On The Death Of The Reigning Monarch, His Eldest Son (If He Has
Attained The Age Of Manhood) Succeeds To The Regal Authority.
If
there is no son, or if the son is under the age of discretion, a
meeting of the
Great men is held, and the late monarch's nearest
relation (commonly his brother) is called to the government, not as
regent, or guardian to the infant son, but in full right, and to the
exclusion of the minor. The charges of the government are defrayed
by occasional tributes from the people, and by duties on goods
transported across the country. Travellers, on going from the
Gambia towards the interior, pay customs in European merchandise.
On returning, they pay in iron and shea-toulou. These taxes are
paid at every town.
Medina, the capital of the kingdom, at which I was now arrived, is a
place of considerable extent, and may contain from eight hundred to
one thousand houses. It is fortified in the common African manner,
by a surrounding high wall built of clay, and an outward fence of
pointed stakes and prickly bushes; but the walls are neglected, and
the outward fence has suffered considerably from the active hands of
busy housewives, who pluck up the stakes for firewood. I obtained a
lodging at one of the king's near relations, who apprised me that at
my introduction to the king I must not presume to SHAKE HANDS WITH
HIM. "It was not usual," he said, "to allow this liberty to
strangers." Thus instructed, I went in the afternoon to pay my
respects to the sovereign, and ask permission to pass through his
territories to Bondou.
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