[Transcriber's note:This text contains the unicode characters ā, ă, ĕ and ō in a fewplaces. If any of these characters do not display for you properly, please see the Latin-1 text version for a transcription. ] NARRATIVE OF A MISSION TO CENTRAL AFRICAPERFORMED IN THE YEARS 1850-51, UNDER THE ORDERS AND AT THE EXPENSE OF HER MAJESTY'S GOVERNMENT. BY THE LATE JAMES RICHARDSON, AUTHOR OF "TRAVELS IN THE GREAT DESERT OF SAHARA. " IN TWO VOLUMES. VOL. II. LONDON:CHAPMAN AND HALL, 193 PICADILLY. MDCCCLIII. LONDON:Printed by G. Barclay, Castle St. Leicester Sq. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. Description of Tintalous and its Environs--Palace andHuts--Bedsteads--Kailouee Race--Unhandsome Conduct of Mr. Gagliuffi--Proposed Journey to Aghadez--Dr. Barth starts--An obstinateBullock--Present extraordinary--State of Zinder--Affability of theSultan--Power of Charms--Scorpions--Dialogue with a Ghâtee--SplendidMeteors--Visit from En-Noor--Intrigues of the Fellatahs--A Sultan loadedwith Presents--Talk of departing for Zinder--State of the BornouRoad--Division of a Bullock--Bottle of Rum stolen--More Visits from theSultan--A Musical Entertainment--Curious Etymological Discussions--Awonderful Prophetess--Secret Societies--Magicians--The EvilEye--Morality of Soudan--Magnificent Meteor--Stories of the Sfaxee. CHAPTER II. Muslim want of Curiosity--Gossip on Meteors--A Family Broil--Rationaleof Wife-beating--Abominable Dances--Evil Communications--Dr. Overweg--Kailouee Vocabulary--Windy Day--Account of Wadaï--MadameEn-Noor--Profits of Commerce--The letter _Ghain_--FellatahLanguage--Introduction of Islamism--Desert Routes--Trade in AgateStones--A lively Patient--The Eed--A Visit _en masse_--Arrival of theBoat--Butchers--Exchange of Visits with the Sultan--Diet--A Shereef--Adelicate Request--Information on Maradee--Tesaoua--ItinerantSchoolmasters--En-Noor's Territory in Damerghou--UnpleasantCommunication--Amulets--The Foundation of a City in theDesert--En-Noor's Political Pretensions. CHAPTER III. News from Barth--Camels restored--Expensive Journey--Proposed Migrationof Males--Supply of Slaves, whence--A new Well--Pagans andChristians--Tibboo Manners--The great Gong--When is a Tibboohungry?--Hunger-belt--Queen of England in the Sahara--The Shanbah--Ahasty Marriage--Saïd's new Wife--Wild Cauliflowers--Tolerance of theKailouees--Men go to fetch Salt from Bilma--Approach of Dr. Barth--Lion's Mouth--Tibboos and Kailouees--Mysteries ofTintalous--Fewness of Men in Aheer--Trees preserved in theValley--Bright Stars--Method of Salutation--Purposed Stars--KailoueeCharacter--Champagne at Tintalous--The Wells. CHAPTER IV. Dr. Barth's Journey to Aghadez--Description of theRoute--Tiggedah--Luxuriant Scenery of Asadah--Plain of Tarist--BeautifulValley--Buddeh--Small Caravan--Aghadez--its Inhabitants--theirOccupation--The great Koku, or Sultan--Asbenouee Revolutions--Electionof a Prince--Interview--Ceremony of Investiture--Razzia--IntricatePolitical System--Account of Aghadez--Mosque--Environs--Women--Tribesof Asben--The Targhee Family--Population of the GhâtDistricts--of Aheer--The Oulimad and Tanelkums--Tribe ofJanet--Haghar--Sagamaram--Maghatah--Extent of Aheer--Connexionwith the Black Countries--Mechanism of Society inAheer--Chieftains--Tax-gathering--Food of theKailouees--Maharees--Amusements--Natural Features ofAsben--Vegetation--Cultivation--Manufactures--Bags for Charms. CHAPTER V. Projected Departure for Damerghou--False Start--PicturesqueCaravan--Sultan's Views of White Skins--My Birthday--The Sultan fightshis Battles over again--His Opinion of Women--Bragging--The Razzia onthe Fadeea--Political News in the Desert--Cold Weather--Continue ourJourney--Bornouese Fighis--Tin-Tagannu--Trap for a Lion--Mousa'sCamels--A further Delay--Jackals and the Fire--Language ofSigns--Tintalousian Coquettes--Departure of the Zinder Caravan--NaturalFeatures--Languages--The Kilgris--Killing Lice--The Razzia to theNorth--Present of a Draught-board--Pagan Nations--Favourable Reports. CHAPTER VI. Medicine for Bad Eyes--A summary Proceeding--News from theSalt-Caravan--Towns and Villages of Tesaoua--Earthquakes--Presents forthe Sultan of Maradee--Yusuf's Insolence--English Money in Aheer--ARazzia on the Holy City--Bornouese Studies--Gipsies of Soudan--En-Noorand the Marabouts--Ghaseb--State of the Weather--Calculations for theFuture--Senna--Relations of Man and Wife in Aheer--En-Noor in hisFamily--Gouber and Maradee--Beer-drinking--Study of the Sau--Shara--TheOulimad--Lions--Translating Jokes--Digging a Well--Projects. CHAPTER VII. Razzia on the Fadeea--Haussa--Names of Places--Ant-track--CircularLetter from Mourzuk--Vast Rock--Mustapha Bey's Letter--Effects ofWater--Butterflies--Aspect of the Country--A Slave advancedto Honour--Shonshona--Herbage--Birds--Appearance of theSalt-Caravan--Colours of Dawn--Bilma Salt--Mode of Barter--Pass the Rockof Mari--Granite--Indigo Plant--Presents at Stamboul--The Sultan begsagain--Old Men's Importunities--Baghzem--Curiosities of theRoute--People of Damerghou--Temporary Village of Women--Country beginsto open--Barter Transaction with Lady En-Noor. CHAPTER VIII. We continue our Journey--Huntsmen--Gum on the Tholukhs--TheSalt-Caravan--A Bunch of Gum--Games among theSlaves--Baghzem--Trees--Palm of Pharaoh--Deserted Villages--Birds'Nests--Wife of En-Noor--Unan--Lizards--Bad News--Christmasday in Africa--Christmas-boxes--Begging Tuaricksagain--Bargot--Musicians--Speculations--Tribes at War--ParasiticalPlant--Importance of Salt--Animals--Agalgo--Force of the Caravan--Beatof Drum--Approach the Hamadah--Giraffes--Poisoned Arrows--Ear ofGhaseb--Soudan and Bornou Roads. CHAPTER IX. Enter the Hamadah--Home of the Giraffe--Water ofChidugulah--Turtles--Cool Wind--Jerboahs--Centre of theSahara--New-year's Eve--Cold Weather--Birds of Prey--SoudanDate--Burs--Animals on the Plateau--Young Ostrich--TheTholukh-tree--Severe Cold--Eleven Ostriches--Termination of theDesert--Inasamet--The Tagama--Purchases--People begin toimprove--Fruit of the Lote-tree--Village roofed with Skins--VastPlain--Horses--Approach Damerghou--Village of Gumrek--RoughCustomers--Wars of the Kilgris and Kailouees--A smallLake--Guinea-hens--Vultures--Party of Huntsmen. CHAPTER X. My Barracan--Spontaneous Civility on arrival in Damerghou--GhasebStubble--Cactus--Water-Melons--Party of Tuaricks--Boban Birni--Huts ofDamerghou--Tagelel--Women of the Village--Population of theCountry--Complaisant Ladies--Festivities--Aquatic Birds--Dancing--AFlatterer--A Slave Family--A new Reason for Wife-beating--HaznaDancers--Damerghou, common ground--Purchase of Ghaseb--DethronedSultan--Yusuf--Mohammed Tunisee--Ophthalmia--Part with Barth andOverweg--Presents to Servants--Sheikh of Fumta--YakobahSlave--Applications for Medicine--Boban Birni--Forest--At length enterBornou ground--Daazzenai--Tuarick Respectabilities--Detachment of theSalt-Caravan. CHAPTER XI. March for Zinder--Enter the City--Reception--Delighted to escape fromthe Tuaricks--Letters from Kuka--Hospitable Treatment--Presents for theSarkee and others--Visit the Shereef--His Duties--Audience of theSarkee--Servility--Double-skulled Slave--Powder and Shot--Portrait ofthe Sultan--Commission from Kuka--European Clothes--Family ofEn-Noor--Tour of the Town--Scavengers--List of Sultans of CentralAfrica--Ancient Haussa--The Market--Money--Conversationwith the Shereef--The Sultan at Home--Mixed Race ofZinder--Statistics--Personages of the Court. CHAPTER XII. Presents from Officials--Mode of treating Camels--Prices--CowrieMoney--Shereef Interpreter--Visits--Harem--Houses--GrandVizier--Picturesque Dances--Tuaricks at Zinder--Kohlans andFullans--Province of Zinder--Account of its Rebellions--Trees--Detailson the Slave-trade--Prices--Mode of obtaining Slaves--AbjectRespect of the Sultan--Visits--Interview with the Sarkee--ThePresence--Curious Mode of administering Justice--BarbarousPunishments--Hyænas--Gurasu--Fighis--Place of Execution--Tree ofDeath--Hyæna Dens--Dancing. CHAPTER XIII. Brother of the Sultan--Trade of Zinder--Prices--The Sarkee drinksRum--Five Cities--Houses of Zinder--Female Toilette--Another Tree ofDeath--Paganism--Severity of the Sultan--Lemons--Barth andOverweg--Fire--Brother of the Sarkee--Daura--Shonshona--Lousou--Slavesin Irons--Reported Razzia--Talk with the Shereef--HumbleManners--Applications for Medicines--Towns and Villages of Zinder--Thegreat Drum--Dyers--Tuarick Visits--Rationale of Razzias--Slaves--"LikePrince like People"--French in Algiers--The Market--Old Slave--InfamousSystem--Plan of the great Razzia. CHAPTER XIV. Family of the Sarkee--Converted Jew--Hard Dealings--How to get rid of aWife--Route to Tesaoua--Influence of Slavery--Prices of Aloes andSilk--Medicine for a Merchant--Departure of the Sarkee for theRazzia--Encampment--Mode of Fighting--Produce of Razzias--Story of theTibboo--Sheikh Lousou--Gumel--Superstitions--Matting--Visitof Ladies--The Jew--Incendiaries--Hazna--Legend of ZinderWell--Kohul--Cousin of the Sheikh--Female Sheikh--State of theCountry--Salutations. CHAPTER XV. Political News--Animals of Zinder--Sleepy City--Districtof Korgum--Razzias--Family of Sheikh Omer ofBornou--Brothers--Sons--Sisters--Daughters--Viziers--Kashallas--Power ofthe Sheikh--A Cheating Prince--Old Slave--Fetishism--Devil in aTuarick's head--Kibabs--Fires--A Prophecy--Another Version of theRazzia--Correspondence between Korgum and Zinder. CHAPTER XVI. Sheikh of Bornou--Arab Women--News from the Razzia--Procession ofnewly-caught Slaves--Entrance of the Sarkee--Chained Slaves--My Servantat the Razzia--Audacity of Bornou Slaves--Korgum--Konchai--Product ofthe Razzia--Ghadamsee Merchants--Slave-trade--Incident at Korgum--Stateof Kanou--A Hue and Cry--Black Character--Vegetables atZinder--Minstrel--Medi--Gardens--Ladies--Fanaticism--Americans atNiffee--Rich People--Tuaricks Sick--Morals--Dread of theSarkee--Fashions. CHAPTER XVII. News from Tesaoua--Razzia on Sakkatou--Laziness in Zinder--TheHajah--Herds of Cattle--More Tuarick Patients--Gardens--MyLuggage--Adieu to the Sarkee--Present from his Highness--Start fromZinder--Country--Birds--Overtake the Kashalla--Slaves forKanou--Continue the Journey--People of Deddegi--Their Timidity--HorseExercise--Cotton--Strange Birds--Occupation of Men and Women--State ofAfrican Society--Islamism and Paganism--Character of the Kashalla--ADogberry--Guddemuni--Cultivation--Beggars--Dancing Maidens. CHAPTER XVIII. A Village plundered--Shaidega--Animals--Our Biscuit--Villages _enroute_--Minyo--Respect for Learning--Monotony of the Country--AWedding--Palsy--Slave-agents--Kal, Kal--Birni Gamatak--Tuaricks on thePlain--Palms--Sight the Town of Gurai--Bare Country--Bearings of variousPlaces--Province of Minyo--Visit the Sultan--Audience-room--FineCostume--A Scene of Barbaric Splendour--Trade--Estimate of Wealth--Howto amuse a Prince--Small Present--The Oars carried by Men--Town ofGurai--Fortifications. CHAPTER XIX. Fezzanee Traders--Sultan in want of Medicine--The Stud--Letters--Yusuf'sConduct--Architecture--Fragment of the History of Minyo--Politicsof Zinder--Bornouese Fish--Visits--Two Routes--Dancing byMoonlight--Richness--Fires--Information on Boushi and Adamaua--TheYamyam--Liver Complaints--A Girl's Game--Desert Country--Gift Camel--FewLiving Creatures--Village of Gusumana--Environs--The DoomFruit--Brothers of Sultan of Sakkatou--Stupid Kadi--Showing off--HotWeather--[Final Note--Death of Mr. Richardson. ] APPENDIX. NARRATIVE OF A MISSION TO CENTRAL AFRICA CHAPTER I. Description of Tintalous and its Environs--Palace andHuts--Bedsteads--Kailouee Race--Unhandsome Conduct of Mr. Gagliuffi--Proposed Journey to Aghadez--Dr. Barth starts--An obstinateBullock--Present extraordinary--State of Zinder--Affability of theSultan--Power of Charms--Scorpions--Dialogue with a Ghâtee--SplendidMeteors--Visit from En-Noor--Intrigues of the Fellatahs--A Sultan loadedwith Presents--Talk of departing for Zinder--State of the BornouRoad--Division of a Bullock--Bottle of Rum stolen--More Visits from theSultan--A Musical Entertainment--Curious Etymological Discussions--Awonderful Prophetess--Secret Societies--Magicians--The EvilEye--Morality of Soudan--Magnificent Meteor--Stories of the Sfaxee. I begin at length to consider myself as it were at home in this singularcountry of Aheer--without, however, experiencing any desire to dallyhere longer than the force of circumstances absolutely requires. It mustbe confessed, as I have already hinted, that the town of Tintalous, [1]in front of which we are encamped, does not at all answer the idea whichour too active imagination had formed. Yet it is a singular place. It issituated on rocky ground, at the bend of a broad valley, which in therainy season becomes often-times the bed of a temporary river. Here andthere around it are scattered numerous trees, many of considerable size, giving the surface of the valley something of a park-like appearance. The herbage is not rich, but it is ornamental, and refreshes the eye incontrast with the black, naked rocks, which rise on all hands to theheight often of two or three thousand feet. To the east, it is true, thecountry is a little open; and between the mountains run in numerouswhite sandy wadys, sprinkled with fresh green plants, or shaded byvarious species of mimosa and other spreading trees, under which theshepherds and herdsmen find shelter from the sun. [1] Tintalous is 40 short and 30 long days from Ghât, N. N. E. ; 60 short and 50 long from Mourzuk, N. E. ; 20 short, 15 long, from Zinder or Damerghou, S. S. W. ; 7 long, 10 or 12 short, from Bilma, E. ; 38 to 45 days from Tuat, N. W. (_viâ_ Taghajeet). Maharees, of course, trot and gallop in half the time. These are native statements. The principal feature of Tintalous itself is what may be called thepalace of En-Noor. It is, indeed, one, compared with the huts and stonehovels amidst which it is placed. The materials are stone plastered withmud, and also the wood of the mimosa tree. The form is an oblong square, one story high, with an interior courtyard, and various appendages andhuts around on the outside. There is another house, and also a mosquebuilt in the same style, but much smaller. Of the rest of thehabitations, a few are stone sheds, but the greater part are huts madeof the dry stalks of the fine herb called bou rekabah, in the form of aconical English haystack, and are very snug, impervious alike to rainand sun. There are not more than one hundred and fifty of these huts andsheds, scattered over a considerable space, without any order; some areplaced two or three together within a small enclosure, which serves as acourt or yard, in which visitors are received and cooking is carried on. There is another little village at a stone's-throw north. Theinhabitants of these two villages consist entirely of the slaves anddependants of En-Noor. All around Tintalous, within an hour or two hours' ride, there arevillages or towns of precisely the same description, more or lessnumerously peopled. At Seloufeeat and Tintaghoda, however, we saw morehouses built of stone and mud. This may be accounted for by the factthat the inhabitants are not nearly so migratory as those of Tintalous, who often follow in a body the motions of their master, so that he isever surrounded by an imposing household. I must not omit mentioning an important article of furniture which is tobe observed in all the houses of Aheer--namely, the bedstead. Whilstmost of the inhabitants of Fezzan lie upon skins or mats upon theground, the Kailouees have a nice light palm-branch bedstead, whichenables them to escape the damp of the rainy season, and the attack ofdangerous insects and reptiles like the scorpion and the lêfa. I shall hereafter make a few observations on the tribes inhabitingAheer. Here I will note that they are all called Targhee, that isTuarick, by the traders of the north; and that the predominant race isthe Kailouee. To me the latter seems to be a mixture of the Berbers, orsupposed aborigines of the northern coast, with all the tribes andvarieties of tribes of the interior of Africa. This may account fortheir having less pride and stiffness than the Tuaricks of Ghât, who arepurer Berbers; as well as for their disposition to thieving and pettylarceny, of which I have recently been obliged to give some examples. The pure Berbers, likewise, are much less sensual than their bastarddescendants, who seem, indeed, to have no idea of pleasure but in itsgrossest shape. The Kailouees are, for the most part, tall and active, little encumberedby bulky bodies; some having both complexion and features nearlyEuropean. At any rate there are many as fair-looking as the Arabsgenerally, whilst others are quite negro in colour. The women aresmaller and stouter; some are fattened like the Mooresses of the coast, and attain to an enormous degree of _embon-point_. They are notill-looking, but offer nothing remarkable in their forms. I have already set down many particulars of manners, and shall proceedto do so in the same disjointed way. At a future time all these traitsmust be collected to form one picture. [2] For the present I am anxiousabout the future progress of the Mission, and impatient, at any rate, tohear some news of our advance. We cannot do all the things we