§4 VO Y A G R TO SEN EG AL. 
It is at tliis period orily, when the body is subdued by the 
susteFities whit li it has saiTered, and the mind prepared by the 
reHy,ious obsciuity and sileiic*. of the forest, that these girls are 
ttiight the customs and superstitions of their country : for till 
that grand period, they are not considered capable of under- 
standing or practising them. At length the period of their re- 
treat expires, and by this time the wound caused by the opera- 
tion is nearly healed, lliey are taken back to the village at nigîit, 
with the same secrecy as they were brought out: they are re- 
ceived by the young and old women entirely naked. In this 
slate, forming an irregular kind of procession, and followed by 
persons with musical instrimients, they parade through the streets 
l>v d:iv-ii<dht. If during this ceremonv a man be found looking 
tit theiïij lie is immediately put to death, unless he can furnish 
3 slave. Their retmn from the wood is succeeded by a month 
of probation, during \^hich time they are each day conducted in 
procession, accompanied by nuisic and covered from head to 
foot^ to the houses of the principal people, before which they 
sino* and dance till the owner of each makes them a trifliui* 
present. When the month has expired they are liberated from 
all these ceremonies, and handed over to the men intended for 
their husbands. 
Neither the origin nor the motives of this ludicrous ceremony 
are know n : but the women have such a veneration for it, that 
the most shocking of all insults is to reproach tliera for not having 
done it honour; and this reproach is even lavished on strangers, 
who mav not have arrived amongst the tribe till after the period 
appointed for the operation. 
The other people, namely the Suzees, Balam?!^, Bagos, and 
Toomianies, are idolaters. It is in.possible to form an accurate 
idea of their religion: they have no tixed object of adoration to 
which a religion that may be called natural, may be apphed. Every 
loan forms gods according to his inclination; and the ridiculous, 
rude, and numerous figures which they worship, are beyond all 
conception. 
The principal articles of their faith are, that there is a god who 
lives over their heads, governs all, and throngii whom every thhig 
exists. Whatever happens to them, whether good or bad, is or- 
dained by the deity, unless they attribute the events to magic ; 
bid this idea of an omnipresent providence is not accompanied 
bv any return on their part, either of gratitude for its benefits, or 
of submission to allay its wrath by prayer. 
They consider devils to be tiie ministers of God, and make 
them offerings : ïhtr.e devils, the most pow erful sovereigns of the 
earth, are represented by little statues of clay, which are often 
renewed, and Brade nearly to resemble mmu They place Ûicm 
