384 
ARCHITECTURE. 
places below Rabbah, however, we had every reason 
to believe that Missionaries would be joyfully received. 
Idols are to be met with everywhere, but the only places 
of public worship which we saw in 1833 , were the mos- 
ques or temples at Fandah and at Rabbah, where the 
Faithful appeared very assiduous in their devotions. 
The Malems always cariy beads, which they count 
devoutly, and gain great credit for sanctity among the 
people. When these reverend doctors salute one 
another, they do it with a mysterious air, and there 
seems to be a sort of freemasonry in their manner of 
shaking hands. They generally gain a good livelihood 
by writing charms ; as a rich man considers his wealth 
well-employed in procuring abundance of these, although 
he believes that any one is sufficient for the purpose of 
shielding him from harm. 
It is difficult, with our prejudices in favour of comfort 
and beauty, to estimate the principles of fitness by which 
the architects of Africa are governed. From the 
unvarying style of the buildings, to which the lapse of 
ages has probably brought no improvement, one might 
imagine that they have been guided solely by a better 
kind of animal instinct, and that they have never 
departed fi'om the lesson first taught them by nature. 
The houses are totally devoid of everything which we 
look for in a dwelling, with the exception of shelter from 
sun and rain. There is a decided dlflference between 
those of the inhabitants of the Delta and of the 
interior. The former are invariably oblong, with gable 
ends, built of stakes, filled in witli mud, and thatched ; 
