This ceremony is frequently performed by a Mohammedan, who pretends to have gained his knowledge from what is written in the Koran, which he professes to read and study very devoutly for some time beforehand, and then asserting that he has had a dream, states that it will be necessary to make a sacrifice, consisting of such things as a white sheep with two black spots, a blye of rice, and a piece of white cloth. The sheep is killed in some sacred place; the warriors smear themselves with the blood, then cook the meat with the rice, which they devour, and proceed to make a night of it, yelling and dancing to their hearts' content. This is occasionally varied by some of the warriors, who "pull kootoo;" that is make a display of their valour by fighting with an imaginary enemy. In this way, one of them will work himself into a high state of excitement, and rush into the centre of a ring, where about a dozen others, armed with muskets (of course not loaded), swords, knives, etc., appear to be attempting to conquer this one man, who however, as a matter of course, is allowed to come off the victor; when he commences to improvise a song, in which he proclaims and glorifies the valour of his chief, boasts of what he will do, and what trophies he will bring back, etc., etc., ad libitum. The scene is repeated in succession by each man who has any claim to the name of warrior. This, with dancing, is kept up until their supply of rum is finished, and they, becoming tired out, drop off to sleep.

When the medicine-man finds that he can obtain nothing more from them without a show of work, he starts them off to the attack. They scatter in the bush, and work their way in small parties to some place in the neighbourhood of the town to be assaulted, when they arrange the order of battle, and generally send some lads up to the stockade, who attempt to scale it, so as to discover if the offenders are asleep, or not upon the watch; in which case, the warriors proper then come up and get into the stockade, when, by rushing about in a frantic manner from one side to the other, and cutting anyone whom they may encounter, they cause a panic amongst the enemy, who evacuate the stockade, and there being no resistance, the assailants are very brave, and chop away right and

seen houses built in this way which would support an upper story, and after standing some time, would become like a piece of solid masonry); but usually, when their fortifications (if they deserve the name) are constructed in this manner, they have a trench or ditch between the two walls. Such stockades, as I have attempted to describe, if defended by determined men, well armed, and with a good supply of ammunition, are exceedingly difficult of capture by such ill-organised soldiers as are brought against them. I knew an instance in which a stockade, at a town called Sourah, defended by Mohammedans, successfully resisted an attack for several days, when the besiegers had recourse to fire, and so burned the garrison alive, for not one of them would surrender.

The Gallinas people still sometimes use bows and arrows, and appear to have retained many of the customs and habits of their ancestors, who I have little doubt were pure Mandingoes.

Some persons think the Gallinas are identical with the Veys; but this, I think, is a mistake, as in my opinion the Vey nation is confined to the district between Capes Mount and Mesurado; however, the Gallinas people speak the Vey language, from mixing with their neighbours. I think that the Vey language is really a dialect of the Mandingo, as is also the Soosoo, as the Mandingo is a bastard Arabic. I consider the history of the Gallinas tribe to be very interesting; and there can be no doubt that they are strangers to the country which they now possess and inhabit, as I have heard all their traditions related by King Sandfish, who was probably fully one hundred and twenty years old when he died in 1862. I have also seen the graves of the men of the tribe who first established themselves on the coast, concerning whom I could, if the limits of this paper would permit, furnish further information.

These people have apparently, for many years, acted as brokers to the slave-dealers, and for a long period depended entirely upon the slave-trade for means of obtaining food, clothing, etc., etc.; and it is only within the last few years that they have turned their attention to work, in the same manner Boom people do; when first I went to reside in the Sherbro, in

1855, the rice purchased in the Bagroo, Jong, and Boom, was taken to the Gallinas people for sale, as the latter never grew enough provisions for themselves. The soil of the Gallinas country is sandy, barren, and unfit for cultivation; and it is a mistake to suppose, as some do, that this country produces any article of export, for it is the Crim country on the one side, and Goorah on the other, where the produce is collected. The cloths are made principally in Kissy, and find their way down to the coast as a medium of exchange for salt and other commodities. There are very many of the Gallinas people who carve wood, palm-nuts, etc., and who make wooden spoons and plates as well as iron-work of different kinds.

As a rule, the Gallinas people are inveterate gamblers; they play various games, the principal one being called by them warri, but it is common to nearly all parts of Africa under different names. It is played with a board having twelve holes, and forty-eight seeds. One of these boards I have the pleasure of presenting to the museum of the Anthropological Society of London, which will show the style of carving executed by the Gallinas people. They have many other games besides warri; and they frequently play until they have lost everything they possess, even placing their wives and children in pledge, and, as a last resource, stake their own liberty on the chances of the game.

Although really possessing no definite form of religion of their own, the Gallinas all, more or less, profess Mohammedanism; and the chiefs usually send their sons into the interior for several years to learn the Mandingo tongue. They are excessively superstitious, and have almost unlimited belief and confidence in anything made by any bookmen; that is, people who have a written language, as Mohammedans, or Europeans, Americans, etc. Of this weakness and credulity the Mohammedans take advantage, and make charms by writing a few words from the Koran on paper or parchment, which they sew up in cloth, or put in goat or sheep horns, and cover them with leather. These charms can of course be made to counteract any evil influence according to the wish of the purchasers; and some are supposed to have the virtue of resisting