ARTS AND MANUFACTURES OF THE FOULAS. l65 
detest the red or primitive Poula, from whom they originally 
sprung. They are incessantly soliciting presents ; and if they 
meet with a refusal they load you with a torrent of abuse, or 
spit in your face. Notwithstanding these odious defects they 
possess one great quality, national spirit. They never sell 
each other ; and this is more than some of the civilized nations 
in Europe can boast. When they learn that one of their 
countrymen has been sold, they go and rescue him from the 
hands of the purchaser. 
The Poula is industrious ; his hut is well built ; his clothes 
are woven with care, he ornaments them with figures in a 
delicate taste; his productions of iron and leather, although 
well made, are inferior to those of the Moors. Every village 
has its weavers, shoemakers, and blacksmiths. These trades are 
quite sufficient for people who know no other wants than 
those which nature has imposed on all mankind. 
I have seen sandals made in a really elegant manner 
of red morocco of a brilliant tint ; and the mechanism, of their 
locks, although simple, shews that the smiths are not deficient 
in ingenuity. Their stirrups, silver bells, ear-rings, and 
other trinkets, display some talent in the workman. The art 
of weaving is considerably advanced ; they have arrived at 
the manufacture of muslin, coarse indeed but useful. The 
country is in general well cultivated, and on the banks of the 
Senegal, the Poulas have in some places even the patience to 
encircle each ear of millet with a wisp of straw ; without this 
