chap, hi.] WEST INDIES. 283 
other of their superstitions (says Purchas) may 
seem Mahometan, but are more likely to be anci¬ 
ent Ethnic rights; for many countries of Africa ad¬ 
mit circumcision, and yet know not, or acknow¬ 
ledge not, Mahometanism; but are either Christi¬ 
ans, as the Cophti, Abyssinians, or Gentiles. They 
(the people of Benin) cut or raise the skin with 
three lines drawn to the navel, esteeming it neces¬ 
sary to salvation. 
Next in order to the Whidah negroes, are those 
from Congo and Angola; whom I consider to have 
been originally the same people. I can say but lit¬ 
tle of them that is appropriate and particular; ex¬ 
cept that they are in general a slender sightly race, 
of a deep and glossy black, (a tribe of the Congoes 
excepted, who very nearly resemble the Eboes), 
and I believe of a disposition naturally mild and do¬ 
cile. They appear to me to be fitter for domestic 
service than for field labour. They are said howe¬ 
ver to become expert mechanics; and what is 
much to their honour, they are supposed to be 
.more strictly honest than many other of the Afri¬ 
can tribes. 
Having thus recited such observations as have "~ 
occurred to me on contemplating the various Afri¬ 
can nations in the West Indies separately and dis¬ 
tinct from each other, I shall now attempt an esti¬ 
mate of their general character and dispositions, in¬ 
fluenced, as undoubtedly they are, in a great degree, 
by their situation and condition in a state of slave- 
