This Country Is Bounded On The South-East And South
By Bambouk, On The West By Bondou And Foota-Torra, And On The North
By The River Senegal.
The air and climate are, I believe, more pure and salubrious than at
any of the settlements towards the
Coast; the face of the country is
everywhere interspersed with a pleasing variety of hills and
valleys; and the windings of the Senegal river, which descends from
the rocky hills of the interior, make the scenery on its banks very
picturesque and beautiful.
The inhabitants are called Serawoollies, or (as the French write it)
Seracolets. Their complexion is a jet black: they are not to be
distinguished in this respect from the Jaloffs.
The government is monarchical, and the regal authority, from what I
experienced of it, seems to be sufficiently formidable. The people
themselves, however, complain of no oppression, and seemed all very
anxious to support the king in a contest he was going to enter into
with the sovereign of Kasson. The Serawoollies are habitually a
trading people; they formerly carried on a great commerce with the
French in gold and slaves, and still maintain some traffic in slaves
with the British factories on the Gambia. They are reckoned
tolerably fair and just in their dealings, but are indefatigable in
their exertions to acquire wealth, and they derive considerable
profits by the sale of salt and cotton cloth in distant countries.
When a Serawoolli merchant returns home from a trading expedition
the neighbours immediately assemble to congratulate him upon his
arrival. On these occasions the traveller displays his wealth and
liberality by making a few presents to his friends; but if he has
been unsuccessful his levee is soon over, and every one looks upon
him as a man of no understanding, who could perform a long journey,
and (at they express it) "bring back nothing but the hair upon his
head."
Their language abounds much in gutturals, and is not so harmonious
as that spoken by the Foulahs. It is, however, well worth acquiring
by those who travel through this part of the African continent, it
being very generally understood in the kingdoms of Kasson, Kaarta,
Ludamar, and the northern parts of Bambarra. In all these countries
the Serawoollies are the chief traders. Their numerals are:-
We arrived at Joag, the frontier town of this kingdom, on the 24th
of December, and took up our residence at the house of the chief
man, who is here no longer known by the title of alkaid, but is
called the dooty. He was a rigid Mohammedan, but distinguished for
his hospitality. This town may be supposed, on a gross computation,
to contain two thousand inhabitants. It is surrounded by a high
wall, in which are a number of port-holes, for musketry to fire
through, in case of an attack.
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