o the
country of the Negroes, which they barter with the great men for slaves,
receiving from ten to eighteen men for each horse, according to their
goodness. They also carry thither silken staffs of Granada and Tunis,
with silver, and many other things, in return for which they receive
great numbers of slaves and some gold. These slaves are brought first to
Hoden in the desert, and thence by the mountains of Barka into Barbary,
whence they are transported across the Mediterranean into Sicily. Part of
them are sold in Tunis, and in other places along the coast of Barbary;
and the rest are brought to Arguin, where they are sold to the licensed
Portuguese traders, who purchase between seven and eight hundred every
year, and send them for sale into Portugal. Before the establishment of
this trade at Arguin, the Portuguese used to send every year four or more
caravels to the bay of Arguin, the crews of which, landing well armed in
the night, were in use to surprise some of the fishing villages, and
carry off the inhabitants into slavery. They even penetrated sometimes a
considerable way into the interior, and carried off the Arabs of both
sexes, whom they sold as slaves in Portugal.

Leaving Arguin we sailed along the coast to the river Senegal[4], which
is very large, and divides the people called Azanaghi, or Azanhaji, from
the first kingdom of the Negroes. The Azanhaji are of a tawny colour, or
rather of a deep brown complexion, and inhabit some parts of the coast
beyond Cape Branco, ranging through the deserts, and their district
reaches to the confines of the Arabs of Hoden. They live on dates, barley,
and the milk of camels; but as they border likewise on the country of the
Negroes, they carry on trade with these people, from whom they procure
millet and pulse, particularly beans. Owing to the scarcity of provisions
in the desert, the Azanhaji are but spare eaters, and are able to endure
hunger with wonderful patience, as a poringer of barley-meal made into
hasty-pudding will serve them a whole day. The Portuguese used to carry
away many of these people for slaves, as they were preferred to the
negroes; but for some time past this has been prohibited by Don Henry,
and peace and trade has been established with them, as he is in hopes
they may be easily brought over to the catholic faith by intercourse with
the Christians, more especially as they are not hitherto thoroughly
established in the superstitions of Mahomet, of