304 
MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 
they do not understand carding, their thread is coarse and 
uneven; they use the same kind of spindle which is employed 
by the negresses of the Senegal. 
They have in the country smiths, who make poniards, 
iron bracelets, and agricultural implements; these last consist 
chiefly of a hoe eight or ten inches long, and five broad ; I 
did not observe any other. With this instrument they make 
trenches, clear away the weeds, and cultivate the ground 
as well as we can in Europe. They have a small axe to cut 
down the trees which grow in their fields, and they take care 
to destroy the roots, which I had not seen practised since I left 
the coast. The inhabitants of Wassoulo carry on little traffic, 
and never travel ; their idolatry indeed would expose them 
to the most dreadful slavery if they did. Gentle and 
humane, they give a friendly reception to all the stran- 
gers who come among them. They grow a great quantity 
of tobacco ; when it has run to seed, they gather the leaves, 
dry them in the sun, and reduce part of them to snuff^, of 
which they consume a great quantity ; the rest is reserved 
for smoking. They have a pair of large tongs, like a smith's 
a foot long, to light their pipes with. The young men shave 
their heads, like the Mahometans. Most of them are very 
expert in the management of the bow and arrow, and I have 
seen them amuse themselves with shooting at a mark in a 
tree. The children, who are all naked, are early addicted to 
bodily exercises. These people have a habit of making in- 
cisions in their faces, and filing their teeth ; they have 
several wives, like all other idolaters, who are most sub- 
missive to their husbands ; a woman always drops on one 
knee when she hands any thing to her husband, and the 
same ceremony is observed to strangers of distinction. I 
never saw any kind of illness in the country ; they are all 
robust and healthy. Though vegetable butter abounds 
amongst them they make little use of it ; they prefer animal 
butter for culinary purposes, and reserve the vegetable for 
