Their government differs from that of the Mandingoes chiefly in this, that they are more immediately under the influence of 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 Mohammed 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 I 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.  Their 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.  Their numerals are these:-

One, Go. 
Two, Deeddee. 
Three, Tettee. 
Four, Nee. 
Five, Jouee. 
Six, Jego. 
Seven, Jedeeddee. 
Eight, Je Tettee. 
Nine, Je Nee. 
Ten, Sappo.

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 the 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.