RELIGIOUS BELIEFS AND INDUSTRIES OF THE MANDINGOES.
THE Mandingoes and, I believe, the negroes in general, 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 farther subdivide it, when necessary, by pointing to the sun’s place
in the heavens. I 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 I found that they considered the
question as very childish. The 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 Mohammedans, 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 (as I have been assured by many different people)
is to return thanks to God for His kindness through the existence of the
past 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. This seems to be nearly the same ceremony which prevailed
among the heathens in the days of Job. {82}
Great attention, however, 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 to 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 as inhabited by cannibals of gigantic size, called
_komi_. This country they call _Jong sang doo_ (the land where the
slaves are sold). But of all countries in the world their own appears to
them as the best, and their own people as the happiest, and they pity the
fate of other nations, who have been placed by Providence in less fertile
and less fortunate districts.
Some of the religious opinions of the negroes, though blended with the
weakest credulity and superstition, are not unworthy attention. I have
conversed with all ranks and conditions upon the subject of their faith,
and 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 so 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. If they are asked for what reason then do they offer up
a prayer on the appearance of the new moon, the answer is, that custom
has made it necessary, they do it because their fathers did it before
them. Such is the blindness of unassisted nature! 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. But it is not often that the negroes make their religious
opinions the subject of conversation; when interrogated in particular
concerning their ideas of a future state, they express themselves with
great reverence, but endeavour to shorten the discussion by observing,
“_Mo o mo inta allo_” (“No man knows anything about it”). They are
content, they say, to follow the precepts and examples of their
forefathers through the various vicissitudes of life, and when this world
presents no objects of enjoyment or of comfort they seem to look with
anxiety towards another, which they believe will be better suited to
their natures, but concerning which they are far from indulging vain and
delusive conjectures.
The Mandingoes 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. They calculate the years of their lives,
as I have already observed, by the number of rainy seasons (there being
but one such in the year), and distinguish each year by a particular
name, founded on some remarkable occurrence which happened in that year.
Thus they say the year of the _Farbanna_ war—the year of the _Kaarta
war_—the year on which _Gadou was plundered_, etc., etc.; and I have no
doubt that the year 1796 will in many places be distinguished by the name
of _tobaubo tambi sang_ (the year the white man passed), as such an
occurrence would naturally form an epoch in their traditional history.
But notwithstanding that longevity is uncommon among them, it appeared to
me that their diseases are but few in number. Their simple diet and
active way of life preserve them from many of those disorders which
embitter the days of luxury and idleness. Fevers and fluxes are the most
common and the most fatal. For these they generally apply saphies to
different parts of the body, and perform a great many other superstitious
ceremonies—some of which are indeed well calculated to inspire the
patient with the hope of recovery, and divert his mind from brooding over
his own danger—but I have sometimes observed among them a more systematic
mode of treatment. On the first attack of a fever, when the patient
complains of cold, he is frequently placed in a sort of vapour-bath.
This is done by spreading branches of the _nauclea orientalis_ upon hot
wood embers, and laying the patient upon them, wrapped up in a large
cotton cloth. Water is then sprinkled upon the branches, which,
descending to the hot embers, soon covers the patient with a cloud of
vapour, in which he is allowed to remain until the embers are almost
extinguished. This practice commonly produces a profuse perspiration,
and wonderfully relieves the sufferer.
For the dysentery they use the bark of different trees reduced to powder
and mixed with the patient’s food; but this practice is in general very
unsuccessful.
The other diseases which prevail among the negroes are the _yaws_, the
_elephantiasis_, and a _leprosy_ of the very worst kind. This
last-mentioned complaint appears at the beginning in scurfy spots upon
different parts of the body, which finally settle upon the hands or feet,
where the skin becomes withered, and, cracks in many places. At length
the ends of the fingers swell and ulcerate, the discharge is acrid and
fetid, the nails drop off, and the bones of the fingers become carious,
and separate at the joints. In this manner the disease continues to
spread, frequently until the patient loses all his fingers and toes.
Even the hands and feet are sometimes destroyed by this inveterate
malady, to which the negroes give the name of _balla ou_ (incurable).
The _guinea worm_ is likewise very common in certain places, especially
at the commencement of the rainy season. The negroes attribute this
disease, which has been described by many writers, to bad water, and
allege that the people who drink from wells are more subject to it than
those who drink from streams. To the same cause they attribute the
swelling of the glands of the neck (_goitres_), which are very common in
some parts of Bambarra. I observed also, in the interior countries, a
few instances of simple _gonorrhœa_, but never the confirmed _lues_. On
the whole, it appeared to me that the negroes are better surgeons than
physicians. I found them very successful in their management of
fractures and dislocations, and their splints and bandages are simple and
easily removed. The patient is laid upon a soft mat, and the fractured
limb is frequently bathed with cold water. All abscesses they open with
the actual cautery, and the dressings are composed of either soft leaves,
shea butter, or cow’s dung, as the case seems in their judgment to
require. Towards the coast, where a supply of European lancets can be
procured, they sometimes perform phlebotomy, and in cases of local
inflammation a curious sort of cupping is practised. This operation is
performed by making incisions in the part, and applying to it a bullock’s
horn with a small hole in the end. The operator then takes a piece of
bee’s wax in his mouth, and, putting his lips to the hole, extracts the
air from the horn, and by a dexterous use of his tongue stops up the hole
with the wax. This method is found to answer the purpose, and in general
produces a plentiful discharge.
