But It Is Not Often That The Negroes Make Their Religious
Opinions The Subject Of Conversation; When Interrogated In
Particular
Concerning their ideas of a future state, they express
themselves with great reverence, but endeavour to shorten the
discussion by
Observing, "Mo o mo inta allo" ("No man knows anything
about it"). They are content, they say, to follow the precepts and
examples of their forefathers through the various vicissitudes of
life, and when this world presents no objects of enjoyment or of
comfort they seem to look with anxiety towards another, which they
believe will be better suited to their natures, but concerning which
they are far from indulging vain and delusive conjectures.
The Mandingoes seldom attain extreme old age. At forty most of them
become grey-haired and covered with wrinkles, and but few of them
survive the age of fifty-five or sixty. They calculate the years of
their lives, as I have already observed, by the number of rainy
seasons (there being but one such in the year), and distinguish each
year by a particular name, founded on some remarkable occurrence
which happened in that year. Thus they say the year of the Farbanna
war - the year of the Kaarta war - the year on which Gadou was
plundered, etc., etc.; and I have no doubt that the year 1796 will
in many places be distinguished by the name of tobaubo tambi sang
(the year the white man passed), as such an occurrence would
naturally form an epoch in their traditional history.
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