310 
THE AFRICAN ASSOCIATION. 
with stone and clay, but not disposed in a very re- 
gular order. Bornou, the capital, which is larger 
than Tripoli, is surrounded by a ditch and strong 
wall, 14 feet in height. The natives are reported 
to be hospitable and humane. They divide the 
labours of the field with the women, and their 
principal amusements are draughts and chess. The 
religion of the sovereign and of the predominating 
tribe is Mahometanism, but the majority of the 
people adhere to the superstitions of their fathers. 
The king is elected by three of the principal chiefs, 
but, as in Cassina, their choice is restricted to the 
royal family. As soon as they have fixed their 
choice, they conduct the new sovereign, in silence, 
to the corpse of his unburied predecessor, and 
pointing out, in forcible language, the virtues and 
defects which marked his character, they thus con- 
clude, " You see before you the end of your mor- 
" tal career : — The eternal, which succeeds to it, 
" will be miserable or happy, in proportion as your 
" reign shall prove a blessing or a curse to your 
" people." This practice has some resemblance 
to the ancient tribunal of the dead in Egypt. The 
military force of Bornou consists of cavalry, armed 
with the sabre, the pike, and the bow. Fire-arms 
are not entirely unknown, but too difficult to be 
procured. When the sultan takes the field, he 
causes a date tree to be placed on- the threshold of 
one of the gates of his capital, and ordering his 
ri 
