ter the town one by one, that the parting of the tree in the middle, when worn through by the trampling of the horses, may enable him to judge of the fufficiency of their numbers, and operate as a fignal that his levy is complete. "In their manners, the people of Bornou are fingularly courteous and humane. They will not pafs a ftranger on the road till they have ftopped and faluted him: the most violent of their quarrels are only contefts of words; and though a part of the business of their husbandry is affigned to the women, yet as their employment is confined to that of dropping the feed in the furrows, and of removing the weeds with a hoe, it has more of the amusement of occafional occupation, than of the harshness of continued labour. "Paffionately attached to the tumultuous gratifications of play, yet unacquainted with any game but drafts, they often fit down on the ground, and forming holes to answer the purpose of squares, fupply the place of men with dates, or the meaner fubftitute of ftones, or of camel's dung. On their skill in the management of these rude inftruments of the game, they stake their gold duft, their brafs money, and even their very clothes; and as the bye-ftanders on these occafions conftantly obtrude their advice, and fometimes make the moves for the perfon whofe fuccefs they wifh, their play is ufually accompanied by that conflict of abufe, and vehemence of fcolding, which mark and terminate the fharpeft of their quarrels. "Such is the amusement of the lower claffes of the people: thofe of a fuperior rank are devoted to the more difficult and more interesting game of chefs, in which they are eminently skilled. "In countries that afford without cultivation, or that give in return for flight exertions of labour, the principal requifites of life, few articles of export are likely to be found. Thofe of the Bornou empire confift of gold duft*, flaves, horses, oftrich feathers, falt, and civet. "By what means the gold duft, that appears to be a principal article of trade, is procured by the inhabitants, whether from mines in the country, or by purchase from other mations, the fhereef has not explained. But of their mode of obtaining the flaves, who constitute another extenfive branch of their commerce, he gives the following account : "South east of Bornou, at the diftance of about twenty days travelling, and feparated from it by feveral fmall deferts, is fituated an extenfive kingdom, of the name of Begarmee, the inhabitants of which are rigid Mahometans, and though perfectly black in their complexions, are not of the Negro caft. Beyond this kingdom to the East are several tribes of Negroes, idolaters in their religion, favage in their manners, and accustomed, it is faid, to feed on human flesh. They are called the Kardee, the Serrowah, the Showva, the Battah, and Mulgui. Thefe nations the Begarmeefe, who fight on horseback, and are great warriors, annually invade ; and when they have taken as many prifoners as the opportunity affords, or their purpose may require, they drive the captives, like cattle, to Be garmee. It is faid that if any of «At Bornou I exchanged for gold duft and oftrich feathers the merchandize which I brought from Tripoli. Ben Alli.”, them, them, weakened by age or exhaufted by fatigue, happen to linger in their pace, one of the horsemen feizes on the oldeft, and cutting off his arm, uses it as a club to drive on the reft. "From Begarmee they are fent to Bornou*, where they are fold at a low price; and thence many of them are conveyed to Fezzan, where they generally embrace the mufful man faith, and are afterwards exported by the way of Tripoli to different parts of the Levant. "Such is the mode of obtaining the greatest part of the flaves who are annually fold in Bornou but as feveral of the provinces of the empire are inhabited by Negroes, their infurrections, real or pretended, afford to the fovereign an opportunity of increafing his income by their fale. "A more politic and more effectual mode of aiding his finances is fruitlessly offered by the falt lakes of the province of Domboo: for, as the great empire of Cafhna is entirely deftitute of falt, and none is found in the dominions of the Negroes, the fole poffeffion of this article might infure to the king of Bornou a conftant and ample revenue of the best kind, a revenue collected from the fubjects of foreign ftates. But fuch is the prevalency of antient custom over the obvious fuggeftions of policy, that the people of Agadex, a province of the Cafhna Empire, are annually permitted to load their immenfe caravans with the falt of Bornou, and to engrofs the profits of this invaluable trade. The falt is collected on the fhores of the feveral lakes which produce it, and the only acknowledgement that the merchants of Agadez give in return for the article, is the trifling price which they pay in brafs and copper (the currency of Bornou) to the neighbouring peasants. "The civet, which forms another article of the export trade of Bornou, and the greateft part of which is fent to the Negro ftates who inhabit far to the fouth, is obtained from a fpecies of wild cat that is common in the woods of Bornou and of Cafhna. "This animal is taken alive in a trap prepared for the purpose, is placed in a cage, and is strongly irritated till a