n, a delegated
superintendance; but, strange to tell, this disposition was not cultivated
nor improved; nor was the further offer of the king of Laby, and his high
priest, to place their sons under the protection of the Company, to be sent
to England and educated. A more important step could not have been taken to
attain the object of the Directors, than this of attaching the Foolah
nation to their interest.

The women of this nation are handsome, and of a sprightly temper, and their
countenances are more regular than those of the common Negroes; the hair in
both men and women is much longer, and not so woolly, but they have a most
disgusting custom of forming it into ringlets, bedaubed with oil and
grease, which gives them a very barbarous appearance. The Foolah tongue, is
different from that of the surrounding nations, and its accent is more
harmonious.

To the southward of the Rio Pongo, to Sierra Leone, lie the countries of
the Bagoes, Soosees, Mandingos, Timminees, and Boolams, all idolaters
except the Mandingos, who, like the Foolahs, associate in their religion a
mixture of fetishism and Mahomedanism. The Timminees are a more harmless
race of men than any of the other _infidel_ nations, and their dispositions
are more calculated to industrious avocations than their neighbours.

I have already noticed the Mandingos, but, as I consider this nation and
the Foolahs of the first consequence, from their power and influence over
the other nations of this part of the coast, I shall add a few more
observations upon them.

From what I have before stated, it will appear that the Mandingos are a
numerous people in Africa, gaining a daily influence and authority in the
district now under consideration. Besides the tribes of this people who
inhabit the countries between the Soosees and Timminees, there are various
others established in the country of Bambouk, and on the borders of the
Gambia, but the great body occupy an extensive territory above the sources
of that river.

The empire of the Mandingos is not, however, so considerable as that of the
Foolahs, but from their increasing influence over the western countries,
from their docile and cunning dispositions, their knowledge in merchandize,
and acquirements in book-knowledge, their power must, in process of time,
be greatly increased; and it will be of the utmost moment to civilize them,
in order to acquire an influence over the more barbarous states.

Notwithstandin