If My Sentiments Should Be Required Concerning The Effect Which
A Discontinuance Of That Commerce Would Produce On The Manners
Of the
natives, I should have no hesitation in observing, that in the present
unenlightened state of their minds, my
Opinion is, the effect would
neither be so extensive or beneficial, as many wise and worthy persons
fondly expect.
CHAPTER XXIII.
_Of gold-dust, and the manner in which it is collected. - Process of
washing it. - Its value in Africa, - Of ivory. - Surprise of the Negroes at
the eagerness of the Europeans for this commodity. - Scattered teeth
frequently picked up in the woods. - Mode of hunting the elephant. - Some
reflections on the unimproved state of the country, &c._
Those valuable commodities, gold and ivory, (the next objects of our
inquiry,) have probably been found in Africa from the first ages of the
world. They are reckoned among its most important productions in the
earliest records of its history.
It has been observed, that gold is seldom or never discovered, except in
_mountainous_ and _barren_ countries. Nature, it is said, thus making
amends in one way, for her penuriousness in the other. This, however, is
not wholly true. Gold is found in considerable quantities throughout
every part of Manding; a country which is indeed hilly, but cannot
properly be called mountainous, much less barren. It is also found in
great plenty in Jallonkadoo, (particularly about Boori,) another hilly,
but by no means an infertile country. It is remarkable, that in the place
last mentioned, (Boori,) which is situated about four days' journey to
the south-west of Kamalia, the salt market is often supplied, at the same
time, with rock-salt from the Great Desert, and sea-salt from the Rio
Grande; the price of each, at this distance from its source, being nearly
the same; and the dealers in each, whether Moors from the north, or
Negroes from the west, are invited thither by the same motives, that of
bartering their salt for gold.
The gold of Manding, so far as I could learn, is never found in any
matrix or vein, but always in small grains, nearly in a pure state, from
the size of a pin's head to that of a pea; scattered through a large body
of sand or clay; and in this state it is called by the Mandingoes _sanoo
munko_, "gold powder," It is, however, extremely probable, by what I
could learn of the situation of the ground, that most of it has
originally been washed down by repeated torrents from the neighbouring
hills. The manner in which it is collected is nearly as follows: -
About the beginning of December, when the harvest is over, and the
streams and torrents have greatly subsided, the Mansa, or chief man of
the town, appoints a day to begin _sanoo koo_, "gold washing;" and the
women are sure to have themselves in readiness by the time appointed. A
hoe, or spade, for digging up the sand, two or three calabashes for
washing it in, and a few quills for containing the gold dust, are all the
implements necessary for the purpose.
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