I was furnished by Budomel with horses and every thing necessary for the journey; and when we arrived within four miles of his residence, he gave me in charge to his nephew Bisboror, who was lord of a small town or village at which we stopped. Bisboror took me to his own house, where I was treated with much civility and attention, during twenty-eight days which I tarried in that place. This was in November 1455. In that time I went often to visit Budomel, accompanied by his nephew, and had many opportunities to observe the produce of the country, and the manners of the inhabitants, more especially as, on account of the tempestuous weather, I was under the necessity of travelling back by land to the river Senegal. For, finding it impossible to get on board at the coast by reason of the surf, I had to order the ship to return to that river, and went there by land to re-embark. On this occasion, being very desirous to transmit instructions to those on board the ship to meet me at the river Senegal, I inquired among the negroes if any one would undertake to carry a letter from the shore. Several of them readily offered their services, though the ship lay three miles from the shore, and, owing to a strong wind, the sea broke on the shore with a tremendous surf, insomuch that I thought it impossible for any one to succeed in the attempt. Besides the surf, there were several sand banks near the shore, and other banks about half way to the ship, between which there ran a strong current, sometimes one way and sometimes the other, along shore, so that it was extremely difficult for any one to swim through without infinite danger of being carried away by the stream; and the sea broke with such violence on the banks, that it seemed quite impossible to surmount such complicated obstacles. Yet two of the negroes offered to go, and only demanded two mavulgies of tin for each of them, one mavulgi being worth no more than a grosso [2], at which price they engaged to carry my letter in safety to the ship. I cannot express the difficulties which they encountered in passing the sand bank. They were sometimes out of sight for a considerable space, so that I often thought they were both drowned. At last, one of them, finding himself unable to resist the violence with which the waves broke over him, turned back; but the other, being stronger, got over the bank after struggling a whole hour, and, having carried the letter to the caravel, returned with an answer. This seemed to me very wonderful, and made me conclude that the negroes of this coast must be the most expert swimmers in the world.
[2] The grosso, or Venetian groat, is worth about three farthings.--Astl.
It has been already observed, that those who are called lords in this country have neither castles nor cities, the king even having nothing but villages with thatched houses. Budomel is lord of one part of this kingdom, yet his place of residence was not a palace, nor even a walled house. These great men are not lords on account of their riches or treasure, as they possess neither, nor have they any coin in use among them; but they are considered as such out of courtesy, and on account of the great retinues by which they are always attended, being more feared and respected by their subjects than any of the lords in Italy. Budomel has several villages appointed for his own habitation and that of his wives, as he never fixes in one place. The village in which I resided with Bisboror was one of his habitations, containing between forty and fifty thatched cottages, built near one another, and surrounded with ditches and strong pallisades, having only one or two passages left for entering; and every house had a court-yard, inclosed by a hedge. According to report, Budomel had nine wives in this place, and more or less in several other villages. Each of these wives had five or six young negresses to attend upon her, with all of whom he might sleep when he pleased, without giving offence to the wives, for such is the custom of the country. Both sexes are extremely amorous; and Budomel strongly importuned me for philacteries, in which he had been informed the Europeans were very expert, and offered any reward within his power for my compliance. They are very jealous, and suffer no man to enter the houses which are inhabited by the women, not even their own sons.
