NIGRITIA. 



843 



try, is a loose robe, or shirt, of the cotton cloth made here, which is often fine, and beautifully 

 dyed ; and high rank is indicated by 6 or 7 of these, worn one above another. IMany of the 

 people, however, have no dress but a girdle round the waist, and a piece of cloth wrapped 

 round the head. A protruding belly, and a huge, misshapen head, are the two features, with- 

 out which, it is vain to aspire to the rank of a fine gentleman ; wadding is profusely employed 

 by the courtiers, to produce the one, and cloth is wrapped round the head, in fold after fold, 

 to obtain the other ; thus padded and stuffed, a Bornouese courtier adds still further to his 

 bulk, by wearing 10 or 12 robes of cotton or silk ; and the whole of this monstrous creature 

 is decked with numberless charms, enclosed in green leather cases. 



A Bornouese belle decorates her person by plaiting the hair, and attaching to it strings of 

 brass or silver beads, inserting pieces of amber or coral, in the nose, ears, and lip, and be- 

 smearing her face with oil. In the great market of Angornou, there is plenty of their princi- 

 pal grain, called gussub, much wheat and rice, bullocks, sheep, and fowls ; but no vegetables, 

 except onions ; and no fruits, of any kind, are to be seen. A similar picture of Fellatah 

 civilization might be drawn, but the traits are nearly the same, and it is unnecessary to repeat 

 the description. 



21. Language. The language is the Arabic, and there are various separate African dia- 

 lects. The Mandingo is the most generally diffused of the African languages, but the Arabic 

 will probably settle into the general medium of communication. 



22. jyianner of Building. The Moors, who do not live in tents, build their houses after 

 the manner common in Barbary, and keep them neatly whitewashed. The architecture of the 

 negroes is rude ; the houses are low and small, and made generally of jniid or wicker-work 

 They are mostly thatched. 



23. Food and Drink. The food of the Central Africans is simple ; bread, which so much 

 supports life in most countries, that it may be called its staj)\ is hardly known here ; a paste, 

 however, like hasty-pudding, is common, and also the kouskousou of Baibary, under the name 

 of konskous. Much grain is raised, but few esculent vegetables ; generally, only a few onions 

 and tomatoes. Little fruit is raised by cultivation. Poultry is geneial. Salt, from its scarce- 

 ness, becomes a luxury, beyond the reach of the poor, and children may sometimes be seen 

 sucking it, as sugar is eaten in other countries. To say of a man, that he eats salt with his 

 food, is equivalent to calling him rich. The breakfast hour is generally about daybreak, and 

 2 is the hour for dinner ; supper is taken late. Tobacco is much used, in smoking and other- 

 wise. Snuff is not taken in the nostrils, but chewed with a certain plant. The Moors and 

 the negro Mahometans, drink nothing but water, though pilln., or ale, is generally in use with 

 all others. In some towns, all the inhabitants seem addicted to intoxication. It tastes much 

 like the English ale, and a bitter plant is infused, in the place of hops. 



24. Disraxef:. The most common diseases are fe- 

 vers, fluxes, blindness, leprosy, and the guinea-worm. 



25. Traveling. The mode of ti'aveling from one 

 kingdom to another, is by kafilas or small caravans, 

 or associations. Duties on merchandise are paid in 

 the countries through which a kafila passes. 



26. Character, Alanners, and Customs. In the Af- 

 rican character, timidity and gentleness are obvious 

 traits; and this it is, which, together with their small 

 states, and the commerce of Christian nations, has re- 

 duced Africans to slavery in every quarter of the. globe. 



The negroes are cheerful, kind, and generally pla- 

 cable. Their pursuits are pastoral or agricultural, 

 though they are often engaged in petty wars, in which 

 they show little mercy. The females are uniformly 

 kind and compassionate, and almost every European 

 trave.er in this country, has owed his life to their assistance.* The Africans are generally 



* The following is from Park's Travels. — "1 waited wlio informed mo, tliat the liino- could not possibly see me, 



more than two hours, without having an opportunity of until he knew what had brought me into his country, and 



crossing the river ; during which time, the people who had that I must not presume to cross the river, wilicut t.is 



crossed, carried information to Mansong, the king, that a king's permission. He, thoreftre, advised me to wage at 



white man was waiting for a passage, and was coming to a distant village, to which he pointed, for the night; and 



see him He immediately sent over one of his chief men, said, that, in the morning, he would give me further in- 



