a large state in the interior of Africa, of which the only satisfactory account that we have is by Mr Park, who, for several months, was hospitably entertained in Kamahia, one of its towns, situated in 12° 40' N. Lat. and 6° 40' W. Long. The government of Manding appeared to our author to be a sort of republic, or rather an oligarchy. Every town is indeed governed by a chief magistrate called Manfa, which usually signifies king; but the chief power of the state, in the last resort, is lodged in the assembly of these manfas (A). The case, however, is different in other countries, which are occupied by people who have emigrated from Manding; for in all the Mandingo states near

(A) Mr Park, for the most part, writes with remarkable perspicuity; but we are not sure that here we have not mistaken his meaning. He says, that the chief power of the state is lodged in the assembly of that whole body; but we think, that by the whole body must be meant the body of Manfa, otherwise the government could not be called an oligarchy. near the Gambia, the government is monarchical, tho' the power of the sovereign is by no means unlimited.

As Mr Park's route was confined to a tract of country, bounded nearly by the 12th and 15th parallels of latitude, the climate throughout the whole was nearly the same as that of Mandingo, and extremely hot; Yet, where the country ascended into hills, he found it comparatively cool and pleasant; though none of the districts which he traversed could be called mountainous. About the middle of June, the hot and sultry atmosphere is agitated by violent gusts of wind (called tornadoes), accompanied with thunder and rain. These usher in what is denominated the rainy season; which continues until the month of November. During this time, the diurnal rains are very heavy; and the prevailing winds are from the south-west. The termination of the rainy season is likewise attended with violent tornadoes; after which the wind shifts to the north-east, and continues to blow from that quarter during the rest of the year.

When the wind sets in from the north-east, it produces a wonderful change in the face of the country. The grass soon becomes dry and withered; the rivers subside very rapidly, and many of the trees shed their leaves. About this period is commonly felt the harmattan, a dry and parching wind, blowing from the north east, and accompanied by a thick smoky haze; through which the sun appears of a dull red colour. This wind, in passing over the great desert of Sahara, acquires a very strong attraction for humidity, and parches up everything exposed to its current. It is, however, reckoned very salutary, particularly to Europeans, who generally recover their health during its continuance. The truth of this our author experienced both at Kamalia and Pfiania, when he had been brought to the very brink of the grave by sickness.

Whenever the grass is sufficiently dry, the negroes set it on fire; but in Lindamar, and other Moorish countries, this practice is not allowed; for it is upon the withered stubble that the Moors feed their cattle until the return of the rains. The burning of the grass in Mandingo exhibits a scene of terrific grandeur. "In the middle of the night (says Mr Park), I could see the plains and mountains, as far as my eye could reach, variegated with lines of fire; and the light reflected on the sky, made the heavens appear in a blaze. In the daytime, pillars of smoke were seen in every direction; while the birds of prey were observed hovering round the conflagration, and pouncing down upon the snakes, lizards, and other reptiles, which attempted to escape from the flames." This annual burning is soon followed by a fresh and sweet verdure, and the country is thereby rendered more healthful and pleasant.

Though many species of the edible roots, which grow in the West India islands, are found in Africa, yet our traveller never saw, in any part of his journey, either the sugar cane, the coffee, or the cocoa tree; nor could he learn, on inquiry, that they were known to the natives. The pineapple, and the thousand other delicious fruits which the industry of civilized man (improving the bounties of nature), has brought to so great perfection in the tropical climates of America, are here equally unknown. He observed, indeed, a few orange and banana trees, near the mouth of the Gambia; but whether they were indigenous, or were formerly planted there by some of the white traders, he could not positively learn.

Concerning property in the soil, it appeared to Mr Park, that the lands in native woods were considered as belonging to the king, or (where the government was not monarchical) to the state. When any individual of free condition had the means of cultivating more land than he actually possessed, he applied to the chief man of the district, who allowed him an extension of territory, on condition of forfeiture if the lands were not brought into cultivation by a given period. The condition being fulfilled, the soil became vested in the possessor; and, for ought that appeared, descended to his heirs.

