i 
DESCRIPTION OF DAEFUR. 421 
the harvest, they break the ears of corn leisurely 
from the stalk, in the same manner as the negroes 
of Western Africa. At the beginning of the wet 
season, custom requires that the king and the 
chief men go out to the field with the cultivators, 
and engage in the planting of corn. This is prac- 
tised in other countries of Africa, as Bornou and 
Sennaar, where the king is always entitled Baudy^ 
the peasant, from a similar custom. Herodotus 
has mentioned a similar practice of the ancient 
Egyptian kings ; and travellers have related, that 
the same usage is continued by the Chinese mo- 
narchs. The king, or, as he is denominated, the 
Sultan of Darfur, reigns with absolute authority, 
and confers the same arbitrary power on his dele- 
gates in the provinces. Though the precepts of 
the Koran are the ostensible rules of decision, in 
cases of litigation, yet the verdict depends on the 
will of the judge ; and, as none but ecclesiastics 
dare express their sentiments of his conduct, their 
opinion is the only check upon his caprice. These 
judges, however, display considerable ingenuity in 
developing the most intricate cases that occur in 
a nation versed in the arts of deceit. 
The sultan's revenues consist in the taxes upon 
merchandise exported and imported ; the annual 
tribute of live stock from the Arabs, and of corn 
from the towns and villages, with the amount of 
fines, forfeitures, and presents. The armies of 
