitional shades of physical 

 type and culture grades between the true pagan Negro and the 

 Muhammadan Negroid Sudanese. 



Even linguistic unity exists only to a limited extent, as the 

 numerous dialects of the Mande stock-language have often 

 diverged so greatly as to constitute independent tongues quite 

 unintelligible to the neighbouring tribes. The typical Mandin- 

 gans, however JFaidherbe's Malinka-Soninke group may be dis- 

 tinguished from the surrounding populations by their more 

 softened features, broader forehead, larger nose, fuller beard, and 



