l^ji/ual and Political Geography of N^rth Africa, 457 



btcft times overfpread the habitable parts of the Defert, and tke oafes within It ; and have 

 |)u£hed their conquefts andeftabliflimentsfouthward ; preffing on the Negro aborigines, wh» 

 have in ftVeral inftances retired to the fouthward of the great rivers; but in others preferve 

 their footing on the fide towards the Defert ; according to the ftrength or opennefs of the 

 fituation. It is probable, however, that the Negroes, who arc an agricultural people, never 

 poflefTed any confiderable portion of the Defert, which is fo much better fuited to the paftoral 

 life of the Moors. It appears as if matters had not undergone much change in this refpeft 

 fince the days of Herodotus; who fixes the boundary of the Libyans and Ethiopians, in 

 other words, of the Moors and Negroes, near the borders of the Niger ; and he apparently- 

 pointed to the quarter in which Kalfina or Ghana are now fituated *. 



The Negroes in the weftern quarter of the continent are of two di{lln£l races, of which 

 the leafl: numerous are named Foulahs or Foolahs. Thefe, although they partake much of 

 the Negro form and complexion, have neither their jetty colour, thick lips, or crifpsd hair. 

 They have alfo a language diftin£l from the Mandinga, which is the prevailing one in this 

 quarter. 



The original country of the Foulahs is faid to be a trait of no great extent along the 

 eaftern branch of the Senegal river ; fituated between Manding and Kaffon ; Bambouk and 

 Kaarta : and which bears the name of Foola-doo, or the country of the Foulahs. But 

 whether this be really the cafe, or whether they might not have come from the country witlv- 

 in Serra Leona (called alfo the Foulah country), may be a queftion ; of which, more in the 

 feque!. The Foulahs occupy at leaft as fovereigns feveral provinces or kingdoms, inter- 

 fperfed throughout the tra£t comprehended between the mountainous border of the country 

 of Serra Leona on the weft, and that of Tombu£too on the eaft ; as alfo a large tra£t on th« 

 lower part of the Senegal river; and thefe provinces are infulated from each other in a ver/ 

 remarkable manner. Their religion is Mahomedanifm, but with a great mixture of 

 •Paganifm; and withlefs intolerance than is praclifed by the Moors. 



. The principal of the Foulah ftates is that within Serra; Leona ; and of which Teemboo 

 is the capital. The next in order appears to be that bordering on the fouth of the Senegal 

 river, and on the JalofFs : this is properly named Slratlk. Others of lefs note are Boiidou, 

 with Foota-Torra adjacent to it, lying between the rivers Gambia and Faleme ; Fooladoo 

 and Ikooko along the upper part of the Senegal river ; Wiiflela beyond the upper part of 

 the Niger ; and Maffina lower down on the fame river, and joining to Tombucloo on the 

 we it. 



The Moors have not in any inftance el^abliflied themfelves on the fouth of the great rivers. 

 They have advanced fartheft to the fouth in the vveflern quarter of Africa ; fo that the com- 

 mon boundary of the two races paffes, in refpe6t of the parallels on the globe, with a con- 

 fiJerable degree of obliquity to the north, in its way from the river Senegal towards Nubia 

 and the Nile. Mr. Park arranges the Moorifli ftates, which form the ^owf/Vr towards 

 Nigritia, together with the Negro ftates oppofed to them on the fouth, in the Ime of his pro- 

 grcfs, in the following order : 



The fmall Moorifh ftate of Gedumah, fituated on the north bank of the Senegal river, 

 and the laft that touches on itf, is oppofed to the fmall Negro kingdom of Kajaaga, on the 



* See Euterpe, c. 32 ; and Melpomene, c. 197. 



\ The Moors appear to be mafters of the northern bank of the Senegal, through the greateft part of its, 

 •navigable courfe ; the Foulahs the fouthern bank. 



Vot«IL— Sept. J798. LI fouti^ 



