62' 
VOYAGË TO SENEGAt* 
l^ ith the exception of the European establi&îîmeîits, iv&nù^ 
■^'îiere see a collection of booses so considerable as to deserve 
the name of a tovvii, burgh or village, though the last appellation 
might be given to the palace of the king, which M. Brue saw 
"when he visited that prince, and which was about three quarters 
of a league from the Portuguese fort. 
This palace is formed within a wail made of straw so com- 
pact, that it appears at a distance like an enclosure of stone; 
iit the door is a guard of twenty-five or thirty soldiers armed with 
sabres^ bows and arrows. On entering, you first observe a kind 
labyrinth of banian-trees with toleiably neat huts, M'hich 
form the residence of the king's women, children, domestics and 
slaves. In the centre is a ]ar«;e court ^entirelv shaded bv a sin«T^le 
orange-tree, which is so thick, and its foUage so compact and 
extensive, that it forms a sort of roof-work. The huts which 
belong exclusively to the king surround this court, and their 
liuml^er^ together with those which are in the parts aheady 
mentioned, and the extent of the ground on which they are 
built, present the appeararice of a village enclosed within a 
wall. 
When this king ha.« an interview with Ëuropeaîis, he is gene^ 
rally clothed in the dresses which he has obtained from them ; 
but on other occasions he, as vveil as his subjects, appears in no 
other dress than apiece of cotton which goes round his loins and 
hangs down to his knees. The costume of the women consists of 
u siHiple piece of cotton w hich covers them from the waist down- 
wards, and they wear ornaments, such as collars and bracelets 
of beads and coral. The girls go entirely naked, and several of 
them have their bodies tattoed with flowers and different figures; 
but as soon as they are married they take to the cotton. The 
king's daugliteis appear in the same manner as those of his 
subjects. 
The king of the Bissaux and all his people are idolators ; but 
so extravagant is their religion, that it is impossible to give an 
idea of it. Their principal idol is a small figure, which they 
call Chine; but it is difficult to know who he is, whence he comes> 
or what he is good forr This deity however is not exclusively 
adored : for every individual adopts for his god whatever his 
imagination presents to him. They have consecrated trees to 
which they make sacrifices, and which they consider either as 
gods (>f, or as the residence of divinities : the animals sacrificed 
are dogs^ cocks, and oxen, which they take great care in fat- 
tening. After these sacrifices, they cut the victim to pieces^ 
and the king with his attendants, as well as others who are pre- 
sent, take a portion and eat it, leaving the gods nothing but 