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 I never observed that any stone was placed over
the grave as a monument or memorial.
Of their music and dances some account has incidentally been given in
different parts of my journal. On the first of these heads I have now to
add a list of their musical instruments, the principal of which are—the
_koonting_, a sort of guitar with three strings; the _korro_, a large
harp with eighteen strings; the _simbing_, a small harp with seven
strings; the _balafou_, an instrument composed of twenty pieces of hard
wood of different lengths, with the shells of gourds hung underneath to
increase the sound; the _tangtang_, a drum open at the lower end; and,
lastly, the _tabala_, a large drum, commonly used to spread an alarm
through the country. Besides these, they make use of small flutes,
bow-strings, elephants’ teeth and bells; and at all their dances and
concerts _clapping of hands_ appears to constitute a necessary part of
the chorus.
With the love of music is naturally connected a taste for poetry; and
fortunately for the poets of Africa they are in a great measure exempted
from that neglect and indigence which in more polished countries commonly
attend the votaries of the Muses. They consist of two classes; the most
numerous are the _singing men_, called _jilli kea_, mentioned in a former
part of my narrative. One or more of these may be found in every town.
They sing extempore songs in honour of their chief men, or any other
persons who are willing to give “solid pudding for empty praise.” But a
nobler part of their office is to recite the historical events of their
country; hence in war they accompany the soldiers to the field, in order,
by reciting the great actions of their ancestors, to awaken in them a
spirit of glorious emulation. The other class are devotees of the
Mohammedan faith, who travel about the country singing devout hymns and
performing religious ceremonies, to conciliate the favour of the
Almighty, either in averting calamity or insuring success to any
enterprise. Both descriptions of these itinerant bards are much employed
and respected by the people, and very liberal contributions are made for
them.
The usual diet of the negroes is somewhat different in different
districts; in general the people of free condition breakfast about
daybreak upon gruel made of meal and water, with a little of the fruit of
the tamarind to give it an acid taste. About two o’clock in the
afternoon a sort of hasty pudding, with a little shea butter, is the
common meal; but the supper constitutes the principal repast, and is
seldom ready before midnight. This consists almost universally of
kouskous, with a small portion of animal food or shea butter mixed with
it. In eating, the kafirs, as well as Mohammedans, use the right hand
only.
The beverages of the pagan negroes are beer and mead, of each of which
they frequently drink to excess. The Mohammedan convert drinks nothing
but water. The natives of all descriptions take snuff and smoke tobacco;
their pipes are made of wood, with an earthen bowl of curious
workmanship. But in the interior countries the greatest of all luxuries
is salt. It would appear strange to a European to see a child suck a
piece of rock salt as if it were sugar. This, however, I have frequently
seen, although, in the inland parts, the poorer class of inhabitants are
so very rarely indulged with this precious article that to say _a man ate
salt with his victuals_ is the same as saying _he is a very rich man_. I
have myself suffered great inconvenience from the scarcity of this
article. The long use of vegetable food creates so painful a longing for
salt that no words can sufficiently describe it.
The negroes in general, and the Mandingoes in particular, are considered
by the whites on the coast as an indolent and inactive people—I think
without reason. The nature of the climate is, indeed, unfavourable to
great exertion; but surely a people cannot justly be denominated
habitually indolent whose wants are supplied, not by the spontaneous
productions of nature, but by their own exertions. Few people work
harder, when occasion requires, than the Mandingoes; but not having many
opportunities of turning to advantage the superfluous produce of their
labour, they are content with cultivating as much ground only as is
necessary for their own support. The labours of the field give them
pretty full employment during the rains; and in the dry season the people
who live in the vicinity of large rivers employ themselves in fishing.
The fish are taken in wicker baskets or with small cotton nets, and are
preserved by being first dried in the sun and afterwards rubbed with shea
butter, to prevent them from contracting fresh moisture. Others of the
natives employ themselves in hunting. Their weapons are bows and arrows;
but the arrows in common use are not poisoned. {92} They are very
dexterous marksmen, and will hit a lizard on a tree, or any other small
object, at an amazing distance. They likewise kill guinea-fowls,
partridges, and pigeons, but never on the wing. While the men are
occupied in these pursuits the women are very diligent in manufacturing
cotton cloth. They prepare the cotton for spinning by laying it in small
quantities at a time upon a smooth stone or piece of wood, and rolling
the seeds out with a thick iron spindle; and they spin it with the
distaff. The thread is not fine, but well twisted, and makes a very
durable cloth. A woman with common diligence will spin from six to nine
garments of this cloth in one year, which, according to its fineness,
will sell for a minkalli and a half or two minkallies each. {93} The
weaving is performed by the men. The loom is made exactly upon the same
principle as that of Europe, but so small and narrow that the web is
seldom more than four inches broad. The shuttle is of the common
construction, but as the thread is coarse the chamber is somewhat larger
than the European.