would. Ourposition is almost that of prisoners. We must depend entirely on thecaprice of En-Noor, who, however, may already have laid out his plansdistinctly, though he does not choose to communicate them to us. [2] Perhaps the note-books of Mr. Richardson, in which facts are set down fresh and distinct just as they presented themselves, will be found to be more interesting than an elaborate narrative. At any rate it has seemed better not to attempt to do what was left undone in this matter. --ED. _Oct. 2d. _--We have been lately discussing the practicability of goingto Sakkatou, on a visit to the Sultan Bello; and this morning I lookedover, for the first time, some "letters of credit" which Mr. Gagliuffi, our plausible consul at Mourzuk, had given me. I found that the amountoffered for the use of the expedition in Kanou does not exceed a hundredand fifty reals of Fezzan, or about twenty pounds sterling, and that theagent is expressly requested not to advance any more! This extraordinarydocument induced me to look further, and it soon appeared that thedocuments on which I relied so much were mere delusions. The wording ofthe Arabic letter to Bornou was ambiguous; but in as far as I and myinterpreter could make it out, Haj Bashaw, to whom it is addressed, wasrequested, if he had any money of Mr. Gagliuffi's in hand, to give me _alittle_! I really did not expect that a person in whom I had placed somuch confidence would play me this trick. But it seems that Levantinesare and will be Levantines to the end of time. I have written toGovernment, complaining of this unworthy conduct. _3d. _--Dr. Barth is about to take advantage of the delay necessarilyincurred at Tintalous to visit Aghadez, the real capital of Aheer, towhich the new Sultan has lately been led, and where his investiture willshortly be celebrated. This journey will extend our knowledge of thissingular Saharan country, and may also be of advantage in procuring thesignature of the Sultan to a treaty of commerce. _4th. _--Dr. Barth started this morning in company with Hamma, Waled OchtEn-Noor (son of the sister of En-Noor). The departure took place inpresence of the Sultan himself, who had come to take tea with me. Thecaravan was at first composed of bullocks, the camels being a little inadvance on the road. Our friend the Doctor started astride on one ofthese animals, which are a little difficult to manage, especially whenthey have been out at grass for some time. Indeed, in the first place, it is no easy matter to catch them from amongst the herds; then it ishard to load them; and then, though not often, they refuse to proceed. On this occasion a powerful brute proved absolutely unmanageable. En-Noor, seeing its obstinacy, exclaimed that he gave it to me to killand eat. He afterwards, however, modified his gift, and said that thebullock was also to be distributed amongst the Arabs of the caravans nowin Tintalous; and that we were to give a turban as a present to theherdsman. I was told that, in the meantime, representation had been madeto him, to the effect that it was unfair to distinguish the Christiansin this manner. Soon after the animal was given it ran away, and no onecould catch it. Well, the bullock caravan went off in good style; and Sultan En-Noorremained taking his tea and eating English pickles and marmalade withme. He drank the tea and ate the other delicacies with evident pleasure, not being afraid, like the greater part of his subjects, to eat the foodof Christians. Possession of power seems to have one good effect--thedestruction of prejudice; pity that it sometimes goes further anddestroys belief. En-Noor told us that the Sultan of Asoudee had gone outon a razzia to the west. We are obliged to hope that it will besuccessful, as otherwise our affairs will most materially suffer. Wetalked also of the state of Zinder, which is represented to be a walledtown, with seven gates built amidst and around some huge rocks. Thegovernor, Ibrahim, keeps fifty drummers at work every night, but whetherwith a purpose superstitious or political I do not know. En-Noor admired much the portraits of the personages who figure in theaccounts of the former expedition to this part of the world, particularly that of Clapperton. He had also a wonderful story to tellof this traveller's magic. He said that Abdallah (Clapperton'stravelling name) had learned from his books the site of his (En-Noor's)father's house, that near it was a gold mine, and that he had intendedto come and give intelligence of this treasure. "See!" exclaimed theSultan, "what wonderful things are written in the books of theChristians!" My young fighi (or writer of charms) tells me, as a secret, that hecannot write a talisman for himself, but must ask another of thebrotherhood to do this for him. Neither in this place can physiciansheal themselves. This civil youth made me a present of a piece of hisworkmanship to-day, observing, "There is great profit in its power; itwill preserve you from the cut of the sword and the firing of the gun. "I pray not to have occasion to test its efficacy, but hope it may alsoserve as a protection from the bite of scorpions, which are so plentifulabout here, and are said, at this season, to jump like grasshoppers. According to the people of Tintalous there are three species of them, each distinguished by a different colour--black, red, and yellow. Despite the talk of these disgusting reptiles I went in the evening tosee the wells which supply Tintalous with water. They are nothing morethan holes scooped out of the sand in the bed of the wady, and suppliedby _ma-el-matr_, "rain-water, " which collects only a few feet under thesand, and passes through no minerals. I afterwards proceeded to the encampment of the slave caravan, which isgoing in a few days to Ghât. A native of that place--the chief, indeed--was exceedingly rude at our first rencounter, and the followingdialogue took place:-- _The Ghâtee. _ Where are you going? _Myself. _ I am going to Sakkatou. _The Ghâtee. _ What for? _Myself. _ To see the Sultan, who is my friend. _The Ghâtee. _ How do you know him? _Myself. _ The English have known him for years past. _The Ghâtee. _ Ah! _Myself. _ Yes. _The Ghâtee. _ Have you any dollars--large dollars? (making a largecircle with his thumb and forefinger. ) _Myself. _ No: I don't carry money to Soudan, which is of no use to me. There I shall have wadâ. _Ghâtee. _ Eh! Eh! But cannot you give me a turban? _Myself. _ No, I am not a merchant, I don't bring such things; go to theArab merchants and buy. _Ghâtee. _ Um! Um! _Myself. _ Do you know Mohammed Kafa in Ghât? _Ghâtee. _ Oh, yes! _Myself. _ He is my friend. _Ghâtee. _ Allah! _Myself. _ Yes; he sent me a fine dinner twice whilst I was in Ghât. _Ghâtee. _ Allah! Allah! _Myself. _ Do you know Haj Ibrahim? He is my great friend. _Ghâtee. _ Allah! Allah! (greatly surprised). _Myself. _ Why, how is it that you do not know me, Yakōb, as I havebeen in Ghât many years before? At this some of the other people of the caravan cried out, "Yes, yes, weall know Yakōb;" so that I left the rude slave-merchant quitecrest-fallen. He evidently, at first, wished to assume the airs of aHaghar, and bully me out of a present. The caravan consisted of some thirty poor young women and children. There was also with them a small quantity of elephants' teeth. Now that the moon is absent and the nights are clear we have a mostsplendid view of the heavens, its stars and constellations. The numberof meteors darting to and fro overhead is very great--nearly one aminute shoots along. Some are only a faint glimmer, and have but theexistence of a moment, whilst others are very beautiful and last severalseconds. _5th. _--The weather is improving; the strong gusts of wind have ceased, and so has the rain. We have now calm and fine days with moderate heat. In the afternoon I received another visit from En-Noor, who camestraight into my tent, like an old friend whom I had known for twentyyears. He stopped with me at least an hour, drinking tea and smoking, chatting the while about his past history and present affairs. Hereiterated again assurances of his friendship for the English, and hisdetermination to remain the ally of the Queen of England! He referred tothe time when the great Bello, sultan of Sakkatou, sent his ambassadorto request him (En-Noor) and all his people to subject themselves to theFellatahs. En-Noor gave him for answer, "I am under God, the servant ofGod, and shall not submit myself to you or to any one upon earth. Myfather, and grandfather, and great-grandfather, and all my ancestors, ruled here, and were the servants of God, and I shall follow in theirsteps. " The Fellatahs then tried to seduce the people, but they allsaid, "We have one Sultan, that is En-Noor. " All the other authoritiesof Aheer followed the example, and preserved their independence, thepeople everywhere arming themselves with whatever weapons they had incase a war should break out. After this narrative, En-Noor spoke again of the English, and said heshould send a maharee for the Queen. I gave him a fancy ring of the value of threepence, with a mock diamondin it, which he immediately put on his finger with as much glee andpride as the gayest Parisian coquette. Yusuf and the Sfaxee, beingpresent, swore it was _diamanti_; but I am quite sure the old Sheikhunderstood the compliment. I also gave him a pair of bellows, a basin, and a pint bottle with a little oil it; with all these things he wasgreatly delighted, continually admiring and trying the bellows. When hewent out of the tent he himself carried all these articles away underhis arm. With reference to our wish to start for Zinder, the Sultan says he willsend immediately for the boat, that it may be ready by the time Dr. Barth returns from Aghadez, when he is determined himself to take thatroute. He seems now in the enjoyment of good health. I felt muchsatisfied with his visit. Certainly, when I reflect that in the northernfrontier of Aheer we were pursued for several days, like monsters notfit to live, by armed bands, this appears to me extraordinarycondescension on the part of En-Noor. I hope we shall part in a friendlymanner. This worthy sovereign gives the present Sultan of Sakkatou, AliBello, the character of a miser, but says that his father was a man ofliberality. He cannot exceed En-Noor himself in greediness. The bad state of the Bornou route is accounted for by the desire theKailouees have to render it unsafe, so that they may have all thecaravans come along their own route. The same thing is said of theTimbuctoo route from Soudan. The Haghar murder all who attempt to gofrom Soudan to Timbuctoo, in order that the caravans may pass Ghât andTuat. This is called the natural explanation of the bad character ofthese routes. _6th. _--I continue to record the few characteristic incidents of myresidence at Tintalous. Our bullock has been at last killed. We couldnot catch him, but shot him down. The carcase was divided between noless than twenty persons, and the meat proved to be pretty good. Of myshare I made steaks, which I washed down with some tea and rum. This isthe first time we have had fresh beef since leaving Tripoli. The eventcreated an immense sensation throughout the whole town of Tintalous, forthe slaughter of a bullock does not take place there every day. This morning I administered two ounces of Epsom salts to a good-naturedKailouee, who, although perfectly well, would persist in begging formedicine. These people are continually asking to be doctored whennothing ails them. En-Noor seems to have taken a fancy to our morningbeverages, and has sent for tea and coffee. I am afraid he will become aregular customer. Yusuf carried off a bottle of rum from the tent in theevening, which occasioned a disturbance between the servants and myself. This worthy is not to be trusted with the care of any strong liquor. Thelittle Hamadee was privy to the theft. In the course of the evening the_new moon_ was seen by seven creditable persons, so that in eight daysmore we shall have the Feast of the "Descent of the Koran from Heaven, "and four or five days after that we hope to start for Zinder. _7th. _--This was a fine morning, with the thermometer at sunrise in thetent 70°; outside, 66°. The water has been so cooled during the nightthat my hands ached when I washed them. Later in the season it will beyet colder; and all reports tell us that in Kanou after the rains it isoften very chilly. His highness the Sultan again was attracted by my tea and marmalade, andgave me a call. He desired to see once more the portrait of Clapperton, and told me that Abdallah had five women in Sakkatou, and had leftbehind him three children, all boys. The Sultan was excessively friendlyin manner, which induced me to make him another little present of a ringset with paste, and a small pair of gilt scissors for one of his wives. He calls me his brother, and manifests increased anxiety to be friendlywith the English. According to him, a short time since the Sheikh ofEl-Fadeea, who commanded the attack made on us at the frontier, camehere; and, in consideration of a few presents and compliments, hadpromised to exert himself to procure the restoration of our lost orstolen camels. En-Noor also again talked about the boat. I am in greathopes that we shall part from him on good terms, and that he will betrue to his protestations. There is generally a companion with the oldgentleman on these visits. This time it was an aged Tanelkum, whomarried a sister of the Sheikh and has been settled many years in thecountry. We gave him more tea, and also a piece of white sugar, to carryhome. This evening the Fezzan and Tripoli Arabs had a musical entertainment, accompanied with dancing, at which Madame En-Noor and severaldistinguished ladies of Tintalous assisted. It was the usual singingbusiness, with Moorish hammering on tambourines. The dance was performedby men, mostly in imitation of the women, and was also of the usualinelegant and indelicate description. However, there was a little mixingof the derwish dances. The thing went off to the great satisfaction ofthe Kailouees, and was kept up till midnight. _8th. _--I slept little after the villanous dancing and riot of thepreceding night, and rose late. My occupation this day was completing myvocabulary of the Kailouee language, of which I expect to collect athousand words. My interpreter sometimes gives very curious explanationswhen I work with him. The Arabic word which we translate "Alas!" comingunder consideration, he observed: "There is no corresponding word in thelanguages of these countries. This word belongs to the Koran and thenext world. " He means, that the word has only a relation to the tormentof the damned. It is curious that this Arabic term agrees with, or islike, our word _wail_ (Ar. _weel_), and is the term used by ourtranslators of the New Testament in describing the torments of the lost, "Weeping and _wailing_" &c. Of the term "chaste, " Yusuf observed, "There is no such expression inthese languages; all the women are alike, and equally accessible whendanger is absent. " It is also true that the men place no bounds to theirsensual appetites, and are restrained only by inability. It may be, however, that the more religious would have some scruples aboutintriguing with their neighbours' wives. When we came to the word "school" Yusuf pretended there was not such aword in Kailouee. He asked, "Where in Tintalous is there a school?" Thequestion, unfortunately, is put with too much truth. The Kailoueeshereabouts seem entirely to neglect education. I myself observe that the Arabic _booss_ answers exactly to the vulgarword in English for _kiss_. [3] The name of a raven is one of manyremarkable examples of a word being chosen to imitate in sound somepeculiarity of the thing signified. In this case, _kāk_ irresistiblyreminds one of the raven's croaking voice; which we describe by _caw_. _Kass_, scissors, is also an imitation of the sound produced by thisinstrument in cutting. [3] A good many similarities of this kind, accidental or otherwise, might be pointed out: _ydrub_ is "to drub;" _kaab_ would be translated, in old English, "kibe;" _ykattah_ is "to cut;" _kotta_, "a cat;" _bak_, "a bug;" _stabl_, "a stable, " &c. &c. I have noticed, also, some similarities with French words e. G. _ykassar_, "casser"--ED. In the evening the Sfaxee and Yusuf came to pay us a visit, and relateddivers sorts of wonders of this and other countries of Africa. The firstmatter concerned us. Eight days ago died in Tintalous an old witch, orprophetess, a negress, who foretold our arrival, and said to En-Noor, "Acaravan of Englishmen is on the road from Tripoli, coming to you. " Thiswoman for many years was a foreteller of future events. The next thingwe heard referred to the secret societies of Central Africa. Some of thechiefs of these societies have the power of killing with their eyes. Oneof these fellows is known to have gone to a merchant, in whose arms wassleeping a pretty female slave, and to have entered into conversationwith him, asking him how he was, &c. In the meanwhile the wizard casthis eyes upon the pretty slave, and its heart withered. This power isaccordingly much dreaded. If, however, any