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.
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
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.
Hitherto I have considered the Negroes chiefly in a moral light, and
confined myself to the most prominent features in their mental character,
their domestic amusements, occupations, and diet. Their arts and
manufactures, with some other subordinate objects, are now to be noticed.
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,
bowstrings, 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.
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