JALLONKAS MANNA* 
401 
seeds, enveloped in a fine powder of a bright yel- 
low colour, like the flower of sulphur, which has 
a sweet mucilaginous taste. Upon this powder, 
and the seeds of the bamboo, which, when dress- 
ed, taste like rice, they were informed that the 
inhabitants of Kallo, the district of Jallonkadoo, 
which lies upon the Ba-iing, or black river, the 
principal branch of the Senegal, had subsisted 
during a famine, before their present crops were 
collected. 
The Jallonkas, like the Mandingoes, are govern- 
ed by petty independent chiefs, between whom 
animosity commonly subsists. Their country is 
extensive and hilly. Their language is different 
from the Mandingo, though many of the words 
have a great affinity. Their numerals, like those 
of the Feloops, Jaloffs, Foulhas, and various other 
African nations, retain the traces of the original 
digital arithmetic, suggested to rude nations by 
the five fingers ; for the series only proceeds to 
five, and then recommences five-one, five-two, 
&c. They crossed the Ba-fing, near Manna, over 
a bridge constructed of bamboos, placed upon 
two tall trees, the tops of which are tied together, 
and left to float on the stream, while the roots are 
fastened to the rocks* This bridge is annually 
carried down by the rise of the river, and repaired 
by the inhabitants of Manna, who exact a small 
contribution from every passenger. — Dreading an 
VOL. I. c c 