one perceive the incantationof the wizard, and say, "Begone, you son of a brach!" he immediatelyflees, like a dog with his tail between his legs. In parts of Bornou, also, extraordinary things sometimes happen. Thereare men in those places who have the power of assuming the shapes ofwild animals. This they do mostly in the nights. Under the form of lionsand leopards, they go to the tents of strangers, and endeavour to lurethem forth by calling out their proper names with a perfect human voice. If any one is so imprudent as to obey summons and issue forth, he is atonce devoured. The Sfaxee pledges his word of honour that there was a female slave ayear ago in Mourzuk who killed five of her companions with her looks. Onthis a council was held by the merchants and great people of Mourzuk, toknow what to do with her, and the decision come to was to send her backto Bornou; a happy decision for the poor slave! Lucky for her that shewas not born in some parts of Europe, with her marvellous power. Evenour friend Gagliuffi has not escaped these superstitions of the peopleamong whom he lives. On my seeing his young turkeys for the first time, in very considerable numbers, I exclaimed, "What a host of young turkeysyou have got!" On this he became quite alarmed, lest I had cast a malignlook upon them, and ejaculated a counter-exclamation, "Oh, God blessthem!" The Sfaxee and Yusuf do not speak very favourably of some parts ofSoudan as to morality. In some districts of Begarmi, Yusuf says, a maletakes the first female he meets with, no matter how near therelationship. All the women, in fact, are in common. We must receive hisasseverations for what they are worth, on this subject in general, andon the developements into which he entered. According to him, in thoseregions where scarcely any other roof is required but the heavens, thereis no other couch spread than the earth, and no one shuns, in any act oflife, the eyes of his neighbours. Whilst these wonders of witches and tales of African lewdness were beingrelated, a thing happened which none could disbelieve, none call inquestion. This was the appearance of an immense meteor in the sky, shooting over half the heavens, with a slight curve, from east to west. It had a tail like a comet, and around its head burnt a blue light ofexcessive brilliancy. This phenomenon appeared at a quarter to eighto'clock in the evening. I never saw anything like it before, and perhapsshall never again see its equal. It might have been visible two minutes. We all cried out with surprise at beholding it. We had our faces towardsthe south, and the course of the meteor was across the south, but notvery high, at about the third of the circle of the heavens. Afterwards, every few minutes, small meteors were seen sporting about in the samedirection, some in a straight line and others descending. _9th. _--The wind of this fine cool morning prevented a visit fromEn-Noor. That he might not be disappointed, however, I sent him hiscustomary tea; and amused myself by hearing the Sfaxee discourse of thatconstant subject of conversation, the attack of the Fadeea. According tohim, on that occasion great fear was felt by all the caravan. Most ofour servants had formed the resolution to abandon us. There were, however, some honourable exceptions; amongst the rest, Saïd, the greatmahadee, and another. Yusuf and Mohammed Tunisee proposed the plan, thatwe three, the Germans, and myself, should be mounted on maharees, andeither conveyed back to Aisou or forward to Tintaghoda, during thenight. Some of the Kailouees wavered, as well as the Tanelkums; butEn-Noor (of our escort) always declared that he would never consent toour being given up. The next morning, two or three of the assailantswere very bold, and came and called out in an authoritative tone, thatwe must be given up. It is curious that, in spite of all the force thatwas mustered against us, as soon as they saw that we were determined toresist them, they immediately began to parley. The Sfaxee is an immensetalker, and great allowance must be made for what he says. In reality, we shall never be able to know the exact truth with respect to thisaffair. Dr. Overweg confesses that he was terribly alarmed as well hemight be. For my part, I was more used to desert dangers, and slept allnight. Dr. Barth very kindly refused to allow anybody to awaken me. CHAPTER II. Muslim want of Curiosity--Gossip on Meteors--A Family Broil--Rationaleof Wife-beating--Abominable Dances--Evil Communications--Dr. Overweg--Kailouee Vocabulary--Windy Day--Account of Wadaï--MadameEn-Noor--Profits of Commerce--The letter _Ghain_--FellatahLanguage--Introduction of Islamism--Desert Routes--Trade in AgateStones--A lively Patient--The Eed--A Visit _en masse_--Arrival of theBoat--Butchers--Exchange of Visits with the Sultan--Diet--A Shereef--Adelicate Request--Information on Maradee--Tesaoua--ItinerantSchoolmasters--En-Noor's Territory in Damerghou--UnpleasantCommunication--Amulets--The Foundation of a City in theDesert--En-Noor's Political Pretensions. _Oct. 10th. _--My garrulous friend the Sfaxee has gone off this morning, to bring his merchandise from Tintaghoda. The little fighi came, asusual, to see me. I showed him the Arabic New Testament. He read a fewsentences, and then laid the book aside. I offered it to him, but herefused to accept the inestimable present. He represents the feelings ofall the Muslims of these countries. They have not even any _curiosity_to know the contents of the Gospel, much less the inclination to studyor appreciate them. They remain in a state of immovable, absoluteindifference. Even the beautiful manner in which the Arabic letters areprinted scarcely excites their surprise. En-Noor paid me his usualmorning visit, drank tea, and ate pickles and marmalade. We asked himabout meteors. He recollects the fall of many. One, he says, fell upon ahouse, and terrified the inhabitants, who came running to him. Afterwards they dug to the depth of a man, and found nothing, for it hadburied itself deep in the earth. According to him, a great profusion ofmeteors denotes abundance of rain and herbage: but these phenomena exertalso a sinister influence like comets, signifying the death of somegreat personage. I have no doubt that extraordinary meteors are veryfrequent in this part of the Sahara. En-Noor was very condescending, asusual: no change is observable in his manners. It turned out that he had come with the intention of speaking on a verydelicate subject, but had refrained. We learned what it was afterwards. Dr. Overweg was sent for in the course of the day to attend upon one ofEn-Noor's wives, who had been frightfully beaten by his highness theprevious evening. This domestic broil formed the common topic ofconversation in Tintalous. Every scandal-monger has got hold of oneversion of the story. From what we could gather, the great man was lyingdown quietly, when suddenly, without any apparent provocation, hestarted up, took a large stick from the fire, one of its ends stillburning, and with this terrific weapon belaboured his wife over theface, striking especially at the mouth, and cutting the upper lip intwo. The poor woman is now very ill. No cause can be discovered for thispiece of brutality. En-Noor has, they pretend, two wives here, and oneon his estate at Damerghou; but he has only one son and three daughters. No larger family has this great man, with all his wealth and slaves, been able to bring up. Beating a wife is so common in these countries, that, only when the actis attended with features of unusual atrocity, as in this case ofEn-Noor, does it excite any attention. There cannot be a question of thefact, that our friend the Sultan is a great despot in every point ofview. Perhaps in no other way could he maintain any authority amongstthese semi-barbarian Kailouees. This, nevertheless, cannot excuse theatrocity of beating his wife with burning fagots. Some say that theexciting cause of his brutality was the eternal loquacity of the woman, of which his highness began to be afraid. This may be true, or be onlyan excuse invented by his courtiers. Supposing, however, the cause tohave been her _infidelity_, let us examine what can be reasonablyexpected from these African women. They are not allowed scarcely tobelieve themselves to possess souls; they have no moral motives to bechaste, and certainly none of family and honour, being mostly slaves. Then the greater part of the young girls of consequence are married toold men, who are worn out by their sensual habits and indulgence withinnumerable concubines. These young women are thus left, though married, like so many widows, without education or religious motives, and withall their passions alive, to the first opportunity which presentsitself. We know what they do, and we cannot expect anything else fromthem. We have often dancing now of evenings. Yesterday, hearing thetambourines and other instruments strike up, I went to the house of theSfaxee to see what was going on. They were dancing again their Mourzukdances before a number of delighted Kailouees, male and female; amongstthe rest Lady En-Noor herself. The whole beauty and appropriateness ofthis exercise amongst the Moors consists, as is well known, in grossimitations of natural acts. No further description or comment can Ipermit myself. I have often thought that the present dance must be aninheritance from very ancient times. There seems to be a part of ournature to which it is adapted. The performances at European Operas areoften nearly as indelicate. Evil communications corrupt good manners. One of our servants haslearned to act the Tuarick. He quarrelled with Yusuf, and on being toldto go away replied, "Yes. I will go; but when you get up to Damerghou Iwill bring down the people upon these Christians, and they shall beeaten up!" _11th. _--Zangheema, En-Noor's principal slave, came early this morningfor Dr. Overweg, that he might attend the "beaten wife. " My privilegedfriend went accordingly, and visited at the same time all the women ofthe household. They received him in a very friendly manner: some of themproved nearly white. _12th. _--This day I finished my Kailouee vocabulary, which containsabout a thousand words. I have never yet collected so large a quantityof materials of any of the languages of Africa. I carefully packed up myvocabulary for England, and got it ready, with other matters, to send bythe first opportunity. Dr. Overweg has again visited the belaboured wife this morning, andreports her to be improving. The Sultan seems now to repent what he hasdone, and is endeavouring to obtain forgiveness by kind and courteousbehaviour. There was a great deal of wind to day, but it did not come in puffs, endangering our tents. I sometimes wonder, however, how the flimsy hutsof which part of Tintalous is composed are not swept away. They are madeof the dry stalk of that excellent herb bou rekabah, called in Kailouee_afada_. _13th. _--No news stirring to-day; nothing said of razzias; so much thebetter. We are living very quietly here, and the climate agrees with meextremely well. Some of our people, however, are sick. _14th. _--The mornings continue cold; 65° outside the tent, and a fewdegrees higher inside. This fresh weather, no doubt, accounts for mygood health. According to a Tibboo merchant now here, and going with our caravan, thepeople of Wadaï would receive a Christian well, and allow him to visittheir country. He represents Wadaï as a very rocky region, like Aheer, with two large rivers in it running from south to north--not seasonstreams, but continual. He says that the people are all blacks, and avery tall race. They have a language of their own, which is difficult tolearn. Warrah is the capital. The natives drink a great deal of _bouza_, and are nearly always intoxicated. Such is a summary account of Wadaïfrom the mouth of a Tibboo geographer. This morning, Madame En-Noor sent me by Zangheema a pair of pewterearrings, in exchange for some rings. It is extremely difficult to makea good bargain with these people. With respect to our merchandise, itall sells lower here than we paid for it at Mourzuk. The profits comefrom the purchase of slaves. A burnouse of forty mahboubs will sell inSoudan for little more than its cost, if dollars or money is to begiven; but if slaves are taken in exchange, three slaves, perhaps, maybe obtained, which, in Tripoli, may be sold at forty or fifty dollarseach. Hence the profit of the Soudan commerce. The article which yieldsthe greatest profit is loaf sugar, which, costing half a dollar inMourzuk, is said to sell for a full dollar in Bornou. To be sure thereis all the risk and the heavy freight of such an article, especially ifconveyed up during the rainy season. I wrote yesterday a despatch to Government, requesting letters ofrecommendation to be sent up to me in Kordofan, pointing out the routeof Egypt as the probable one by which I shall return to theMediterranean. I had a long dispute with Overweg about the letter_ghain_, which he persists in pronouncing like a strong _k_. Yusuf wascalled in, and declared that the _ghain_ was the letter whichdistinguished Arabic from all other languages. In Kailouee Tuarick thereis no _kaf_ or _ghain_. These Berber dialects have, however, the hard_g_ in a thousand words, and have also the _k_ in a great number ofcases, but the hard _g_ and the _t_ are the consonants most frequentlyoccurring. The Haussa has also the _g_ hard, as in _măgăree_, "good;" and a great number of words with the sound _tsh_, as _doutshee_, a stone or mountain. The Fellatah language is said to resemble the Kailouee; in other words, to be a Berber dialect. If this be the case, the Fellatah people areprobably of Berber extraction, and not Arab, as they are vulgarlysupposed to be. This is a question requiring still furtherinvestigation. Others, again, say that the Fellatah language is quitedifferent from the Tuarick. Overweg thinks Islamism was introduced intoBornou by the Shoua Arabs, who are found in Bornou in great numbers. TheFellatah, he thinks, received Islamism by way of Timbuctoo, from Moorsand Arabs trading to that city from Morocco. There is considerableprobability in both these opinions. _15th. _--Four or five days after the approaching Eed, or festival, halfthe people of Tintalous will go for salt, and the other half prepare fortheir annual journey to Soudan with En-Noor. The inhabitants of Damerghou are reported to be half "_Kohlan_, " blacks, and half Kailouees. It is the Kailouees in the neighbourhood ofDamerghou who infest the borders and routes of Bornou. En-Noor is nowvery quiet, and there is a chance that he will not come down upon me formore money. According to the Fezzanees, Tuat is thirty days from Aisou andthirty-three from Taghajeet (short days). Ghât is forty short and thirtylong days from Tintalous or Asoudee. Bilma is fourteen long and sevenshort days from Tintalous or Asoudee. There is no direct route from this(Tintalous) to Timbuctoo; from Sakkatou there is, however, a short routeto Timbuctoo, and it is said to be a safe one. The number of days herementioned are merely general numbers; they vary according to the goodstate of the camels, or the disposition of the people, or certainaccidents on the road. The evening of the feast of the "Descent of the Koran from Heaven, " allgood Muslims ought to sit up all night to read the Koran, through andthrough again. There is a curious commerce of yămăneé, or agate stones, inSoudan. These yămăneé are originally brought from the easterncoast of Africa, from and near Mombas (Mozambique), where they pass asmoney, like the cowries. From Mombas they are carried, by the Muscattraders, to Yamen, and thence to Mekka; in which place they are blessed, and rendered doubly precious. From Mekka they are brought to Egypt, andfrom Egypt to Mourzuk; from which point they are distributed all overthis part of Africa, and the souk of Kanou is stocked with them. Theyare much esteemed by all classes of the inhabitants of the interior ofAfrica, and are worn equally by the men and women. In this commerce we see the round-about-way in which some articles areconveyed for sale. If there were a road from Mombas direct to Bornou, this agate would be cheap enough. But then, perhaps, it would not beesteemed or valued at half its present cost. It would not be blessed atMekka, and so lose all its talismanic and mysterious power. The name isderived from Yaman, evidently from the first country in Arabia, to whichthey were brought originally from Africa. According to Overweg, Madame En-Noor is still very unwell with her lip. It is cut right across under her nose, penetrating to the gums; she is, nevertheless, very lively, and is always pestering Overweg to read thefatah with, or marry a young girl, one of her relations. She endeavoursto warm my worthy friend to comply with her match-making wishes byluxurious descriptions of the beauties of the proffered bride. As soon as the people hear I have a wife in Tripoli, they begin to askhow many children I have got. On receiving for answer, "None, " they aregreatly astonished, and ask me the reason of so strange a matrimonialphenomenon. This evening another fine meteor appeared in the south-east. Its headwas like