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mifTionaries that were font thither were men void of learning, 

 and dcditute almoft of every qualification that was nccefl'ai-y 

 tow:ird<; carr)i;iir on fiicli an important uildi'rtal:ing. What 

 maybe the rcfult of Protcflant mifTions, more lately under- 

 taken and profecuted with a conridcrahlc degree of zeal, time 

 aio:ie riuft dilcover. Thofe who lihcrally patronize and CJi- 

 courage them, aiigiir from circum'.lances tliat have already 

 occurred incrcafrng fucccfs. But the moil prevalent nligioii 

 in Africa (if we except Paganifm) is that of Mahomet, 

 which is blended and intermixed with tenets and practices, 

 that are more orlefs of Pagan, Jewilli and Ciiriilian original. 

 SccMarabouts. Of the habits and manners of theAfritans, 

 an account will occur under the appellation of Araus, under 

 the different denominations by which they are dilHngui(hed, as 

 Moors, Negrofs, &c. and in the defcription of the difierent 

 countries in which they refide. 



The interior parts of Africa are inhabited, according to 

 Mr. Parle's report, by three diftinA races of men ; viz. the 

 Mandingoes or proper negroes, native children of Nigri- 

 tia ; the Foulahs, or white ./Etliiopians of Ptolemy 

 and Pliny, who have neither the crilped hair, the thick 

 lips, nor jetty blacknefs of the Mandingoes ; and the 

 Moors, natives of Arabia, who, in their perfons and com- 

 plexions, exadlly refemble tlie Mulattoes of our Well 

 Indies, and who are devoted followers of Mahomet, and 

 tlie mod intolerant, perfidious and fangiiinaiy of the human 

 race. Though thefe three nations are frequently inter- 

 mixed, yet the negroes, whether Mandingoes or Foulahs, 

 generally iniiabit to the foutli of the moors. The negroes 

 are for the moft part huftiandmen : the moors, like their 

 Arabian anceftors, are roving (hepherds, or wandering 

 merchants ; who feem, from the earheft times, to have 

 overfpread the habitable parts of tlie great African Defert, 

 and tiie Oafes or fertile iflands, thinly fcattered through that 

 fandy ocean. Hence they extended their arms fouthwaids, 

 and made themfelves mafters of feveial of the negroe king- 

 doms on the Niger ; fo that tlieir dominions form a narrow 

 belt nmning from welt to eaft on the flvirts of th? Defert, 

 from the Atlantic coaft to the mountains of Abyffiiiia. 

 The common boundary of the moors and negroes forms a 

 ftriking feature in the moral, as well as in the political and 

 phyfical geography of Africa. Herodotus (compare Eu- 

 terpe, c. 32, and Melpomene, c. 197 — pp. 117 and 36!?. 

 Ed. WefTel.) fixed the boundarj- of the Libyans and Ethi- 

 opians, i. e. of the moors and negroes, near the banks of 

 the Niger ; and in this refpeft circamftances do not feem- to 

 have been materially altered fince his time. 



Mr. Park obferves, that the population in the countries 

 which he vifited was not very great, conildering the ex- 

 tent and fertility of the foil, and the eafe with which lands 

 ivere obtained. He found many extenfive and beautiful 

 diftrifts entirely deftitute of inhabitants; and, in general, 

 the borders of the different kingdoms were either veiy 

 thinly peopled, or entirely deferted. Many places, fuch 

 as the banks of the Gambia, the Senegal, and other rivers 

 towards the coaft, were unhealthful, and on this account 

 unfavourable to population. To this circumftance, it is 

 chiefly owing, that the interior countries abound more 

 with inhabitants than the maritime diftrias; for the negro 

 nations, obferved by this traveller, though divided into a 

 number of petty independent ftates, fubfift chiefly by the 

 lame means, hve neariy in the fame temperature, and poffefs 

 a wonderful fimilarity of difpofition. Perhaps the circum- 

 Itance ot the flave-trade may fugged another caufe of the 

 poverty of native inhabitants towards the fea-coaft. Our 

 traveUer concurs with others in reprefenting the difpofition 

 ot the women as uniformly benevolent ; in proof of this 

 10 



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the following incident is related. When Mr. Park was pro. 

 hibited by the kin^ of Pjambarra from croffing the Niger, 

 and ordered to pais the night in a dilhmt village, none of 

 the inhabitants would receive him into their hoiifes, and he 

 was preparing to lodge in the branches of a tree. In this 

 flate, exhaulled with hunger and fatigue, and unprotefted 

 from a ilorm, he was relieved by a woman who was return- 

 ing from the labours of the field. To her hut he was 

 kindly invited ; and his diftrefs was alleviated by the tender 

 attention which he experienced. The female jjart of the 

 family, fays Mr. Park, lightened their labour by fongs, one 

 of which was compofed extempore ; for I was myftlf the 

 fubjed of it. It was fung by one of the young women, the 

 re!l joining in a fort of chorus. The air was fweet and 

 plamtive ; and the words, literally tranflated, were thefe : 

 "The winds roared, and the rains fell. — The poor white 

 man, faint and weaiy, came and lat under our tree. He 

 has no mother to bring him milk ; no wife to grind his 

 corn. — Chorus. Let us pity the white man ; no mother 

 has he, &c. a:c." Thefe words have been fince formed 

 into verfc by the Dnchefs of Devonlliire, and let to mufic 

 by Ferrari ; and the long is as follows : 



I. 

 The loud wind roar'd, the rain fell fall ; 

 The white man yielded to tile blaft : 

 He fat him down, beneath our tree ; 

 For weary, fad, and faint was he : 

 And ah I no wife or mother'3 care. 

 For him, the milk or corn prepare : 



CHORUS. 



The 'white man Jliall our pity Jhare : 

 jllas ! no •wife or mother'' s care. 

 For him the mill or corn prepare. 



IL 



The ftorm is o'er ; the tempeft pad ; 

 And mercy's voice has hufh'd the blall ; 

 The wind is heard in whifpers low, 

 Tlie white man far away muft go : — 

 But ever in his heart will bear 

 Remembrance of the negro's care. 



CHORUS. 



Go, white man, go ; — lut 'with thee hear 

 The negro's 'wijh, the negro's prayer : 

 Remembrance of the negro's care. 



From Mr. Park we further learn, that vrith refpeft to 

 the property in the foil, the lands in native woods were 

 confidered as belonging to the king, or, where the govern- 

 ment was not monarchical, to the (late. When any in- 

 dividual of free condition had the means of cultivating more 

 land than he aftually poffeffed, he applied to the chief 

 man of the diftrift, who allowed him an extenfion of terri- 

 tory, on condition of forfeiture, if the lands were not brought 

 into cultivation by a given period. The condition being 

 fulfilled, the foil became vefted in the poflefTor ; and, for 

 aught he knew, defcended to the heirs. The Africans 

 appear to have no aftronomical knowledge ; and the little 

 geography to which they pretend is erroneous ; for they 

 luppofe, that the earth is an extended plain beyond which 

 is the fea, or river of falt-water ; and on the farther Ihores 

 of which are fituated two countries, called Tobaudo doo, 

 and Jong fang doo, " the land of the white people ;" and 

 " the land where flaves are fold." Park's Travels in the 

 interior diftrifts of Africa in 1795, 1796, 1797. pajjlm. 

 Africa, the name of a fea-port of Tunis on the coaft of 



Barbary, 



