150 TRAVELS IN THE 
and other necessaries, from the Negroes, in exchange for salt, 
which they dig from the pits in the Great Desert. 
The natural barrenness of the country is such, that it fur- 
nishes but few materials for manufacture. The Moors, how- 
ever, contrive to weave a strong cloth, with which they cover 
their tents: the thread is spun by their women, from the hair 
of goats ; and they prepare the hides of their cattle, so as to 
furnish saddles, bridles, pouches, and other articles of leather. 
They are likewise sufficiently skilful, to convert the native iron, 
which they procure from the Negroes, into spears and knives, 
and also into pots for boiling their food ; but their sabres and 
other weapons, as well as their fire-arms and ammunition, they 
purchase from the Europeans, in exchange for the Negro slaves 
which they obtain in their predatory excursions. Their chief 
commerce of this kind is with the French traders, on the 
Senegal river. 
The Moors are rigid Mahomedans, and possess, with the 
bigotry and superstition, all the intolerance, of their sect. They 
have no mosques at Benowm, but perform their devotions in 
a sort of open shed, or inclosure made of mats. The priest is, 
at the same time,^ schoolmaster to the juniors. His pupils 
assemble every evening before his tent; where, by the light of 
a large fire, made of brush-wood and cows' dung, they are 
taught a few sentences from the Koran, and are initiated into 
the principles of their creed. Their alphabet differs but little 
from that in Richardson's Arabic Grammar. They always 
write with the vowel points. Their priests even affect to know 
something of foreign literature. The priest of Benowm assured 
