The inhabitants of Kankan are governed by a chief, called the _Dougou-tigui_, who never pronounces any decision without first convoking the council of elders, which usually meets in the mosque, and at which I was often present. The greatest silence prevails at these meetings; and, contrary to the usual practice of the negroes, each speaks in his turn, and those that do not conduct themselves properly are turned out. They are always very cautious in coming to a decision: they are afraid of committing an error, and therefore, deliberate leisurely. They are all Mahometans, and entertain a mortal hatred of pagans or infidels. A market is held at Kankan three times a week, and, as I have before observed, all sorts of merchandise and necessaries of life are sold there. The Mandingoes are all traders, and travel a great deal. They go on foot to Sierra-Leone, Kakondy, Gambia, Senegal, and even to Jenné. Many of them spoke to me of M. Potin, a merchant at Senegal, and of M. Joffret, who belongs to the French factory at Albréda, on the Gambia. Their proximity to Bouré renders the people very rich, for they bring large quantities of gold from that country. In time of peace the women of Kankan go to Bouré to sell rice, millet, and various other articles of food, which they barter for gold. The men go to Kissi, where they procure handsome slaves, who are purchased each at the price of a cask of gunpowder, (containing twenty-five pounds) a bad musket (worth five gourdes) and four yards of pink silk. A Mandingo who possesses a dozen slaves may live at his ease without travelling, merely by taking the trouble to superintend them. A brisk trade is carried on between the Kankan and the neighbouring countries, and it receives from the Wassoulo white cloth of native manufacture, which is highly valued in commerce; the inhabitants possess some hairy sheep, goats and abundance of horned cattle. These last are not so large as ours, and have a hump on the back, like those belonging to the Moors who inhabit the banks of the Senegal. The country also furnishes handsome horses, which, however, are far from attaining the excellence of the Arabians. I saw at the alkali’s a mare which cost five slaves and two oxen; it was the finest animal I had met with throughout this part of Africa. The people rear a great quantity of poultry, and their cattle supply them with plenty of milk. In their household affairs they are particularly neat and clean, and they are always dressed in very white cloth. They manufacture fine calico from the cotton which the women spin; they seldom sell it, but use it for their own garments. Each habitation is surrounded by a fence of straw or a thorn hedge. Within this enclosure are the huts, and on the outside of it is a small garden, in which the women and children cultivate maize and some tobacco. The streets are broad and clean, and the town is shaded by numerous date-trees, papaws, bombaces, and baobabs.