VaYAGE TO SENEGAL. 
On such occasions the preparations and the expedition itself 
éo not o<:cupy more than five or six days. The bombaion an« 
flounces that the king wishes to make war, and points out the 
place of rendezvous; on which the great men with the officers 
and armed soldiery never foil to repair thither, and are embarked 
in the canoes of the prince, which are twenty or thirty in nura-» 
ber. Each canoe holds about twenty men, for whom the com-» 
mandant is responsible to the king; and they are obliged to row 
under pain of death or slavery. The king seldom go§s npoi^ 
these kinds of expeditions, but employs himself in consulting the 
gods, who always gave an opinion favourable to his underlakings» 
On such an occasion he makes them a great sacrifice, and him- 
self with the warriors and priests are the only persons who eat 
the ûesh of the animals that are icilled. The embarkation then 
takes place, and every one is inspired with the greatest hopes: 
they always contrive to land on the enemy's shore in the night, 
and come by surprise upon a few scattered and defenceless huts, 
the inhabitants of which they carry off together with whatever 
they possess. Oftentimes these warriors lie in ambush in the 
bye-paths which lead to the rivers and springs, and endeavour 
to seize those who pass, or come for water. When they 
jriake a capture they return to their canoes singing, as if they ha4 
gained a glorious victory. 
The king, as his right of sovereignty, possesses one half of 
tîie slaves who are taken, and the rest are divided amongst the 
men who have so bravely exposed their byes, These slaves are 
sold to the Europeans, excepting those who are princes, or 
persons of some distinction, whom their friends ransom by 
giving for each of them two slaves, or five or six oxen. 
When the conquering warriors return to their island, they are 
received with praise and congratulation ; but woe be to the prir- 
soners if the expeditions have not been completely successful ; 
if a warrior have been taken or killed, they run the risk of being 
murdered, particularly if the person who has beçn killed be a 
man of distinction, or if his relatives be rich. 
These warlike people are, however, often attacked in their 
turn by their neighbours. The Balantes and Biafares make fre- 
quent incursions in the Bissaux isle, and wage war w^ith the great- 
est cruelty : for though they set apart a certain number of their 
prisoners to be sold to the whites, they reserve the rest to be sa^ 
crificed to their god, in honour of their victory. 
They celebrate the obsequies of their dead by rude songs and 
fiances to the sound of the drum, in which their motions and pos- 
tures exhibit in a frightful manner the passions of rage, melan- 
cbolv, and despair. The women are the principal actresses in 
this scene : they appear with their heads loaded with mire a^d 
