CAILLIE. 199 



& few clumps of trees and bushes. The city was two milea 

 and a half in circuit, surrounded by a wall of earth ; the 

 houses rather well built, composed of sun-dried bricks, two 

 stories high, without windows in front, but lighted from in- 

 terior courts. The streets are too narrow for carriages, but 

 of such breadth that seven or eight persons may walk 

 abreast. The population is reckoned by M. Cailli6 at 8,000 

 or 10,000; but upon this subject we suspect he is apt to 

 form his estimates somewhat too low. The inhabitants 

 consist of various African tribes, attracted by the extensive 

 commerce of which Jennc is the centre. The four prin- 

 cipal are the Foulahs, Mandingoes, Bambarras, and Moors, 

 of whom the first are the most numerous, and are bigoted 

 adherents to the Mohammedan faith, compelling the pagan 

 Bambarras who resort to Jenne to conform to the rules of 

 the Koran during their temporary residence. The trade is 

 chiefly in the hands of thirty or forty Moorish merchants, 

 who often unite in partnership, and maintain a communi- 

 cation with Timbuctoo, in barks of considerable size ranged 

 along the river. The negro merchants also carry on busi- 

 ness, but on a smaller scale, and chiefly in native articles. 

 The markets are filled with the productions of the sur- 

 rounding country, either for consumption or exportation, 

 —cloth, grain, fruits, kolla-nuts, meat, fish, gold from 

 Boure, and unhappily with numerous slaves, who are pa- 

 raded through the streets, and offered at the rate of from 

 35,000 to 40,000 cowries each. These commodities draw 

 in return from Timbuctoo, salt, Indian cloths, firearms, 

 beads, toys, and all the variety of European articles. The 

 merchants of Jenne were found more polished in their 

 manners than any native Africans with whom Caillie had 

 yet held intercourse : they were extremely hospitable, en- 

 tertaining him at free quarters during his whole stay ; but 

 he considers them as having driven an exceedingly hard 

 bargain for his goods. The mode of living, even of the 

 most wealthy, was extremely simple. Their houses con- 

 tained scarcely any furniture ; and their clothes were de- 

 posited in a large leathern bag, generally suspended from 

 the roof. The chief entertainment to which our traveller 

 was invited consisted merely of a huge fragment of a 

 sheep stewed in onions, and, as usual, eaten with the 

 fingers, — four cups of tea concluding the repast. 

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