154 TRAVELS IN THE ■ 
little from that of the Negroes (which has been already describ- 
ed,) except that they liave all adopted that characteristic of 
the Mahomedan sect, the turban; which is here universally 
made of white cotton cloth. Such of the Moors as have long 
beards, display them with a mixture of pride and satisfaction, 
as denoting an Arab ancestry. Of this number was Ali him- 
self ; but among the generality of the people, the hair is short 
and bushy, and universally black. And here I may be permit- 
ted to observe, that if any one circumstance excited among them 
favourable thoughts towards my own person, it was my beard ; 
which was now grown to an enormous length, and was always 
beheld with approbation or envy. I believe in my conscience, 
they thought it too good a beard for a Christian. 
The only diseases which I observed to prevail among the 
Moors, were the intermittent fever, and dysentery : for the 
cure of which, nostrums are sometimes administered by their 
old women ; but, in general, nature is left to her own operations. 
Mention was made to me of the small-pox, as being sometimes 
very destructive ; but it had not, to my knowledge, made its 
appearance in Ludamar, while I was in captivity. That it pre- 
vails, however, among some tribes of the Moors, and that it is 
frequently conveyed by them to the Negroes in the southern 
states, I was assured, on the authority of Dr. Laidley ; who also 
informed me, that the Negroes on the Gambia practise inocu- 
lation. 
The administration of criminal justice, as far as I had oppor- 
tunities of observing, was prompt and decisive. For, although 
civil rights were but.little regarded in Ludamar, it was neces- 
