INTERIOR OF AFRICA. 
21 
broke up without coming to any determination upon it ; and a 
second palaver was, I suppose, thought necessary. 
The Mandingoes, generally speaking, are of a mild, sociable, 
and obhging disposition. The men are commonly above the 
middle size, well shaped, strong, and capable of enduring great 
labour ; the women are good-natured, sprightly and agreeable. 
The dress of both sexes is composed of cotton cloth, of their 
own manufacture ; that of the men is a loose frock, not unlike 
a surplice, with drawers which reach half way down the leg ; 
and they wear sandals on their feet, and white cotton caps on 
their heads. The women's dress consists of two pieces of cloth, 
each of which is about six feet long, and three broad ; one of 
these they wrap round the waist, which hanging down to the 
ancles answers the purpose of a petticoat : the other is thrown 
negligently over the bosom and shoulders. 
This account of their clothing is indeed nearly applicable to 
the natives of all the different countries in this part of Africa ; 
a peculiar national mode is observable only in the head dresses 
qf the women. 
Thus, in the countries of the Gambia, the females wear a sort 
of bandage, which they call It is a narrow stripe of cotton 
cloth, wrapped many times round, immediately over the fore- 
head. In Bondou the head is encircled with strings of white 
beads, and a small plate of gold is worn in the middle of the 
forehead. In Kasson, the ladies decorate their heads in a very 
tasteful and elegant manner, with white sea-shells. In Kaarta 
and Ludamar, the women raise their hair to a great height by 
the addition of a pad (as the ladies did formerly in Great 
