The heat of the climate, and the
great scarcity of salt, are held forth as unanswerable objections: and
the whole process appears to them too long and troublesome to be attended
with any solid advantage.
Besides the cattle, which constitute the chief wealth of the Foulahs,
they possess some excellent horses, the breed of which seems to be a
mixture of the Arabian with the original African.
CHAPTER V.
_Account of Kajaaga. - Serawoollies - their manners and language. - Account
of Joag. - The Author is ill treated, and robbed of half of his effects,
by order of Batcheri, the king. - Charity of a female slave. - The Author
is visited by Demba Sego, nephew of the King of Kasson, who offers to
conduct him in safety to that kingdom. - Offer accepted. - The Author and
his protector, with a numerous retinue, set out and reach Samee, on the
banks of the Senegal. - Proceed to Kayee, and, crossing the Senegal,
arrive in the kingdom of Kasson._
The kingdom of Kajaaga, in which I was now arrived, is called by the
French Gallam; but the name that I have adopted is universally used by
the natives. This country is bounded on the south-east and south by
Bambouk; on the west by Bondou and Foota Torra; and on the north by the
river Senegal.
The air and climate are, I believe, more pure and salubrious than at any
of the settlements towards the coast; the face of the country is
everywhere interspersed with a pleasing variety of hills and valleys; and
the windings of the Senegal river, which descends from the rocky hills of
the interior, make the scenery on its banks very picturesque and
beautiful.
The inhabitants are called Serawoollies, or (as the French write it)
_Seracolets_. Their complexion is a jet black: they are not to be
distinguished in this respect from the Jaloffs. The government is
monarchical; and the regal authority, from what I experienced of it,
seems to be sufficiently formidable. The people themselves, however,
complain of no oppression; and seemed all very anxious to support the
king in a contest he was going to enter into with the sovereign of
Kasson. The Serawoollies are habitually a trading people; they formerly
carried on a great commerce with the French in gold and slaves, and still
maintain some traffic in slaves with the British factories on the Gambia.
They are reckoned tolerably fair and just in their dealings, but are
indefatigable in their exertions to acquire wealth, and they derive
considerable profits by the sale of salt and cotton cloth in distant
countries. When a Serawoolli merchant returns home from a trading
expedition, the neighbours immediately assemble to congratulate him upon
his arrival. On these occasions the traveller displays his wealth and
liberality, by making a few presents to his friends; but if he has been
unsuccessful, his levee is soon over; and every one looks upon him as a
man of no understanding, who could perform a long journey, and (as they
express it) _bring back nothing but the hair upon his head_.
Their language abounds much in gutterals, and is not so harmonious as
that spoken by the Foulahs; it is, however, well worth acquiring by those
who travel through this part of the African continent, it being very
generally understood in the kingdoms of Kasson, Kaarta, Ludamar, and the
northern parts of Bambarra. In all these countries the Serawoollies are
the chief traders. Their numerals are: -
One ......... _Bani_.
Two ......... _Fillo_.
Three ......... _Sicco_.
Four ......... _Narrato_.
Five ......... _Karrago_.
Six ......... _Toomo_.
Seven ......... _Nero_.
Eight ......... _Sego_.
Nine ......... _Kabbo_.
Ten ......... _Tamo_.
Twenty......... _Tamo di fillo_.
We arrived at Joag, the frontier town of this kingdom, on the 24th of
December; and took up our residence at the house of the chief man, who is
here no longer known by the title of _Alkaid_, but is called the _Dooty_.
He was a rigid Mahomedan, but distinguished for his hospitality. This
town may be supposed, on a gross computation, to contain two thousand
inhabitants. It is surrounded by a high wall, in which are a number of
port-holes, for musketry to fire through; in case of an attack. Every
man's possession is likewise surrounded by a wall; the whole forming so
many distinct citadels; and amongst a people unacquainted with the use of
artillery, these walls answer all the purposes of stronger
fortifications. To the westward of the town is a small river, on the
banks of which the natives raise great plenty of tobacco and onions.
The same evening Madiboo the Bushreen, who had accompanied me from
Pisania, went to pay a visit to his father and mother, who dwelt at a
neighbouring town called Dramanet. He was joined by my other attendant
the blacksmith; and as soon as it was dark, I was invited to see the
sports of the inhabitants, it being their custom, on the arrival of
strangers, to welcome them by diversions of different kinds. I found a
great crowd surrounding a party who were dancing, by the light of some
large fires, to the music of four drums, which were beat with great
exactness and uniformity. The dances, however, consisted more in wanton
gestures than in muscular exertion or graceful attitudes. The ladies vied
with each other in displaying the most voluptuous movements imaginable.
December 25th. About two o'clock in the morning a number of horsemen came
into the town, and having awakened my landlord, talked to him for some
time in the Serawoolli tongue; after which they dismounted, and came to
the Bentang, on which I had made my bed. One of them thinking that I was
asleep, attempted to steal the musket that lay by me on the mat; but
finding that he could not effect his purpose undiscovered, he desisted:
and the strangers sat down by me till daylight.