The Mandingoos are a very gentle race of people; cheerful in their dispositions, inquisitive, credulous, simple, and fond of flattery. The men are commonly above the middle size, well shaped, strong, and capable of enduring great labour; the women are good natured, sprightly, and agreeable. The dress of both sexes is composed of cotton cloth of their own manufacture; that of the men is a loose frock, not unlike a surplice, with drawers which reach half way down the leg; and they wear sandals on their feet, and white cotton caps on their heads. The women's dress consists of two pieces of cloth, each of which is about five feet long and three broad; one of these they wrap round the waist, which, hanging down to the ankles, answers the purpose of a petticoat; the other is thrown negligently over the bottom and shoulders. Both men and women among the Mandingoos seem to have an invincible propensity to commit depredations on the property of unprotected strangers; whilst such is the good nature of those poor heathens, that they will readily sympathise in the sufferings, relieve the distresses, and contribute to the personal safety, of the very strangers whom they are bent upon plundering.

Among the Mandingoos, the parental and filial affection is remarkably strong between the mother and her child; but not so between the father and his children. This, as Mr Park observes, is easily accounted for. The system of polygamy, while it weakens the father's attachment, by dividing it among the children of different wives, concentrates all the mother's jealous tenderness to one point, the protection of her own offspring. He perceived, with great satisfaction too, that the maternal solicitude extended, not only to the growth and security of the person, but also, in a certain degree, to the improvement of the mind of the infant; for one of the first lessons, in which the Mandingo women instruct their children, is the practice of truth.

The Mandingo women fuckle their children until they are able to walk of themselves. Three years nursing is not uncommon; and during this period, the husband devotes his whole attention to his other wives. To this practice it is owing, that the family of each wife is seldom very numerous. Few women have more than five, or six children. As soon as an infant is able to walk, it is permitted to run about with great freedom. The mother is not over solicitous to preserve it from flight falls, and other trifling accidents. A little practice soon enables a child to take care of itself, and experience acts the part of a nurse. As they advance in life, the girls are taught to spin cotton, and to beat corn, and are instructed in other domestic duties; and the boys are employed in the labours of the field. Both sexes, whether Buthreens or Kafirs, on attaining the age of puberty, are circumcised. This painful operation is not considered by the Kafirs so much in the light of a religious ceremony, as a matter of convenience and utility. They have, indeed, a superstitious notion, that it contributes to render the marriage more prolific.

When a young man takes a fancy to a young girl, and wishes to marry her, it is by no means considered as necessary that he should make an overture to the girl herself. The first object is to agree with the parents, concerning the recompense to be given them for the loss of the company and services of their daughter. The value of two slaves is a common price, unless the girl is thought very handsome; in which case, the parents will raise their demand very considerably. If the lover is rich enough, and willing to give the sum demanded, he then communicates his wishes to the damsel; but her consent is by no means necessary to the match; for if the parents agree to it, and eat a few kola nuts, which are presented by the fitter as an earnest of the bargain, the young lady must either have the man of their choice, or continue unmarried, for she cannot afterwards be given to another. If the parents should attempt it, the lover is then authorized, by the laws of the country, to seize upon the girl as his slave. At the celebration of a marriage, no religious ceremony seems to be practised. A select number of people are indeed invited to the wedding, and feasted; but consummation constitutes the marriage; for towards the morning, the new married couple are always disturbed by the women, who assemble to inspect the nuptial sheet (according to the manners of the ancient Hebrews, as recorded in Scripture), and dance round it. This ceremony is thought indispensably necessary; nor is the marriage considered as valid without it.

