486 
MORAL AND POLITICAL 
Each, however, has a house, that is, a small cot- 
tage, of her own ; and all which it contains, be- 
ing the fruit of her industry, is considered as 
her property. The negroes appear to entertain 
some vague ideas of the principles of natural reli- 
gion ; but in general, their sole reliance is placed 
upon charms or fetiches, the use of inanimate 
and insignificant objects, as a panoply against all 
the evils to which human nature is liable. An im- 
pression so deeply rooted in the human mind as 
that of supernatural agency, joined to the igno- 
rance which prevails in this state of society, leaves 
open a wide field to imposture. Numerous, accord- 
ingly, in all these countries, are those who, by a 
pretence to superhuman powers, maintain an influ- 
ence, and extort ample gifts from their unenlight- 
ened countrymen. Magic and feticherie in many 
countries are viewed as secrets of state, and the main 
instruments for holding the people in subjection. 
Although the character and state of society now 
sketched be very general among the negro tribes, 
it cannot, I apprehend, be supposed to arise from 
any peculiarity of their race, but merely from the 
state of knowledge, government, facility of sub- 
sistence, and other causes, which act on the moral 
nature of man. Divisions of them are found in 
various parts of the continent, which present an 
entirely different aspect. The semi-Mahometan 
tribes, the Jalofs, Foulhas, and Houssanians, ap- 
