A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels — Volume 02: Arranged in Systematic Order: Forming a Complete History of the Origin and Progress of Navigation, Discovery, and Commerce, by Sea and Land, from the Earliest Ages to the Present TimeKerr, Robert
History
A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels — Volume 02: Arranged in Systematic Order: Forming a Complete History of the Origin and Progress of Navigation, Discovery, and Commerce, by Sea and Land, from the Earliest Ages to the Present Time
Kerr, Robert
Voyages and travels
Budomel treated me with the utmost attention and civility, and used to
carry me in the evenings into a sort of mosque, where the Arab and
Azanhaji priests, whom he had always about his person, used to say prayers.
His manner on these occasions was as follows. Being entered into the
mosque, which was in one of the courts belonging to his residence, and
where he was attended by some of the principal negroes, he first stood
some little time with his eyes lifted up as if it were to heaven, then,
advancing two steps, he spoke a few words in a low tone; after which, he
stretched himself on the ground, which he kissed; the Azanhaji and the
rest of his attendants doing the same. Then rising up, he repeated the
same series of actions repeatedly, for ten or twelve times, which occupied
about half an hour. When all was over, he asked my opinion of their manner
of worship, and desired one to give an account of the nature of our
religion. On this I told him, in the presence of all his doctors, that the
religion of Mahomet was false, and the Romish the only true faith. This
made the Arabs and Azanhaji extremely angry; but Budomel laughed on the
occasion, and said, that he considered the religion of the Christians to
be good, as God alone could have gifted them with so much riches and
understanding. He added, however, that in his opinion the Mahometan law
must be good also; and he believed, that the Negroes were more sure of
salvation than the Christians, because God was just, who had given a
paradise to the Christians in this world, and would certainly give one to
the Negroes in the next, as they possessed scarcely any good in this world
in comparison. In all his discourse he shewed a good understanding, and
took great pleasure in hearing the customs of the Christians described. I
firmly believe he might easily have been converted to Christianity, had it
not been from fear of losing his power, as I was often told by his nephew,
with whom I lodged, and he took great delight in hearing me discourse of
our religion. The table of Budomel, like all other lords and people of
condition in this country, is supplied by his wives, in the same manner as
has been already mentioned in regard to Zukholin, the king of Senegal;
each wife sending him a certain number of dishes every day. He and the
other lords eat on the ground, without any regularity or company, except
the Arabs and Azanhaji, who are their teachers and priests, and one or two
of their principal negro attendants. The inferior people eat in messes of
ten or twelve each, having a basket full of victuals set in the midst,
into which all put their hands at the same time. They eat but little at
one meal, but repeat these four or five times a day.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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