to see their markets or fairs, which were held every Monday and Friday in a meadow, not far from where I resided. The men and women, from four or five miles around, came to this place with their various commodities, and those who lived at a greater distance, went to other markets nearer their habitations. The great poverty of the natives appeared manifest in the goods they brought to these fairs; consisting of small quantities of cotton cloth, and cotton yarn, pulse, oil, millet, wooden tubs, palm matts, and every thing else useful to life, according to their manners, likewise arms, and some small quantities of gold. Having no money or coin of any kind, all their trade was carried on by way of barter, or exchange of one thing for another, sometimes two or three things for one, according to their different values. All these blacks used to gaze on me, as if I had been a prodigy, having never seen a white man before. Some took hold of my hands, which they rubbed with spittle, to see if the whiteness was natural or artificial, and expressed their wonder to find that my skin was not painted. They were as much astonished at my dress, being clothed in the Spanish fashion, with a black damask waistcoat, and a cloak over it: They seemed much surprised at the waistcoat, and greatly admired the woollen cloth, which they had never seen any of before. My chief purpose in going to these fairs, was to see what quantity of gold was brought thither.
Horses are very scarce, and of great value in the country of the Negroes, being brought all the way from that part of Barbary which lies nearest to Europe, by the Arabs and Azanhaji. Owing to the great heat, horses do not live long here; for they grow so fat that they cannot stale, and so burst. They are fed with bean leaves, which are gathered after the beans are brought from the fields; and, being dried like hay, are cut small, and given to the horses instead of oats. They give millet also, which contributes greatly to make them fat. A horse and his furniture sells for from nine to fourteen negroes, according to his goodness and beauty; and when a negro lord buys a horse, he sends for his horse sorcerers, who cause a fire to be kindled of the stalks of certain herbs, and hold the horses head by the bridle over the smoke, while they repeat over some few words by way of incantation. They afterwards have him anointed all over with fine oil, and having kept him eighteen or twenty days, without allowing any one to see him, they affix some Moorish charms to his neck, which have the appearance of small square billets of writing, folded up and covered with red leather; and affirm, that, they will go into battle with greater safety by means of these scrolls or annulets.
The women of this country are very pleasant and merry, especially the young ones, and delight in singing and dancing, taking this diversion only at night by moonlight; and their manner of dancing is very different from that of the Italians. Many things in our ships seemed wonderful to the Negroes, particularly our cross-bows; but much more our artillery. When some of them were on board my ship, I caused one of the guns to be fired off, which threw them into a dreadful panic; and their terror was much increased on being told that one cannon-shot could kill an hundred men. On which account, they alleged that it must be something belonging to the devil. They were likewise greatly astonished at a bag-pipe, which, one of our sailors played upon to divert them; and, on examining the several parts and ornaments of the instrument, they conceived that it was a living animal, which sung in different voices. Observing their simplicity, I told them it was a musical instrument, and put it into their hand unblown to examine. They then perceived that it was a work of art, but believed that it was something supernatural, and could only have been devised by a superior being, it sounded so sweetly, and in so many different tones, having never heard any thing which could be compared to it in their estimation. The ship, also, and its various contrivances, as its anchors, masts, sails, and shrouds, afforded them great subjects for admiration and wonder. They looked upon the port-holes in the stern as real eyes, by which the vessel was able to find her way in the sea; and observed, that travellers on land found difficulty to find the road from one place to another, while we were able to travel along the trackless ocean; and that the whites must therefore be the greatest of sorcerers, not inferior to the devil himself. They shewed great admiration on seeing a lighted candle in a candlestick, having themselves no other artificial light but that proceeding from a fire. They have honey-combs, but when they find these, they suck out the honey, and throw away the empty comb as useless. At one time, I bought some honey-combs from a negro, and shewed him how to extract the honey; after which, on asking him if he knew what remained, he said it was good for nothing: But he was greatly astonished on seeing it made into candles, and lighted in his presence; saying, that the Europeans knew every thing. Their only musical instruments are two, one of which they have from the Moors, which is like a large drum[5]; the other is somewhat like a fiddle, having only two strings, which they play on with their fingers, but gives no sounds that can be called harmonious.
[5] This in Ramusio is called Tabacche, and Sambuka in Grynaeus.--Astl.
SECTION VII.
Continuation of the Voyage from Senegal, by Cape Verd, the river Barbasini, and to the river Gambia; and, returns to Portugal.
Having seen a considerable part of the dominions of Budomel, and received the slaves which, were bargained for, in exchange for my horses and other merchandize, I resolved to proceed on my voyage, round Cape Verd, and to prosecute discoveries along this dangerous coast, and in particular, to go in search of the kingdom of Gambia or Gambia, which Don Henry had pointed out, on the information of a person who was well acquainted with the country of the Negroes, as not far from Senegal, and from whence, it was reported, that considerable quantities of gold might be procured. Longing to go in quest of this gold, I took my leave of Budomel, and repaired to the river Senegal, where I went on board the caravel and got under weigh, as soon as possible. Soon after leaving the river Senegal, as we were standing onward with a press of sail towards Cape. Verd, we descried, one morning two ships in the offing. On joining company, we found that one of these belonged to Antonio, an experienced Genoese navigator, and the other to some gentlemen in the service of Don Henry, and that they had sailed in company, with the intention of passing Cape Verd, to explore the coast beyond it, in search of new discoveries. Our intentions being similar, I offered to join company, and we accordingly proceeded together along the coast to the southward, in sight of land.
We came in sight of that cape next day, being about thirty Italian miles from our last anchorage[1]. Cape Verd was so named by the Portuguese, who discovered it about a year before[2], because it is covered with trees which continue green all the year. This is a high and beautiful cape, which runs a considerable way into the sea, and has two hills or small mountains at its outer extremity. There are several villages of the Senegal negroes, or Jalofs, upon and about this promontory, which are composed of thatched cabins close by the shore, and in sight of those who sail past. There are also some sand banks, which extend about half a mile into the sea[3].
[1] Cape Verd is about 100 miles from the southern mouth of the river Senegal; so that the voyagers probably anchored every night within sight of the scarcely known coast.--E.
[2] This is erroneous, as it was discovered in 1446 by Denis Fernandez, nine years before.--Clark.
[3] It is necessary to be cautious with respect to these early voyages, which, having gone through various transcriptions and translations, are liable to numerous errors. In our best charts, this sand bank, intermixed with sunk rocks, extends two miles out to sea.--E.
Having doubled the cape, we came to three small uninhabited islands, full of green trees[4]; and being in want of water, we anchored at that which seemed the largest and most fruitful, in hopes of meeting with a spring, but could find none to answer our purpose. We met, however, with the nests and eggs of several kinds of birds, such as we had never seen before. This was in the month of July 1456, and we continued here all day, fishing with lines and large hooks, catching a prodigious number of fish, among which were dentali , and gilded fish[5], some of which weighed from twelve to fifteen pounds each. On the next day we proceeded in our course, keeping always in sight of land, and found a kind of gulf formed by the coast on the south side of the cape[6]. This coast is all low, and full of fine large trees, which are continually green, as the new leaves grow before the old ones fall off, and they never wither like those in Europe; and the trees grow so near the shore, that they seem to drink as it
