or Mandingo, a district in the W. of Africa, bounded on the N. by Fouladou, on the E. by Bambarra, on the S. by Gallonkalou, and on the W. by Gadoi, lies between 10° and 14° N. Lat., and between 13° and 16° W. Long. This district is very mountainous, and contains the sources of the Senegal and Niger. The mountains abound in iron, and a considerable quantity of gold-dust is found in the rivers. The country is divided into a number of small aristocratic republics, each village with the territory around it being nearly independent of the rest. The principal of these subordinate states are,—Manding, Bambuk, Bondu, Dentilu, Salum, Barra, Wooly, Yarra, &c. The chief towns are,—Kamalia, the capital, inhabited partly by Mohammedans and partly by Kafirs, Silidolloo, Kankaba, Dorita, &c. The inhabitants are dark, well-proportioned, and strong; in character, they are good-natured, inquisitive, credulous, and truthful, but are much addicted to thieving. They seldom attain to any great age; but they are not liable to many diseases. The dress of the men consists of a coat, trousers, and sandals, while the women wear pieces of cloth wrapped about their body. Their dwellings are huts built of clay and thatched with rushes. Polygamy is practised among the Mandingoes, but each wife lives in a separate hut. A collection of huts belonging to a single family is called a surk, and several of these surks compose a village or town. Weddings are celebrated among the Mandingoes with great festivities. They are fond of music, dancing, and poetry; and they have two classes of wandering bards, who are held in much esteem. The chief occupations of these tribes are agriculture, hunting, fishing, wool-spinning, &c. They also trade in gold, ivory, and slaves; and they are well acquainted with the interior of Africa. In religion they are partly Mohammedans and partly heathens. The marabouts, or Mohammedan priests, make long journeys for the purpose of trade, and they are in like manner visited by the priests of other countries. The Mandingoes have spread abroad from their original seat over all the banks of the Gambia, Senegal, and Niger, and they are the most numerous of all the tribes of Western Africa. Their language, which is the richest of all the Negro dialects, is written in Arabic characters, and may be considered the most widely spread, and the most important in a commercial point of view, of all those spoken in Africa.