270 
M A N D I N G. 
“ The children of the Mantftngoes are not always named 
after their relations; but frequently in confequence of 
fome remarkable occurrence. Thus, my landlord at Ka- 
malia was called Karfa, a word fignifying “ to replace;” 
becaufe he was born Ihortly after the death of one of his 
brothers. Other names are defcriptive of good or bad 
qualities ; as Modi , “ a good man ; Fadibba, “ father of the 
town,” See. Indeed, the very names of the towns have 
fomething defcriptive in them; as Sibidooloo, “the town 
of ciboa trees Kenneyetoo , “ victuals here ;” Dofita, “ lift 
your fpoon.” Others appear to be given by way of re¬ 
proach, as Bammakoo, " wafh a crocodile;” Karrankalla, 
“ no cup to drink from,” &c. A child is named when it 
is fever, or eight days old. The ceremony commences by 
fhavingthe infant’s head ; and a difh called dega, made of 
pounded corn and four milk, is prepared for the guefts. 
If the parents are rich, a Iheep or a goat is commonly added. 
This feaft is called ding boon Ue, “ the child’s head-fliaving.” 
Among the negroes every individual, befides his own pro¬ 
per name, has likewife a kontong , or l'urname, to denote 
the family or clan to which he belongs. Some of thefe 
families are very numerous and powerful. It is impolli- 
ble to enumerate the various kontongs which are found in 
different parts of the country ; though the knowledge of 
many of them is of great fervice to the traveller; for, as 
every negro plumes himfelf upon the importance or the 
antiquity of his clan, he is much flattered when he is ad- 
dreffed by his kontong." 
Their religion is, as we may conceive, blended with 
many fuperliitious opinions and practices. Although 
they admit the exiftence of a Deity, as the maker and pre- 
ferver of all things, they confider him as too remote and 
too exalted in his nature to regard the fupplications of 
■wretched mortals, or to alter for their fake any of his pur- 
pofes and decrees. Yet they firmly believe in a life be¬ 
yond the grave, and a ftate of retribution after death, in 
which good men will be rewarded, and bad men punilhed. 
Mr. Park converfed with the natives of all deferiptions on 
this important fubjeft ; and pronounces, without the 
fmalleft hefitation, that a conviiftion of this great truth 
among the negroes is entire, hereditary, and univerfal. 
The Mundingoes have no artificial method of dividing 
time. They calculate the years by the number of rainy 
feafons. They portion the year into moons, and reckon the 
days by fo many funs. The day, they divide into morn¬ 
ing, mid-day, and evening; and further fubdivide it, 
when neceffary, by pointing to the fun’s place in the hea¬ 
vens. “ I frequently inquired of fome of them, (fays 
Park,) what became of the fun during the night, and 
whether we ftiould fee the fame fun, or a different one, 
in the morning; but I found that they confidered the 
queffion as very childiffi. The fubjeft appeared to them 
as placed beyond the reach of human inveffigation; they 
had never indulged a conjecture, nor formed any hypo- 
thefis, about the matter. The moon, by varying her form, 
has more attracted their attention. On the firlt appear¬ 
ance of the new moon, which they look upon to be newly 
created, the Pagan natives, as well as Mahometans, fay a 
Ihort prayer; and this feems to be the only vifible adora¬ 
tion which they offer up to the Supreme Being. This 
prayer is pronounced in a whifper; the party holding up 
his hands before his face; its purport (as I have been af- 
fured by many different people) is to return thanks to 
God for his kindnefs through the exiftence of the pall 
moon, and to folicit a continuation of his favour during 
that of the new one. At the conclufion, they fpit upon 
their hands, and rub them over their faces. This feems 
to be nearly the fame ceremony which prevailed among 
the heathens in the days of Job, ch. xxxi. ver. 26-28. 
Great attention, however, is paid to the changes of this 
luminary in its monthly courfe; and it is thought very 
unlucky to begin a journey, or any other work of confe¬ 
quence, in the laft quarter. An eclipfe, whether of the 
fun or moon, is fuppoled to be effected by witchcraft. 
