518 AFRICAN SAVAGES. 



of Africa. Its primitive stock is supposed to be the people called 

 Mandinke' or Malinke' (Maiidingue), formerly established at Mencle, 

 in the delta of the Nile, but who emigrated towards the western 

 coast, and now inhabit the mountainous countries bordering on 

 the Upper Senegal. Between this river and the Niger are grouped 

 some tribes in whom the Berber or Semitic blood appears mingled 

 with the Negro blood ; such are the Yolofs, the Foulahs, and the 

 Peulas, or Fellatahs. The latter are of a sooty black, with a well- 

 shaped head, a square frontal development, thick and woolly hair. 

 They have founded powerful states, and are considered as the true 

 civilizers of the Soudan, wliere they have introduced Islamisrn. 



Further south, at the Gaboon, we meet with the wholly savage 

 nations of the Mpongwes, the Shekianis, and the Fans. The Mpon- 

 gwes inhabit the right bank of the Gaboon, spreading over an extent 

 of seventy to eighty miles. They are of a medium height, and 

 comparatively agreeable physiognomy. The men are clothed in a 

 calico shirt, and wrap themselves in an ample piece of stuff as a 

 mantle. Their head-dress is a simple straw-hat ; but the king, as a 

 sign of his dignity, wears a hat of silk. The women have no other 

 garment than close-fitting drawers descending to the knee ; but they 

 decorate their arms and legs with copper rings. Great amateurs are 

 both sexes of tinsel and perfumery, and they besprinkle themselves 

 with all kinds of essences. According to Du Chaillu, their character- 

 istic trait is their passionate ardour for trade. Their principal wares 

 are ivory, precious woods, and slaves. They display in their commer- 

 cial manoeuvres great ability jointed to the most signal bad faith. 



The Shekianis occupy, between the banks of the Muni and La 

 Mondah, and those of the Ogobay, a territory which stretches to 

 within some two hundred miles of the sea. Their appearance is less 

 prepossessing than that of the Mpongwes. Perfidious warriors, artful 

 traders, bold and astute hunters ; such are the salient traits of their 

 character. As for the Fans, they are cannibals of the worst species, 

 whose appetite for human flesh leads them even to eat individuals 

 who have died of disease, and to disinter the dead in order to roast 



