31^ TRAVELS IN THE 
they were employed in planting corn, bringing fire-wood, and 
in other servile offices, through the day. 
Exclusive of the Koran, and a book or two of commentaries 
thereon, the schoolmaster possessed a variety of manuscripts, 
which had partly been purchased from the trading Moors, and 
partly borrowed from Bushreens in the neighbourhood, and 
copied with great care. Other MSS. had been produced to me at 
different places in the course of my journey ; and on recounting 
those I had before seen, and those which were now shewn to 
me, and interrogating the schoolmaster on the subject, I dis- 
covered that the Negroes are in possession (among others), of 
an Arabic version of the Pentateuch of Moses, which they call 
Tanreta la Moos a. This is so highly esteemed, that it is often 
sold for the value of one prime slave. They have likewise a 
version of the Psalms of David (Zabora Dawidi) ; and, lastly, 
the book of Isaiah, which they call Lingeeli la Isa, and it is 
in very high esteem. I suspect, indeed, that in all these 
copies, there are interpolations of some of the peculiar tenets of 
Mahomet, for. I could distinguish in many passages the name 
of the prophet. It is possible, however, that this circumstance 
might otherwise have been accounted for, if my knowledge of 
the Arabic had been more extensive. By means of those books, 
many of the converted Negroes have acquired an acquaintance 
with some of the remarkable events recorded in the Old Testa- 
ment. The account of our first parents ; the death of Abel ; 
the deluge ; the lives of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob ; the story 
of Joseph and his brethren ; the history of Moses, David, 
Solomon, &c. all these have been related to me in the Man- 