a blazing star, and it left behind it a train of sparklinglight and flame. There were also numbers of smaller meteors. _16th. _--The morning of the Eed. According to the Fezzanees, prayers aresoon ended; because, they say, "these Kailouees know nothing of theirreligion. " The Fezzanees asked me to hoist the British flag; to which I replied, "No; the flag belongs to the Queen, but I will give you a little powderfor your matchlocks. " All these Mahommedan feasts are celebrated on thenorthern coast of Africa by the discharge of gunpowder. No certain information can be obtained of the route from Zinder toSakkatou, in this place. The people only say the present Sultan is notso strong as was his father; thereby intimating that the routes are notso secure as formerly. It is usual for the inhabitants of Tintalous to visit those of Asararaon the morning of the present feast. About sixty men, natives of thisplace, accompanied by a dozen Moors from Tripoli and Mourzuk, went, accordingly, to Asarara this morning. Then a number of the people ofAsarara returned with them. Yusuf remarked, with some surprise, thateven the women went out to pray, about forty in number. So that it wouldseem the Kailouees educate their women in religion more than the Muslimsof the coast. The most interesting event to us, however, this morning, was the arrivalof the boat from Seloufeeat. Our servants were very quick in theirreturn. They came all night, to avoid any further attempts to carry offthe camels. They were all alone. I welcomed the return of the boat as Iwould that of an old friend. There was no firing this evening, as was expected, En-Noor being veryunwell-suffering rheumatism and fever. The most agreeable sight in all these Mahommedan feasts is to see allthe people dressed out in their finery. The merchants have appeared insplendid burnouses, all more or less in good humour. The slaughtering ofthe sheep to-day was the dirtiest part of the business. All here on suchoccasions play the part of butchers-men, women, and children; and allattack, stab, skin, and maul the poor animals, in a way frightful tobehold. The environs of the town were turned into dirtyslaughter-houses. _17th. _--I have determined to purchase no more things from the Sfaxee atpresent. He makes me pay double price. It will be better to wait and seewhat can be done at Zinder. An infidel traveller, who is known to be inpossession of any property, is sure in these countries to be looked uponas a milch-cow. Does not "the book, " according to the vulgar opinion, authorise the faithful to take our lives? "Our purses are more lawful. " The festival being over, I went to pay my respects to Sultan En-Noor. Heis much better in health than yesterday, but has still a bad cold, andcontinues to blow his nose and wipe it--pardon the _naïve_statement--with the sole of one of his sandals! The action struck me asrather uncleanly and undignified in a prince; but Kailouees are notpunctilious. Mr. Gagliuffi had mentioned to me that he had given assistance to someshepherds who were begging their way to Soudan. One of these poorfellows had come to see the Sultan. He seemed, indeed, miserably poor, but tried to hide the fact, saying to them and Yusuf: "I have news foryou; now I am your friend, as I was a friend to the Consul in Mourzuk. "He was quite a young man, and excited my compassion. In the afternoon I received a visit from En-Noor, with a whole train ofhis people. The Shereef was absent. The Sultan came especially to seethe boat, the pieces of which were put together that he might know itsshape and size. Yusuf then drew for him a ship with all sails set, on apiece of paper. It was very well done; and excited the applause of myvisitors. I treated them, as usual, with pickles, marmalade, and tea. Among other things I showed En-Noor the broad arrow, or government mark, on many of our things; as the guns, and pistols, tent, bags, andbiscuits, which greatly surprised him. The Sheikh was in good spirits, and was pleased with his visit. I senthim during the day a piece of dark blue cotton print for a pillowcase. This little present delighted him much. I am much hampered with the"princesses, " who first sent to buy sugar, and then to beg, forgettingto buy. We have a Tuat Tuarick changing camels for slaves now in Tintalous. Thisman belongs to the tribe called Sgomara, if I have caught the namecorrectly. _18th. _--I rose early, having had a bad headache during the nightthrough eating meat in the middle of the day. Whatever is eaten in themiddle of the day must be taken very sparingly. I believe the greaterpart of the diseases with which foreigners in these countries areafflicted arise from want of sufficient attention to diet. We must takegreat care of our health just as we are entering Soudan. The weather isstill cool, especially in the morning. The prevailing wind during theselast twenty days has been E. N. E. , which is very refreshing. The Moorishmerchants pretend that in Soudan it is now very cold. I received a visit from the young Shereef, whose conversation smacked agood deal of a disagreeable curiosity respecting my movements andintentions in Central Africa. I therefore gave him a very ordinary andcool welcome. This fellow has been here some time, and never offered topay us a visit before. En-Noor has been feeding him during his stay. Hedisplayed a good deal of shrewdness, and is well acquainted with theChristians of the Mediterranean. He is going to visit his brother inZinder, and then returns to Tripoli by the way of Bornou and Mourzuk. Like all these shereefs, or marabouts, he pretended that had he beenwith us, or had we travelled with him from Mourzuk to Tintalous, no onewould have dared to molest us; an assertion wholly false, for theTuaricks care little for marabouts when they are bent on plunder. A young woman has just arrived from a distant village, with the expressobject of procuring from the Taleb (Overweg) a medicine to produceabortion: she says she has been gadding, "barra" (out of her mother'shouse), and is frightened lest she should get a good beating. OnOverweg's refusing to give her any such medicine she burst out into apathetic lamentation, and talked loudly of what her parent would do toher. Young ladies often think of their mothers a little too late underthese circumstances. A slave of the Sultan of Aghadez arrived this morning, in six days fromthe capital, to inquire after the health of En-Noor. He brings noparticular news, but says he saw Barth at Aghadez. "Man is to man the surest, deadliest foe, " has been quoted from the poetas most applicable to the moral and social state of Africa. It may trulybe said to be our case, for hitherto we have suffered little in thistown except from men. Looking also around us, the people suffer lessfrom the arid country which they inhabit than from the violence whichthey inflict one upon another. I learned from Yusuf yesterday evening, that for every dollar I takefrom the Sfaxee, if I pay in Mourzuk, I must give two. I was greatlyafflicted at this positive declaration, but scarcely believe it; if it, however, prove to be the case, I must by all means find money in Soudan. It will be a hard fight, indeed, to keep down the expenses of thisexpedition; however, every effort must be employed to effect thisdesirable object. Mărādee, I learn, is three days west from Tesaoua; and this latterplace is two from Zinder. There is another village, called Gazawa, oneday south of Tesaoua. The inhabitants of these places are halfMahommedans and half pagans; the latter do not offer human sacrifices;their religious rites consist principally in worshipping trees, to whichthey sacrifice at certain seasons. The Fellatahs are always at war withthe people of Mărādee, but Gouber is at peace with Sakkatou. InMărādee there is one large stone-and-mud house for the Sultan; allthe rest of the houses are bell-shaped huts. The place has a numerouspopulation. Tesaoua is also independent and self-governed, as are mostof the places hereabouts. I had a visit from two itinerant schoolmasters, natives of Bornou. Fromthese I learned that there does exist a little education amongst theKailouees. There is a village near called Amurgeen, three hours fromTintalous, where children are sent from all the places around, so thatit forms a species of college or university. It is to this college thatEn-Noor sends his sons and grandsons. These itinerant pedagogues arenegroes; and it is certainly a curious circumstance that from CentralAfrica instruction should migrate northwards. But the Kailouees havelittle pride in this respect; although boasting of the name of Tuaricks, and accounting themselves _white_ people, or allied with the whites, they do not scruple to receive education from the negroes of Bornou, whilst certainly it would be very easy to have Kailouee schoolmasters. I heard from my friend Tibbaou that En-Noor's territory in Tesaoua issimply a village at some distance from the medeeneh, or city, wherethere is a native and independent sultan of some power. His territory inDamerghou is also a mere village. Nevertheless, the possession of theseplaces extends the political influence of the Kailouees in Soudan. Theneighbourhood of Damerghou, especially the western side, seemscelebrated for a tribe, or factions of tribes, consisting of badTuaricks. This race is evidently spreading in Soudan; there are greatnumbers in Gouber and the countries near. I purchased from the itinerant pedagogues of Bornou two of theirink-bottles, which are made of small calabashes. They wrote for me somespecimens of their penmanship, a charm, _fatah_, or first chapter of theKoran. They wrote and formed their letters sideways, as some lawyers'clerks do in England. Dambaba Makersee took the liberty of informing me to-day, as if I didnot know it before, that all the things of us Christians were consideredby the Kailouees generally as common property, and that whoever couldlay hold of any ought to do so without qualm or scruple; but, he added, when you arrive in Zinder, all will be changed. Let us hope so, _Inshallah_! Strings of charms are worn by the men occasionally under the arm, orsuspended over the shoulders, as well as round the neck. The charm orarmlet of the Moors and Tuaricks corresponds with the _Fetish_ of theancient Kohlan, people of Soudan, and of the present negro races on thewestern coast. I finished the statistics of the towns and villages of Asben--after all, a very imperfect affair. Nevertheless, it is the best which I could makefrom my materials. En-Noor paid me a visit in the morning, and stopped gossiping two hours. From him I learnt that the Fellatah language has no relation to theArabic or Tuarick, but is quite a language peculiar in itself. He alsoinformed us that the Gouberites were still at war with the Fellatahs ofSakkatou; that they were united with the people of Maradee, ancientKohlans like themselves, and that this united force had been latelygaining their lost ground against the new Muslim powers in Soudan. En-Noor seems to favour the re-establishment of these people against theFellatahs. The latter he naturally hates, on account of their attemptson the independence of the Kailouees, and their perpetual intrigues atAghadez. With regard to Tesaoua, En-Noor pretends that he founded this city. Hisstatement is singularly suggestive and picturesque in its simplicity. Hesays that he met, on the spot where Tesaoua now stands, a forlorn man, with only two slaves. "What are you doing?" he said to the man. "Nothing, " the man replied. "What can I do, naked as I am, with myselfand two slaves?" "Oh!" rejoined En-Noor; "stop a minute, and I will bring you a multitudeof people, and we together will make a large city. " En-Noor kept hisword, and brought a multitude of Kailouees, Kohlans, and their slaves. Now Tesaoua is a mighty city, and En-Noor has got a small town of hisown near it, mostly peopled by his dependants. Such is the foundation ofmany African cities; these places springing up as mushrooms, anddisappearing as soon. En-Noor also pretends, that through his father he is heir to the thronesof the ancient Kohlans, about Kashna, Gouber, and Maradee, and that heought to come into possession after the death of the present occupants. This, I should think, is incorrect; but his highness has undoubtedlygreat political influence in those countries. We learn that several ofthe men of Tintalous have wives and families in Damerghou and Tesaoua, but none of them have large families--only one or two children. CHAPTER III. News from Barth--Camels restored--Expensive Journey--Proposed Migrationof Males--Supply of Slaves, whence--A new Well--Pagans andChristians--Tibboo Manners--The great Gong--When is a Tibboohungry?--Hunger-belt--Queen of England in the Sahara--The Shanbah--Ahasty Marriage--Saïd's new Wife--Wild Cauliflowers--Tolerance of theKailouees--Men go to fetch Salt from Bilma--Approach of Dr. Barth--Lion's Mouth--Tibboos and Kailouees--Mysteries ofTintalous--Fewness of Men in Aheer--Trees preserved in theValley--Bright Stars--Method of Salutation--Purposed Stars--KailoueeCharacter--Champagne at Tintalous--The Wells. _Oct. 22d. _--A letter was received this morning from Dr. Barth. Itappears that the treaty will not be signed, nor even presented to theSultan. En-Noor paid me a visit, as usual, this morning. I presented tohis highness some old boxes, with which he ordered a door to be made forhis palace. His politeness does not cease, and the graciousness withwhich he receives my presents is really remarkable. The man sent after our camels brought back my poor white maharee, anddemanded ten dollars (as good as twenty to me) for his trouble. Irefused to give them, preferring to let him have the camel, which ishardly worth ten dollars. This manner of recovering our lost or stolencamels amounts to buying them over again. But it has been our misfortuneall along, that our friends, and those who profess to be such, and allwho attempt to aid us--every one of them, have profited by our losses, and the disasters which have befallen us. This dispute has been referredto En-Noor, and they have accepted five dollars, which I offered them. I this day made out the statement of the principal items of expenditurewhich the expedition has incurred from Mourzuk to Tintalous, includingthe escort to Zinder. It amounts to the enormous sum of three thousandmahboubs, or about six hundred pounds sterling!! If we do not proceedbetter than this on the future part of the journey, the expedition willat any rate be bankrupt and ruined for want of funds. _23d. _--Yusuf and I brought before Overweg this morning the necessity ofhis assisting in relieving the Government from the double payment of thesums advanced by the Sfaxee. He agreed that it was highly important tosave this money, and promised to place his goods at my disposal for salein Soudan. On the departure of the caravan for Zinder and Kanou every maleinhabitant will leave Tintalous, some starting with it and others goingfor salt, leaving only the women and children behind. This is consideredby the Moors as preferable to leaving a few men behind, because thesefew would occasion quarrels amongst the women, and, besides, excite thejealousy of the absent husbands. Most of the men who go with us to Damerghou and forward to Tesaoua willfind another wife and family in both these places. This is a regularemigration of males, not the accidental departure of fathers andhusbands. These gentlemen pass half the year in Soudan and half inAheer. The system does not appear to be advantageous to the increase ofpopulation: the wives of these birds of passage hardly bear two childrena-piece. Indeed there are very few children in Tintalous. We have notyet sufficient data or experience for a conclusion on this part ofstatistics; but, up to the present, all that we have seen in Africaduring this journey exhibits it as singularly miserable and destitute ofpopulation. We can hear of no man, not even a sultan with his fiftyfemale slaves, having more than four or five children. As for the poor, one or two are all that they can bring up. Whence, then, comes the supply of slaves? So far as this part of Africais concerned I may observe, in reply, that the annual number of slavesbrought is exceedingly limited, amounting only to a few thousands. Whenwe get nearer the western coast, we shall probably be able to accountfor the supplies of slaves which are transported across the Atlantic. This afternoon a well was commenced near our tents. The digging of awell is an important matter; his highness En-Noor, therefore, vouchsafedhis presence. A number of the excavators came to me to beg for sugar. Ibrought out a piece of white loaf sugar, and broke it into thirty piecesor so; then ordered one of them to divide it fairly amongst themselves:but this was impossible. Anything like fairness amongst the Kailouees, all of whom are addicted to thieving (a habit acquired from Soudan), wasout of the question. As soon as I rose from the ground, after breakingthe sugar on a leathern apron, there was a general rush upon it, andsome got a great deal and others none. Was not this a fine miniaturepicture of mankind? _24th. _--En-Noor paid me a very early visit, and drank coffee. I heardthat