_Containing some further miscellaneous reflections on the Moorish
character and manners.
- Observations concerning the Great Desert, its
animals, wild and domestic, &c. &c._
The Moors of this part of Africa are divided into many separate tribes;
of which the most formidable, according to what was reported to me, are
those of Trasart and Il Braken, which inhabit the northern bank of the
Senegal river. The tribes of Gedumah, Jafnoo, and Ludamar, though not so
numerous as the former, are nevertheless very powerful and warlike; and
are each governed by a chief or king, who exercises absolute jurisdiction
over his own horde, without acknowledging allegiance to a common
sovereign. In time of peace, the employment of the people is pasturage.
The Moors, indeed, subsist chiefly on the flesh of their cattle; and are
always in the extreme of either gluttony or abstinence. In consequence of
the frequent and severe fasts which their religion enjoins, and the
toilsome journeys which they sometimes undertake across the Desert, they
are enabled to bear both hunger and thirst with surprising fortitude; but
whenever opportunities occur of satisfying their appetite, they generally
devour more at one meal than would serve an European for three. They pay
but little attention to agriculture; purchasing their corn, cotton-cloth,
and other necessaries, from the Negroes, in exchange for salt, which they
dig from the pits in the Great Desert.
The natural barrenness of the country is such, that it furnishes but few
materials for manufacture. The Moors, however, contrive to weave a strong
cloth, with which they cover their tents; the thread is spun by their
women from the hair of goats; and they prepare the hides of their cattle,
so as to furnish saddles, bridles, pouches, and other articles of
leather. They are likewise sufficiently skilful to convert the native
iron, which they procure from the Negroes, into spears and knives, and
also into pots for boiling their food; but their sabres and other
weapons, as well as their fire-arms and ammunition, they purchase from
the Europeans in exchange for the Negro slaves, which they obtain in
their predatory excursions. Their chief commerce of this kind is with the
French traders on the Senegal river.
The Moors are rigid Mahomedans, and possess, with the bigotry and
superstition, all the intolerance of their sect. They have no mosques at
Benowm, but perform their devotions in a sort of open shed or inclosure
made of mats. The priest is at the same time schoolmaster to the juniors.
His pupils assemble every evening before his tent, where, by the light of
a large fire made of brushwood and cow's dung, they are taught a few
sentences from the Koran, and are initiated into the principles of their
creed. Their alphabet differs but little from that in Richardson's Arabic
Grammar. They always write with the vowel points. Their priests even
affect to know something of foreign literature. The priest of Benowm
assured me that he could read the writings of the Christians:
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