THE BAMBARAS. 
323 
standard of the Prophet, they cannot travel but at the risk 
of being captured and made slaves. They are in general 
indolent. Their soil^ unlike that of the Foulahs of the Was- 
soulo, is ill cultivated, and their villages are disgustingly 
dirty. Their food is very bad ; they eat all sorts of animals, 
dogs, cats, rats, mice, serpents and lizards ; nothing escapes 
their voracity. They cultivate a little cotton, which they 
exchange with the Mandingoes for salt. I observed weaving 
in some of their villages ; but they make little cloth, scarcely 
enough to clothe themselves, for they go almost naked. 
They may have as many wives as their means enable them 
to support. They have but few slaves, and are always armed 
with bows and arrows. 
These people are goversted by a multitude of petty in- 
dependent chiefs, who often go to war with each other. In 
short, they are in a savage state, compared with the nations 
which follow the religion of the Prophet. They have no idea 
of the dignity of man. If I had been obliged to remain 
among them, my merchandise would have roused their cu- 
pidity, and being unrestrained by any sort of fear, they 
would probably have robbed me without scruple. Among 
the Musulmans, on the contrary, I was protected by the 
shield of Mahomet. In the little village of Time I found 
every thing very abundant. The market, which is held once 
a week, enabled me to procure any thing. This market is 
supplied by the Bambaras of the neighbourhood, who come 
hither to dispose of the surplus of their provisions. Among 
other living things they bring fish, which they catch in the 
streams that water their plains. 
On the 5th of August, the Mandingo merchants, who 
intended to set off for Jenne, put fresh leaves to their colats, 
to keep them damp, and counted tbem all over. They are also 
in the habit of damping them with water to preserve them. 
On the 6th the caravan set off in a torrent of rain. 
The travellers about fifteen or twenty in number, both 
Y 