a courier to Mourzuk would cost forty dollars. I begin to learn alittle Soudanese; there are some beautiful soft words in it. Yusuf saysthere is no name for God in this language; but his statement requiresfurther examination. From what we learn respecting Barth's reception at Aghadez, it wouldappear that the people were disposed to look upon him with the samecomplacency as they are wont to regard the pagans, or En-sara as theycall them, of Gouber and Maradee. Indeed, the Tanelkums and Kailoueesconsider that we shall be well received by our brethren, the pagans ofSoudan. Here is a most extraordinary trait of the barbarity of the Tibboos. Itoften happens that they are out foraging for twenty days without findinganything to eat. If they light upon the bones of a dead camel, they takethem and pound them to dust; this done, they bleed their own livingcamels (maharees) from the eye, and of the blood and powdered bones theymake a paste, which they eat! This is somewhat analogous to what Brucerelates of the Abyssinians cutting out beefsteaks from the rump of alive bullock. The Tibboos possess the finest maharees; and the breed inthe rest of the Sahara is always being improved or kept up by a constantsupply from their country. I continue to supply his highness En-Noor with either tea or coffeeevery day. I sent him some early this morning. He is a greedy old dog, and will not buy a loaf of sugar because I will not give it him at theprice of Mourzuk, and thus lose the freight. I hold out, and we havesold him none for the present. Overweg is making a small commercial lexicon of the things brought tothe market of Kanou: a most excellent idea. I myself intend, if I go toKanou, to make a list of all the things I find in the Souk, with someaccount of their produce and mode of importation into that mart. The great gong sounded throughout the village this afternoon, to givenote of preparation to all the people, that every one of the males mustbe ready to leave this place in the course of three or four days. TheSheikh says he is determined to leave in three days, whether the peoplecome from Aghadez or not. Yusuf laid before En-Noor this evening thenecessity of our sending a courier to Mourzuk, stating that we hadnothing left. His highness pitied our case, and said he would look aboutfor a courier; observing, "The Consul has need of much money and manypresents in Soudan. " He said, also, that he would recommend us to go toBornou. _25th. _--The days are now pretty hot, and the nights correspondinglycool. We have a good deal of wind. I wrote a letter to Drs. Overweg andBarth jointly, calling upon them to assist me in case the Sfaxee wouldnot wait for his money until the return of the courier. Dr. Overwegconsents. I wrote out the Tuarick alphabet. The account of the Tibboos pounding the camels' bones and bleeding theiranimals to make paste, is confirmed by the Gatronee of the Germans. [4]He says, moreover, that this is the way in which they proceed. EveryTibboo must fast three days before he thinks about eating. If on thefourth day he do not arrive at the _belad_, or country, he then takeshis left sandal from his foot, and stews or soddens it, making somethingof a soup. These sandals being leather, or untanned hide, it is, perhaps, not impossible to make of them a palatable soup! If on thefifth day he find no village, he then devours the sandal of his rightfoot. After this, still not finding a village, he collects bleachedcamels' bones and bleeds his camel as before mentioned. [4] People are called here by the nation, and even town, to which they belong, or in which they were born, as sometimes in Europe. A Tibboo always has a girdle with seven knots, and when travelling hardtakes in, as the sailors would say, a reef every day; if after sevendays he find nothing to eat, he is considered hungry and unfortunate. The three Tuaricks who followed us from the well of Aisou declared thatthey had had nothing to eat for fifteen days; and there cannot be adoubt of the fact, that both the Tibboos and the Tuaricks can, on apinch, remain without food for a considerable time--say ten or twelvedays. A Tuatee, who knows Algiers well, arrived here this afternoon, and isgoing with us to Zinder. He brings an extraordinary report about thecopy of the treaty which I left with Haj Ahmed at Ghât. He says he heardit read, and from it learned that "the Queen of England is now inTripoli, and wishes to come and live in Ghât, and has offered to buyhalf Ghât. " Such is the nature of Saharan reports. More authentic intelligence arrived to-day by a courier, who made thejourney from Ghât to Seloufeeat in fourteen days--sufficiently quick. This courier brings a warning from Khanouhen to the caravans nowproceeding to Ghât, not to come in twos or threes, as they were wont, but to come altogether, as he fears reprisals from the Shanbah and theHaghar. The history of the thing is this:--A tribe of Tuaricks has always actedas the guides of the Shanbah in their foraging parties--on the Tuarickterritory, for example--always pointing out to them the camels of thepeople of Ghât. Khanouhen has chastised this treacherous tribe, destroying a great many of them; but the Shanbah and Haghar not choosingto desert their old friends, have determined to take vengeance upon theGhât Tuaricks. It is this revenge which Khanouhen fears. He anticipatesa combined attack on the caravans. The wonder is how these routes arekept open at all, when these distant tribes, who have no interest in thecommerce that moves along them, are notorious for their predatoryfeelings and education. It is now said that the Fadeea, our friends onthe frontier, are in league with the Shanbah against the Ghât Tuaricks. En-Noor, it appears, had sent his son to salute the new Sultan ofAghadez, and to assist in establishing or placing him on his throne. Hegot as far as Asoudee, when he fell in love with a pretty woman of thetown, and at once married her, proceeding no farther on his mission. Yesterday evening a man arrived mounted on a maharee, bringing with himall the finery of the bride, which he exhibited to the people, ridingabout the town! All were greatly astonished at the splendour of thebride's dowry. Are not these fit materials for an Arabian Night'sentertainment? My servant, Saïd, also married the other evening, but notso romantically; taking up with the divorced wife of another freedblack. I heard nothing of it until all was over. The parties guessedrightly that I should take no interest in the matter, or ratherdisapprove of it, as the fellow has abandoned his own and natural wife. This divorced negress, who has at last found a master, has gone theround of all the tents since she has parted from her former husband, andis a little intriguing wretch. The Sfaxee and Yusuf countenanced theaffair, but kept it quite unknown to me. They, however, fetched Overweg, and presented him with a portion of the marriage-supper--bazeen. I feltmuch disgusted on hearing of the affair. The old wife is a native ofKanemboo, and is going thither. She will, of course, gladly take leaveof her husband and this young wife and rival. Marriage is an excessivelyloose tie here, at any rate amongst the poor. The rich pretend torespect marriage. We have all done little in clearing up difficulties, or obtainingcorrect information of the Tuaricks of the Sahara. No good informantsare to be found. From the Sheikhs of Ghât it is quite impossible tolearn anything. We hope to get some information from a Tanelkum nowgoing with us. Many tribes have been mentioned, casually; but theprincipal are--the three great tribes of Ghât, those to which Khanouhen, Shafou, Jabour, and Hateetah belong--a tribe in Janet--the Haghar ofGhamama--the Isokamara, located on the Tuat route from Aisou--theTanelkums of Fezaan--the Maraga, a breed produced from the slaves of theHaghar and the Sorgou of Timbuctoo. _26th. _--The sky is now frequently cloudy, but no rain falls. The valleyof Tintalous is looking fresh, on account of the great quantity of wildcauliflower overspreading its surface, called by the Arabs _liftee_. This word _liftee_, is evidently derived from _lift_, "turnip. " Thevegetable grows in lines and circles, determined apparently by theaction of the water, which deposits the seeds. No use is made of thiswild cabbage; it is very bitter, and no animals even eat it. En-Noor paid me a visit this morning before I was up; he drank somecoffee, and went off to see his camels. The Tanelkums were quite wrongin their surmisings about En-Noor and his religious fanaticism. He hasshown less fanaticism than any prince with whom we have had yet anythingto do during the present journey. All the Kailouees of Tintalous areequally tolerant. We have now three quasi-princes, or sons of sultans, in Tintalous, besides the son of En-Noor. We have Mousa Waled Haj-Ali, who takes our despatches to Mourzuk, with Yusuf my interpreter, and aTibboo, the son of the Sultan of Kouïvar. As we proceed onwards, princesand sons of princes will thicken upon us. _27th. _--I packed up and sent off all my despatches to Mourzuk, togetherwith a few trifling things for my poor wife, by the hand of Mousa WaledHaj-Ali, the virtual Sheikh of the Tanelkums. _28th. _--All the male inhabitants, with the exception of five or six, have gone off this morning to fetch salt from Bilma. They return here inthe course of a month, and the greater part of the salt is transportedfrom hence to Soudan by the next caravan. We have heard of our friendsat Aghadez. They are expected here in a few days. The new Sultan ofAghadez is said--but there is little accuracy in these desertreports--to have gone on an expedition west, to settle some differencesbetween some tribes in arms against one another. The people also saythat the new Sultan is "hungry, " and is glad of such an opportunity toget "something to eat. " This is the way in which they would describe aChancellor of the Exchequer planning a new tax. Some say the object of the razzia is to chastise the Fadeea forattacking us; but still the main object is to fill the Sultan's "ownhungry belly. " Such are Asbenouee politics. _Bakin-Zakee_, the Soudanese name of the Kailouee green cap, I know heremeans the "_lion's mouth_. " This is the phrase with which I alwayssalute Zangheema, En-Noor's chief slave; but the terms are much moreappropriate for his master, as intimating his avaricious, nay voracious, disposition. Zangheema, however, might be called "Kărĕn Zākee, "the jackal of the lion, or "the lion's provider, " so anxious is he tominister to the voracious appetite of his lord. We have received the news that Dr. Barth is near. He is expectedto-morrow evening, or early next day. _29th. _--En-Noor paid me a visit at sunset to-day, and talked of howmany children people had in this country. His highness said he knew asultan in Soudan who had seven hundred children. _30th. _--The Gatronee of the Germans confirms the report of thecircumstance, that, when the Kailouees go to the Tibboos to trade forsalt, all the male Tibboos run away, leaving all the business in thehands of the females; which latter, besides trading in salt with theKailouees, make a good mercantile speculation with their charms. Eachwoman, in fact, has her Kailouee husband or lover, during the carryingon of this singular commerce. If the traders catch a single Tibboo manstaying behind, they at once murder him, with the most markedapprobation of the Tibboo women. Such is the state of connubial fidelityin this part of the Sahara. The Tibboos have been very greatly neglected by persons writing onAfrica, chiefly on account of the slighting, summary way in which theyare spoken of by the members of the former English expedition to Bornou. They are, however, divided into a great number of tribes, are spreadover a considerable extent of country, and are partly the guardians ofthe Bornou route. We must pay them some attention when they come underour observation. There is a man come from Dr. Barth and his party. They are expected inthe course of forty-eight hours. En-Noor is very angry that they do notmend their pace. We are all ready to start. An immense caravan iswaiting for their arrival. _31st. _--The people begin to pester me to marry another wife inSoudan, --one very young and with large breasts is the kind of articlethey recommend. The mysteries of Tintalous are celebrated at the well in the evening, under the bright, glowing light of Venus, which star is now seen acouple of hours above the horizon after sunset. On the margin of thewell, which is on the other side of the wady, at the distance of aquarter of a mile, the damsels of Tintalous regularly meet their lovers, and spend with them half an hour of sweet communion. Some even retire tothe shade of a large-spreading tholukh near, or behind blocks of rockrising on the edge of the valley, and indulge in lawful or unlawfulembraces. The strangers who come here, the Moors of Tripoli and Fezzan, are freely initiated into these mysteries. I am told by our servants, who have been round to all the villages ortowns in the neighbourhood of Tintalous for the purchase of ghaseb, thatthese places, small or large, are none of them equal to Tintalous, although the houses are much the same--bell-shaped huts, and the peopleare of the same character. What has greatly astonished our servants isthe fewness of the men; indeed, in some villages they saw no otherpersons but women and children, and scarcely any children. What is thecause of this? It would seem that the men are consumed by the women. These women bear few children, and perhaps this may in part account for, if it be not produced by, their excessive licentiousness. Yet the menare on the wing a great part of the year. The Kailouees, however, wherever they go, have their women at hand, and during a journey many ofthem take two or three female slaves. How is this superabundant supplyof the softer sex kept up? If I am noticing a mere temporary phenomenon, the destruction of men in the razzias may account for the disproportion. Besides, the Kailouees are always imparting fresh slaves into theircountry. The poor people of Tintalous are fed chiefly on the pounded grains ofthe herb _bou rekaba_. It is a real Asbenouee dish. Overweg made asupper of it one evening. I tasted it, and find it has a very strongflavour of herbs; that is to say, what is commonly imagined to be theflavour of herbs in general. The people now go a long way for wood. Thetholukh-trees of the valley are not allowed to be cut down; they arealways preserved as a resource for the time of drought and dearth, whenthe flocks can find no herbage in the valley. The boughs are at suchjunctures lopped off, and the flocks are fed on the leaves. Thus I haveseen the goats and sheep fed on the tholukh-leaves on the plains ofMourzuk, as well as near this place. Another reason may induce En-Noorto save the tholukh-trees, --that there may be a perpetual shade andverdure in the valley of Tintalous. There are many finer valleys thanthis in Asben, and were the trees not preserved, it would be a verybarren, unlively spot. This evening, two hours after sunset, Venus exhibited her most splendidphasis: the west, where she was setting, about half-an-hour before shedisappeared, was lit up as if it was moonlight. On concealing theplanet, the effect produced was that of the setting of the moon. Everystar was eclipsed in the western circle of the heavens, I never sawanything before equal to this. I could here fully realise the words ofScripture, that the stars were made also "to give light upon the earth. " The manner of saluting and shaking hands amongst the Kailouees deservesnotice: they first hold up the right hand with the palm outspread, likethe Tuaricks of Ghât. Afterwards, when more companionable and familiar, they take hold of hands, and press them lightly some five or six timesor more, if great friends, and conclude this pressing of the hand with asort of jerk, drawing quickly off each other's hand. In taking hold ofthe hand of your friend, you fit your thumb in the circle formed by histhumb and fingers, and every time you press his hand, and he pressesyours, you separate the hands from each other. [5] [5] This mode of shaking hands is common among the Fellâhs of Egypt. --ED. _Nov. 1st. _--The month has set in with wind, --not gusts, but steadywind, continually blowing from E. N. E. It is stated positively that weleave here to-morrow morning, whether the people return or not fromAghadez. I register all reports as I hear them, though perfectly awarethat we have not been yet quite let into the secret of the singularmigration in which we are about to bear a part. The greater number ofthe men of Tintalous have gone to Bilma in search of salt; and Ioriginally understood that the great annual caravan was for thetransport of this necessary article. Perhaps En-Noor means to go slowlyon, just to keep us in good humour. Our intercourse with the Kailoueeshas taught us to consider them a very mild, companionable race. Oftenindeed, like children, I wonder what the Tibboos can see in them to makethem so desperately afraid, for I am told ten Kailouees will frightenaway fifty Tibboos of Bilma. But the Tibboos of Tibesty are considered abraver race. It is worthy of remark, that