The Mandingoos, and indeed all the negro states, whether Mahomedan or Pagan, allow a plurality of wives. The consequence is, that the wives frequently quarrel among themselves. When this happens, the husband decides between them; and sometimes finds it necessary to administer a little corporal chastisement before tranquillity can be restored. But if any one of the ladies complains to the chief of the town, that her husband has unjustly punished her, and shown an undue partiality to some other of his wives, the affair is brought to a public trial. In these palavers, however, which are conducted chiefly by married men, our author was informed, that the complaint of the wife is not always considered in a very serious light; and the complainant herself is sometimes convicted of strife and contention, and left without remedy. If the murmurs at the decision of the court, the magic rod of Mumbo Jumbo soon puts an end to the business. See Mumbo Jumbo in this Suppl.

A child, among them, is named when it is seven or eight days old. The ceremony commences by shaving the infant's head; and a dish called dego, made of pounded corn and four milk, is prepared for the guests. If the parents are rich, a sheep or a goat is commonly added. This feast is called ding boonee, "the child's head shaving." During Mr Park's stay at Kamalia, he was present at four different feasts of this kind, and the ceremony was the same in each, whether the child belonged to a Buthreen or a Kafir. The schoolmaster, who officiated as priest on those occasions, and who is necessarily a Buthreen, first said a long prayer over the Manding-dego; during which, every person present took hold of the brim of the calabash with his right hand. After this, the schoolmaster took the child in his arms, and said a second prayer; in which he repeatedly solicited the blessing of God upon the child, and upon all the company. When this prayer was ended, he whispered a few sentences in the child's ear, and spit three times in its face; after which he pronounced its name aloud, and returned the infant to the mother. This part of the ceremony being ended, the father of the child divided the dego into a number of balls, one of which he distributed to every person present. And inquiry was then made, if any person in the town was dangerously sick; it being usual, in such cases, to send the party a large portion of the dego, which is thought to possess great medical virtues.

The Mandingoos have no artificial method of dividing time. They calculate the years by the number of rainy seasons. They portion the year into moons, and reckon the days by so many suns. The day they divide into morning, midday, and evening; and further subdivide it, when necessary, by pointing to the sun's place in the heavens. Our author frequently inquired of some of them, what became of the sun during the night, and whether we should see the same sun, or a different one, in the morning? But that subject appeared to them as placed beyond the reach of human investigation; they had never indulged a conjecture, nor formed any hypothesis, about the matter. The moon, by varying her form, has more attracted their attention. On the first appearance of the new moon, which they look upon to be newly created, the Pagan natives; as well as Mahomedans, say a short prayer; and this seems to be the only visible adoration which the Kafirs offer up to the Supreme Being. This prayer is pronounced in a whisper; the party holding up his hands before his face; its purport is to return thanks to God for his kindness through the existence of the full moon, and to solicit a continuation of his favour during that of the new one. At the conclusion, they spit upon their hands, and rub them over their faces. Great attention is paid to the changes of this luminary in its monthly course; and it is thought very unlucky to begin a journey, or any other work of consequence, in the last quarter. An eclipse, whether of the sun or moon, is supposed to be effected by witchcraft. The stars are very little regarded; and the whole study of astronomy appears to them as a useless pursuit, and attended by such persons only as deal in magic.

Their notions of geography are equally puerile. They imagine that the world is an extended plain, the termination of which no eye has discovered; it being, they say, overhung with clouds and darkness. They describe the sea as a large river of salt water, on the farther shore of which is situated a country called Tobaubo doo; "the land of the white people." At a distance from Tobaubo doo, they describe another country, which they allege is inhabited by cannibals of gigantic size, called Asom.

Mr Park says he has conversed with all ranks and conditions of negroes on the subject of their faith, and that he can pronounce, without the smallest shadow of doubt, that the belief of one God, and of a future state of reward and punishment, is entire and universal among them. It is remarkable, however, that, except on the appearance of a new moon, as before related, the Pagan natives do not think it necessary to offer up prayers and supplications to the Almighty. They represent the Deity, indeed, as the creator and preserver of all things; but in general they consider him as a Being too remote, and of so exalted a nature, that it is idle to imagine the feeble supplications of wretched mortals can reverse the decrees, and change the purposes, of unerring wisdom.

