Travels in Western Africa, in the years 1818, 19, 20, and 21, from the river Gambia, through Woolli, Bondoo, Galam, Kasson, Kaarta, and Foolidoo, to the river NigerGray, William, Major
History
Travels in Western Africa, in the years 1818, 19, 20, and 21, from the river Gambia, through Woolli, Bondoo, Galam, Kasson, Kaarta, and Foolidoo, to the river Niger
Gray, William, Major
Sudan (Region) -- Description and travel
The people of Bondoo are a mixture of Foolahs, Mandingoes,
Serrawollies, and Joloffs, retaining, however, more of the manners and
customs of the first, and speaking their language exclusively. They
are of the middle size, well made, and very active, their skin of a
light copper colour, and their faces of a form approaching nearer to
those of Europe than any of the other tribes of Western Africa, the
Moors excepted. Their hair, too, is not so short or woolly as that
of the black, and their eyes are, with the advantage of being larger
and rounder, of a better colour, and more expressive. The women in
particular, who, without the assistance of art, might vie, in point
of figure, with those of the most exquisitely fine form in Europe,
are of a more lively disposition, and more delicate form of face than
either the Serrawollies, Mandingoes, or Joloffs. They are extremely
neat in their persons and dress, and are very fond of amber, coral,
and glass beads, of different colours, with which they adorn or bedeck
their heads, necks, wrists, and ancles profusely; gold and silver,
too, are often formed into small buttons, which are intermixed with
the former on the head, and into rings and chains worn on the wrists
and ancles. They always wear a veil thrown loosely over the head:
this is manufactured by themselves from cotton, and is intended to
imitate thin muslin, at which they have not by any means made a bad
attempt. The other parts of their dress are precisely the same as
that already described to be worn by the inhabitants of Kayaye,
and, with few exceptions of silk and printed cotton which they
obtain from the coast, are entirely of their own manufacture. They
are exceedingly fond of perfumes of every kind, particularly musk,
attar of roses, or lavender, but they can seldom procure these, and
therefore substitute cloves, which they pound into powder, and mix
up with a kernel, having something the flavour of a Tonquin bean,
which they likewise reduce to powder, and, with a little gum-water,
form it into beads about the size of a common garden pea. These
they string and hang round the neck; they sometimes string the
cloves themselves, and wear them in the same manner; but the way
in which they prefer wearing them is sewed up in small bags made of
rich coloured silk, a number of which are hung round the neck. The
hair, which is neatly braided into a profusion of small plaits,
hangs down nearly to the shoulders, and is confined (together with
the strings of amber, coral, and beads, which decorate it) round the
forehead with a few strings of small beads by the young girls, and,
by the married, with a narrow strip of silk, or fine cotton cloth,
twisted into a string about as thick as a finger. To complete their
dress, a pair of large gold ear-rings dangle almost to touch the
shoulders, and, in consequence of their great weight, would tear
their ears were they not supported by a little strap of thin red
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account