The lion of Senegal and the neighbouring countries differs from the Barbary lion; its colour is a deeper and brighter yellow, and its mane is neither so thick nor so long. Other beasts of prey are the leopard, the wild cat, the cheetah, the civet and the hyena. The wild boar is clumsier than the European variety. Antelopes and gazelles occur in large herds; the giraffe is found in the region of the upper Senegal; the elephant is rare; the hippopotamus is gradually disappearing. Crocodiles swarm in the upper Senegal. Monkeys and apes of different species (the chimpanzee, the colo bus, the cynocephalus, etc.), the squirrel, rat and mouse abound. The hedgehog, marmot, porcupine, hare, rabbit, etc., are also met with. Among the more noteworthy birds are the ostrich, which migrates to the Sahara; the bustard, found in desert and uncultivated districts; the marabout, a kind of stork, with its beak black in the middle and red at the point, which frequents the moist meadowlands and the lagoons ; the brown partridge, the rock partridge and the quail in the plains and on the mountain sides ; and the guinea-fowl in the thickets and brushwood. Along the coast are caught the sperm whale, the manatee and the cod fish.
The inhabitants of Senegal are, mainly, "Moors" and allied Berber races, and Negroids. The Moors, or rather Berbers (Trarzas, Braknas and Duaish), inhabit the right bank of the Senegal. Fula (Peals) are found in various parts of the country. Negroids, however, form the bulk of the population. The best known of these tribes are the Wolofs and Mandingos, the last-named a wide-spread group of allied peoples bearing many names such as Sarakoles and Bambaras. Mandingos inhabit the basins of the upper Niger and the upper Senegal, and the western slope of the mountains of Futa Jallon. Under the name of Wakore or Wangara they are also found in all the immense tract enclosed in the bend of the Niger. The Berbers, Fula and Mandingos are Moslems. The Wolofs and the Serers inhabit the seaboard from St. Louis to the Gambia, and the left bank of the Senegal from its mouth to Dagana. The Balanta inhabit the left bank of the Casamance ; they are allied to the Mandingos. The principal languages spoken are Wolof, Fula, Serer, Mandingo and Arabic. The river Senegal, marks the line of separation between Wolof and Arabic. Fula is the language of the Fula and Tukulors (Fula half-breeds) ; Mandingo comprises several dialects and is widely spoken. (See BERBERS, MANDINGA.) Towns.—The chief towns in 1934 are Dakar (pop. 72,752, of which 10,145 are Europeans), St. Louis (pop. 29,827, of which 1,107 are Europeans), Rufisque (pop. 13,559, of which 346
are Europeans), Kaolak (pop. 15,645), Diourbel (pop.
Thies (pop. 13,356). On the river Senegal are the towns of Richard-toll (Richard's garden), Dagana, Podor and Bakel. Cara bane, Zighinchor and Sedhiu are settlements on the Casamance river. Dakar in the peninsula of Cape Verde, capital of French West Africa, where the governor general resides, forms with Goree and several villages a special territory, administered under the direct authority of the governor general. St. Louis, Dakar, and Rufisque are communes, with a franchise exercised by natives and Europeans alike.
The two great food crops of Senegal are millet and rice. Millet is the staple food of the natives; there are large and small varieties of millet. The mean production ex ceeds 400,00o tons; the river-valley produces more than half the harvest. Rice is grown farther south, in the Casamance (130,00o tons). The cultivation of ground-nuts is the chief source of wealth of Senegal; it has spread since 1840, pioneered by a French colon ist. Its cultivation is important only in the regions with good transport facilities for the crop. Senegal produces more ground nuts (peanuts) than any other country, on an average 350,000 tons per annum. Rearing of cattle is practised chiefly by the Peuhls, the Toucouleurs and the Serers. Senegal, the first of the colonies of French West Africa to be developed, has the greatest trade, which forms two thirds of the total; its ports also serve as outlets for the trade of the French Sudan, the statistics of which are merged in those of the colony. Senegal imports chiefly cotton cloth, coming mostly from Great Britain; food-stuffs, flour, bis cuits, rice, sugar, etc., building materials and machines (motor cars), coal and petroleum. The chief exports are ground-nuts (more than 400,000 tons, worth more than 600 million francs) ; the secondary products are cotton (I,000 tons, coming partly from French Sudan), gum (4,000 tons, coming from Mauri tania), and skins. Total trade reaches 1,563 millions of francs (im ports 823 millions, exports 740 millions). Of the imports France sends 531 millions, Great Britain 121, the United States 5o; of the exports France takes 492 millions, Germany 74, Great Britain 15. The 6 principal ports of Senegal are Dakar (737,000 tons loaded and unloaded), Kaolak (200,000 tons), Rufisque (123,000 tons), Foundiougne (68,000 tons), Zighinkhor (44,000 tons), St. Louis (36,00o tons). One may note the rapid growth of Kaolak, (situated on the Salum, it is the focus of the railway from Thies to Kayes), and the decline of St. Louis.