SARACOLETS

SARACOLETS, a Negro nation occupying the country between the rivers of Senegal and Gambia. They are a laborious people, cultivate their lands with care, are plentifully supplied with all the necessaries of life, and inhabit handsome and well built villages; their houses, of a circular form, are for the most part terraced; the others are covered with reeds as at Senegal: they are inclosed with a mud wall a foot thick, and the villages are surrounded with one of stone and earth of double that solidity. There are several gates, which are guarded at night for fear of a surprise. This nation is remarkably brave, so that it is very uncommon to find a Saracolete slave. The religious principles of this people are nearly allied to Mahometanism, and still more to natural religion. They acknowledge one God; and believe that those who steal, or are guilty of any crime, are eternally punished. They admit a plurality of wives, and believe their souls to be immortal like their own. The extent of this country is unknown. It is governed by four powerful princes, all bearing the