as well as the makers of songs, are not allowed to marry with the other Poolas.

The Poolas wear wide drawers, and the long frock with wide sleeves, with a small cotton cap on the head. The women braid their long hair round their heads, which they load with amber and coral; their necks are covered with gold, and glass beads. They wear the cloth, the invariable garment of the females of negro countries, fastened round the waist, but they throw a muslin veil over the head, and some have jackets with sleeves. They are not so slavishly obedient to their husbands as the negro women. If they are ill-treated, they lodge a complaint before the chief, and peace is not concluded without the husband presenting his wife with an ox, or a slave.

When a rich young man designs to marry, he tells his father, who repairs to the father of the girl of his choice, and acquaints him with his son's intention. The young man kills a bullock, and sends it, and if the intended father-in-law eat of it, it denotes his consent to the match. From

The

this time, the lover does not see either his mistress or her mother; if he meet them by chance, he avoids them. After some time he sends another bullock; and on the day of marriage, he presents three slaves to the bride, and to the father, mother, and all their other children, a bullock each. parents of the bride give her three slaves, ten bullocks, and forty cloths, for herself, and four frocks and four pair of drawers, for her husband. In case of a divorce, the woman receives back her dowry, and, at her death, it goes to her children. A man who cannot afford to pay for a wife must labour for her father, as Jacob did for Laban.

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CHAPTER IX.

BONDOU TO TEEMBO.

On the 16th of March, after a toilsome journey through the forest, we passed the pond of Tiali, and, before sun-set, reached Diemore. Under the bentang of this village there is a bed prepared for strangers, which is raised about three feet from the ground, and composed of trees cleft in two. As I was not accustomed to a bed of this description, I spread a mat in the court, where I heard the growling of hyenas during the greater part of the night.

The next evening we arrived at the village of Goomel, which is only half a day's journey to the north-east of the frontiers of Woolli. I found a great difference between the manners of the people of Foota Toro and those of the people of Bondou. The former received me with immoderate laughter, and harassed me with unceasing questions; the latter took me by the hand, and treated me with respect. It is a general custom in these countries to shut your eyes when you want to get rid of troublesome people: if they think you are asleep, they retire.

The next day we halted at the village of Langa, which was inhabited by Jalofs, whom famine had driven from Woolli. The master of the hut that was offered us could not give us any food, and, for the first time, on this journey, we were obliged to fast. I was preparing to depart, when I was

reproved for not having taken leave of the master of the house. Boukari had said we were going, but the good manners of the country require that a traveller should, in person, return thanks to the man who has received him into his house. At Bodé we found the inhabitants at supper, which was a seasonable occurrence for travellers who had not dined.

On the second day from Bodé we passed a stagnant water which, though not poisonous to man, is said to be so to horses and cattle, owing to its vicinity to a tree called talli. This is a large and beautiful tree, with very thick foliage. Soon after noon we arrived at the village of Conyedy, where we could procure only a handful of ground nuts. I sent Boukari to purchase provisions at some of the neighbouring hamlets; but amber and coral were my only money, and as nothing but muskets, scarlet cloth, and cloves, were of any value here, we were obliged to defer our dinner till the next day. It was dark, when we perceived at some distance, the fires of Santimatioo; and, on entering the village, we found that the chief could neither lodge us, nor supply us with food. We began to fear that our supper might be postponed, as well as our dinner, when we were recommended to a hut at a small distance from the path. On entering the court, we saw enormous fires blazing in every part of it, with large kettles hanging over them, and we learned that a feast was preparing to celebrate the marriage of the master's son. Hungry people could not have arrived at a better time. The bride was sitting between the knees of her mother; singing men were singing; young women were dancing; and aged persons

were looking on; all were dressed in their best apparel, which was white. Our supper, which consisted of a bowl of kouskous, and a piece of meat so tough that we could not eat it, was sent us to a distant hut.

At Konomba, the next village, I laid in a supply of millet flour, mixed with honey, and pounded ground nuts, to enable us to cross the deserts which separate Bondou from Foota Jallon. This detained us so long, that it was midnight before we could reach the village of Diansocone. Here we were obliged to sleep in the open air, because all the inhabitants were hunting in the woods.

The next day we arrived at Maramasita, a name which signifies, in the Serawoolli language, an elephant fastened with a cord of baobab: and the following evening, having joined a kafilah, we entered the forest which forms the confines of Bondou.

The western part of Bondou contains iron mines; the eastern, mines of gold. The districts watered by the Falemé are uncommonly fertile. The inhabitants of the latter cultivate great quantities of tobacco; when they take it as snuff, they make use of a small iron spoon. The sovereignty of Bondou remains in one family, but the individual is chosen, and the choice generally falls upon a brother of the late king. When the king goes to war, the proprietors of the mines are obliged to furnish him with the gold they have amassed, and they are paid the value in slaves and cattle, at the end of the campaign. In fighting the warriors challenge each other singly.

The people of Bondou are not so handsome as those of Foota Toro. A double-barrelled gun and

two horns of powder is here the price of a slave, of five oxen, or of a hundred cloths.

The kafilah which I joined at Maramasita was composed of fifty Poolas of Foota Jallon, armed with bows and arrows, and dressed in cotton cloth which hung in tatters. They carried their merchandise on their heads, in baskets of an oblong form. This consisted chiefly of cotton and cotton cloth, which they had purchased in Bondou, in exchange for cattle, goats, lemons, and gold. Three merchants from Foota Toro had asses laden with cotton cloth, rolled up in the form of cylinders, and leathern bags filled with salt. Each traveller had his own earthen saucepan, and a leathern bag with his provisions, which were either dried kouskous or ground nuts. In the night we heard a troop of elephants pass near us, and at midnight we lay down near some Mandingo huts.

The next day we halted near a spring of clear water, and my fellow-travellers dispersed; some in search of honey, which they presented to me, and others to cut rushes, to make baskets. On resuming our journey, we found the path full of large holes, made by the feet of the elephants. I measured one of these, and found it three feet in circumference.

At sun-set, the whole company prostrated themselves to pray. In my heart I adored the Being they worshipped, yet I was the only man left standing. I felt ashamed; but to have joined them would have been to have declared myself a Muselman. When they rose, one of them asked me if I never prayed. I answered that I prayed. when I was alone. At night we slept in the