The Present Inhabitants, Though They Possess Both Cattle And Corn In
Abundance, Are Not Over Nice In Articles Of Diet; Rats, Moles, Squirrels,
Snakes, Locusts, &C., Are Eaten Without Scruple By The Highest And
Lowest.
My people were one evening invited to a feast given by some of
the townsmen, where, after making a
Hearty meal of what they thought fish
and kouskous, one of them found a piece of hard skin in the dish, and
brought it along with him, to show me what sort of fish they had been
eating. On examining the skin, I found they had been feasting on a large
snake. Another custom, still more extraordinary, is, that no woman is
allowed to eat an egg. This prohibition, whether arising from ancient
superstition, or from the craftiness of some old Bushreen who loved eggs
himself, is rigidly adhered to, and nothing will more affront a woman of
Teesee than to offer her an egg. The custom is the more singular, as the
men eat eggs without scruple in the presence of their wives, and I never
observed the same prohibition in any other of the Mandingo countries.
The third day after his son's departure, Tiggity Sego held a palaver on a
very extraordinary occasion, which I attended; and the debates on both
sides of the question displayed much ingenuity. The case was this: A
young man, a Kafir, of considerable affluence, who had recently married a
young and handsome wife, applied to a very devout Bushreen, or Mussulman
priest of his acquaintance, to procure him saphies for his protection
during the approaching war. The Bushreen complied with the request; and
in order, as he pretended, to render the saphies more efficacious,
enjoined the young man to avoid any nuptial intercourse with his bride
for the space of six weeks. Severe as the injunction was, the Kafir
strictly obeyed; and without telling his wife the real cause, absented
himself from her company. In the meantime, it began to be whispered at
Teesee, that the Bushreen, who always performed his evening devotions at
the door of the Kafir's hut, was more intimate with the young wife than
he ought to be. At first, the good husband was unwilling to suspect the
honour of his sanctified friend, and one whole month elapsed before any
jealousy rose in his mind; but hearing the charge repeated he at last
interrogated his wife on the subject who frankly confessed that the
Bushreen had seduced her.
Hereupon the Kafir put her into confinement, and called a palaver upon
the Bushreen's conduct. The fact was clearly proved against him; and he
was sentenced to be sold into slavery, or to find two slaves for his
redemption, according to the pleasure of the complainant. The injured
husband, however, was unwilling to proceed against his friend to such
extremity, and desired rather to have him publicly flogged before Tiggity
Sego's gate. This was agreed to, and the sentence was immediately
executed. The culprit was tied by the hands to a strong stake; and a long
black rod being brought forth, the executioner, after flourishing it
round his head for some time, applied it with such force and dexterity to
the Bushreen's back, as to make him roar until the woods resounded with
his screams.
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