188 
PARTICULARS RESPECTING BONDOU. 
eastern, mines of gold. The districts watered by the Faleme 
are extremely fertile. The inhabitants there cultivate great 
quantities of tobacco which the Negroes call tankoro, and the 
quality of which is excellent ; it is rather intoxicating to those 
who are not accustomed to it. To take it as snuff, the Negroes 
make use of a little iron spoon. Wild beasts are numerous. 
Game is common, and aiibrds the hunter an abundant booty ; 
there are some deer and wild oxen. Few cattle are met with ; 
horses and asses are very rare. 
The crown is in some measure elective, but in the king's 
family only ; the brother of the deceased is almost always 
preferred. The government is despotic. When the king of 
Bondou goes to war, the proprietors of the mines are obliged 
to deliver to him the gold which they have amassed, and for 
which they are paid in flocks and slaves at the end of the 
campaign. The drums, as in Europe, give the signal for 
battle and retreat. During the combat the warriors disperse 
and challenge each other singly. Each of the king's sons 
commands a detachment. Fire-arms are scarce ; the bow is 
used instead. The people are generally poor, and not very 
industrious ; the cloths and other articles which they manu- 
facture, display less skill and ingenuity than those which come 
from Foutatoro. Architecture has made some progress, for 
the entrances to the huts are more commodiously constructed 
than in the other Negro countries. They are as large as those 
of our apartments. Much as I have had reason to complain 
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