by Mungo Park
The customs, or duties on travellers, are very heavy: in almost every town an ass-load pays a bar of European merchandise; and at Fatteconda, the residence of the king, one Indian baft, or a musket, and six bottles of gunpowder, are exacted as a common tribute. By means of these duties, the king of Bondou is well supplied with arms and ammunition; a circumstance which makes him formidable to the neighbouring states.
The inhabitants differ in their complexions and national manners from the Mandingoes and Serawoollies, with whom they are frequently at war. Some years ago the king of Bondou crossed the Falemé river with a numerous army, and after a short and bloody campaign totally defeated the forces of Samboo, king of Bambouk, who was obliged to sue for peace, and surrender to him all the towns along the eastern bank of the Falemé.
The Foulahs in general (as has been observed in a former chapter) are of a tawny complexion, with small features, and soft silky hair; next to the Mandingoes they are undoubtedly the most considerable of all the nations in this part of Africa. Their original country is said to be Fooladoo, which signifies the country of the Foulahs; but they possess at present many other kingdoms at a great distance from each other; their complexion, however, is not exactly the same in the different districts; in Bondou and the other kingdoms which are situated in the vicinity of the Moorish territories, they are of a more yellow complexion than in the southern states.
The Foulahs of Bondou are naturally of a mild and gentle disposition, but the uncharitable maxims of the Koran have made them less hospitable to strangers, and more reserved in their behaviour than the Mandingoes. They evidently consider all the Negro natives as their inferiors; and when talking of different nations, always rank themselves among the white people.
Their government differs from that of the Mandingoes chiefly in this, that they are more immediately under the influence of the Mohammedan laws: for all the chief men (the king excepted) and a large majority of the inhabitants of Bondou, are Mussulmans, and the authority and laws of the Prophet are everywhere looked upon as sacred and decisive. In the exercise of their faith, however, they are not very intolerant towards such of their countrymen as still retain their ancient superstitions. Religious persecution is not known among them, nor is it necessary; for the system of Mahomet is made to extend itself by means abundantly more efficacious. By establishing small schools in the different towns, where many of the Pagan as well as Mohammedan children are taught to read the Koran, and instructed in the tenets of the Prophet, the Mohammedan priests fix a bias on the minds, and form the character of their young disciples, which no accidents of life can ever afterwards remove or alter. Many of these little schools I visited in my progress through the country, and observed with pleasure the great docility and submissive deportment of the children, and heartily wished they had had better instructors and a purer religion.
With the Mohammedan faith is also introduced the Arabic language, with which most of the Foulahs have a slight acquaintance. The native tongue abounds very much in liquids, but there is something unpleasant in the manner of pronouncing it. A stranger on hearing the common conversation of two Foulahs, would imagine that they were scolding each other.
The industry of the Foulahs, in the occupations of pasturage and agriculture, is everywhere remarkable. Even on the banks of the Gambia, the greater part of the corn is raised by them; and their herds and flocks are more numerous and in better condition than those of the Mandingoes; but in Bondou they are opulent in a high degree, and enjoy all the necessaries of life in the greatest profusion. They display great skill in the management of their cattle, making them extremely gentle by kindness and familiarity. On the approach of night, they are collected from the woods, and secured in folds, called korrees, which are constructed in the neighbourhood of the different villages. In the middle of each korree is erected a small hut, wherein one or two of the herdsmen keep watch during the night, to prevent the cattle from being stolen, and to keep up the fires which are kindled round the korree to frighten away the wild beasts.
The cattle are milked in the mornings and evenings: the milk is excellent; but the quantity obtained from any one cow is by no means so great as in Europe. The Foulahs use the milk chiefly as an article of diet, and that not until it is quite sour. The cream which it affords is very thick, and is converted into butter by stirring it violently in a large calabash. This butter, when melted over a gentle fire, and freed from impurities, is preserved in small earthen pots, and forms a part in most of their dishes; it serves likewise to anoint their heads, and is bestowed very liberally on their faces and arms.
But although milk is plentiful, it is somewhat remarkable that the Foulahs, and indeed all the inhabitants of this part of Africa, are totally unacquainted with the art of making cheese. A firm attachment to the customs of their ancestors, makes them view with an eye of prejudice everything that looks like innovation. 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.
* These are a sort of travelling bards and musicians, who sing extempore songs in praise of those who employ them. A fuller account of them will be given hereafter.
Chapter 5
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 gutturals, 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.
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 Mohammedan, 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.
