The Kingdom Of Woolli Is Bounded By Walli On The West, By The Gambia On The South, By The Small River Walli On The North-West, By Bondou On The North-East, And On The East By The Simbani Wilderness.

The country every where rises into gentle acclivities, which are generally covered with extensive woods, and the towns are situated in the intermediate valleys.

Each town is surrounded by a tract of cultivated land, the produce of which, I presume, is found sufficient to supply the wants of the inhabitants; for the soil appeared to me to be every where fertile, except near the tops of the ridges, where the red iron stone and stunted shrubs sufficiently marked the boundaries between fertility and barrenness. The chief productions are cotton, tobacco, and esculent vegetables; all which are raised in the valleys, the rising grounds being appropriated to different sorts of corn.

The inhabitants are Mandingoes; and, like most of the Mandingo nations, are divided into two great sects, the Mahomedans, who are called _Bushreens_, and the Pagans, who are called indiscriminately _Kafirs_, (unbelievers,) and _Sonakies_, (_i. e._ men who drink strong liquors.) The Pagan natives are by far the most numerous, and the government of the country is in their hands; for though the most respectable among the Bushreens are frequently consulted in affairs of importance, yet they are never permitted to take any share in the executive government, which rests solely in the hands of the _Mansa_, or sovereign, and great officers of the state. Of these, the first in point of rank is the presumptive heir of the crown, who is called the _Farbanna_; next to him are the _Alkaids_, or provincial governors, who are more frequently called _Keamos_. Then follow the two grand divisions of freemen and slaves:[3] of the former, the Slatees, so frequently mentioned in the preceding pages, are considered as the principal; but in all classes great respect is paid to the authority of aged men. On the death of the reigning monarch, his eldest son (if he has attained the age of manhood) succeeds to the regal authority. If there is no son, or if the son is under the age of discretion, a meeting of the great men is held, and the late monarch's nearest relation (commonly his brother) is called to the government, not as regent, or guardian to the infant son, but in full right, and to the exclusion of the minor. The charges of the government are defrayed by occasional tributes from the people, and by duties on goods transported across the country. Travellers, on going from the Gambia towards the interior, pay customs in European merchandize. On returning they pay in iron and _shea-toulou_: these taxes are paid at every town.

[3] The term which signifies a man of free condition is _Horia_; that of a slave, _Jong_.

Medina,[4] the capital of the kingdom, at which I was now arrived, is a place of considerable extent; and may contain from eight hundred to one thousand houses.

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