122 
VotAGÈ TO SENEGAL. 
'larlywlien the harvest happens to fail. They are likewise ex- 
posed to the ravages of locusts and other calamities ; and 
yet they have never had the presence of mind to guard against 
such disasters. 
The grass-hopper or locusts come from the deserts that lie 
to the S. W. in bodies so numerous, that they obscure the light 
of the sun. They follow the direction of the wind, which seem» 
to drive them forwards; and wherever they stop, they spread 
desolation; they devour all the fruit, grain, herbage and the 
leaves, and shoots of trees, so as to leave nothing but the bark. 
They are about as thick as one's finger, or rather longer; and 
have sharp and cutting teeth, the attacks of which nothing can 
resist. 
The Moors are sometimes victims of these terrible animals; 
but they avenge themselves by eating them : they carefully col- 
lect them, put them into leather bags, skin them, and boil them 
in miik. When thus prepared, they afford a very delicate and 
"wholesome food. 
Near the abovementioned lake there is a forest of the finest 
black ebony in the world, ihe wood of which may be had for 
the trouble of cutting it, and conveying it to boats ; the expence 
of which does not make it come to more than forty sous the 
cwt. Large supplies might be obtained every 3 ear when the wa- 
ters have risen. 
The other is situated to the right of the river, about fifty 
leagues from its mouth, is much larger than the one just describ- 
ed, and is inhabited by Moors and Negroes, who live in easy 
circumstances. 
The Senegal in its course forms forty-one isles. Those in the 
neighbourhood of isle St. Louis have been already described ; 
and the others are not of sufficient importance to deserve parti- 
circular notice. 
The banks of the Senegal are occupied by various tribes; the 
right is inhabited, to the north, by the Moors; and the left, to 
the south, by the Negroes. But this demarcation is not rigo- 
rously observed, as some hordes of Moors have long establish I 
ed themselves in the Negro country, where they follow the oc- 
cupation of shepherds and farmers, and live on good terms with 
their neighbours. 
The left bank comprises several kingdoms and various nations. 
The Yolofs, who inhabit a vast tract of country between the 
Senegal and Gambia, are a powerful, active, and warlike native 
people, who differ from the other Negroes not only in their lan- 
guage, but in their features and colour. Their noses are not so 
flat, nor their lips so thick as those of most other Africans; their 
skin is of a fine black ; and the Europeans, who carry on the 
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