The women dye this cloth of a rich and lasting blue colour by the
following simple process:—The leaves of the indigo, when fresh gathered,
are pounded in a wooden mortar, and mixed in a large earthen jar with a
strong ley of wood-ashes; chamber-ley is sometimes added. The cloth is
steeped in this mixture, and allowed to remain until it has acquired the
proper shade. In Kaarta and Ludamar, where the indigo is not plentiful,
they collect the leaves and dry them in the sun; and when they wish to
use them they reduce a sufficient quantity to powder and mix it with the
ley, as before mentioned. Either way the colour is very beautiful, with
a fine purple gloss, and equal in my opinion to the best Indian or
European blue. This cloth is cut into various pieces and sewed into
garments with needles of the natives’ own making.
As the arts of weaving, dyeing, sewing, etc., 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 who 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 _karrankea_ (or, as the word is sometimes pronounced,
_gaungay_). 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 _goo_
as an astringent. They are at great pains to render the hide as soft and
pliant as possible, by rubbing it frequently between their hands and
beating it upon a stone. The hides of bullocks are converted chiefly
into sandals, and therefore require less care in dressing than the skins
of sheep and goats, which are used for covering quivers and saphies, and
in making sheaths for swords and knives, belts, pockets, and a variety of
ornaments. These skins commonly are dyed of a red or yellow colour—the
red by means of millet stalks reduced to powder; and the yellow by the
root of a plant the name of which I have forgotten.
The manufacturers in iron are not so numerous as the _karrankeas_, 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 not only to supply themselves from it with all necessary
weapons and instruments, but even to make it a article of commerce with
some of the neighbouring states. During my stay at Kamalia there was a
smelting furnace at a short distance from the hut where I lodged, and the
owner and his workmen made no secret about the manner of conducting the
operation, and readily allowed me to examine the furnace, and assist them
in breaking the ironstone. The furnace was a circular tower of clay,
about ten feet high and three feet in diameter, surrounded in two places
with withes, to prevent the clay from cracking and falling to pieces by
the violence of the heat. Round the lower part, on a level with the
ground—but not so low as the bottom of the furnace, which was somewhat
concave—were made seven openings, into every one of which were placed
three tubes of clay, and the openings again plastered up in such a manner
that no air could enter the furnace but through the tubes, by the opening
and shutting of which they regulated the fire. These tubes were formed
by plastering a mixture of clay and grass round a smooth roller of wood,
which, as soon as the clay began to harden, was withdrawn, and the tube
left to dry in the sun. The ironstone which I saw was very heavy, of a
dull red colour with greyish specks; it was broken into pieces about the
size of a hen’s egg. A bundle of dry wood was first put into the
furnace, and covered with a considerable quantity of charcoal, which was
brought, ready burnt, from the woods. Over this was laid a stratum of
ironstone, and then another of charcoal, and so on, until the furnace was
quite full. The fire was applied through one of the tubes, and blown for
some time with bellows made of goats’ skins. The operation went on very
slowly at first, and it was some hours before the flame appeared above
the furnace; but after this it burnt with great violence all the first
night, and the people who attended put in at times more charcoal. On the
day following the fire was not so fierce, and on the second night some of
the tubes were withdrawn and the air allowed to have freer access to the
furnace; but the heat was still very great, and a bluish flame rose some
feet above the top of the furnace. On the third day from the
commencement of the operation, all the tubes were taken out, the ends of
many of them being vitrified with the heat; but the metal was not removed
until some days afterwards, when the whole was perfectly cool. Part of
the furnace was then taken down, and the iron appeared in the form of a
large irregular mass, with pieces of charcoal adhering to it. It was
sonorous; and when any portion was broken off, the fracture exhibited a
granulated appearance, like broken steel. The owner informed me that
many parts of this cake were useless, but still there was good iron
enough to repay him for his trouble. This iron, or rather steel, is
formed into various instruments by being repeatedly heated in a forge,
the heat of which is urged by a pair of double bellows of a very simple
construction, being made of two goats’ skins the tubes from which unite
before they enter the forge, and supply a constant and very regular
blast. The hammer, forceps, and anvil are all very simple, and the
workmanship (particularly in the formation of knives and spears) is not
destitute of merit. The iron, indeed, is hard and brittle, and requires
much labour before it can be made to answer the purpose.
Such is the chief information I obtained concerning the present state of
arts and manufactures in those regions of Africa which I explored in my
journey. I might add, though it is scarce worthy observation, that in
Bambarra and Kaarta the natives make very beautiful baskets, hats, and
other articles, both for use and ornament, from rushes, which they stain
of different colours; and they contrive also to cover their calabashes
with interwoven cane, dyed in the same manner.