514 HEVVETT ON THE JOLLOFFS OF WEST AFRICA. [June 22, 1857. 



are quite jet black ; and, secondly, I must premise that they have, as I believe, 

 become Mahomedan comparatively lately ; but, be their origin what it may, 

 they are negroes to all intents and purposes, and occupy a large tract of country. 



The JoUoff country is divided into three or more independent kingdoms, 

 which frequently war with one another ; and of which states the principal are 

 Danaar or Senegal, Saulaem, and Ballagh or Baa. The chief towns of Danaar 

 are Bowael and Kadjo ; of Saulaem, which lies to the southward of Danaar, 

 Saulaem and Woioutaou, the latter about half way to Gambia ; and Ballagh 

 or Baa, situated on the north bank of the river Gambia, but some distance up 

 the stream. 



Each kingdom is governed by a hereditary monarch, and each city by a 

 hereditary magistrate or alcade, who -is responsible to the king for the conduct 

 of the townspeople, and accountable for the apprehension of all malefactors 

 who may be supposed to have sought asylum within the walls. 



The chiefs of Danaar and Saulaem maintain regular standing armies, and 

 are, I believe, the only negro potentates who do so. 



The King of Danaar is named Djumael, whose army, said to number 12,000, 

 chiefly cavalry, is by no means to be despised, as the French at St. Louis, 

 Senegal, and Goree tacitly acknowledge, by declining to accept the frequent 

 challenges which Djumael offers, to quit their fortresses, marshal their forces 

 on the plain, and measure their strength in fair fight with his army. 



The religion, habits, laws, customs, country, towns, and pursuits of each and 

 all of the Jolloff kingdoms being precisely the same, I speak not of the one 

 tparticular kingdom 1 visited, but of the whole race and country. 



The greater part of the expanse is perfectly flat — one vast sandy level, 

 studded with groves of palms, stately trees, noble forests, tangled jungles, and 

 intersected by sluggish creeks, whose swampy margin is overrun with the bale- 

 ful, miasma-exhaling, but beautiful mangrove. The soil, though sandy, is 

 very fertile, and, being generally cultivated, produces vast quantities of grain, 

 and the ground-nut, which plant, putting forth its clove-like leaves after the 

 rainy season, clothes the plain in a mantle of brightest emerald, and growing 

 exactly like and about the height of clover, overrunning the ground and inter- 

 lacing its sprays, makes the surface of the earth resemble a soft carpet. 

 Daring the dry season the plain, with its vegetation yellowed by the burning 

 sun, is of a rich golden hue, wearing the appearance of a landscape of chased 

 gold, and the bright green and dense dark foliage of the trees contrasts beauti- 

 fully with the brilliant tint of the expanse. 



A remarkable feature is the number and size of the ant-hillocks, the tene- 

 ments of the termites, which are conical, sometimes six feet in height, and so 

 firmly constructed as to be almost capable of resisting the application of a 

 pickaxe. 



The principal trees I have noticed are the palm ; the towering silk-cotton- 

 tree, whose trunk is like an inverted closed umbrella, and which would over- 

 shadow our most gigantic oak ; the ash -like mahogany ; the dense umbrageous 

 caoutchouc ; the naked spectre-like monkey-bread ; the wild tamarind ; and a 

 peculiar tree, and also bush which grows six feet in height, the extremities of 

 the twigs of which appear at a distance to be on fire. This remarkable appear- 

 ance in both is caused by their putting forth bright scarlet flowers at the end 

 of each twig, while the bush itself is devoid of leaves. 



The towns and villages are fenced round with a triple stockade, eight or ten 

 feet high, made of the trunks and limbs of trees, planted perpendicularly, irre- 

 gular at the crest, and therefore impracticable to escalade by ladders. 



The streets are about three feet wide, having either side lined by mats, or 

 bamboo hurdles, seven feet high, and, as the walls of the dwellings are but 

 three or four feet high, the wayfarer sees nothing but roofs, which, being 

 thatched, lofty, generally circular, and finished oif at the apex with an orna- 



