This Is
Called The Coast Of _Anterota_, And Belongs Entirely To The Azanhaji Or
Tawny Moors.
I was quite astonished to find so prodigious a difference in
so narrow a space, as appeared at the Senegal:
For, on the south side of
the river, the inhabitants are all exceedingly black, tall, corpulent and
well proportioned, and the country all clothed in fine verdure, and full
of fruit trees; whereas, on the north side of the river, the men are
tawny, meagre, and of small stature, and the country all dry and barren.
This river, in the opinion of the learned, is a branch of the _Gihon_,
which flows from the Terrestrial Paradise, and was named the Niger by the
ancients, which flows through the whole of Ethiopia, and which, on
approaching the ocean to the west, divides into many other branches. The
_Nile_, which is another branch of the Gihon, falls into the
Mediterranean, after flowing through Egypt[3].
The first kingdom of the Negroes is on the banks of the Senegal, and its
inhabitants are called _Gilofi_ or Jalofs. All the country is low, not
only from the north to that river, but also beyond it, as far south as
Cape Verd, which is the highest land on all this coast, and is 400 miles
from Cape Branco. This kingdom of the Jalofs, on the Senegal, is bounded
on the east by the country called _Tukhusor_; on the south by the kingdom
of _Gambra_ or Gambia; on the west by the Atlantic Ocean; and on the
north by the river Senegal and the Azanhaji[4]. The king who reigned in
Senegal in my time was named Zukholin, and was twenty-two years old. This
kingdom is not hereditary; but for the most part, three or four of the
principal lords, of whom there are many in the country, choose a king, in
the event of a vacancy, but always fix their choice on a person of noble
lineage, who reigns only as long as he gives satisfaction to these great
lords. They often dethrone their kings by force; who, on the other hand,
often render; themselves so powerful as to stand on their defence. This
renders the government unsettled, and is productive of civil wars;
similar to Egypt, where the Soldan of Cairo is always in fear of being
killed or banished.
The people are savages, and extremely poor, having no walled towns, and
their villages are entirely composed of thatched cottages. They use
neither lime nor stone in building, not knowing how to make the one, or
to form the other. The kingdom of the Jalofs is small, and, as I was
informed, extends only 300 miles along the coast, and about the same
distance inland. The king has no settled revenue; but the lords of the
country court his favour, by making him yearly presents of horses, which
being scarce, are in high estimation, together with horse furniture, cows,
and goats, pulse, millet, and other things. He likewise increases his
wealth by means of robbery, and by reducing his own subjects, and those
of neighbouring provinces to slavery, employing a part of these slaves to
cultivate the lands which are assigned to him, and selling the rest to
the Arabs and Azanhaji traders, who bring horses and other things for
sale; as likewise to the Christians, since they have established a trade
in these parts.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 177 of 427
Words from 92061 to 92628
of 224388
