462 
RELIGION. 
market. This matting is covered with a second envelope, 
consisting of a bullock's hide, that is to say, if the goods are 
worth it. The smiths are no better provided with tools 
than those I saw on the road : they execute the same work 
with the same scanty means. It is the business of the 
packers to sack the grain, and, in order to force as much 
as possible into the bag, they press it down with a 
piece of wood. When their bag is full, they put a handful 
of straw above the millet, and sew the bag. This is much 
more secure than simple packing. 
All the inhabitants of Jenne are Mahometans. They 
do not permit infidels to enter their town, and when the 
Bambara people come to Jenn^, they are obliged to 
repeat the Mahometan prayers, otherwise they would be un- 
mercifully beaten by the Foulahs, who form the majority of 
the population. I found the inhabitants very civil to 
strangers, at least to those of their own religion ; and they 
put traders in the way of disposing of their goods. 
They have several wives, whom, however they do not 
ill-treat, like the negroes further to the south. The 
women never go out unveiled, and are not allowed to eat 
their meals with their husbands, or even with their male 
children. The girls, when they attain a suitable age, 
assist their mothers in cooking, washing and other house- 
hold business. They occupy their leisure moments in spin- 
ning cotton, which they buy in the market, for in the 
marshy environs of the city it is not cultivated ; however, on 
the west side, I saw a little field of cotton surrounded by a 
thorn hedge. It appeared to be of very inferior quality, 
and does not thrive well. 
The people of Jenne know no other writing than that of 
the Arabs : almost all can read, though few understand it. 
There are schools for youth, like those which I have already 
described. After the children have learned every thing that 
is taught in these schools, they are sent to El-Lamdou-Lil- 
