ETHNOLOGY OF THE PRESENT DAY. 235 



those of the Negroes." According to Vater's conjecture, the Foulahs 

 belong to a race intermediate between the Negroes proper and the African 

 whites. 



The Foulahs are a warlike, pastoral nation ; in the course of the present 

 century they have become politically organized, acquired dominion over a 

 great part of Soudan, and in 1805 founded Soccotoo, the metropolis of the 

 kingdom. The Foulahs are strict Mohammedans, and eager to make con- 

 verts to their faith. They exercise a powerful influence upon the moral and 

 social condition of the Central African, and will perhaps be the instruments 

 to be employed in the future civilization of their vast continent. 



The houses of the wealthy are constructed of cylindrical air-dried 

 biicks, one story high, with but two rooms, flat roofs, and very brightly 

 whitewashed. A hole in the roof serves in place of a chimney. Persons 

 of the poorer classes live in small conically formed huts, composed of 

 trunks of trees, and covered with straw, as represented in pi. 26, in the 

 background between jigs. 8 and 10. The mosques are also built of air- 

 dried bricks. In both houses and huts the greatest neatness prevails, and 

 much attention is paid to the construction and maintenance of good streets 

 and roads. 



The dress of the Foulahs consists of long full cotton trowsers, shirts, and 

 conical straw hats. The material from which these garments are manu- 

 factured is woven and dyed a handsome blue color by the people them- 

 selves. Cloth is also made by them of the long wool of their sheep. 

 According to Oldfield, Fellatah women adorn themselves with assiduous 

 care, their toilet occupying several hours. They dye their toes and hands 

 a pretty purple, and their front teeth with different colors, one blue, two 

 others purple, and yellow, leaving the fourth white. The eyelids are 

 marked with sulphuret of antimony, and their hair is plaited into four 

 perpendicular bunches, four or five inches in length. Their bodies are 

 coated with a red paint, in order to heighten the color of the skin, and to 

 correct the odor of the perspiration. The same observer states also that 

 the Fellatahs are very fond of dancing and other recreations ; and like all 

 negroes with whom he becanje acquainted, at the times of new and full 

 nioon, pass their nights in these diversions. 



In number and power the Mandingoes rank next to the Foulahs. They 

 are found in the western sections of Central Africa, where they inhabit the 

 upper regions of the Senegal, the Gambia, and the Joliba Quorra. From 

 these districts, however, they have spread over all the neighboring coun- 

 tries, where they constitute the wealthiest, best educated, and most influ- 

 ential portion of the inhabitants, although inferior in numbers. They are 

 genuine negroes, black, with a mixture of yellow. They are laborious, 

 industrious agriculturists, who maintain their land in a good state of culti- 

 vation, and rear a considerable stock of neat cattle, sheep, and goats, but 

 like the Foulahs keep no swine. 



The Mandingoes have schools, and learn to read and write of their 

 priests. They are as zealous Mohammedans as the Foulahs themselves, 

 and better educated than other negro nations. Their disposition is mild, 



407 



