native woods were considered as belonging to the king or (where the
government was not monarchical) to the state. When any individual of free
condition had the means of cultivating more land than he actually
possessed, he applied to the chief man of the district, who allowed him
an extension of territory, on condition of forfeiture if the lands were
not brought into cultivation by a given period. The condition being
fulfilled, the soil became vested in the possessor; and for aught that
appeared to me, descended to his heirs.

The population, however, considering the extent and fertility of the
soil, and the ease with which lands are obtained, is not very great in
the countries which I visited. I found many extensive and beautiful
districts, entirely destitute of inhabitants; and in general, the borders
of the different kingdoms were either very thinly peopled or entirely
deserted. Many places are likewise unfavourable to population, from being
unhealthful. The swampy banks of the Gambia, the Senegal, and other
rivers towards the coast, are of this description. Perhaps it is on this
account chiefly that the interior countries abound more with inhabitants,
than the maritime districts, for all the Negro nations that fell under my
observation, though divided into a number of petty independent states,
subsist chiefly by the same means, live nearly in the same temperature,
and possess a wonderful similarity of disposition. The Mandingoes, in
particular, are a very gentle race, cheerful in their dispositions,
inquisitive, credulous, simple, and fond of flattery. Perhaps the most
prominent defect in their character, was that insurmountable propensity,
which the reader must have observed to prevail in all classes, of them,
to steal from me the few effects I was possessed of. For this part of
their conduct, no complete justification can be offered, because theft is
a crime in their own estimation; and it must be observed, that they are
not habitually and generally guilty of it towards each other. This,