Salutations among the negroes to each other when they meet are
always observed, but those in most general use among the kafirs are,
"Abbe haeretto," "'E ning seni," "Anawari," etc., all of which have
nearly the same meaning, and signify "Are you well?" or to that
effect. There are likewise salutations which are used at different
times of the day, as "E ning somo" ("Good morning"), etc. The
general answer to all salutations is to repeat the kontong of the
person who salutes, or else to repeat the salutation itself, first
pronouncing the word marhaba ("My friend").



CHAPTER XXI--RELIGIOUS BELIEFS AND INDUSTRIES OF THE MANDINGOES



The Mandingoes and, I believe, the negroes in general, have no
artificial method of dividing time. They calculate the years by the
number of rainy seasons. They portion the year into moons, and
reckon the days by so many suns. The day they divide into morning,
midday, and evening; and farther subdivide it, when necessary, by
pointing to the sun's place in the heavens. I frequently inquired
of some of them what became of the sun during the night, and whether
we should see the same sun, or a different one, in the morning; but
I found that they considered the question as very childish. The
subject appeared to them as placed beyond the reach of human
investigation--they had never indulged a conjecture, nor formed any
hypothesis, about the matter. The moon, by varying her form, has
more attracted their attention. On the first appearance of the new