Besides These, They Make
Use Of Small Flutes, Bow-Strings, Elephants' Teeth And Bells; And At
All Their Dances And Concerts Clapping Of Hands Appears To
Constitute A Necessary Part Of The Chorus.
With the love of music is naturally connected a taste for poetry;
and fortunately for the poets of Africa they are in a great measure
exempted from that neglect and indigence which in more polished
countries commonly attend the votaries of the Muses.
They consist
of two classes; the most numerous are the singing men, called jilli
kea, mentioned in a former part of my narrative. One or more of
these may be found in every town. They sing extempore songs in
honour of their chief men, or any other persons who are willing to
give "solid pudding for empty praise." But a nobler part of their
office is to recite the historical events of their country; hence in
war they accompany the soldiers to the field, in order, by reciting
the great actions of their ancestors, to awaken in them a spirit of
glorious emulation. The other class are devotees of the Mohammedan
faith, who travel about the country singing devout hymns and
performing religious ceremonies, to conciliate the favour of the
Almighty, either in averting calamity or insuring success to any
enterprise. Both descriptions of these itinerant bards are much
employed and respected by the people, and very liberal contributions
are made for them.
The usual diet of the negroes is somewhat different in different
districts; in general the people of free condition breakfast about
daybreak upon gruel made of meal and water, with a little of the
fruit of the tamarind to give it an acid taste. About two o'clock
in the afternoon a sort of hasty pudding, with a little shea butter,
is the common meal; but the supper constitutes the principal repast,
and is seldom ready before midnight. This consists almost
universally of kouskous, with a small portion of animal food or shea
butter mixed with it. In eating, the kafirs, as well as
Mohammedans, use the right hand only.
The beverages of the pagan negroes are beer and mead, of each of
which they frequently drink to excess. The Mohammedan convert
drinks nothing but water. The natives of all descriptions take
snuff and smoke tobacco; their pipes are made of wood, with an
earthen bowl of curious workmanship. But in the interior countries
the greatest of all luxuries is salt. It would appear strange to a
European to see a child suck a piece of rock salt as if it were
sugar. This, however, I have frequently seen, although, in the
inland parts, the poorer class of inhabitants are so very rarely
indulged with this precious article that to say a man ate salt with
his victuals is the same as saying he is a very rich man. I have
myself suffered great inconvenience from the scarcity of this
article. The long use of vegetable food creates so painful a
longing for salt that no words can sufficiently describe it.
The negroes in general, and the Mandingoes in particular, are
considered by the whites on the coast as an indolent and inactive
people - I think without reason. The nature of the climate is,
indeed, unfavourable to great exertion; but surely a people cannot
justly be denominated habitually indolent whose wants are supplied,
not by the spontaneous productions of nature, but by their own
exertions. Few people work harder, when occasion requires, than the
Mandingoes; but not having many opportunities of turning to
advantage the superfluous produce of their labour, they are content
with cultivating as much ground only as is necessary for their own
support. The labours of the field give them pretty full employment
during the rains; and in the dry season the people who live in the
vicinity of large rivers employ themselves in fishing. The fish are
taken in wicker baskets or with small cotton nets, and are preserved
by being first dried in the sun and afterwards rubbed with shea
butter, to prevent them from contracting fresh moisture. Others of
the natives employ themselves in hunting. Their weapons are bows
and arrows; but the arrows in common use are not poisoned. {6} They
are very dexterous marksmen, and will hit a lizard on a tree, or any
other small object, at an amazing distance. They likewise kill
guinea-fowls, partridges, and pigeons, but never on the wing. While
the men are occupied in these pursuits the women are very diligent
in manufacturing cotton cloth. They prepare the cotton for spinning
by laying it in small quantities at a time upon a smooth stone or
piece of wood, and rolling the seeds out with a thick iron spindle;
and they spin it with the distaff. The thread is not fine, but well
twisted, and makes a very durable cloth. A woman with common
diligence will spin from six to nine garments of this cloth in one
year, which, according to its fineness, will sell for a minkalli and
a half or two minkallies each. {7} The weaving is performed by the
men. The loom is made exactly upon the same principle as that of
Europe, but so small and narrow that the web is seldom more than
four inches broad. The shuttle is of the common construction, but
as the thread is coarse the chamber is somewhat larger than the
European.
The women dye this cloth of a rich and lasting blue colour by the
following simple process: - The leaves of the indigo, when fresh
gathered, are pounded in a wooden mortar, and mixed in a large
earthen jar with a strong ley of wood-ashes; chamber-ley is
sometimes added. The cloth is steeped in this mixture, and allowed
to remain until it has acquired the proper shade. In Kaarta and
Ludamar, where the indigo is not plentiful, they collect the leaves
and dry them in the sun; and when they wish to use them they reduce
a sufficient quantity to powder and mix it with the ley, as before
mentioned.
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