these cowardly Tibboos have abad character, and, like most cowards, are very treacherous. I determined not to carry the little box in which the two bottles ofchampagne were packed any further; so I, Overweg, Yusuf, and theservants, set to work and drank a bottle of it, to the toast, "that wemight have better luck higher up than all have hitherto experienced. "The other bottle I have stowed away in reserve for the Lake Tchad, todrink the health of Her Majesty when we launch the boat, if we arefortunate enough to arrive there. I went to the wells to see the people get water this morning. A numberof little children came, --some naked, and others with small pieces ofleather round their loins: they all wore very large necklaces of charmssown up in leather bags. CHAPTER IV. Dr. Barth's Journey to Aghadez--Description of theRoute--Tiggedah--Luxuriant Scenery of Asadah--Plain of Tarist--BeautifulValley--Buddeh--Small Caravan--Aghadez--its Inhabitants--theirOccupation--The great Koku, or Sultan--Asbenouee Revolutions--Electionof a Prince--Interview--Ceremony of Investiture--Razzia--IntricatePolitical System--Account of Aghadez--Mosque--Environs--Women--Tribesof Asben--The Targhee Family--Population of the Ghât Districts--ofAheer--The Oulimad and Tanelkums--Tribe ofJanet--Haghar--Sagamaram--Maghatah--Extent of Aheer--Connexionwith the Black Countries--Mechanism of Society inAheer--Chieftains--Tax-gathering--Food of theKailouees--Maharees--Amusements--Natural Features ofAsben--Vegetation--Cultivation--Manufactures--Bags for Charms. Dr. Barth[6] has made a very interesting journey to Aghadez. He says thetrack lies either through fine valleys or over mountain-chains cut up bydefiles. Here and there were charming spots, green with herbage andtrees. In going, the shallow wells at Eghelloua were found to be full ofwater; but a month later they were all dry. Beyond is the Wady Chizolen, overlooked by a mountain that rises abruptly to the height of twothousand feet. Then comes the valley of Eghellal, with its rivulet, andbeyond swell the famous mountains of the Baghzem. The worthy Doctorseems to have been too much occupied in collecting geographical data topreserve many picturesque facts by the way. On the third day he encampedat Tiggedah, where numerous species of trees and bushes tufted thevalley, which was clothed also, near the margin of its streams, withgrass as fresh and green as any in Europe. At that time, however, theplace, with the exception of the cooing of wild doves and the cry of asolitary antelope, seemed perfectly unvisited by man. Afterwards, it wasfound full of flocks and herds, and enlivened by the encampment of asalt-caravan, with a string of young camels bound for Aghadez. The tribeto whom the valley belongs are nomadic, and shift from one place toanother, as their fancies and necessities suggest. Amidst the trees, however, may be seen a small mosque, built of stone and roofed withpalm-trees. [6] See the papers read before the Geographical Society, in January and March 1851. It appears to me that Mr. A. Petermann slightly depresses the importance of the part played by Mr. Richardson in this mission. However, this may arise from the fact that the communications on which his paper was founded were all from his German friends. It is not necessary to be grudging of notice to any of the three enterprising gentlemen who undertook this arduous journey; but we must always remember who planned the Mission, and who directed it with consummate prudence as long as life and strength lasted. In Mr. Richardson's MS. An outline is given of Dr. Barth's journey, and I therefore insert it, with corrections and additions, from the papers just alluded to. --ED. This agreeable place prefaces the still more luxuriant scenery ofAsadah, where the vegetation is so rich, and the path so shut up bybranches, that it is difficult to keep on the camel's back. What acontrast to the naked deserts of Ghât! It was from between the richfoliage of this valley that Dr. Barth obtained his first glimpses of themajestic mountain-chain of Dogem, estimated to attain the height ofbetween four and five thousand feet. It is the loftiest range in Aheer. The plain of Erarer-en-Dendemu, which next succeeds, is covered withbrushwood and low trees, and inhabited by lions--here called the Fatherof the Wilderness. Dr. Barth saw several, as well as a kind of ape aboutthe size of a small boy, squatting in crowds on the lower hills. Beyond, overhung by the mountains of Anderas, is the rocky plain of Tarist, famous among the Arabs, as well as the Kailouees, on account of theremains of a mosque, indicated only by lines of stones on the ground. Itwas founded by a great saint called Sidi Baghdadi, and is a generalresting-place for caravans. The basaltic formation here succeeds thegranitic; and the plain is covered with loose black stones, about thesize of a child's head. Escaping from this rough ground, the travellers entered a narrow valley, trenched by a broad watercourse, along the sides of which was a thickgrowth of palm-trees. There are two villages in this wady. Near one ofthem slaves were seen yoked to a plough, and driven like oxen, by theirmaster. Further south the hoe replaces the plough in preparing theground. This valley, inhabited by the Imrad (a Targhee tribe), iscapable of producing not only ghaseb, but corn, wine, dates, and allkinds of vegetables. Fifty gardens adorn, it is said, the neighbourhoodof Ifargen. But, in general, the rich soil is left uncultivated, and iscovered by wild and sickly vegetation, which checks the progress of thetraveller. In Wadi Buddeh grows a prickly plant called karengia; and a parasite(_griffenee_), producing a sweet but insipid berry of a red colour. Aparty of five lions were pursued like so many jackals. A small caravanof four persons, in Wadi Teffarrakad, were making use of four differentmodes of progression: one was on a camel, another on a buffalo, thethird on a donkey, and the fourth used his own legs. In Wady Boghel werethe signs of a field of ghaseb having existed last year. The ground wascovered by a sickly wild melon; and in the thick foliage of the treesthe guinea-hens were cackling. Here Dr. Barth saw the first specimen ofthe bauré tree, the trunk measuring twenty-six feet in circumference, and the thick crown rising to the height of eighty feet. Here andelsewhere wild beasts were observed. The whole country, indeed, aboundsin lions, wild boars, gazelles, ostriches, and monkeys. On the seventh day the party reached Aghadez, which they entered aboutan hour after sunset, it being the custom in this country never to entera town by day. Aghadez is situated on a hamadah, or lofty plateau ofsandstone and granite formation. Around, although there is no arablesoil, a good deal of herbage and wood is found in the depressions of theplain. It is not surprising, therefore, that this much-talked-of capitalis nothing but a large village, as indeed are all the other places ofAheer, with the exception of Asoudee. Aghadez, which is mentioned by LeoAfricanus, is said by tradition to have been founded or enlarged bysettlements from the north, consisting of a people called Arabs, butprobably Berbers, since expelled by the Tuaricks. It serves as a sort ofrendezvous between the Kailouees and the tribes to the south and west. Apeculiar language (Emghedesie) is spoken by the inhabitants in theirprivate intercourse; but Haussa is the idiom of trade. There are aboutseven hundred inhabited houses scattered among the ruins; and of fiftythousand people who must previously have lived within the walls, scarceeight thousand remain. [7] The inhabitants are partly artizans, partlymerchants; but few caravans now pass on this route, and commerce withTimbuctoo seems altogether to have ceased. The trade that exists isentirely in provisions, principally in ghaseb, or millet, which isimported from Damerghou. The system adopted is entirely one ofbarter--the Aghadez money consisting of turkedi, [8] or dark-colouredcotton for female clothing made in Soudan, Egyptian leather for sandals, English calico, white shawls, cloves, pepper, pearls, &c. All theseobjects are imported, the only manufactures of Aghadez beingleather-work (sandals and saddles) and coloured mats. I do not know whatmaterials are used in tanning. The Fezzanee gets assistance, accordingto my fighi, from four trees--the graut, the ethel, the pomegranate, andthe essalan. The first and last are a species of acacia. Women and menwork in their houses at the production of these articles, and merchantsgo and purchase _à domicile_, there being now no shops. There are threemarket-places or bazaars, where prices are very low. [7] This is Dr. Barth's statement, which I have introduced from his own account. It will have been seen that Mr. Richardson (see vol. I. "Note on the Territorial Division of Aheer, ") makes a much lower estimate. I may here remind the reader, that even when in his diary Mr. Richardson inserts two different and contradictory statements, I do not undertake to select one and suppress the other, except in the case of an obvious slip of the pen. Nor have I thought it necessary to burden the page by indications of slightly different assertions. A diary must necessarily abound with imperfect observations, which correct or complete one another; and perhaps the general impression left on the mind of the reader--who accompanies, as it were, the writer in receiving its various elements--is more like truth than it would be after the perusal of one absolute dogmatic statement. --ED. [8] As an illustration of the previous note, I will observe that this word is spelt in several different ways in the MS. , and I do not know which is the correct one. --ED. The Sultan of Aghadez, the great Koku Abd-el-Kader, does not receive anydirect contribution towards his revenues, from the people of Aghadez, but levies a kind of _octroi_ of ten mithkals on every camel-load ofgoods that enters the town, provisions being exempt. He has property ofhis own, however; receives presents at his installation; and can alwaysraise a sum by making a razzia on any neighbouring freebooters. It is a fundamental law in Aheer, that the Sultan of Aghadez shallbelong to a particular family, which is said to derive its origin fromConstantinople. Therefore when, in consequence of some discontent, Abd-el-Kader was deposed last year, the malcontents chose a relative, Hamed-el-Argau; but he also displeasing, a rival was set up in Makita, also of the same family. This caused great confusion, and the WaladSuleiman took the opportunity to make forays against Aheer. The prudentthen resolved to restore the old Sultan, and succeeded, as I havealready said, in their endeavours. When Dr. Barth arrived in Aghadez, the investiture was about to take place. The Sultan is chosen by theKilgris and Iteesan tribes, who nourish a deadly hatred against theirkindred, the Kailouees. On the present occasion, however, a maraboutproclaimed peace and good-will between these ancient enemies. It wasnecessary, indeed, that some understanding should be come to, as afterthe election the ratification of En-Noor and Lousou is required. En-Noor, especially, is greatly respected by the people of Aghadez, asthe grand supporter of authority in Asben. The new Sultan is usuallybrought from Sakkatou in state by the tribes Iteesan and Kilgris. A vastcrowd of them, with their families and flocks, had marched up andoccupied a camp near the town; but they departed on the same day thatDr. Barth arrived--even before he entered. Early in the morning, Dr. Barth paid his respects to the Sultan. He wasa stout man, about fifty-five years of age--benevolent-looking, as faras could be judged in spite of his face-wrappers. He sat in a largeroom, supported by two massive columns, and received his visitorskindly. The presents pleased him, and were acknowledged by thecounter-present of a fat ram, and by meals sent every day. The ceremony of investiture took place on the 16th of October, and seemsto have been an imposing spectacle. Certain intricate forms are used toexpress the combination of various Tuarick tribes in choosing thisforeign sultan. Succeeding it was the great festival, on which aprocession took place, in which the new chief, wearing the burnousewhich I had sent him, took part, with a great number of Tuaricks intheir best array. Immediately afterwards a razzia (of which both we andDr. Barth heard various conflicting reports) was agreed upon against thetribes of the north, especially those who had molested ourexpedition--the Fadeea. It was highly successful, and may perhaps beuseful in procuring respect for future travellers. Two thousand men wentout upon this foray, in which Abd-el-Kader was accompanied byAstakeelee, the Sultan of the Kailouees. Some, indeed, say that thelatter only acted. Very little resistance was made, and I hear of onlyone man being killed. The fellow who stole Barth's maharee was compelledto restore him. Dr. Barth, however, though well-pleased on the wholewith his reception, did not venture to present the treaty. He obtainedsome letters of recommendation to Soudan. Many of the distinguishedpersons of Aghadez visited Dr. Barth during his stay, and altogether hisreception was satisfactory. I have already mentioned that the Sultan of Aghadez, though elected andcontrolled by a kind of aristocracy of sheikhs of various tribes, isinvested with the power of life and death. He is said to have afrightful dungeon, into which guilty persons are thrown upon swordssticking upright in the ground. In his warlike expeditions he isregarded, however, as chief of some tribes only. The Kailouees have asultan of their own, and encamp apart. The Sakonteroua, or Sheikh ofAghadez, exercises considerable influence. He is obliged annually toaccompany the great salt-caravan, which sometimes numbers ten thousandcamels--Saharan statistics--to Sakkatou. The town of Aghadez was formerly divided into a variety of quarters, thenames of which still remain, although the space they occupied--threemiles in circuit--is now principally filled with ruins. With theexception of five or six rubbish-hills, the whole space is level. Thehouses are spacious, with large rooms and court-yards. They are of mud, whitewashed, and furnished with flat terraces. Doves, children, andyoung ostriches, enliven the streets. There are some mosques, but noneof imposing architecture. One, however, has a lofty tower, almostpyramidal in shape, supported on a basement of pillars, and rising tothe height of about ninety feet. There is a kind of ladder inside; butDr. Barth was not allowed to ascend, being told that the entrance waswalled up. The land around the town is slightly undulating, and covered in thedepressions with the _Acacia Arabica_. Herbage and good water abound. There are no orchards near, except in Wady Ameluli; but El-Hakhsas, three hours distant, produces melons, cucumbers, and melochiyeh, andsupplies the whole town. The women of Aghadez are reported to be free and easy in character, andlet loose tremendously as soon as the Sultan had departed on his razzia. Dr. Barth had some difficulty in keeping them at a distance. There aremore children, however, to be observed in Aghadez than in most Aheertowns. This journey of Dr. Barth's has considerably extended our acquaintance, both with the geography and the political state of Asben or Aheer. Wesee now that it is strictly a portion of the Sahara, intersected withfertile valleys, that towards the south begin to assume quite a tropicalcharacter. The inhabitants are various in origin and in name; but it isdifficult to describe their subdivisions with any accuracy. According tothe natives, there are only two great tribes--the Kailouees, whichdivision includes the Kailouees proper, the Kaltadak, and the Kalfadaï;and, secondly, the Kilgris, including the Kilgris proper, the Iteesan, and the Ashraf. But, in questions of detail, numerous other names appearwhich it is difficult to arrange under any proper head. The Kailoueesare, I think, of genuine Targhee origin, although, as I have alreadymentioned, with a mixture of the Soudan races. The Kaltadak and theKalfadaï seem to be identical with the borderers who attacked us on ourfirst entrance into this country. The Kilgris are located southward, beyond Aghadez, along the Sakkatou route, and even far into Soudan, where the influence of the Targhee races seems to be rapidly on theincrease. According to some of the Tanelkum Sheikhs, the following are the namesof the principal Targhee tribes scattered over the desert of Sahara, excluding the inhabitants of Aheer:-- 1. Ouraghen family of Shafou. 2. Emanghasatan " of Hateetah. 3. Amana " of Jabour. These are Ghât Tuaricks--Azghers. [9] 4. Aheethanaran, the tribe of Janet. 5. Hagar (Ahagar), pure Hagars and Maghatah, who stand to them somewhatin the relation of the Kourglouss of Algiers to the Turks. They occupythe tract between Ghât, Tuat, and Timbuctoo. 6. Sagamaram; located on the route from Aisou to Tuat. 7. Oulimad; tribes surrounding Timbuctoo in great numbers. Inconjunction with the Berebisheers, a tribe of Arabs, they shut up theroad between Aghadez and Timbuctoo by their predatory character. 