SERERS  , a

Negroid people, living in Senegambia . They are of the same stock as the Wolof, and in some parts form communities with them . Elsewhere they have mixed with the Mandingo, to which race belong most of their ruling families . The country of the pure Serers lies between the Gambia and Salum rivers to the south of Cape Verde . In this domain of nearly 5000 sq. m. the tribe has two main divisions, the None Serers and the Sine Serers . The Serers are an extraordinarily tall race, even excelling in height their kinsfolk, the Wolof . Men of 6 ft . 6 in., with muscular development in proportion, are by no means rare . They are less black than the Wolof and have features more purely negroid with coarser lips and heavier jaws . Many Serers are nominally Mahommedans, but nature-worship is still prevalent . Their two chief gods are Takhar, god of justice, and Tiurakh, god of wealth, who are worshipped at the foot of trees . Snakes, too, have their cult, and formerly living animals were sacrificed to them .

A belief in transmigration, as shown by their funeral customs, is

general among the Serers . They are an honest and industrious people, but are very heavy drinkers .