I 
Sf>3 M A N D I N G. 
bled paper. The drefs is extremely majeftic, but at the 
fame time very heavy ; it ferves either as a fhelter to the 
head from cold, Or as a fcreen from the exceffive heat of 
the fun ; it is faid, that a blow of a cutlafs will not pene¬ 
trate it. In rainy weather they cover it with a kind of 
cafe or hood, made of red cloth. The mode of the man- 
dil has been occafionally altered ; during the time of Shah- 
Abas II. it was round at top ; in the time of Shah-Soliman, 
they brought one end of the filk out of the middle of the 
mandil over the head ; and, laftly, in the reign of Shah- 
Huffein, the end of the filk, in lieu of its being gathered 
as before, was plaited in manner of a rofe ; and this the 
Perfians account extremely graceful, and ufe it to this day. 
MANDIL'ION,/. [mandiglione, Ital.] A foldier’s coat. 
Skinner. A loofe garment; a fleevelefs jacket. Ainfworth. 
MAN'DING, or Mandin'go, a country of Africa, 
lituated on both fides of the river Joliba or Niger, to¬ 
wards its fources, and fupplying thofe dreams or rivers, 
called Bafing and Kokoro, that form the Senegal. This 
country comprehends a confiderable trad!, from between 
lat. it. and 15. N. and between about Ion. 5. and 7. W. 
The inhabitants of this country, and thofe of other dif- 
triCts in the weftern part of Africa who have probably 
migrated from hence, are called Mandingoes, and their 
language has a confiderable extent. In their complexions 
and perfons, the Mandingoes are eafily diftinguilhed from 
thofe Africans who are born nearer to the equator; and 
yet they confift of very diftinCt tribes, fome of which are 
remarkably tall and black; and there is one tribe among 
them (called alfo the Foolies) that feemed to Mr. Edwards 
to conftitute the link between the Moors and Negroes 
properly fo called. They are of a lei’s glolfy black than 
the Gold-Coalt negroes ; and their hair, though bufhy and 
crifped, is not woolly, but loft and filky to the touch. 
Neither have the Mandingoes, in common, the thick lips 
and flat nofes oT the more fouthern natives; and they are, 
in a great degree, exempt from that ftrongand fetid odour 
which exhales from the fkin of molt of the latter; but in 
general they are not well adapted for hard labour. After 
all, they differ lefs in their perfons, than in the qualities 
of the mind, from the natives of the Gold Coait; who 
may be faid to conlfitute the genuine original and un¬ 
mixed negro,-both in perfon and characfer. 
The Mandingoes conftitute the bulk of the inhabitants 
in all thofe diltrifls of Africa which Park vifited ; and 
their language, with a few exceptions, is univerfally un- 
derltood, and very generally fpoken, in that part of the 
continent. Their numerals are thefe; by which it appears, 
their language is more copious than many of the other 
African hordes ; at leaft they count as far as ten : One, 
killin', two,Jbola-, three, Jabba ; four, nani-, five, loolo-, fix, 
woro-, (even, oronglo; eight, fie ; nine, conunta-, ten, tang ; 
eleven, tan ning killin, &c. They are called Mandingoes, 
as having originally migrated from the interior ftate of 
Manding; but, contrary to the prefent conftitution of 
their parent country, which is republican, it appears that 
the government in all the Mandingo dates, near the 
Gambia, is monarchical. 
The Mandingoes, generally fpeaking, are of a mild, 
fociable, and obliging, difpofition. The men are com¬ 
monly above the middle fize, well fhaped, Itrong, and 
capable of enduring great labour; the women are good- 
natured, fprightly, and agreeable. The drefs of both fexes 
is compofed of cotton cloth, of their own manufacture; 
that of the men is a loofe frock, not unlike a furplice, 
with drawers which reach half way down the leg ; and 
they wear fandals on their feet, and white cotton caps on 
their heads. The women’s drefs confifts of two pieces of 
cloth, each of which is about fix feet long, and three 
broad; one of thefe they wrap round the waift, which 
hanging down to the ancles anfwers the purpofe of a pet¬ 
ticoat: the other is thrown negligently over the bofom 
and (boulders. This account ot their clothing is indeed 
nearly applicable to the natives of all the different coun¬ 
tries in this part of Africa j a peculiar national mode is 
obfervable only in the liead-drefles of the women. Thus, 
in fome diftri&s, the head is encircled with firings of 
white beads, and a fmall plate of gold is worn in the 
middle of the forehead ; in others, the ladies decorate 
their heads in a very tafteful and elegant manner, with 
fea-fhells; in others again, the women raife their hair to 
a great height by the addition of a pad, (as the ladies did 
formerly in Great Britain,) which they decorate with a 
fpecies of coral, brought from the Red Sea by pilgrims 
returning from Mecca, and fold at a great price. 