8. Tanelkum, located in Fezzan. [9] The three tribes of Ghât are called Azgher, in contradiction to the Hagar. A Tanelkum explained the meaning of this last word (which I have usually written Haghar) to mean "wandering" or "wanderers. " The word is sometimes written Hogar. We have been making inquiries of the Tanelkums about the population ofGhât and its deserts. The Tanelkums say, that ten or twelve years agoKhanouhen brought up about ten thousand maharees against the thenmasters of Mourzuk, the Walad Suleiman, headed by Abd-el-Galeel. The tenthousand maharees were the whole force and strength of the Azgher, Khanouhen having called out every male; for every man of the Azgher is awarrior. The Arabs, seeing the number of the Tuaricks, deemed itexpedient to make peace. From this circumstance, it would be supposedthat the Azgher may number from five to ten thousand families, nearlyall located west of the Soudan route, along the lines of the Ghadamezand Tuat routes; where, it is said, there are fertile valleys, in whichdates and corn are cultivated. But at Ghât I could never learn anythingof these wadys. During my last visit I had no time, and the people therehad no inclination to give me information about this fertile portion ofthe Azgher desert. On the former occasion, I learned from Haj Ahmed thatthere was a running stream, on the banks of which corn was cultivated, at about four days west of Ghât. This is probably the locality of Janet. For myself, I do not believe the Azgher Tuaricks number more than twothousand families. Of the population of Aheer I have been able to learn nothing definite;that is to say, nothing which I can absolutely depend upon. Some make itreach above fifty thousand souls. There are, however, only forty towns, exclusive of Aghadez; and about twenty places where people live intents. I wrote down a second list of them, with their directions, andsome guess at the number of male inhabitants. The son of the TanelkumSheikh considers the Kailouee warriors to amount to about fourteenthousand; which, indeed, will make the whole population above sixtythousand. The accounts I have received, therefore, seem to besufficiently exact for general purposes. The Tanelkum Sheikh says there are no other tribes of Tuaricks but thoseenumerated above. The largest and most powerful tribe is that in theneighbourhood of Timbuctoo, the Oulimad, answering, perhaps, to theSorghou of Caillie; and the smallest and weakest, the Tanelkum. But theTanelkums, if small in number, are great in pride, and considerthemselves a race of marabouts. They certainly make long prayers, andseveral of them can write a little. The Turks treat the Tanelkums withgreat consideration, and every year the Pasha of Mourzuk gives theirSheikh a fine burnouse and other presents. They pay no impost, thoughliving in the Fezzan valleys. They are devoted to peaceful pursuits, andare camel-drivers and small merchants. Formerly they were powerful; andgave a sultan to the town of Ghât. About a century ago, their Sheikhsand the greater part of the Tanelkums were destroyed by a razzia of theTibboos. They had then a town, which was situate in the Wady Esaiyen, where there are still ruins to be seen, and which we passed near Berkat. Of the Oulimad I know but little, except that they are exceedinglyturbulent, even ferocious, in the neighbourhood of Timbuctoo. They alsoextend their razzias from Timbuctoo to the south-western frontiers ofthe Asbenouee territories. A very short time ago they made a foray onthe Soudan route, between this and Damerghou. The Ghât Tuaricks I havepretty well described. The tribe of Janet has been mentioned frequently in this journal, fromthe circumstance of their attempting to get up a razzia against theexpedition. The Haghar are well known, even in Europe, for their freebootingpropensities. They lie between the Oulimad and the Azgher tribessurrounding Tuat, and are some of them engaged in commerce. The Sagamaram (or Sgamara) are an interesting small tribe, located inthe rocky valleys, along the line of the route from Aisou to Tuat. Theyare mostly dressed in leathern clothes, and trade with Tuat, takingtheir cloths and a fragrant herb called _debau_, which they exchangeagainst dates, &c. They likewise come to Aheer and Soudan, and fetchslaves and goods for the souks of Tuat. They are a very pacific tribe, not unlike the Tanelkums, but carrying on more commerce. The Maghatah (or Maratah) are a thievish race, and have the vices oftheir mothers, those peculiar to Soudan, as well as the more ferocioustraits of Berber bandits. Several of these people are in Janet. In concluding these imperfect general observations on the state of Aheeror Asben, I will only add that the country extends from north to southeleven days' journey, or about two hundred and twenty miles (twentymiles to the day); and east and west, eight days, or one hundred andsixty miles. Aghadez, the largest town or city, stands, as has beenseen, alone; and may be considered as a kind of connecting link, politically and otherwise, with the black countries to the south. I havealready endeavoured to explain the singular constitution of society inthis large but thinly-peopled tract. We observe there a curiouscombination of the monarchical and patriarchal states, with a dash ofdemocracy into the bargain. Several times I have been reminded ofHomer's heroic age. The princes and the people seem alternately toappear on the scene, exercising sovereign sway. The great Sultan iselected from out of the country; but he is compelled to seek theratification of the chiefs, the elders, and the populace within. Thenthere is the great chief of the Kailouees, whose town or camp is atAsoudee; with Sultan Lousou, a most influential man; not to speak of thegreat En-Noor himself, who has, perhaps, personally, the greatestpolitical weight of them all. Each of these great men is perpetuallysurrounded by an army of retainers, dependants, and slaves; and publicaffairs are transacted, partly according to some old routine, difficultfor a stranger to understand, partly after the fashion of "ArabianNights, " kings meeting casually at the head of great armies in somepoetical wilderness. All these chieftains are both pastors andmerchants. One of their chief articles of traffic is, I am sorry to say, their unfortunate fellow-creatures. They are the greatest slave-dealersin the Sahara; two-thirds of the whole commerce is in the hands of theKailouees. The Sultans levy duties likewise on the caravans that passthrough their territory--duties which, to our cost, we know to beneither regular nor moderate; but they have no right to apply taxationto their quasi-subjects. Sometimes, when they are "hungry, " they make arazzia on a distant tribe, and find both slaves and cattle at theirdisposal. As might have been expected, the Kailouees--princes and people--are notvery refined in their ideas or luxurious in their habits. Their foodconsists principally of the grains ghaseb and ghafouley, or guinea-corn. They have also flocks and herds of sheep, camels, and bullocks; but thebullocks are used chiefly for draft, and to carry goods from Aheer toSoudan. Asses are exceedingly numerous, and likewise go to Soudan tofetch guinea-corn. The population of Aheer, being scattered about insmall towns and villages, a few hours journey apart, these animals arefound very useful for the transport of the persons and effects of thepoor. The richer people have camels of the maharee species, like all theTuaricks; and in some respects it is the possession of this splendidanimal which distinguishes the Kailouee population from the people tothe south. For example, all their sports and pastimes would be exactlySoudanese, were it not for the introduction of the maharee. On thecelebration of a wedding, the Kailouees ride round the groups of guestson their silent-treading camels, which measure their movements to thesound of a big rude drum. Such scenes would otherwise be perfectlyNigritian. The men dance, flourishing their lances; and the slaves bothdance and sing. But I have already noted down all that I observedremarkable in manners, and need not here repeat myself. The great natural features of Asben, also, are doubtless by this timeimpressed on the mind of the reader. They consist of a series of nakedgranite rocks or mountains, some of them rising to upwards of three orfour thousand feet, ranging in every direction, with many isolatedpeaks; and of picturesque valleys winding along between steepprecipices--threads of green, in which the tholukh and all species ofmimosa and acacia, with the souag and other trees, flourish in immensegrowth, sometimes adorned by garlands and festoons of luxuriantparasitical plants. Wild animals of various kinds range at will inunfrequented places, but do not seem to excite much terror. There aregardens and cornfields in the neighbourhood of some of the towns andvillages, the cultivation being kept up during the dry months byirrigation; but only a few of the inhabitants, mostly slaves, cultivatethe soil. Besides the grains I have mentioned, a few vegetables, principally onions, are produced. Date-palms bear fruit, which is good, but will not keep. I have already mentioned the chief manufactures of Aheer. They flourishto the greatest extent in Aghadez; but Tintalous also has its artizans. Working in leather was very popular during our stay, in consequence ofthe presence of a noted charm-writer--bags being necessary. A good manycunning blacksmiths ply their trade in various places. CHAPTER V. Projected Departure for Damerghou--False Start--PicturesqueCaravan--Sultan's Views of White Skins--My Birthday--The Sultan fightshis Battles over again--His Opinion of Women--Bragging--The Razzia onthe Fadeea--Political News in the Desert--Cold Weather--Continue ourJourney--Bornouese Fighis--Tin-Tagannu--Trap for a Lion--Mousa'sCamels--A further Delay--Jackals and the Fire--Language ofSigns--Tintalousian Coquettes--Departure of the Zinder Caravan--NaturalFeatures--Languages--The Kilgris--Killing Lice--The Razzia to theNorth--Present of a Draught-board--Pagan Nations--Favourable Reports. _Nov. 2d. _--As this was the day fixed for our departure for Damerghou, it may well be imagined that we looked forward to it with some anxiety. Our delay in the neighbourhood of Tintalous had been unexpectedly long, and at times even the idea had crossed our minds that we should never beallowed to depart at all. Often we had desired to start alone; but hadbeen withheld by our own prudence, as well as by the representations ofour host, the venerable Sheikh of Tintalous. We had come by degreesscarcely to believe in the possibility of an advance, and to considerourselves as the prisoners of circumstances in this advanced part of theSahara, touching on the very borders of Central Africa. Now, however, wesaw, by the bustle of preparation in the town, that, whether thesalt-caravan arrived or not, we were to press forward. All night thetown was in a bustle. We rose before sunrise, to complete what packingwe had to do, and saw Jupiter and the moon in positions nearlyresembling the Ottoman device. It was windy all yesterday and thismorning, with a considerable degree of cold. To my astonishment when we had taken leave of Tintalous, we pitched tentafter half an hour's journey. This was done, however, for a twofoldreason: 1st, to see that all was right, and that we had left nothingbehind; and 2d, to buy ghaseb, --a supply having arrived from Asoudeejust in time for us to carry with us. Never was there a more picturesquecaravan. Ladies on bullocks, children and women on donkeys, warriors onmaharees, merchants on camels, the Sultan's horse harnessed going alone, and following steadily; goats and their kids, sheep, foals of camels, &c. Running or straggling along! When we had pitched tent in the valley, still in sight of Tintalous, En-Noor paid us a visit, and vouchsafed toexplain the reasons of our delay. His highness also related severalinteresting things of Aghadez. The Sultan of that place, he says, is adescendant of one of three brothers, Shereefs, who ruled in Africa overthe negro and other races. The eldest brother was Sultan of the West(Morocco); the next was Sultan of Bornou; and the third and youngest wasSultan of Aghadez in remote times. But how remote, it is impossible forEn-Noor to tell, and, of course, for me to relate. I was much amazed bythe predilection of En-Noor (who is not absolutely a white man) forblack people. He praised Overweg, because he was getting brown andblack. As for me, his highness was almost inclined to express hisdisgust for the whiteness of my skin. Unfortunately, I happen to be whatthe people call in England "very fair, " except in those parts of my skinwhich come in direct contact with the sun. I spent the day in compilinga Haussa vocabulary, and hope to make considerable progress by the timewe arrive in Damerghou. _3d. _--This was my birthday, but of course it was unkept, and, indeed, almost unthought of until it was past. En-Noor again visited us, and drank with us coffee. His highness isgetting quite attached to my tent, and swears that when I return to mycountry I must become a great man, and be made, like himself, a governoror sultan of some country. Shall I say, Inshallah? I asked Yusuf toexplain why the Sultan thought so, and I could only learn that it wasthe opinion which his highness had formed from my general conduct. Being in a very happy humour to-day, the Sultan related many things ofhis youth; his exploits, of course, which all men relate, and which Ishall likewise do, I imagine, if I live to be old. Showing us hiswithered fleshless arms, and taking hold of his armlets, he observed:"The time was when these armlets could not slip off. Now, see how easilythey come away. " He then abused me for my leanness, and admired theTaleb (Overweg), because he had more flesh on his bones. His highnessalso stated that he and a single man went to Damerghou and back inthirteen days, bringing a caravan of ghaseb. They never stopped on theroad, but travelled day and night. This garrulous gentleman alsodeclared he was the maker of his own fortunes--that he would not receiveanything from his father. When he was young, he would take no person'sadvice; he did everything himself and from himself: but on the death ofhis father he always kept to his post as Sheikh of Tintalous, and Sultanof two towns in Soudan. He never moved this way or that way. Thus he hasremained to a good old age, respected and venerated by all, whilst allhis compeers have disappeared--not one remaining. He looks around forthe friends and companions of his youth, and finds not one--they are allgone! Even now he allows no one in Asben to be greater than himself. Even if a Sultan presumes to lord it over him, he (En-Noor) at onceknocks him down, and he is no longer Sultan in Asben. He remains, however, friends with all if he can. He never takes notice of anythingwhich is not done under his own eyes; but when he sees a bad thingcommitted, he then acts--killing the wicked people, if necessary. The opinion of his highness of women does not flatter the ladies. Herecommended us never to listen to the advice of our wives; if we did, weshould be lost. The women were very well to fetch water, pound ghaseb, and cook the supper, but for nothing else. He never, himself, paid anyattention to what they said; they were awful talkers. His highness heretouched on a tender point; for, as the reader remembers, he has beenbeating one of his wives shamefully lately, because he pretended he wasalarmed at her continual talking--bewildered by the length of hertongue! Proceeding in his confessions, the Sultan next related wonderfulstories of a wonderful maharee which he had in his youth. With thismaharee he rode to Aghadez in one day. With this maharee he chased, andrun down, and won gazelles, and then cooked and ate them, &c. Gloriousold fellow! Our Tanelkum Mousa, however, afterwards observed, that thiswas _kitheb_, "a lie;" but that he knew a woman who could catchgazelles. Many other things of equal interest his highness related, andthen left us in a good humour. Two of our camels strayed this evening. En-Noor's people soon broughtthem back. Our servants are very careless, and all our mishaps are aprofit to the Kailouees. We have still, however, two camels lost, and, Iimagine, shall not now recover them. But I was glad to hear the newsthat the Sultan of Asoudee was successfully chastising all the peoplewho on the road attacked us. He had punished the people of Azaghar andof Seloufeeat, even the son of Haj Bashaw; and the Haj himself, who wassaid to be our friend, because he did not look after his son. The Sultanacts quite according to my opinion, making all the principal people ofSeloufeeat and other places responsible for the conduct of the poorerand lower classes. It is said that the Fadeea have fled; but others saythat they have been captured, and all our property which could be foundseized in the name of the Sultan of Asoudee. All the steps taken by thisSultan have been directed, more or less, by En-Noor. He can muster, itis said, two thousand warriors--for every able-bodied man fights in thiscountry. This expedition may be useful for future travellers fromEurope, but I fear we shall get back none of our property. As