BARBARITY OF THE MOORS; THEIR MUSIC. 9 
Woe to the man who by chance falls into their hands ! 
Reduced to the most cruel slavery, his fate is truly dreadful, 
his torments are incessant. Europe may break the chains 
of the negroes, but Africa has not the least notion of lighten- 
ing the yoke which her own children impose upon each other. 
There still exists among the Moors a class of men called 
tributaries, the remains of conquered nations, who groan under 
the most oppressive slavery ; their flocks, their wives, are at 
the mercy of their masters, and the slightest resistance on 
their part is punished with death. 
The aridity of the Desert has naturally forced the Moor 
to embrace a wandering life ; this idle and vagabond existence 
has more charms for him than the condition of the cultivator, 
incessantly subject to new fatigues ; there are, nevertheless, on 
the banks of the Senegal, several spots on which the Moors 
bestow some culture, but after sowing their seed, they leave 
to Nature alone all farther care of its growth. 
Notes tolerably harmonious, produced from a rudely 
fashioned guitar, and languishing songs,^^^ would make you 
* The following is one of their songs : 
Leida is ill in the Irak, why cannot I attend upon her ! 
Who can so well cure a disorder as he who knows its cause ? 
When I see Leida I seem to have nothing hut eyes, 
When she speaks, I feel as if I were all ears ; 
Leida is ill in the Irak, why cannot I attend upon her ! 