The concerns of this world, they believe, are committed by the Almighty to the superintendence and direction of subordinate spirits, over whom they suppose that certain magical ceremonies have great influence. A white fowl, suspended to the branch of a particular tree, a snake's head, or a few handfuls of fruit, are offerings which ignorance and superstition frequently present, to deprecate the wrath, or to conciliate the favour, of these tutelary agents.

The Mandingoese seldom attain extreme old age. At forty, most of them become grey-haired, and covered with wrinkles; and but few of them survive the age of fifty-five, or sixty. Yet their diseases appeared but few; fevers and fluxes being the most common, and the most fatal. For these they generally apply *fahia*, i.e., charms, to different parts of the body; though sometimes, on the first attack of a fever, the patient is, with great success, placed in a sort of vapour bath. The other diseases which prevail among the negroes, are the *gout*, the *elephantiasis*, and a *leprosy* of the very worst kind, together with the *Guinea worm*, which they attribute to bad water.

When a person of consequence dies, the relations and neighbours meet together, and manifest their sorrow by loud and dismal howlings. A bullock or goat is killed for such persons as come to assist at the funeral; which generally takes place in the evening of the same day on which the party died. The negroes have no appropriate burial places, and frequently dig the grave in the floor of the deceased's hut, or in the shade of a favourite tree. The body is dressed in white cotton, and wrapped up in a mat. It is carried to the grave, in the dusk of the evening, by the relations. If the grave is without the walls of the town, a number of prickly bushes are laid upon it, to prevent the wolves from digging up the body; but our author never observed that any stone was placed over the grave as a monument or memorial.

With respect to employment, the men cultivate the ground, or catch fish in large rivers; while the women manufacture cotton cloth. It is only the spinning and the dyeing, however, that are performed by the women; for the web, which is seldom more than four inches broad, is wore by the men in a loom made exactly upon the same principle as that of Europe. As the arts of weaving, dyeing, sewing, &c. may easily be acquired, those who exercise them are not considered in Africa as following any particular profession; for almost every slave can weave, and every boy can sew. The only artists which are distinctly acknowledged, as such by the negroes, and who value themselves on exercising appropriate and peculiar trades, are the manufacturers of leather and of iron. The first of these are called *Karambea* (or as the word is sometimes pronounced *Gounay*). They are to be found in almost every town, and they frequently travel through the country in the exercise of their calling. They tan and dress leather with very great expedition, by steeping the hide first in a mixture of wood ashes and water, until it parts with the hair; and afterwards by using the pounded leaves of a tree, called *goa*, as an astringent.

The manufacturers in iron are not so numerous as the *Karambea*; but they appear to have studied their business with equal diligence. The negroes on the coast being cheaply supplied with iron from the European traders, never attempt the manufacturing of this article themselves; but in the inland parts, the natives smelt this useful metal in such quantities, as not only to supply themselves from it with all necessary weapons and instruments, but even to make it an article of commerce with some of the neighbouring states. During our author's stay at Kamalia, there was a smelting furnace at a short distance from the hut where he lodged, and the owner and his workmen made no secret about the manner of conducting the operation; and readily allowed him to examine the furnace, and assist them in breaking the iron-flone. The process it is needless to describe; though it be proper to observe, that the mass of metal obtained by it was rather steel than iron. Most of the African blacksmiths are acquainted also with the method of smelting gold, in which process they use an alkaline salt, obtained from a ley of burnt corn-stalks evaporated to dryness. They likewise draw the gold into wire, and form it into a variety of ornaments, some of which are executed with a great deal of taste and ingenuity.

The reader will observe, that in the extracts which we have made from Mr Park's interesting travels, the terms African and Negro are frequently used as if all Africans and Negroes were Mandingoese. The reason is, that the Mandingoese were not only the most numerous tribe which he visited, but were also spread over all that tract of country which he traversed.