224 
MANNERS OF THE FOULAHS. 
very ingeniously arranged for that purpose. They take a great 
deal of snuff, but do not smoke ; and the tobacco purchased 
in our settlements is preferred by them to that which grows 
in their own country. The women are lively, handsome, and 
good tempered. They clean their teeth with snuff. Their 
dress, though simple, is always neat and clean. Like the 
whole of their sex throughout every part of the interior, they 
are completely subject to the will of their husbands. They 
never venture to take the slightest liberty with their lords and 
masters. On the other hand, I cannot say that I ever saw 
the husbands beat their wives. Like the Mandingoes, they 
may have four ; the Koran does not permit them to take 
more. This privilege is however only exercised by the rich ; 
the poor never have more than two wives. These women 
cultivate a little garden adjacent to their huts; they have de- 
tached sleeping places, and they also take their meals sepa- 
rately, seldom eating together. Kach in her turn prepares 
the husband's supper. He gives to each wife a cow, which 
she milks, morning and evening. Their domestic utensils 
consist solely of some calabashes, to hold milk and the food 
prepared for consumption, two or three earthen pots, and a 
large jar, in which their dry rice is deposited. Around the 
inside of the hut a little elevation is formed, about six or 
eight inches high and a foot broad, upon which these uten- 
sils are placed. At the farther end there is a kind of bed, 
similar to that in the hut of the chief, which I have 
already described. In the floor of each hut are fixed four 
poles, supporting a kind of ceiling made of bamboo, serv- 
ing as a protection against the soot with which the roof is 
covered. In general, the women appear very happy, and 
by no means jealous of each other, except when the husbands 
make a present to one without giving any thing to the rest. 
They often asked me for amber and coral, and did not ap- 
pear much offended when I refused to comply with the de- 
mand. The Foulahs keep a great number of black cattle 
