a Moorish kingdom in the interior of Africa, of which the capital Benorm is placed by Major Rennel in 15° N. Lat. and 6° 50' W. Long. It has for its northern boundary the great desert (see SABARA in this Supplement), and is described by Mr Park as little better than a desert itself. Our traveller was taken captive on the confines of this kingdom, and carried to the camp of the king, where he was subjected to Ludamar, to the crudest indignities that the malice of bigotted Moors could invent. He was not suffered to travel beyond the camp; though he moved as it moved, and of course saw a considerable part of the country, and had an opportunity of observing the manners of the people. "The Moors of Ludamar subsist chiefly on the flesh of their cattle; and are always in the extreme of either glutony or abstinence. In consequence of the frequent and severe fasts which their religion enjoins, and the toilsome journeys which they sometimes undertake across the deserts, they are enabled to bear both hunger and thirst with surprising fortitude; but whenever opportunities occur of satisfying their appetite, they generally devour more at one meal than would serve an European for three. They pay but little attention to agriculture; purchasing their corn, cotton cloth, and other necessaries, from the Negroes, in exchange for salt, which they dig from the pits in the Great Desert.

"The natural barrenness of the country is such, that it furnishes but few materials for manufacture. The Moors, however, contrive to weave a strong cloth, with which they cover their tents; the thread is spun by their women from the hair of goats; and they prepare the hides of their cattle so as to furnish saddles, bridles, pouches, and other articles of leather. They are likewise sufficiently skilful to convert the native iron, which they procure from the Negroes, into spears and knives, and also into pots for boiling their food; but their fabrics and other weapons, as well as their fire-arms and ammunition, they purchase from the Europeans, in exchange for the Negro slaves which they obtain in their predatory excursions. Their chief commerce of this kind is with the French traders on the Senegal river."

The Moors of this country have singular ideas of feminine perfection. The gracefulness of figure and motion, and a countenance enlivened by expression, are by no means essential points in their standard; with them corpulence and beauty appear to be terms nearly synonymous. A woman, of even moderate pretensions, must be one who cannot walk without a slave under each arm to support her; and a perfect beauty is a load for a camel. In consequence of this prevalent taste for unwieldiness of bulk, the Moorish ladies take great pains to acquire it early in life; and for this purpose many of the young girls are compelled by their mothers to devour an immense quantity of food, and drink a large bowl of camel's milk every morning. It is of no importance whether the girl has an appetite or not, the meat and the drink must be swallowed; and obedience is frequently enforced by blows. This singular practice, instead of producing indigestion and disease, soon covers the young lady with that degree of plumpness, which, in the eye of a Moor, is perfection itself.

"Although the wealth of the Moors consists chiefly in their numerous herds of cattle; yet, as the pastoral life does not afford full employment, the majority of the people are perfectly idle, and spend the day in trifling conversation about their horses, or in laying schemes of depredation on the Negro villages.

"The usual place of rendezvous for the indolent is the king's tent, where great liberty of speech seems to be exercised by the company towards each other. While in speaking of their chief, they express but one opinion. In praise of their sovereign, they are unanimous. Songs are composed in his honour, which the company frequently sing in concert; but they are so loaded with grots adulation, that no man but a Moorish depot could hear them without blushing. The king is distinguished by the fineness of his dress, which is composed of blue cotton cloth brought from Tombuctoo, or white linen or muslin from Morocco. He has likewise a larger tent than any other person, with a white cloth over it; but in his usual intercourse with his subjects, all distinctions of rank are frequently forgotten. He sometimes eats out of the same bowl with his camel driver, and repose himself, during the heat of the day, upon the same bed.

"The military strength of Ludamar consists in cavalry. They are well mounted, and appear to be very expert in skirmishing and attacking by surprise. Every soldier furnishes his own horse, and finds his accoutrements, consisting of a large sabre, a double barrelled gun, a small red leather bag for holding his balls, and a powder horn flung over the shoulder. He has no pay, nor any remuneration but what arises from plunder. This body is not very numerous; for when Ali the king made war upon Bambara, our author was informed that his whole force did not exceed 2000 cavalry. They constitute, however, by what he could learn, but a very small proportion of his Moorish subjects. The horses are very beautiful, and so highly esteemed, that the Negro princes will sometimes give from twelve to fourteen slaves for one horse."

Cut off from all intercourse with civilized nations, and boasting an advantage over the Negroes, by possessing, though in a very limited degree, the knowledge of letters, the Moors of Ludamar are at once the vainglorious and proudest, and perhaps the most bigotted, ferocious, and intolerant of all the nations on the earth; combining in their character the blind superstition of the Negro with the savage cruelty and treachery of the Arab. It was with the utmost difficulty that our author made his escape from this inhospitable people.