rush of about two
spans long to its outer extremity, at the depending end of which rush it
weaves its nest in a most beautiful manner, suspended like a ball, and
having only one passage for entering. By this means they contrive to
preserve their young from being devoured by the serpents, as the small
twigs from which the nests are suspended are unable to bear the weight of
the serpents. There are likewise abundance of those birds called Pharaoh's
hens[4] in Europe, which come to us out of the Levant. They have
likewise other birds, both large and small, which are quite different
from any that are known in Italy.

As I was long on shore, I went several times to see their markets or
fairs, which were held every Monday and Friday in a meadow, not far from
where I resided. The men and women, from four or five miles around, came
to this place with their various commodities, and those who lived at a
greater distance, went to other markets nearer their habitations. The
great poverty of the natives appeared manifest in the goods they brought
to these fairs; consisting of small quantities of cotton cloth, and
cotton yarn, pulse, oil, millet, wooden tubs, palm matts, and every thing
else useful to life, according to their manners, likewise arms, and some
small quantities of gold. Having no money or coin of any kind, all their
trade was carried on by way of barter, or exchange of one thing for
another, sometimes two or three things for one, according to their
different values. All these blacks used to gaze on me, as if I had been a
prodigy, having never seen a white man before. Some took hold of my hands,
which they rubbed with spittle, to see if the whiteness was natural or
artificial, and expressed their wonder to find that my skin was not
painted. They were as much astonished at my dress, being clothed in the
Spanish fashion, with a black damask waistcoat, and a cloak over it: They
seemed much surprised at the waistcoat, and greatly admired the woollen
cloth, which they had never seen any of before. My chief purpose in going
to these fairs, was to see what quantity of gold was brought thither.

Horses are very scarce, and of great value in the country of the Negroes,
being brought all the way from that part of Barbary which lies nearest to
Europe, by the Arabs and Azanhaji. Owing to the great heat, horses do not
live long here; for they grow so fat that they cannot stale, and so burst.
They are fed with bean leaves, which are g