A Negroe Man and Woman in their proper Habits.
An Account of the Land of the NEGROES.
THIS country lies along the river Niger, on both sides of it, between Zaara and Guinea. It contains fourteen kingdoms. The inhabitants of the sea coast are somewhat civilized by their commerce with the Portuguese; but those that dwell up higher in the country are savage and brutal. They are continually at war with one another, and all the prisoners they take in war they sell for slaves. They sow neither wheat nor barley, but only millet; and their chief food is roots and nuts, pease and beans. The country is surrounded with woods, and abounds with elephants. They have no wine, but a pleasant sort of liquor, which they get from a certain sort of palm trees, in this manner -- they give three or four strokes with a hatchet on the trunk of a tree, and set vessels to receive the distilling juice, which is very sweet, but in a few days grows strong, yet will not keep long, for in fifteen days it grows sour. One tree will yield near a gallon in twenty-four hours. The commodities of this country are gold, ostrich feathers, amber, gums, civit
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, elephants teeth, and red-wood.
An Account of ÆTHIOPIA.
ÆTHIOPIA is about one-half of Africa, and divided into the Upper and Lower Æthiopia. This country is pretty full of mountains much higher than the Alps or Pyrenees, but level, spacious, and well inhabited, and fruitful on the top; the soil near the Nile is fruitful, but at a distance chiefly sandy desarts. The people comely and well shaped, though black or swarthy. Their cattle are very large, their horses and camels courageous and stout. Their kings sit at table alone. Their messes not being very neat or costly, are served in black clay dishes, covered with straw caps finely woven; they use neither knives nor forks, spoons nor napkins, and think it beneath them to feed themselves, and so have youths on purpose to put the meat in their mouths. They have no towns, but live in tents, which are so very numerous where the King is, that they resemble a great city; and they have also their officers to prevent disorder, and things are so well managed, that they can remove speedily on all occasions without confusion. Their commodities are metals, gems, cattle, corn, sugar, canes, wine, and flax. They are a mixture of Jews, Mahometans, Pagans, and Christians. The government is subject to an Emperor, who is called Prestor
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John. In Lower Æthiopia the commodities are silver, gold, ivory, pearls, musk, ambergris, oil, lemons, citrons, rice, millet, &c. The people have hitherto been esteemed barbarous and savage; but if the relations of Bruce