At Length, The Ends Of The Fingers Swell And Ulcerate, The Discharge Is Acrid And Foetid; 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 jou_, "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 gonorrhoea; 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 cows' 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 bees-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.

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