but it was ordained otherwise as will be seen presently. I went several times to the market, which is held twice a week in the town of Kankan. I observed in it several people from the Wassoulo, Sangaran, and Toron, who come to trade in this place. They bring cloth, honey, wax, which is carried to our establishments on the coast, cotton, cattle, and gold. The inhabitants of Toron are distinguished by their dress. It consists of a short yellow coussabe, wide trowsers of the same colour, and exceedingly dirty, a large round straw hat, and occasionally sandals. They are all armed with sabres, which they procure from the Mandingo merchants. They have also bows and quivers filled with arrows, and they carry lances in their hand. A linen band is passed round their waists, to fasten the coussabe, which is very short and narrow. They wear beards like the Musulmans, but pay so little attention to cleanliness, that their faces appear covered with filth. They use great quantities of snuff, and smoke still more; habits which increase their natural dirtiness. They do not smoke while travelling, but when they halt they make amends for their self-denial. I was told that they meet and pass whole days under the shade of large trees, in smoking and conversing with one another. They are idolaters. All whom I saw were tall, well made men, and of a warlike appearance. They are as black as the Mandingoes, whom, however, they do not resemble in features. Their faces are rather round, their noses short, though not flat, and their lips thin. I never saw any women of that nation, but I presume that their dress is neither more elegant nor cleaner than that of the men, consisting, I suppose, of a piece of their own cotton cloth fastened round their waists. These people have woolly hair, and wear it platted. The custom of the country allows a man to take as many wives as he can support, but the obligation of giving a large present to the bride’s mother deters them from taking so many wives as they would otherwise do. This custom prevails generally among all idolatrous nations. Toron is subject to numerous petty chiefs, all independent of each other, and possessing despotic authority. The dignity of chief is hereditary. The people rear large herds of oxen and sheep, and keep a great quantity of fowls. Their mountainous country furnishes them with honey, of which they are extremely fond, and which they bring for sale to the market of Kankan. Their fertile soil produces all the necessaries of life; and I was told that they bestow great care on its cultivation. They grow rice, yams, cassava, pistachio-nuts, foigné, maize, and millet. They manufacture a great deal of cotton stuff, not more than five inches broad. I have seen them wear poniards of their own making, and they also make their agricultural implements, but where they get the iron I did not learn. The inhabitants of Toron are often at war with the people of Kankan, who wish to make them embrace