I could now easily perceive, by the countenance of my interpreter Johnson, that something very unpleasant was in agitation. I was likewise surprised to see Madiboo and the blacksmith so soon returned. On enquiring the reason, Madiboo informed me, that as they were dancing at Dramanet, ten horsemen belonging to Batcheri, king of the country, with his second son at their head, had arrived there, enquiring if the white man had passed, and on being told that I was at Joag, they rode off without stopping. Madiboo added, that on hearing this, he and the blacksmith hastened back to give me notice of their coming. Whilst I was listening to this narrative, the ten horsemen mentioned by Madiboo arrived; and coming to the Bentang, dismounted and seated themselves with those who had come before, the whole being about twenty in number, forming a circle round me, and each man holding his musket in his hand. I took this opportunity to observe to my landlord, that as I did not understand the Serawoolli tongue, I hoped, whatever the men had to say, they would speak in Mandingo. To this they agreed; and a short man, loaded with a remarkable number of saphies, opened the business in a very long harangue, informing me that I had entered the king’s town without having first paid the duties, or given any present to the king, and that, according to the laws of the country, my people, cattle, and baggage were forfeited. He added, that they had received orders from the king to conduct me to Maana,*the place of his residence, and if I refused to come with them, their orders were to bring me by force; upon his saying which, all of them rose up and asked me if I was ready. It would have been equally vain and imprudent in me to have resisted or irritated such a body of men. I therefore affected to comply with their commands, and begged them only to stop a little until I had given my horse a feed of corn, and settled matters with my landlord. The poor blacksmith, who was a native of Kasson, mistook this feigned compliance for a real intention, and taking me away from the company, told me that he had always behaved towards me as if I had been his father and master, and he hoped I would not entirely ruin him by going to Maana; adding, that as there was every reason to believe a war would soon take place between Kasson and Kajaaga, he should not only lose his little property, the savings of four years’ industry, but should certainly be detained and sold as a slave, unless his friends had an opportunity of paying two slaves for his redemption. I saw this reasoning in its full force, and determined to do my utmost to preserve the blacksmith from so dreadful a fate. I therefore told the king’s son that I was ready to go with him, upon condition that the blacksmith, who was an inhabitant of a distant kingdom, and entirely unconnected with me, should be allowed to stay at Joag till my return. To this they all objected, and insisted that, as we had all acted contrary to the laws, we were all equally answerable for our conduct.
I now took my landlord aside, and giving him a small present of gunpowder, asked his advice in so critical a situation. He was decidedly of opinion that I ought not to go to the king. He was fully convinced, he said, that if the king should discover anything valuable in my possession, he would not be over scrupulous about the means of obtaining it. This made me the more solicitous to conciliate matters with the king’s people; and I began by observing, that what I had done did not proceed from any want of respect towards the king, nor from any wish to violate his laws, but wholly from my own inexperience and ignorance, being a stranger, totally unacquainted with the laws and customs of their country. I had indeed entered the king’s frontier without knowing that I was to pay the duties beforehand, but I was ready to pay them now, which I thought was all they could reasonably demand. I then tendered them, as a present to the king, the five drachms of gold which the king of Bondou had given me; this they accepted, but insisted on examining my baggage, which I opposed in vain. The bundles were opened, but the men were much disappointed in not finding in them so much gold and amber as they expected. They made up the deficiency, however, by taking whatever things they fancied; and after wrangling and debating with me till sunset, they departed, having first robbed me of half my goods. These proceedings dispirited my people, and our fortitude was not strengthened by a very indifferent supper after a long fast. Madiboo begged me to turn back; Johnson laughed at the thoughts of proceeding without money, and the blacksmith was afraid to be seen, or even to speak, lest any one should discover him to be a native of Kasson. In this disposition we passed the night by the side of a dim fire, and our situation the next day was very perplexing. It was impossible to procure provisions without money, and I knew that if I produced any beads or amber, the king would immediately hear of it, and I should probably lose the few effects I had concealed. We therefore resolved to combat hunger for the day, and wait some favourable opportunity of purchasing or begging provisions.
Towards evening, as I was sitting upon the Bentang, chewing straws, an old female slave passing by with a basket upon her head, asked me if I had got my dinner. As I thought she only laughed at me, I gave her no answer; but my boy, who was sitting close by, answered for me, and told her that the king’s people had robbed me of all my money. On hearing this, the good old woman, with a look of unaffected benevolence, immediately took the basket from her head, and showing me that it contained ground-nuts, asked me if I could eat them; being answered in the affirmative, she presented me with a few handfuls, and walked away before I had time to thank her for this seasonable supply. This trifling circumstance gave me peculiar satisfaction. I reflected with pleasure on the conduct of this poor untutored slave, who, without examining into my character or circumstances listened implicitly to the dictates of her own heart. Experience had taught her that hunger was painful, and her own distresses made her commiserate those of others.
The old woman had scarcely left me, when I received information that a nephew of Demba Sego Jalla, the Mandingo king of Kasson, was coming to pay me a visit. He had been sent on an embassy to Batcheri, king of Kajaaga, to endeavour to settle the disputes which had arisen bet
ween his uncle and the latter; but after debating the matter four days without success, he was now on his return; and hearing that a white man was at Joag, on his way to Kasson, curiosity brought him to see me. I represented to him my situation and distresses, when he frankly offered me his protection, and said he would be my guide to Kasson (provided I would set out the next morning), and be answerable for my safety. I readily and gratefully accepted his offer, and was ready, with my attendants, by daylight on the morning of the 27th of December.
My protector, whose name was Demba Sego, probably after his uncle, had a numerous retinue. Our company at leaving Joag consisted of thirty persons and six loaded asses; and we rode on cheerfully enough for some hours, without any remarkable occurrence, until we came to a species of tree, for which my interpreter Johnson had made frequent enquiry. On finding it, he desired us to stop; and producing a white chicken, which he had purchased at Joag for the purpose, he tied it by the leg to one of the branches, and then told us we might now safely proceed, for that our journey would be prosperous. This circumstance is mentioned merely to illustrate the disposition of the Negroes, and to show the power of superstition over their minds; for although this man had resided seven years in England, it was evident that he still retained the prejudices and notions he had imbibed in his youth. He meant this ceremony, he told me, as an offering or sacrifice to the spirits of the wood, who were, he said, a powerful race of beings of a white colour, with long flowing hair. I laughed at his folly, but could not condemn the piety of his motives.