copious perfpiration is produced. Its fweat, and especially the moisture that appears upon the tail, is then fcraped off, is preferved in a bladder, and conftitutes the much valued perfume. After a short interval, the operation is renewed, and is repeated, from time to time, till at the end of twelve or fourteen days the animal dies of the fatigue and continual torment. The quantity obtained from one cat is gene rally about half an ounce. Of manufactures, none for exportation are furnished by the people of Bornou; but the fhereef remarks that, for their own confumption, they fabricate from the iron ore of their country, though with little skill, fuch flight tools as their husbandry requires." The Sultan of Bornou is continually at war with the various idolatrous tribes of Blacks who border on his dominions. Those who are taken prisoners are fold to the Arabs, and this traffic conftitutes the principal commerce of the country. Slaves are every day brought to him; for the acquifition of this fort of plunder is his conftant occupation. Ben Alli. + From the hemp of the country, a coarse linen is manufactured by the people of Bornou. Their cotton, which is alfo a native produce, is fpun to a thread of remarkable fineness, and is then converted to callicoes and mufins of about nine inches in breadth, 1791 E and [66] The prefent State of SAMAR, one of the PHILIPPINE ISLANDS, and of its native INHABITANTS. [From the first volume of Travels round the World, by M. De Pagés.] "TH HE natives, efpecially fuch as refide on the fea coaft, were formerly Mahometans; but the miffionary jefuits having converted them to the religion and allegiance of Spain, now exercife over them an authority almost unlimited. For the moft trivial of fences, infants, children, men, women, old and young, without diftinction of rank, age, or fex, are fubjected to the difcipline of the whip; and the afcendency acquired by the clergy over the minds of the people in their respective parishes is fuch, that the Indian, having received his ftripes with the moft humble fubmiffion, thanks the jefuit for his good offices, and departs fully fatisfied of the neceffity of a punifhment which nothing but an honeft zeal for his welfare could have induced him to inflict. The cenfure of the church is in general attended with real penitence on the part of the offender; who, as I was affured, is rarely known to relapfe into the fame fault. Punishment is always executed in public; and each individual being aware that by reafon of human frailty he is equally liable to the rod of difcipline with his neighbour, it ftamps no difgrace, in the estimation of others, on the character of the delinquent. The jefuits are at great pains to inftruct them in matters of religion; and hence, befides the ordinary feftivals I of the church, two days of the week are fet apart for divine service, in which the Indian celebrates the praifes of his Creator with fuch melody, unction, and ingenuous fimplicity, as beftow real fublimity on the exercifes of his devotion. happened to be prefent at the parochial feast, which was observed with much apparent piety by the Indians, though in a manner confonant to the genius of the Spaniards. In the morning the banners of the Virgin, and St. Francis, are displayed from the baftions of the caftle, and faluted at the rifing and setting of the fun by a difcharge of artillery. On this occafion it had been formerly cuf tomary to give the Indians a ball in the church, but this religious dance having been found to terminate fometimes in certain irregularities, it was now abolished. —— I return to the character of the parochial clergy. "The jefuit, by means of confeffion, has access to the most secret thoughts of the Indian; who repairs, in the fimplicity of his heart, to fubmit not only his offences, but every thing that is either the object of his hope or fear, to the ear of his paftor. Advice and admonition on the part of the priest, is always accompanied with fome small prefent, confifting in wine, medicine, liquor or animal food; and thus, by mingling kindness with severity, and and of a length which varies from fifteen to twenty yards. Such of these cotton manufactures as are enriched with the blue die of the country, which from the superiority of the indigo, is preferable to that of the Eaft Indies, are valued more highly than filk yet their only fupply of the latter is that which the merchants of Barbary convey. They alfo fabricate a fpecies of carpet, as a covering for their horfes. Tents, from wool and the hair of goats and of camels, are made for the ufe of the army. The Httle Gilver they have is converted by their own artists into rings. rewards rewards with punishment, the natives are gradually reclaimed from their ignorance and mifconduct. Like good children, they learn to regard the miffionary as one fent from heaven to conduct them by the path of peace and innocence to temporal as well as eternal happiness. He acquires in their minds all the rights and confequence of an earthly parent, whom nature authorizes to establish the principles of virtue and good order in his family. Hence, in fituations of common danger, he is their leader by fea and land; and, on account of his fuperior wisdom and courage, is lookked up to as a strong tower against the invafion and inroads