The Customs, Or Duties On Travellers, Are Very Heavy; In Almost
Every Town An Ass-Load Pays A Bar Of European Merchandise, And At
Fatteconda, The Residence Of The King, One Indian Baft, Or A Musket,
And Six Bottles Of Gunpowder, Are Exacted As The Common Tribute.
By
means of these duties, the king of Bondou is well supplied with arms
and ammunition - a circumstance which makes him formidable to the
neighbouring states.
The inhabitants differ in their complexions and national manners
from the Mandingoes and Serawoollies, with whom they are frequently
at war. Some years ago the king of Bondou crossed the Faleme river
with a numerous army; and, after a short and bloody campaign,
totally defeated the forces of Samboo, king of Bambouk, who was
obliged to sue for peace, and surrender to him all the towns along
the eastern bank of the Faleme.
The Foulahs in general (as has been observed in a former chapter)
are of a tawny complexion, with small features and soft silky hair;
next to the Mandingoes, they are undoubtedly the most considerable
of all the nations in this part of Africa. Their original country
is said to be Fooladoo (which signifies the country of the Foulahs);
but they possess at present many other kingdoms at a great distance
from each other; their complexion, however, is not exactly the same
in the different districts; in Bondou, and the other kingdoms which
are situated in the vicinity of the Moorish territories, they are of
a more yellow complexion than in the southern states.
The Foulahs of Bondou are naturally of a mild and gentle
disposition, but the uncharitable maxims of the Koran have made them
less hospitable to strangers, and more reserved in their behaviour,
than the Mandingoes. They evidently consider all the negro natives
as their inferiors; and, when talking of different nations, always
rank themselves among the white people.
Their government differs from that of the Mandingoes chiefly in
this, that they are more immediately under the influence of
Mohammedan laws; for all the chief men, the king excepted, and a
large majority of the inhabitants of Bondou, are Mussulmans, and the
authority and laws of the Prophet are everywhere looked upon as
sacred and decisive. In the exercise of their faith, however, they
are not very intolerant towards such of their countrymen as still
retain their ancient superstitions. Religious persecution is not
known among them, nor is it necessary; for the system of Mohammed is
made to extend itself by means abundantly more efficacious. By
establishing small schools in the different towns, where many of the
pagan as well as Mohammedan children are taught to read the Koran,
and instructed in the tenets of the Prophet, the Mohammedan priests
fix a bias on the minds, and form the character, of their young
disciples, which no accidents of life can ever afterwards remove or
alter. Many of these little schools I visited in my progress
through the country, and I observed with pleasure the great docility
and submissive deportment of the children, and heartily wished they
had had better instructors and a purer religion.
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