This is what I was able to observe. . . . First, I saw clearly that, though these pass as lords, it must not be thought that they have castles or cities. . . . The King of this realm had nothing save villages of grass huts, and Budomel was lord only of a part of this realm. . . . Such men are not lords by virtue of treasure or money, for they possess neither, but on account of ceremonies and the following of people they may truly be called lords; indeed they receive beyond comparison more obedience than our lords.

The dwelling of such a King is never fixed: he has a number of villages to support his wives and families. In the village where I was, . . . there were from forty to fifty grass huts close together in a circle, surrounded by hedges and groves of great trees, leaving but one or two gaps as entrances. Each hut has a yard divided off by hedges. . . . In this place Budomel had nine wives: and likewise in his other dwellings, according to his will and pleasure. Each of these wives has five or six young negro girls in attendance upon her, and it is as lawful for the lord to sleep with these attendants as with his wives, to whom this does not appear an injury, for it is customary.

These negroes, both men and women, are exceedingly lascivious: Budomel demanded of me importunately, having been given to understand that Christians knew how to do many things, whether by chance I could give him the means by which he could satisfy many women, for which he offered me a great reward.

This Budomel always has at least two hundred negroes with him, who constantly follow him. . . . [T]he nearer one approaches the apartment of Budomel, the greater is the dignity of those living in these courts, up to the door of Budomel.

This Budomel exhibits haughtiness, showing himself only for an hour in the morning, and for a short while towards evening. . . . Such lords as he, when granting audience to anyone, display much ceremony: however considerable he who seeks audience may be, or however high born, on entering the door of Budomel’s courtyard he throws himself down on his knees, bows his head to the ground, and with both hands scatters sand upon his naked shoulders and head. . . . No man would be bold enough to come before him to parley, unless he had stripped himself naked save for the girdle of leather they wear.

All this appears to me to proceed from the great fear and dread in which these people hold their lord, since for the most trivial misdeed he seizes and sells their wives and children. Thus it appears to me that his power exacts obedience and fear from the people by selling their wives and children. In two ways they exercise the rights of lords, and display power, that is, in maintaining a train of followers, in allowing themselves to be seen rarely, and in being greatly reverenced by their subjects. . . .

I was permitted to enter the mosque where they pray: arriving towards evening, and having called those of his . . . Arabs (those who are learned in the laws of Muhammad), he entered with some of his chief lords into a certain place. There they prayed in this fashion: standing upright and frequently looking up to the sky, they took two paces forward, and recited some words in a low voice: then bowed down very often and kissed the earth. . . . And thus they continued for the space of half an hour. [Note: Cadamosto witnessed the salat, the ritual prayer of Islam.]

When he had finished, he asked me what I thought of it. . . . Finally I told him that his faith was false, and that those who had instructed him in such things were ignorant of the truth. On many grounds I proved his faith to be false and our faith to be true and holy, thus getting the better of his learned men in argument. . . . The lord laughed at this, saying that our faith appeared to him to be good: for it could be no other than God that had bestowed so many good and rich gifts and so much skill and knowledge upon us. . . . He was much pleased with the actions of the Christians, and I am certain it would have been easy to have converted him to the Christian faith, if he had not feared to lose his power.

Each of his wives sends him a certain number of dishes of food every day. All the negro lords and men of this land follow this fashion, their women supplying them with food. They eat on the ground, like animals, without manners. No one eats with these negro rulers, save those Moors [North African Muslims] who teach the law, and one or two of their chief men.

[After learning about a snake-charming ritual], I conclude that all these negroes are great magicians; and others could bear witness to the truth of this charming of the snakes. . . .

I decided to go to see a market. . . . This was held in a field, on Mondays and Fridays. Men and women came to it from the neighbourhood country within a distance of four or five miles, for those who dwelt farther off attended other markets. In this market I perceived quite clearly that these people are exceedingly poor, judging from the wares they brought for sale: that is, cotton, but not in large quantities, cotton thread and cloth, vegetables, oil and millet, wooden bowls, palm leaf mats, and all the other articles they use in their daily life. Men as well as women came to sell, some of the men offering their weapons, and others a little gold, but not in any quantity. They sold everything, item by item, by barter, and not for money, for they have none. They do not use money of any kind, but barter only, one thing for another, two for one, three for two.

These negroes, men and women, crowded to see me as though I were a marvel. It seemed to be a new experience to them to see Christians, whom they had not previously seen. They marvelled no less at my clothing than at my white skin. . . . Some touched my hands and limbs, and rubbed me with their spittle to discover whether my whiteness was dye or flesh. Finding that it was flesh they were astounded.

Horses are highly prized in this country of the Blacks, because they are to be had only with great difficulty, for they are brought from our Barbary [North Africa] by the Arabs and . . . cannot withstand the great heat. A horse with its trappings is sold for from nine to fourteen negro slaves, according to the condition and breeding of the horse. When a chief buys a horse, he sends for his horse-charmers, who have a great fire of certain herbs lighted after their fashion, which makes a great smoke. Into this they lead the horse by the bridle, muttering their spells. . . . Then they fasten to its neck charms [probably containing passages from the Quran]. . . . They believe that with these they are safer in battle.

The women of this country are very pleasant and light-hearted, ready to sing and to dance, especially the young girls. They dance, however, only at night by the light of the moon. Their dances are very different from ours.

These negroes marvelled greatly at many of our possessions, particularly at our crossbows, and, above all, our mortars. Some came to the ship, and I had them shown the firing of a mortar, the noise of which frightened them exceedingly. I then told them that a mortar would slay more than a hundred men at one shot, at which they were astonished, saying that it was an invention of the devil’s. . . .

When I had despatched my business, and had acquired a certain number of slaves, I decided to continue beyond Capo Verde, to discover new lands, and to make good my venture.

Source: G. R. Crone, The Voyages of Cadamosto and Other Documents on Western Africa (Farnham, Surrey, GBR: Hakluyt Society, 1937), 35–52. Used by permission of the Hakluyt Society.