a country of Africa, of which the following account is given by the Abbé Raynal, on the credit of a modern traveller whom he does not name. "In the interior part of Africa, under the 12th or 13th degree of north latitude, there is (says a modern traveller) a pretty large country, known by the name of Bambuck. It is not subject to a particular king; but governed by village lords, called farins. These hereditary and independent chiefs are all obliged to unite for the defence of the state, when it is either attacked as a community, or only in one of its branches.
"The territory of this aristocratical state is dry and barren. It produces neither maize, rice, nor pulse. The insupportable heat it is subject to, proceeds in part from its being surrounded by high mountains, which prevent the wind from refreshing the air. The climate is as unwholesome as it is disagreeable; vapours, which continually issue from the bowels of a soil replete with minerals, render this country unfit to live in, especially to strangers.
"It is gold that hath made this miserable country an object worthy of notice: gold, which in the eyes of the covetous man seems to compensate for all the evils of nature, tho' in reality it increases them all. This metal is so common in this country, that it is found almost indiscriminately everywhere. To obtain it, sometimes it is sufficient to scrape the surface of the earth, which is clayish, light, and mixed with sand. When the mine is very rich, it is dugged only to the depth of a few feet, and never deeper; though it has been observed, that the lower it was digged, the more gold the soil afforded. The miners are too indolent to pursue a toil which constantly becomes more tedious, and too ignorant to perceive the inconveniences it would be attended with. Their negligence and their folly are in this instance so extraordinary, that in washing the gold, in order to separate it from the earth, they only preserve the larger pieces: the light parts pass away with the water, which flows down an inclined plain.
"The inhabitants of Bambuck do not work these mines at all times, nor are they at liberty to do it when they please. They are obliged to wait till private or public wants determine the farmers to grant this permission. When it is proclaimed, all who are able to avail themselves of this advantage meet at the appointed place. When their work is finished, a division is made. Half of the gold goes to the lord, and the remainder is equally distributed among the labourers. Those who want gold at any other time than that of the general digging, search for it in the beds of the rivers, where it is very common.
"The French and English have successively been desirous of appropriating to themselves these real or imaginary riches. Some thought they could reach this country by the Niger, others by the Salum. Far from having succeeded in their attempts of becoming masters of this country, they have not yet ascertained its existence. The unsuccessfulness of past efforts hath redoubled the activity of sanguine minds; sensible and judicious merchants have chosen to limit themselves to a commerce much more important, which is that of slaves."