They Display Great Skill In The Management Of Their
Cattle, Making Them Extremely Gentle By Kindness And Familiarity.
On The Approach Of The Night, They Are Collected From The Woods And
Secured In Folds Called Korrees, Which Are Constructed In The
Neighbourhood Of The Different Villages.
In the middle of each
korree is erected a small hut, wherein one or two of the herdsmen
keep watch during the night, to prevent the cattle from being
stolen, and to keep up the fires which are kindled round the korree
to frighten away the wild beasts.
The cattle are milked in the mornings and evenings: the milk is
excellent; but the quantity obtained from any one cow is by no means
so great as in Europe. The Foulahs use the milk chiefly as an
article of diet, and that not until it is quite sour. The cream
which it affords is very thick, and is converted into butter by
stirring it violently in a large calabash. This butter, when melted
over a gentle fire, and freed from impurities, is preserved in small
earthen pots, and forms a part in most of their dishes; it serves
likewise to anoint their heads, and is bestowed very liberally on
their faces and arms.
But although milk is plentiful, it is somewhat remarkable that the
Foulahs, and indeed all the inhabitants of this part of Africa, are
totally unacquainted with the art of making cheese. A firm
attachment to the customs of their ancestors makes them view with an
eye of prejudice everything that looks like innovation.
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