The Guinea Fowl And Red Partridge
Abound In The Fields; And The Woods Furnish A Small Species Of Antelope,
Of Which The Venison Is Highly And Deservedly Prized.
Of the other wild animals in the Mandingo countries, the most common are
the hyaena, the panther, and the elephant.
Considering the use that is
made of the latter in the East Indies, it may be thought extraordinary,
that the natives of Africa have not, in any part of this immense
continent, acquired the skill of taming this powerful and docile
creature, and applying his strength and faculties to the service of man.
When I told some of the natives that this was actually done in the
countries of the East, my auditors laughed me to scorn, and exclaimed,
_Tobaubo fonnio!_ (a white man's lie.) The Negroes frequently find means
to destroy the elephant by fire-arms; they hunt it principally for the
sake of the teeth, which they transfer in barter to those who sell them
again to the Europeans. The flesh they eat, and consider it as a great
delicacy.
The usual beast of burthen in all the Negro territories is the ass. The
application of animal labour to the purposes of agriculture is no where
adopted; the plough, therefore, is wholly unknown. The chief implement
used in husbandry is the hoe, which varies in form in different
districts; and the labour is universally performed by slaves.
On the 6th of October the waters of the Gambia were at the greatest
height, being fifteen feet above the high-water-mark of the tide; after
which they began to subside; at first slowly, but afterwards very
rapidly; sometimes sinking more than a foot in twenty-four hours; by the
beginning of November the river had sunk to its former level, and the
tide ebbed and flowed as usual.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 35 of 546
Words from 8844 to 9150
of 148366
