or Foulies, are a people of Africa, of very peculiar manners. Some authors tell us, that the kingdom of Pholey, from whence they derive their name, is divided from that of Jaloff by a lake called in the language of the Mundingoes Gayor; and that it stretches from east to west about 180 miles; but that, though it extends a great way south, its limits in that direction are not exactly ascertained.
Mr Moore, however, gives a very different account, and says, that the Pholeys live in clans, build towns, and are in every kingdom and country on each side of the river; yet are not subject to any of the kings of the country, though they live in their territories; for if they are used ill in one nation, they break up their towns, and remove to another. They have chiefs of their own, who rule with such moderation, that every act of government seems rather an act of the people than of one man. This form of government is easily administered, because the people are of a good and quiet disposition, and so well instructed in what is just and right, that a man who does ill exposes himself to universal contempt.
The natives of all these countries, not being avaricious of land, desire no more than they can use; and as they do not plough with horses or other cattle, they can use but very little; and hence the kings willingly allow the Pholeys to live in their dominions, and cultivate the earth.
The Pholeys have in general a tawney complexion, though many of them are of as deep a black as the Mundingoes; and it is supposed that their alliances with the Moors have given them the mixed colour between the true olive and the black. They are rather of a low stature, but have a genteel and easy shape, with an air peculiarly delicate and agreeable.
Though they are strangers in the country, they are the greatest planters in it. They are extremely industrious and frugal, and raise much more corn and cotton than they consume, which they sell at reasonable rates; and are so remarkable for their hospitality, that the natives esteem it a blessing to have a Pholey town in their neighbourhood; and their behaviour has gained them such reputation, that it is oftened infamous for any one to treat them in an unhospitable manner. Their humanity extends to all, but they are doubly kind to people of their race; and if they know of any one of their body being made a slave, they will readily redeem him. As they have plenty of food, they never suffer any of their own people to want; but support the old, the blind, and the lame, equally with the others.
These people are seldom angry; and Mr Moore observes that he never heard them abuse each other; yet this mildness is far from proceeding from want of courage, they being as brave as any people of Africa, and very expert in the use of their arms, which are javelins, cutlasses, bows and arrows, and upon occasion guns. They usually settle near some Mundingo town, there being scarce any of note up the river that has not a Pholey town near it. Most of them speak Arabic, which is taught in their schools; and they are able to read the Koran in that language, though they have a vulgar tongue called Pholey. They are strict Mahometans, and scarce any of them will drink brandy, or any thing stronger than sugar and water.
They are so skilful in the management of cattle, that the Mundingoes leave theirs to their care. The whole herd belonging to a town feed all day in the savannahs, and after the crop is off, in the rice-grounds. They have a place without each town for their cattle, surrounded by a circular hedge, and within this enclosure they raise a stage about eight feet high, and eight or ten feet wide, covered with a thatched roof; all the sides are open, and they ascend to it by a ladder. Round this stage they fix a number of stakes, and when the cattle are brought up at night, each beast is tied to a separate stake with a strong rope made of the bark of trees. The cows are then milked, and four or five men stay upon the stage all night with their arms to guard them from the lions, tygers, and other wild beasts. Their houses are built in a very regular manner, they being round structures, placed in rows at a distance from each other to avoid fire, and each of them has a thatched roof somewhat resembling a high-crowned hat.
They are also great huntmen, and not only kill lions, tygers, and other wild beasts, but frequently go 20 or 30 in a company to hunt elephants; whose teeth they sell, and whose flesh they smoke-dry and eat, keeping it for several months together. As the elephants here generally go in droves of 100 or 200, they do great mischief by pulling up the trees by the roots, and trampling down the corn; to prevent which, when the natives have any suspicion of their coming, they make fires round their corn to keep them out.
They are almost the only people who make butter, and sell cattle at some distance up the river. They are very particular in their dress, and never wear any other clothes but long robes of white cotton, which they make themselves. They are always very clean, especially the women, who keep their houses exceedingly neat. They are, however, in some particulars very superstitious: for if they chance to know that any person who buys milk of them boils it, they will from thenceforth on no consideration sell that person any more, from their imagining that boiling the milk makes the cows dry.