HUNTING. 
355 
than the Bambaras. Two days after the birth of a child, the 
event is celebrated by dancing and feasting. 
They are accustomed, summer and winter, to bathe in 
warm water, every evening on returning from the fields 
where they work ; the women take care to have the water 
ready. They have fires every night in their huts, for they 
are naturally chilly. 
I have seen among the Mandingoes at Time large nets 
made of cotton and the bark of trees twisted together; with 
these nets they go out to hunt the gazelle and wild-boar. Ha- 
ving discovered the traces of the animals in the woods, they 
spread their nets, and scour the surrounding country in or- 
der to drive the game into them. As soon as the animal is 
caught it is killed with the poniard. They generally as- 
semble in great numbers for these hunting expeditions, 
which however, often prove unsuccessful. When they kill 
an animal they always turn its head to the east. The wo- 
men never kill poultry ; that business is always performed 
by the men. The inhabitants of Time do not however kill 
much poultry, though they breed a great deal; they prefer 
selhng it to travellers; they keep some goats and sheep, 
but neither oxen nor cows, although the soil produces excel- 
lent pasturage. There are some cows in the neighbouring 
villages but they are never milked. 
Caravans of saracolets often pass through Time on their 
way to the south to purchase slaves. The saracolets are 
not a nation but, as I have before mentioned, a class of 
merchants, who travel in every part of Africa. There are 
saracolets in all the negro countries, Mandingoes and Bamba- 
ras, Fouta-Dialonkes, in Kayaya, Bondou, &c. They are all 
Mahometans, and use in conversation among themselves a 
particular dialect, which the other negroes, even those of 
their own nation, do not understand. They scarcely ever 
remain in their native country, and have every where the 
reputation of being rich and very much inclined to theft, 
2 A ^ 
