INTERIOR OF AFRICA. 1£ 
constitution of their parent country, which is republican, it ap- 
peared to me that the government in all the Mandingo states, 
near the Gambia, is monarchical. The power of the sovereign 
is, however, by no means unlimited. In all affairs of importance, 
the king calls an assembly of the principal men, or elders, by 
whose councils he is directed, and without whose advice he can 
neither declare war, nor conclude peace. 
In every considerable town there is a chief magistrate, called 
the Alkaid, whose office is hereditary, and whose business it is 
to preserve order, to levy duties on travellers, and to preside at 
all conferences in the exercise of local jurisdiction and the ad- 
ministration of justice. These courts are composed of the elders 
of the town (of free condition), and are termed palavers ; and 
their proceedings are conducted in the open air with sufficient 
solemnity. Both sides of a question are freely canvassed, wit- 
nesses are publicly examined, and the decisions which fol- 
low generally meet with the approbation of the surrounding 
audience. 
As the Negroes have no written language of their own, the 
general rule of decision is an appeal to ancient custom ; but 
since the system of Mahomet has made so great progress among 
them, the converts to that faith have gradually introduced, 
with the religious tenets, many of the civil institutions of the 
Prophet ; and where the Koran is not found sufficiently explicit, 
recourse is had to a commentary called Al Sbarra, containing, 
as I was told, a complete exposition or digest of the Mahome- 
dan laws, both civil and criminal, properly arranged and illus- 
trated. 
