^0 SPîLSÎi-URY's VOYAGE TO AfRiCÀ* 
Goree is a rcck of iron stone ; the priiîcipal water tliey gel 
from the jMaio-land^ as they have only one well on the isiand, 
tvhich is not ne^nrly sufficient to supply their wants. The 
festablished cuj^toai of not giviîig any woman leave to quit the 
island after her marriage causes a nuoiber of widows to be resi- 
dent there, many of whom of course are young ones, their hus- 
bands probably stili living elsewhere. 
Their dress is a wrapping petticoat^ if such Î may call it, of 
ivhite cotton with a coloured edge^ and at the upper part a nar- 
row border of a fmer sort; this they lap two or three tmies round 
them and tuck in : soch a garment costs seven dollars: — the 
rest consists of a chemîse^ over which a loose piece of cotton 
cloth is carelessly wrapped, and a handkerchief round the head. 
They are excessively fond of gold,, and hide every guinea 
or deubloon they can procure. It was here I first tasted 
palm-wine, and i cannot say that .[ think it an unpleasant liquor. 
The ladies, if on the beach when it is coming on shore from 
the Main, will hold out their hands to have some poured in to 
drink. When new^, it is very pleasant, and looks like milk and 
water ; but when kept a few days, is very intoxicating. When 
new, the natives here are extremely fond of it. 
'^V ashing on this island is charged at the rate of a dollar for 
a dozen pieces, counting a handkerchief, &c. as a shirt. They 
are beaten on stones, and then rinsed. 11ns is the only kind of 
washing in use, notwithstanding w hich, the articles are bleached 
very white. 
There is a law here which deserves mentioning. If a slave 
is born on this island, he cannot be sold out of it, unless he or 
she commits some considerable crime. It was here governor 
Wall perpetrated the barbarous murder, for v\hich he suffered 
the sentence x)f the law. Both the event and the punishment 
still continue in the memory of the inhabitants. 
They are extremely fond of music; and here as well as on 
other parts of the coast, which I shall have occasion to mention, 
ihey have hand-organs in their houses. It certamly is a great 
change to an Englishman, when he witnesses the customs at 
Madeira; but what niust it be when he lands at Goree r 
It is impossible to describe the sensation at first stepping on 
shore, where he finds every thing so perfectly different from 
European scenes: he is immediately surrounded by numerous 
black boys and girls, quiîe naked, and skipping around him in 
play; but not begging : tite females naked, especially the slaves ; 
or with only a small rag round their waists. 
W'e were recom mendetl to a free man, a Mr. Crew, where w^e 
found the most liberal accom modations ; he had lost his wife, and 
had a fine boy, who was a more perfect black than himself : at 
