MOSLEM TRIBES. 361 



and dreary, that many Europeans indulge too freely 

 in the pleasures of the table. 



" Hinc subitce mortes atque intesta senectus." 



The next day the governor received a deputation 

 of the Haussa nation, Mussulman tribes, who have 

 made their way to the Coast from the interior, and 

 the head man, Sheik Ali Ben Mahomed, was made 

 welcome, and received with much kindness. He 

 had been a great traveller, and gave us much 

 information about the interior. The Moslems 

 show up very favourably in comparison with 

 the Coast tribes, being in every way finer 

 men. They are much more to be depended on, 

 their religion forbidding them either to drink or 

 steal ; two qualifications in which the Coast negro 

 excels. During my stay at Lagos, I raised an 

 irregular corps of these men, and I had every 

 reason to be satisfied with their conduct. 



I found them brave, faithful, and honest — three 

 qualifications rarely found in a negro. They are a 

 simple and easily contented race, and accustomed 

 to simple fare, yet their powers of endurance are 