The liars are very little regarded ; and the whole fiudy of 
aftronomy appears to them as a ufelefs purfuit, and at* 
tended to by fuch perfons only as deal in magic. 
“ Their notions of geography are equally puerile. They 
imagine that the world is an extended plain, the termina¬ 
tion of which no eye has difeovered; it being, they fay, 
overhung with clouds and darknefs. They deferibe the 
fea as a large river of fait water, on the farther fhore of 
which is iituated a country called Toubaubo-doo, “ the land 
of the white people.” At a difiance from Tobaubo-doo, 
they deferibe another country, which they allege is inha¬ 
bited by cannibals of gigantic fize, called Koomi. This 
country they call Jong fang doo, “ the land where the 
Haves are fold.” But ol all countries in the world their 
own appears to them as the bell, and their own people as 
the happielt; and they pity the fate of other nations, who 
have been placed by Providence in lefs .fertile and lefs for¬ 
tunate diffridts. 
“The Mandingoes feldom attain extreme old age. At 
forty, molt of them become grey haired., and covered with 
wrinkles; and but few of them furvive the age ol fifty- 
five or fixty. They calculate the years of their lives, as 
I ha\e already obferved, by the number of rainy feafons 
(there being but one l'uch in the year) ; and diltinguilh 
each year by a particular name, founded on fome remark¬ 
able occurrence which happened in that year. Thus they 
fay the year of the Farbanna war; the year of the Kaarta 
war; the year on which Gadou was plundered, &c. &c. 
and I have no doubt that the year 1796 will in many 
places be dikinguilhed by the name ot Tobaubo tambi fang, 
“ the year the white man palled ;” as fuch an occurrence 
would naturally form an epoch in their traditional hiltory. 
But, notwithltanding that longevity is uncommon among 
them, their difeafes are few in number. Their Ample 
diet, and adtive way of life, preferve them from many of 
thofe dilorders which embitter the days of luxury and 
idlenefs. Fevers and fluxes are the molt common, and 
the molt fatal. For thefe, they generally apply laphies to 
different parts of the body, and perform a great many 
other fsiperftitious ceremonies ; fome of which are, indeed, 
well calculated to infpire the patient with the hope of re¬ 
covery, and divert his mind from brooding over his own 
danger. But I have fometimes obferved among them a 
more fyllematic mode of treatment. On the firlt attack 
of a fever, when the patient complains of cold, he is fre¬ 
quently placed in a fort of vapour-bath; this is done by 
lpreading branches of the Nauclea orientalis upon hot 
wood embers, and laying the patient upon them, wrapped 
up in a large cotton cloth. Water is then Iprinkled upon 
the branches, which, delcending to the hot embers, loon 
covers the patient w>ith a cloud of vapour, in which he 
is allowed to remain until the embers are almolt extin- 
guilhed. This practice commonly produces a profufe 
perfpiration, and wonderfully relieves the fufferer. 
“ When a perfon of confequence dies, the relations and 
neighbours meet together, and manifelt their forrow by 
loud and dilmal howlings. A bullock or goat is killed 
for fuch perfons as come to alfill at the funeral; which 
generally takes place on the evening of the fame day on 
which the party died. The negroes have no appropriate 
burial-places, and frequently dig the grave in the floor of 
the deceafed’s hut, or in the lhade of a favourite tree. 
The body is dreffed in white cotton, and wrapped up in a 
mat. It is carried to the grave, in the dulk of the even¬ 
ing, by the relations. If the grave is without the walls 
of the town, a number of prickly bulhes are laid upon it, 
to prevent the w-olves from digging up the body; but I 
never obferved that any Hone was placed over the grave 
as a monument or memorial. 
“ Of their mufical inllruments, the principal are : the 
koonting, a fort of guitar with three firings; the korro, a 
large harp, with eighteen firings ; the fimbing, a fmall harp, 
with feven firings; the balafou, an inltrument compoled 
of twenty pieces of hard wood of different lengths, with 
the fliells of gourds hung underneath, to increale the 
found; the tangtang , a drum, open at the lower end; and 
3 jaftiy, 
