The duties which the merchants pay are considerable. A vessel capable of carrying from twenty-five to thirty thousand pounds of gum pays in general one hundred and twenty or one hundred and thirty pieces of Guinea cloth[34] in fixed customs; to this may be added three or four pieces more in the shape of presents to the princes, which they call their _supper_, and two or three for the aloums, who, if they were not feed, would give the preference to other vessels. All the preliminaries being settled, the ship begins to trade; she approaches the shore, to which a bridge is thrown to facilitate the communication; the trader has a hut built on the beach where the women whose business it is to pound the millet are lodged; where all cooking operations for the ship’s crew are performed; and where the master may repose when he comes on shore. He must now have an interpreter to carry on conversation between himself and the marabouts, and this interpreter is paid and fed on board; the aloums are also fed at the joint expense of all the merchants. The princes and princesses who come to the port must also be fed, and any one who should refuse to conform to this practice would lose his right of trading. When a prince arrives, he sometimes takes up his abode on board one of the ships, where he is politely received, and allowed to be as troublesome as he pleases, for fear he should interrupt the traffic. He takes possession of the cabin, throws himself on the master’s bed, calls for treacle and water to drink, and worries his host with incessant questions. At dinner, he sits down at table without invitation, thrusts his fingers into all the dishes, tastes all the victuals, and puts back what he dislikes after it has been in his mouth; he touches every thing with his dirty hands, takes bread, sugar, and whatever he pleases, pretending all the time, that he likes nothing, and boasting of the good cheer that is to be found in his own camp.