The Woman Whose Office It Is, Then
Shakes The Calabash In Such A Manner As To Mix The Sand And
Water
together, and give the whole a rotatory motion - at first gently, but
afterwards more quickly, until a small portion
Of sand and water, at
every revolution, flies over the brim of the calabash. The sand
thus separated is only the coarsest particles mixed with a little
muddy water. After the operation has been continued for some time,
the sand is allowed to subside, and the water poured off; a portion
of coarse sand, which is now uppermost in the calabash, is removed
by the hand, and, fresh water being added, the operation is repeated
until the water comes off almost pure. The woman now takes a second
calabash, and shakes the sand and water gently from the one to the
other, reserving that portion of sand which is next the bottom of
the calabash, and which is most likely to contain the gold. This
small quantity is mixed with some pure water, and, being moved about
in the calabash, is carefully examined. If a few particles of gold
are picked out, the contents of the other calabash are examined in
the same manner, but in general the party is well contented if she
can obtain three or four grains from the contents of both
calabashes. Some women, however, by long practice, become so well
acquainted with the nature of the sand, and the mode of washing it,
that they will collect gold where others cannot find a single
particle. The gold dust is kept in quills stopped up with cotton;
and the washers are fond of displaying a number of these quills in
their hair. Generally speaking, if a person uses common diligence
in a proper soil, it is supposed that as much gold may be collected
by him in the course of the dry season as is equal to the value of
two slaves.
Thus simple is the process by which the negroes obtain gold in
Manding; and it is evident from this account that the country
contains a considerable portion of this precious metal, for many of
the smaller particles must necessarily escape the observation of the
naked eye; and as the natives generally search the sands of streams
at a considerable distance from the hills, and consequently far
removed from the mines where the gold was originally produced, the
labourers are sometimes but ill-paid for their trouble. Minute
particles only of this heavy metal can be carried by the current to
any considerable distance; the larger must remain deposited near the
original source from whence they came. Were the gold-bearing
streams to be traced to their fountains, and the hills from whence
they spring properly examined, the sand in which the gold is there
deposited would no doubt be found to contain particles of a much
larger size; and even the small grains might be collected to
considerable advantage by the use of quicksilver and other
improvements, with which the natives are at present unacquainted.
Part of this gold is converted into ornaments for the women, but in
general these ornaments are more to be admired for their weight than
their workmanship. They are massy and inconvenient, particularly
the earrings, which are commonly so heavy as to pull down and
lacerate the lobe of the ear; to avoid which, they are supported by
a thong of red leather, which passes over the crown of the head from
one ear to the other. The necklace displays greater fancy, and the
proper arrangement of the different beads and plates of gold is the
great criterion of taste and elegance. When a lady of consequence
is in full dress, her gold ornaments may be worth altogether from
fifty to eighty pounds sterling.
A small quantity of gold is likewise employed by the slatees in
defraying the expenses of their journeys to and from the coast, but
by far the greater proportion is annually carried away by the Moors
in exchange for salt and other merchandise. During my stay at
Kamalia, the gold collected by the different traders at that place
for salt alone was nearly equal to one hundred and ninety-eight
pounds sterling; and as Kamalia is but a small town, and not much
resorted to by the trading Moors, this quantity must have borne a
very small proportion to the gold collected at Kancaba, Kankaree,
and some other large towns. The value of salt in this part of
Africa is very great. One slab, about two feet and a half in
length, fourteen inches in breadth, and two inches in thickness,
will sometimes sell for about two pounds ten shillings sterling; and
from one pound fifteen shillings to two pounds may be considered as
the common price. Four of these slabs are considered as a load for
an ass, and six for a bullock. The value of European merchandise in
Manding varies very much according to the supply from the coast, or
the dread of war in the country; but the return for such articles is
commonly made in slaves. The price of a prime slave, when I was at
Kamalia, was from twelve to nine minkallies, and European
commodities had then nearly the following value:-
18 gun-flints,
48 leaves of tobacco, } one
20 charges of gunpowder, } minkalli.
A cutlass, }
A musket, from three to four minkallies.
The produce of the country and the different necessaries of life,
when exchanged for gold, sold as follows:-
Common provisions for one day, the weight of one teeleekissi (a
black bean, six of which make the weight of one minkalli); a
chicken, one teeleekissi; a sheep, three teeleekissi; a bullock, one
minkalli; a horse, from ten to seventeen minkallies.
The negroes weigh the gold in small balances, which they always
carry about them. They make no difference, in point of value,
between gold dust and wrought gold. In bartering one article for
another, the person who receives the gold always weighs it with his
own teeleekissi.
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