ovens, and often to the number of 150 in one place[3].  The Negroes are great enchanters, and use charms upon almost all occasions, particularly in regard to serpents, over which they have great power.  A Genoese, worthy of credit, who was in this country the year before my arrival, and who likewise lodged with Bisboror, the nephew of Budomel, told me he once heard a load noise of whistling about the house in the middle of the night.  Being awakened by the noise, he saw Bisboror get out of bed and order two negroes to bring his camel.  Being asked where he meant to go at that time of night, he said he had business which must be executed, but would soon return.  On coming back after some time, and the Genoese expressing curiosity to learn the object in which he had been engaged, Bisboror asked if he had heard the hissing noise about the house during the night, and said that it had been made by the serpents, which would have killed a great many of his cattle, if he had not sent them back to their quarters by the employment of certain enchantments.  The Genoese was astonished at this story, but Bisboror said he had no need to wonder at this small matter, as Budomed could do a great deal more extraordinary things with the serpents than he could.  In particular, when he had a mind to envenom his weapons, he used to draw a large circle, into which, by means of his enchantments, he brought all the serpents of the neighbourhood, from which he selected those he thought most poisonous, and allowed all the others to go away.  With the blood of these serpents, mixed up with the seeds of a certain tree, he infected his weapons with so deadly a poison, that, if they drew but the least drop of blood, the person or animal wounded by them was sure to die in a quarter of an hour.  Bisboror farther offered to shew him an example of the efficacy of this art, but the Genoese declined witnessing the experiment.  This story of the serpents is the more probable, that I have heard of persons in Italy who could charm them in a similar manner; but I am apt to believe that the Negroes are the most expert sorcerers in the world.

The only tame animals in the kingdom of Senegal are oxen, cows, and goats; having no sheep, which love a temperate or cold air, and could not live in this hot climate.  Nature, however, has provided mankind with necessaries fitted for their various occasions; having furnished the Europeans with wool, as they have need of warm clothing, while the Negroes, who live in such intense heat, have been supplied with cotton by the Almighty.  Owing to the heat, in my opinion, the cattle of this country are much smaller than those of Italy.  It is a great rarity to see a red cow in this country, as they are all black or white, or mottled with black and white spots.  Beasts of prey, such as lions, leopards, and wolves, are numerous, and there are plenty of hares.  Wild elephants go about in troops, like the wild swine in Italy, but can never be tamed, as they are in other