pudding which they call kouskous. It is made by first moistening
the flour with water, and then stirring and shaking it about in a
large calabash, or gourd, till it adheres together in small granules
resembling sago. It is then put into an earthen pot, whose bottom
is perforated with a number of small holes; and this pot being
placed upon another, the two vessels are luted together either with
a paste of meal and water, or with cows' dung, and placed upon the
fire. In the lower vessel is commonly some animal food and water,
the steam or vapour of which ascends through the perforations in the
bottom of the upper vessel, and softens and the kouskous, which is
very much esteemed throughout all the countries that I visited. I
am informed that the same manner of preparing flour is very
generally used on the Barbary coast, and that the dish so prepared
is there called by the same name. It is therefore probable that the
negroes borrowed the practice from the Moors.

Their domestic animals are nearly the same as in Europe. Swine are
found in the woods, but their flesh is not esteemed. Probably the
marked abhorrence in which this animal is held by the votaries of
Mohammed has spread itself among the pagans. Poultry of all kinds,
the turkey excepted, is everywhere to be had. The guinea-fowl and
red partridge abound in the fields, and the woods furnish a small
species of antelope, of which the venison is highly and deservedly
prized.

Of the other wild animals in the Mandingo countries, the most common
are the hyaena, the panther, and the elephant. Considering the use
that is made of the latter in the East Indies, it may be thought
extraordinary that the natives of Africa have not, in any part of
this immense continent, acquired the skill of taming this powerful