WESTERN AFRICA. 



849 



Further to the south is the territory of Benguela, with which the Portuguese are also 

 connected. The chmate of this country is particularly insalubrious, and the people are rude 

 and barbarous. Mines of copper exist among the mountains ; but they are not rendered, even 

 by the European colonies, subservient to general use. The other territories are insignificant. 

 The Portuguese have numerous factories and posts upon some parts of the coast, and claim 

 extensive territories in Congo, Angola, and Benguela ; but in many cases their claims are 

 merely nominal. 



4. Inhabitants. There is considerable diversity in features and color, in the different 

 nations or tribes. The peculiar negro features are not found in all. The Mandingoes hava 

 regular and open countenances, and among the Ashantees may be found faces of Grecian 

 shape and precision. The negroes are generally well shaped ; and among the females may 

 often be seen the most graceful forms. In all things but in color, they have what are allowed 

 in Europe to be the requisites for beauty. The dress is various, and different tribes and 

 people of the same tribe indulge in a diversity. In some places, nakedness is hardly covered, 

 and in others the dress is cumbrous. In Timannee, it is considered respectable to wear large 

 trowsers, of several spans of cloth ; and great breeches there are synonymous with great men. 

 A ruler in that country on seeing Laing take off his gloves, exclaimed in astonishment, " Alia 

 akbar, he has pulled off the skin from his hands ! " 



5. Language. The languages are various, but the Arabic is gaining ground as the Mahom- 

 etan religion spreads. 



6. Manner of Building. The manner of building is slight, as the dwellings are intended to 

 be a defence from heat, and not from cold. In Ashantee, the houses are built with some skill 

 and regularity, and the rooms are rudely painted, in regular and pleasing figures. 



7. Food and Drink. The general food is light, consisting chiefly of rice, honey, yams, 

 groundnuts, and fruits. Palm wine, and pitto, the country ale, are the chief intoxicating liquors, 

 though, on the coast, may be had the European spirits. On the coast, there is much beastly 

 intoxication. 



8. Manners and Customs. The slave-trade has been fruitful in evil to this part of Africa, 

 and all over the continent it has perpetuated mischief, no less than in America. It has broken 

 up the foundations of society, and much depraved the character of the negroes. In the inte- 

 rior, where the European traveler has never penetrated, may yet be found tribes, living in the 

 simplicity of innocence, but depravity may be measured by the approach to the coast. On 

 the coast, however, the African character remains, and the people are timid and cheerful. 

 They are placable, and will, in a moment after a quarrel, be perfecdy reconciled. Some of 

 them are warlike, and all of them, under many circumstances of war, kidnapping, &c., 

 are cruel. 



In Dahomey, the people are characterized as having a strange mixture of ferocity and po- 

 liteness ; and in Ashantee, they live, with many of the comforts of civilization, in a state of 

 shocking barbarism. They have trade, wealth, and a regular government ; but the human 

 sacrifices, perpetrated in the capital, are almost beyond belief. The king, and grandees, 

 have vessels of silver and gold, and the English mission remarked a great natural politeness 

 among the courtiers. Suicide is not uncommon, in cases of disgrace. The people are ex- 

 tremely neat in their persons, dress, and houses ; and they bathe daily. Cowardice is punish- 

 ed as a crime, with death ; and in wars, the general places himself in the rear, to kill those who 

 may retreat. In some of the negro nations, there is an institution called the simo, or the pur- 

 rah. The chief, and the initiated, reside in woods ; and by the power of superstition, as well 

 as of force, render the neighboring people tributary. Some classes are generally privileged, 

 and may travel safely when the countries are at war ; these are orators, or lawyers, minstrels, 

 blacksmiths, and shoemakers. The palavers are judicial and deliberative assemblies, and "to 

 bring a palaver," is, in other words, to bring an action. On these occasions, the orators are 

 very adroit. In some parts, constructive damages are allowed to a great extent. Thus, when 

 eggs were stolen, after the lapse of years, the loss was computed on the supposition, that they 

 would have hatched and multiplied in the greatest ratio. There is a general deference to old 

 age, and there are no destitute old people to be seen. 



The common amusements are dancing, story-telling, and singing. The dancing is often 

 continued by the whole village, during the night. The only education ever received, is that 

 degree of knowledge obtained by a few, to read the Koran, and write a few sentences in Arabic. 

 The Mahometan religion has some followers in almost every tribe, and a reader in the Koran 

 enjoys considerable reputation. Generally, there is some notion of a Supreme Being. 

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