NATURAL HISTORY. 121 



pose of travelling, and mules for that of carrying their 

 merchandise. Of the arts or sciences they have lit- 

 tle knowledge. Their language is without rules ; and 

 their manner of writing, though their characters are 

 more beautiful than those of the Arabians, is so im- 

 perfect, that they take seveial days to write a letter. 

 In their mode of salutation there is something exceed- 

 ingly whimsical. Each takes the right hand of the 

 other, and carries it to his mouth ; after, the saluter 

 takes off the scarf of the person saluted, and fastens 

 it round his own body : Thus the latter is left half 

 naked, few of the Ethiopians wearing any more than 

 this scarf, and a pair of cotton drawers. 



The first Negroes we meet with are those who live 

 on the south side of Senegal. These people, as well 

 as those who occupy the different territories between 

 Senegal and Gambia, are called Jalofes. They are 

 all very black, well-proportioned, and of a size suffi- 

 ciently tall. Their features are less harsh than those 

 of the Negroes ; and some of them, especially of 

 the female sex, have features that are far from being 

 irregular. With respect to beauty, they value fine 

 eyes, a well made nose and mouth, and lips of a 

 proportional smallness. With respect to the ground 

 of the picture alone do they differ from us ; for, with 

 them, the colour must be exceedingly black and glos- 

 sy. Their skin, however, is highly delicate, and soft ; 

 and, colour excepted, we find among them women as 

 handsome as in any other country of the world. They 

 are usually very gay, lively, and amorous. 



Father du Tertre says expressly, that if the Negroes 

 are for the most part flat-nosed, it is because the pa- 

 rents crush the noses of their children. He adds, that 

 they compress their lips too, in order to render them 



Vol. I. P 



