especially at the commencement of the rainy season. The negroes
attribute this disease, which has been described by many writers, to
bad water, and allege that the people who drink from wells are more
subject to it than those who drink from streams. To the same cause
they attribute the swelling of the glands of the neck (goitres),
which are very common in some parts of Bambarra. I observed also,
in the interior countries, a few instances of simple gonorrhoea, but
never the confirmed lues. On the whole, it appeared to me that the
negroes are better surgeons than physicians. I found them very
successful in their management of fractures and dislocations, and
their splints and bandages are simple and easily removed. The
patient is laid upon a soft mat, and the fractured limb is
frequently bathed with cold water. All abscesses they open with the
actual cautery, and the dressings are composed of either soft
leaves, shea butter, or cow's dung, as the case seems in their
judgment to require. Towards the coast, where a supply of European
lancets can be procured, they sometimes perform phlebotomy, and in
cases of local inflammation a curious sort of cupping is practised.
This operation is performed by making incisions in the part, and
applying to it a bullock's horn with a small hole in the end. The
operator then takes a piece of bee's wax in his mouth, and, putting
his lips to the hole, extracts the air from the horn, and by a
dexterous use of his tongue stops up the hole with the wax. This
method is found to answer the purpose, and in general produces a
plentiful discharge.

When a person of consequence dies, the relations and neighbours meet
together and manifest their sorrow by loud and dismal howlings. A
bullock or goat is killed for such persons as come to assist at the
funeral, which generally takes place in the evening of the same day