Narrative of a Voyage to Senegal in 1816 eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 267 pages of information about Narrative of a Voyage to Senegal in 1816.

Narrative of a Voyage to Senegal in 1816 eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 267 pages of information about Narrative of a Voyage to Senegal in 1816.

Moctar, supreme chief resident of Daccard. 
Diacheten, chief of the village of Sinkieur. 
Phall Yokedieff. 
Tjallow-Talerfour Graff. 
Mouim Bott. 
Bayemour Kaye. 
Modiann Ketdym. 
Mamcthiar Symbodioun. 
Ghameu Wockam. 
Diogheul, chief of the village of Gorr. 
Baindonlz Yoff. 
Mofall Ben. 
Schenegall Bambara.

This tribe was formerly subject to a Negro King in the neighbourhood; but having revolted against him, though very inferior in numbers, it defeated his army a few years ago.  The bones of the vanquished, that still lie scattered on the plain, attest the victory.  A wall, pierced with loop-holes, which they erected in the narrowest part of the Peninsula, and which the enemy was unable to force, chiefly contributed to their success.  The Yolloffes are in general handsome and their facial angle has hardly any thing of the usual deformity of the Negroes.  Their common food is cous-cous, with poultry, and above all fish; their drink is brackish water, mixed with milk and sometimes with palm wine.  The poor go on foot, the rich on horseback, and some ride upon bulls, which are always very docile, for the Negroes are eminently distinguished by their good treatment of all animals.  Their wealth consists in land and cattle; their dwellings are generally of reeds, their beds are mats made of Asouman (maranta juncea) and leopards’ skins; and their cloathing broad pieces of cotton.  The women take care of the children, pound the millet, and prepare the food; the men cultivate the land, go a hunting and fishing, weave the stuff for their clothes, and gather in the wax.

Revenge and idleness seem to be the only vices of these people; their virtues are charity, hospitality, sobriety, and love of their children.  The young women are licentious, but the married women are generally chaste and attached to their husbands.  Their diseases among the children, are worms, and umbilical hernia; among the old people, and particularly those who have travelled much, blindness and opthalamia; and among the adult, affections of the heart, obstructions, sometimes leprosy, and rarely elephantiasis.  Among the whole population of the Peninsula, there is only one person with a hunch back, and two or three who are lame.  During the day they work or rest; but the night is reserved for dancing and conversation.  As soon as the sun has set, the tambourine is heard, the women sing; the whole population is animated; love and the ball set every body in motion. “Africa dances all the night,” is an expression which has become proverbial among the Europeans who have travelled there.

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Narrative of a Voyage to Senegal in 1816 from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.