In the conftruftion of their dwelling-houfes, the Man¬ 
dingoes alfo conform to the general practice of the Afri¬ 
can, nations on this part of the continent, contenting 
themfelves with fmall and incommodious hovels. A cir¬ 
cular mud-wall, about four feet high, upon which is 
placed a conical roof, compofed of the bamboo-cane, and 
thatched with grafs, forms alike the dwelling for all ranks. 
Their houfehold furniture is equally fimple. A hurdle 
of canes placed upon upright ftakes, about two feet from 
the ground, upon which is Ip read a mat or bullock’s hide, 
anfwers the purpofe of a bed; a water-jar, fome earthen 
pots for dreffing their food, a few wooden bowls and 
calabalhes, and one or two low ftools, compofe the reft. 
As every man of free condition has a plurality of wives, 
it is found necefl’ary (to prevent matrimonial difputes) 
that each of the ladies fliould be accommodated with a 
hut to herfelf; and all the huts belonging to the fame 
family are furrounded by a fence, confirmed of bamboo- 
canes, fplit and formed into a fort of wicker-work. The 
whole inclofure is called a firk, or Jurk. A number of 
thefe inclofures, with narrow paiiages between them, form 
what is called a town ; but the huts are generally placed 
without any regularity, according to the caprice of the 
owner. The only rule that feems to be attended to, is 
placing the door towards the fouth-w’eft, in order to ad¬ 
mit the fea-breeze. 
In the account here given of the natives, the reader 
muft bear in mind, that the obfervations apply chiefly to 
perfons of free condition, wdio conftitute not more than 
one-fourth part of the inhabitants at large ; the other 
three-fourths fire in a ftate of hopelefs and hereditary 
flavery; and are employed in cultivating the land, in the 
care of cattle, and in fervile offices of all kinds, much in 
the fame manner as the (laves in the Weft Indies. But 
the Mandingo mailer can neither deprive his (lave of life, 
nor fell him to a Itranger, without firft calling a palaver 
on hisconduft; or, in other words, bringing him to a 
public trial; but this degree of protection is extended 
only to the native or domeftic (lave. Captives taken in 
war, and thofe unfortunate victims who are condemned 
to flavery for crimes or infolvency, and, in (hort, all thole 
unhappy people who are brought down from the interior 
countries for (ale, have no fecurity whatever, but may be 
treated and difpofied of in all refpeCts as the owner thinks 
proper. 
The domeftic animals are nearly the fame as in Europe; 
the Guinea fowl and red partridge abound in the fields; 
and the woods furnifti a (mall fpecies of antelope, of 
which the venifon is highly and defervedly prized. Of 
the other wild animals in the Mandingo countries, the 
mod common are, the hyaena, the panther, and the ele¬ 
phant. But the natives of Africa have not yet acquired 
the art of taming the lalt- mentioned animal, notwithftand- 
ing his ftrength and docility, fo as to render him fervice- 
able to man; and, when Mr. Park told fome of them that 
this was actually done in the countries of the eaft, his au¬ 
ditors laughed, and exclaimed, Tobaubofonnio, “A white 
man’s lie 1” The negroes frequently find means to deftroy 
the wild elephant with fire-arms; they hunt it principally for 
the fake of its teeth, which they transfer in barter to thofe 
who (ell them again to the Europeans. The paftnres fur* 
nifh an excellent breed of horfes, but the ulual bead of 
burthen in all the negro territories is the afs. The appli¬ 
cation of animal labour to the purpofe of agriculture is 
wholly unknown, as indeed they have no ploughs. The 
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