I wrote to him to desire that he would use his interest
with the slatees, or slave-merchants, to procure me the company and
protection of the first coffle (or caravan) that might leave Gambia
for the interior country; and, in the meantime, I requested him to
purchase for me a horse and two asses. A few days afterwards the
Doctor returned to Pisania, and informed me that a coffle would
certainly go for the interior in the course of the dry season; but
that, as many of the merchants belonging to it had not yet completed
their assortment of goods, he could not say at what time they would
set out.
As the characters and dispositions of the slatees, and people that
composed the caravan, were entirely unknown to me - and as they
seemed rather averse to my purpose, and unwilling to enter into any
positive engagements on my account - and the time of their departure
being withal very uncertain, I resolved, on further deliberation, to
avail myself of the dry season, and proceed without them.
Dr. Laidley approved my determination, and promised me every
assistance in his power to enable me to prosecute my journey with
comfort and safety.
This resolution having been formed, I made preparations accordingly.
And now, being about to take leave of my hospitable friend (whose
kindness and solicitude continued to the moment of my departure),
and to quit for many months the countries bordering on the Gambia,
it seems proper, before I proceed with my narrative, that I should
in this place give some account of the several negro nations which
inhabit the banks of this celebrated river, and the commercial
intercourse that subsists between them, and such of the nations of
Europe as find their advantage in trading to this part of Africa.
The observations which have occurred to me on both these subjects
will be found in the following chapter.
CHAPTER II - LANGUAGE AND RELIGION OF THE NATIVES
The natives of the countries bordering on the Gambia, though
distributed into a great many distinct governments, may, I think, be
divided into four great classes - the Feloops, the Jaloffs, the
Foulahs, and the Mandingoes. Among all these nations, the religion
of Mohammed has made, and continues to make, considerable progress;
but in most of them the body of the people, both free and enslaved,
persevere in maintaining the blind but harmless superstitions of
their ancestors, and are called by the Mohammedans kafirs, or
infidels.
Of the Feloops, I have little to add to what has been observed
concerning them in the former chapter. They are of a gloomy
disposition, and are supposed never to forgive an injury. They are
even said to transmit their quarrels as deadly feuds to their
posterity, insomuch that a son considers it as incumbent on him,
from a just sense of filial obligation, to become the avenger of his
deceased father's wrongs. If a man loses his life in one of these
sudden quarrels which perpetually occur at their feasts, when the
whole party is intoxicated with mead, his son, or the eldest of his
sons (if he has more than one), endeavours to procure his father's
sandals, which he wears ONCE A YEAR, on the anniversary of his
father's death, until a fit opportunity offers of revenging his
fate, when the object of his resentment seldom escapes his pursuit.
This fierce and unrelenting disposition is, however, counterbalanced
by many good qualities: they display the utmost gratitude and
affection towards their benefactors, and the fidelity with which
they preserve whatever is entrusted to them is remarkable. During
the present war, they have more than once taken up arms to defend
our merchant vessels from French privateers; and English property of
considerable value has frequently been left at Vintain for a long
time entirely under the care of the Feloops, who have uniformly
manifested on such occasions the strictest honesty and punctuality.
How greatly is it to be wished that the minds of a people so
determined and faithful could be softened and civilised by the mild
and benevolent spirit of Christianity!
The Jaloffs (or Yaloffs) are an active, powerful, and warlike race,
inhabiting great part of that tract which lies between the river
Senegal and the Mandingo states on the Gambia; yet they differ from
the Mandingoes not only in language, but likewise in complexion and
features. The noses of the Jaloffs are not so much depressed, nor
the lips so protuberant, as among the generality of Africans; and
although their skin is of the deepest black, they are considered by
the white traders as the most sightly negroes on this part of the
continent.
Their language is said to be copious and significant, and is often
learnt by Europeans trading to Senegal.
The Foulahs (or Pholeys), such of them at least as reside near the
Gambia, are chiefly of a tawny complexion, with soft silky hair, and
pleasing features. They are much attached to a pastoral life, and
have introduced themselves into all the kingdoms on the windward
coast as herdsmen and husbandmen, paying a tribute to the sovereign
of the country for the lands which they hold. Not having many
opportunities, however, during my residence at Pisania, of improving
my acquaintance with these people, I defer entering at large into
their character until a fitter occasion occurs, which will present
itself when I come to Bondou.
The Mandingoes, of whom it remains to speak, constitute, in truth,
the bulk of the inhabitants in all those districts of Africa which I
visited; and their language, with a few exceptions, is universally
understood and very generally spoken in that part of the continent.
They are called Mandingoes, I conceive, as having originally
migrated from the interior state of Manding, of which some account
will hereafter be given.
In every considerable town there is a chief magistrate, called the
alkaid, whose office is hereditary, and whose business it is to
preserve order, to levy duties on travellers, and to preside at all
conferences in the exercise of local jurisdiction and the
administration of justice.