Budomel is always attended by a retinue of at least 200 negroes, who are changed from time to time some going away and others coming back in their room; besides which, many people repair to wait upon him from the adjacent places which are under his government. Before arriving at his particular apartment there are seven large courts, one within the other, having a tree in the middle of each, where those wait who come to him on business. His family is distributed in these courts, according to their several ranks; the most considerable having their station in the court nearest his dwelling, and the meanest in the outermost court of all. Few people are allowed to approach his own particular apartment, except the Christians and Azanhaji, who have free admission and more liberty is allowed to them than to the negroes. This lord affects great state and gravity in his deportment, and does not allow himself, to be seen except an hour every morning, and for a short while in the evening; at which times he appears near the door of an apartment in the first court, into which only persons of note are permitted to enter. On these occasions of giving audience, every person who come to speak to him, however high may be his rank, is in the first place obliged to strip himself stark naked, except the small cloth in front formerly mentioned; and, immediately on entering the court, he falls down on his knees, bows down his head to the ground, and scatters dust with both hands on his own head and shoulders; neither is even the nearest relations of the lords exempted from this humiliating expression of their duty and obedience. The person, who receives an audience continues in this humble posture a great while, strewing himself with sand and crawling on his knees, till he approaches the great man; and when within two paces of his lord, he stops and begins to relate his case, still continuing on his knees, with his head down, and throwing sand an his head in token of great humility. All the time the lord scarcely appears to notice him and continues to discourse with other persons; and when the vassal has related his story, the lord gives him an answer in two words, with an arrogant aspect. Such is their affected pride and grandeur, and such the submission which is shewn him, which, in my opinion, proceeds from fear, as their lords, for every little fault they commit, take away their wives and children, and cause them to be sold as slaves.
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.
SECTION VI.
Account of the Country of Budomel continued .
On account of the great heats in the kingdom of Senegal, and all the other countries of the Negroes on the coast, no wheat, rye, barley, or spelt, can grow, neither are vines cultivated, as we knew experimentally from a trial made with seeds from our ship: For wheat, and these other articles of culture, require a temperate climate and frequent showers, both of which are wanting here, where they have no rains during nine months of the year, from October to June both included. But they have large and small millet, beans, and the largest and finest kidney beans in the world, as large as hazle nuts, longer than those of the Venetian territory, and beautifully speckled with various colours as if painted. Their beans are large, flat, and of a lively red colour, and they have likewise white beans. They sow in July, at the beginning of the rains, and reap in September, when they cease; thus they prepare the soil, sow the seed, and get in the harvest, all in three months; but they are bad husbandmen, and so exceedingly averse to labour, that they sow no more than is barely sufficient to last them throughout the year, and never lay up any store for sale. In cultivating the ground, four or five of them go into a field with spades, with which they turn up the soil about four inches deep; yet such is the fertility of the soil, that it makes ample returns for this slight culture, without any farther trouble.
The liquors of the Negroes are water, milk, and palm wine, which they call mighol, or migwol, which is taken from a tree of the palm tribe, very numerous in this country, somewhat like the date tree, but not the same, and which furnishes this liquor the whole year round. The trees are tapped in two or three places near the root, and from these wounds a brown juice runs out, as thin as skimmed milk, into calabasses that are placed to receive the liquor, which drops but slowly, as one tree will only fill two calabasses from morning till night. This migwol, or palm- wine, is an exceedingly pleasant drink, which intoxicates like wine unless mixed with water. Immediately after it is drawn from the tree it is as sweet as any wine whatever; but the luscious taste goes off more and more as it is kept, and at length it becomes sour. It drinks better than at first after three or four days, as it depurates by keeping, and is not so sweet. I have often drank of it, indeed every day that I remained in the country, and liked it better than the wines of Italy. This liquor is not so abundant as that every one may have it at discretion; yet all may have some, especially the chiefs, as the trees are not planted in gardens, like vines and fruit trees in Europe, but are found wild in the forests, and are consequently accessible to all.
In this country there are several sorts of fruit which resemble those of Europe, though not exactly the same, and which are very good, though they grow wild; and, were they to be cultivated as ours are, would prove much better than such as are produced in the northern climates, the quality of the soil and air in this part of Africa being more nutritive. The whole country is plain and fertile, abounding in good pasture, and is covered by an infinite number of large and beautiful trees, that are not known in Europe. It contains several lakes of fresh water, none of them large, but very deep, and full of excellent fish, which differ much from those that are caught in Italy, and many water serpents, which the natives call Kalkatrici . They use a kind of oil with their victuals, which tastes like oil of olives, has a pleasant flavour of violets, and tinges the food even better than saffron, but I could not learn what it was produced from[1]. There is likewise a plant which produces large quantities of small kidney-beans.