of the Mahometans. It is competent to each miffionary in his own parifh to if. fue orders for building or repairing the fort, for providing it in cannou and ammunition, and for the conftruction of war-canoes, which he frequently commands in perfon. He appoints all fubordinate officers, prefides over the difcipline of the militia, regulates the number of the guards, and even directs the fentinel to his proper poft. In fine, the clergy of Samar are the friends as well as the paftors, the temporal as well as the fpiritual leaders of the flock; amongst whom I was unable to discover either the imperious bigot, or the low Levite who earns the emoluments of his profeffion by a studied accommodation of his life to the taste and humour of his fupe riors. "I am no friend to the exorbitant power of the church; but whatever be the ultimate views of monaftic policy, good perhaps in fome, refpects, and bad in others, I muft, fay, that on this ifland it seems to have a happy influence on the real interefts of the people. The maxims of the jefuits conduct here feem, in matters both of a civil and fpiritual nature, much to refemble those exercifed by their brethren in the miffions of Paraguay; though the product of the people's induftry being permitted to remain in their own hands, and at their own difpofal, is a circumftance much to the credit of the former. I cannot conclude the juft encomium of thefe men, without obferving, that in a fituation. where the extreme attachment of the natives to their pastors might with little encouragement have given occafion to all the evils of violence and infurrection, I faw them. meet the edict for the abolition of their order with the defernce due to civil authority, but at the fame. time with a strength and firmness of mind truly manly and heroic. There now only remain in the dominions of Spain the jefuits of the Marian ifles, whom we had no authority to moleft; and in America, thofe of California, whom the na tives, under different pretences, had. hitherto contrived to retain in the country. As to fuch as were formerly fcattered over the other parts of New Spain, they had long fince taken their paffage for Europe. "In this iiland the foil is extremely fertile, easily cultivated, and rewards the industry of the labourer with at leaft forty fold. Befides other grain, the Indians fow a confiderable quantity of rice, but which is wholly intended for the ufe of the parochial clergy, the fettlement of Manilla, and the governor of the province. The common food of the natives confifts chiefly in a fpecies of potatoc, yams, and a root named gaby. Agreeably to the example of the Indians, I lived here entirely on roots, whofe fugary tafte is much more pleafant than the uniform infipidity of boiled rice. At first they feemed heavy and flatulent, but they foon became familiar to my ftomach; and I was fatisfied in the end that E 2 they they are more nutritious to the con The only inftrument used by the Indian, either for the purpofes of war or induftry, is a kind of couteau-de-chaffe, named, as is above mentioned, cris, or campilan; an inftrument which, after ferving hin against the enemy, enables him to cut down the largeft tree of the wood, to be formed into a canoe, or fplit into deals for more ordinary ufes. When the campilan has been fo much worn as to be of little further fervice to him, it is ftill employed by his wife to grub up a light foil, in which the plants yams, potatoes, and other roots. In the fpace of two months they are dug up in a ftate of maturity, and of a wonderful fize, infomuch that within the compafs of eighty yards, the Indian finds his annual fupply of thefe articles for the maintenance of a numerous family. "The fugar-cane, cabbages, garlic, onions, melons, the Chineseorange, lemons, vegetables, and, though in finall quantity, feveral other kinds of fruit little known in Europe, are cultivated on this island. It abounds in figs, of which I reckoned no fewer than thirteen or fourteen different fpecies, with a great variety of perfumes. The natives are inftructed to give particular attention to the culture of the cocoatree, which grows here to an uncommon fize. Their woods produce the pamplemous, a fpecies of orange near five inches in diameter, pepper, honey, and wax. Indeed, all thefe iflands are eminently diftinguished by the labours of the bee; and hence, I have feldom made an excurfion into the woods, without meeting numbers of bee-hives, fufpended in the form of oblong gourds from the branches of the trees. "The bounty of nature in Samar is no lefs visible in the variety and excellence of its game. The woods swarm with birds of almost every defcription, particularly the common fowl, which is diftinguifhed, however, from ours by the fhortened proportions of her body and legs. The colour of the hen is grey, with feathers fpotted like a partridge. There are three different (pecies of turtle-dove; the first grey, and as large as a pullet; the fecond feems, however, to be only a dwarfish breed of the firft; the third is green, and when prepared for the table affords delicate eating. I met with a kind of bird, peculiar, I believe, to thefe iflands, named calao, as large as a goofe, and agreeable to the tafte, but extremely fhy and difficule of approach. Ife frequents low fenny grounds, |