a specimen of the political news strained through the brains of thepeople of Tuat, I may mention that the Tuatee, recently arrived here, reports that "the King of the Frenchmen has run away to England, andcarried with him all the money of the French, " and, moreover, that "asthe French conquered Algiers by distributing large dollars to every one, and hold it by the same means, the French now having no money, must soonrelinquish Algiers again to the hands of the Muslims. " _4th. _--The weather is getting colder and colder. The last few days havebeen quite chilly, with a strong wind blowing from the east. Thismorning it was quite uncomfortable, the thermometer having fallen forthe first time to 60° at sunset. We started early, and made seven hoursin a south-eastern direction. It was a nice ride; but as the dayadvanced we got much sunburnt. After three hours we passed on the leftthe little village Zouazgher. The caravan showed again verypicturesquely, the burdens tumbling off from the donkeys in the mostdelightful confusion, and the girls squalling for help. I ate on theroad some Soudan dates, as they are called by the Arabs, and found thempleasant--a sort of bitter sweet. The name of the tree and of the fruitis, in Bornou, _bitu_. In Haussa the tree has two names, _aduwa_ and_tinku_. Our course to day was up a fine valley, down which the water inthe rainy season runs from east to west. There was abundance of treesand herbage. At this place, however, lions abound, and last night acamel was eaten by them. We encamped opposite a mountain, rising prettyhigh in sugar-loaf shape, called Adudai. Over the carcase of the camelhovered a small flock of eagles. A Bornouee fighi, called Mustapha, from the country Malămdi, west ofKuka, tells us he has been six months at Aghadez. According to him, theroute from Aghadez to Timbuctoo is one month. It is open, and notdangerous. En-Noor, indeed, promised to send any of us by that route ifwe wished. There are few people on the route, and if you pay them alittle money you pass unmolested. This Bornouese fighi is not equal tohis brethren whom I saw in Tintalous. But I learnt from this itinerantpedagogue the interesting fact, that there are a great number of personsof his profession, all from Bornou, travelling about in Aheer. Light, therefore, is springing up from the interior, and spreading to the coastin an opposite direction to what it did in former times. _5th. _--Warmer weather greeted us this morning. We stay here to-day. Theplace is called Tin-Tagannu, and is a large wady, full of herbage andtrees. It is inhabited by a few shepherds. This place is said to havebeen the first of the inhabited localities in Aheer, although nowshepherds only drive their flocks there; so that spots of earth havetheir seasons and fortunes in the Sahara as elsewhere. By the way, Imust continue to call this Sahara. Although there are periodic rains, weare still without the influences of the Soudan climate, which begins atDamerghou and Zinder. At the present season no country can be morehealthy than these Asbenouee valleys. I hear that nearly all the women, as well as the men, have left Tintalous, so that the town is a perfectdesert. En-Noor has brought his wives and daughters, and our caravan islike the migration of the whole of the town going in quest of a newcountry. A trap was set last night for the lion, but the king of beasts was toowise to be caught. En-Noor borrowed a gun of us to make this trap, whichwas of the following description. It was expected that the lion wouldcome again to the carcase of the camel; so a hedge of thorns was maderound the carcase with one opening, where was placed the muzzle of thegun, with a large piece of meat tied to the trigger, so that when heseized the meat he might fire off the deadly weapon against himself. This is a fine place for doves, and Overweg shot half a dozen to-day. Our Tanelkum, Mousa, informs us of the right way of tending camels. Theyought never to be tied, but allowed to roam at large. They require alsoto be led through the best valleys, being so far helpless in finding agood grazing-place for themselves. He showed us his camels, comparingthem with ours. And certainly ours, which had their legs tied and werenot guided to good herbage, could not bear comparison. But, of course, the business, the support, the riches of Mousa, are his camels. Theyoccupy all his thoughts, and would appear, to a stranger, to be the endof his existence. _6th. _--This morning at sunrise the thermometer was as low as 52°Fahrenheit. We shivered with cold. Dr. Barth arrived early by way of Tintalous. He confirms the news thatthe Sultans of Aghadez and Asoudee have completely chastised all thosetribes who stopped us on the road and levied black mail on us. En-Noor paid us a visit in the morning. After shaking us all in a veryfriendly manner by the hands, he expressed his regret that he could notgo with us now to Zinder. The country was not tranquil, and the peoplewould not consent to his going; but if we wished to proceed immediatelywith his principal slave, Zangheema, he assured us we should go safely. He then left us to reflect upon what we would do. We decided, without adissentient voice, that we could not venture to go with Zangheema, andthat we must wait for En-Noor, be the time ever so long. We forwardedthis decision to his highness, who seemed to receive it withsatisfaction. His wife sent us word, "To be sure not to go without herhusband;" a piece of advice from a lady we are anxious most religiouslyto respect. Dr. Overweg made an application, through Daubala and Yusuf, to go to the salt-mines of Bilma with the Kailouees. But either theapplicants betrayed the thing, or En-Noor was unwilling to grantpermission. Our friend, therefore, is disappointed of this mostinteresting geological excursion. We are to remove a little further to the west, to a valley moreconvenient than this for pitching tents, and under some shelter. Westill hope we shall not be obliged to await the return of thesalt-caravan from Bilma (that is, a month, or forty days) before westart. Probably, when good news comes from the camp in the west we shallgo on. It will be a sad trial for our patience to wait so long, afterhaving already dallied more than two months in Tintalous. _7th. _--The thermometer at sunrise stood at 51°--very cold. There are nosigns yet of Zangheema's starting to Damerghou. The people, when sittingover the fire in the evening, relate jocosely that the jackals, notbeing able to come near the flame, and nevertheless feeling the coldvery much, hold up their fore-paws, in a sitting or squatting position, in imitation of men, towards the fire, be they at ever so great adistance, and so screw up their imaginations to the belief that they arewarming themselves. The language of gesticulation and signs, by themovement of different parts of the body, is quite a study in this partof the world. The most singular gesticulation, and yet the mostsignificant, is that by which a person begs a thing. He holds the objectin one hand (the left) before the owner, then gives the right hand andarm a swing round, and at last places the right hand to his bosom--themeaning of all which is, that he seeks to ascertain if the owner has anyother article of the same description as that which he holds in his lefthand, and whether he is willing to give it to him. When a Kailouee saysa thing is good, he puts the forefinger of his right hand into theclasped palm of his left, and so, as he pronounces the thing good, _nagari_, he turns his imprisoned finger round within the closed lefthand. When he says there are many persons, he clasps together thefingers of his left hand, and forms a good English fist, holding thehand thumb upwards. He then strikes, with the palm of his right hand, the fist of his left hand, held in that particular position. This signalso represents a more indelicate idea, and is used in the same way onthe coast. The women, from the shepherdess to the princess, of Tintalous, are asfond of the bustle as European dames; but the important difference is, it is the natural bustle which they here delight to exhibit to theadmiring male population. If a woman be called to, going off to the wellfor water, she does not turn round to see who is calling, butimmediately draws her frock tight round her form, and imparts to it amost agitated and unnatural swinging motion, to the great satisfactionof the admiring lookers-on. Thus we see how the coquettes of London andParis meet at opposite poles with these of the Sahara and CentralAfrica. Additional applications were made to En-Noor by my colleagues, to gorespectively to Bilma and to Zinder--Dr. Barth wishing to go on withZangheema--but without effect. The old Sheikh remained firm in hisrefusals: Zangheema, however, was the first to start objections toBarth's accompanying him. As to Overweg, we think he lost hisopportunity by not treating directly with En-Noor, instead of Hamma hisson-in-law. His highness will do nothing extra for us unless paid. _8th. _--We rose early, and found a large portion of the caravan destinedfor Zinder already gone. This is very tiresome to see the peoplestarting with whom you were to have gone, and to know that you havestill thirty or forty days to wait; and as for expenses, living atalmost as dear a rate as in Tripoli. Our boat has gone with the caravan. Hereabouts grow a great quantity of wild water-melons, _delaâah_. Theyare very small and bitter, but the people, nevertheless, eat themoccasionally. If cultivated they would, of course, soon yield anexcellent supply. Barth represents the road between this and Aghadez asvery woody, and also that the country is everywhere mountainous. Baghzemis not high, but is, nevertheless, a very large mountain, seen severaldays' journey. The high plains without water are also covered withtrees. I hear, also, that the road between this and Damerghou isexceedingly woody, and the trees of "the scratching or rendingdescription, " like the tholukh. Aheer also abounds in senna. Yusuf says that all the people of Soudan are red, with the exception ofthe inhabitants of Tesaoua, Kanou, Kashna, and Maradee. Barth represents Gouber as stronger than ever, and united in alliancewith Maradee against the Sultan of Sakkatou. He has written all thetowns. Gouber appears amongst the towns described by Leo Africanus. _9th. _--This morning En-Noor paid us a visit, to tell us to move afterhim in the wady near, under the shade of the trees. His highness wasvery polite and friendly, as he has now been for some time past. The weather continues cold--thermometer, 49° at sunrise in the air. Thiscold weather ought to strengthen or restore our health. It certainlywould do us good, much good, if we could get meat and soups. I sent on our boat yesterday to Zinder, with three of our servants, together with some other heavy baggage. I was occupied to-day incompiling the Haussa dictionary. Kashna is represented to be thefountain of the Haussa language, the Florence of Soudan. Kanou is aplace of foreigners, and the language of the city must be muchcorrupted. According to En-Noor, _Kal_, in the names _Kal_fadaï, _Kal_tadak, _Kil_gris, and _Kail_ouee, signifies _country_. There are tobe added to the zoology of this country the monkey and the _mohur_, orfine large gazelle, as large as a deer, called in Haussa _măráiă_. We already find great differences in the pronunciation of the Haussalanguage, but especially in the following letters:--_sh_ is confoundedwith _ch_ or _tch_, _l_ with _r_, and _r_ with _l_, _o_ with _u_, &c. Letters are also frequently unnecessarily doubled. These differences, however, will never much affect the conversation, when the parties arewell agreed upon what subject they are conversing. _10th. _--This morning we are removing to the shade of the trees, nearEn-Noor. Dr. Barth describes the Kilgris as very fine, tall men, andmuch lighter in complexion than the Kailouees: they dress very simply, having only the black turkadee on their heads, having neither a bakinzakee under it, nor any white shash, or fotah, to wind upon it, in thefashion of the Kailouees. They are, like all these tribes, very proud, and nourish a deadly enmity towards the Kailouees, of whom they takeprecedence in Aghadez. Barth gave away a black-lead pencil in Aghadez, and afterwards everybody came to ask him for one. A person got onepencil, and begged another, saying, "the two would last him his wholelife. " _11th. _--The weather is increasingly cold in the morning; three-quartersof an hour after sunrise the thermometer was 45° in open air. His highness vouchsafed this day to sleep in my tent, and yesterday hedid the Germans the honour of slaughtering lice in theirs. It is a grandpiece of etiquette in this country, that every man has the privilege ofmurdering his own lice. If you pick a louse off a man's sleeve, you mustdeliver it up instantly to him to be murdered, as his undoubted rightand privilege. The Sultan of Aghadez has returned from his razzia against the people ofSeloufeeat, of Azgher, and the Kalfadaï. Those whom he caught hechastised: but most of the Fadeea fled. I register these varyingreports, because they show the state of uncertainty in which we werealways kept, now hearing one thing, now another. But the true state ofthe case seems to be, that though the great Koku of Aghadez did take thefield for a razzia, the actual operations were conducted by the Sultanof Asoudee. It must be remembered, however, that with their mahareesthese desert-princes can march to and fro with surprising rapidity, andthat rumour finds it difficult to follow their footsteps. En-Noor nowthinks the country sufficiently tranquil to move on two days further. Hesays he shall do so in the course of fifteen days. _12th. _--His highness paid me a visit as usual, and I gave him a boxcontaining a looking-glass, with a lid, on which is painted adraught-board, for the wife of his highness, who recommended us not toleave En-Noor, but continue with him until he carried us safely toZinder. His highness expressed great satisfaction for the present; andwhen I told him to take care it was not broken, he observed: "I willtake especial care of this thing, because there is none like it in thiscountry, and it cannot be repaired. " He told us also that his ladiescould play at draughts. I gave him, besides, a piece of green silk for ashade for his eyes. He went off immediately, gratified with these littlepresents. The weather is very pleasant for the study of languages, but the daysare too short and the nights are too long. Nevertheless, I sleep nearlyall night this cold weather. _13th. _--Thermometer at sunrise in the open air was 41° 30' Fahr. , sothat the cold increases, this being the lowest which I have yet taken. The Germans have had a deal of trouble with Mohammed of Tunis; theywould send him back, but there is no opportunity of doing so. Máguzáwa and Azna are the names of the pagan nations of Soudan, denotingthe same people, and not different races. The names answer to the word_Kurdi_, in Bornou. These pagans say, in derision of the Muslims, whenit rains, "Allah must have a large belly, " that so much water falls fromhim. En-Noor describes pagans of Maradee drinking large quantities of _gia_(beer, or fermented liquor). This evening a Gadamsee arrived at the tents, bringing two or threeslaves from Damerghou. He says the news of our arrival had alreadyreached Damerghou--that it was reported there that the Sultan of Aghadezhad given Barth a black tobe; not, by any means, a bad rumour. He sendshis slaves to Ghât from this place, and returns immediately toDamerghou, taking letters for us to Zinder. CHAPTER VI. Medicine for Bad Eyes--A summary Proceeding--News from theSalt-Caravan--Towns and Villages of Tesaoua--Earthquakes--Presents forthe Sultan of Maradee--Yusuf's Insolence--English Money in Aheer--ARazzia on the Holy City--Bornouese Studies--Gipsies of Soudan--En-Noorand the Marabouts--Ghaseb--State of the Weather--Calculations for theFuture--Senna--Relations of Man and Wife in Aheer--En-Noor in hisFamily--Gouber and Maradee--Beer-drinking--Study of the Sau--Shara--TheOulimad--Lions--Translating Jokes--Digging a Well--Projects. _Nov. 14th. _--I wrote this morning, by the slaves going to Ghât, to Mr. Bidwell and my wife. En-Noor paid us a visit in the afternoon, and wasexceedingly civil. He promises me letters for Sakkatou, and to forwardOverweg to Maradee. Our servant shot a large vulture to-day. En-Noor having bad eyes, ordered the eyes of this bird of prey to be scooped out for a medicine. This is not the first time that I have heard of the various parts ofanimals being eaten, or otherwise used, to cure or strengthen thecorresponding parts in human beings. It seems to be an idea natural topeople in a rude or semi-barbarous state. En-Noor related a pretty anecdote of himself and his younger days in ourtent to-day. After saying, that formerly the Asbenouee people were theonly folks considered bad in these parts, he observed, that now hehimself and the Asbenouee were certainly much improved in their mannersand dispositions; "for, " added he, "there were once four fighis(charm-writers) who employed people to speak against me, and bring meinto disrepute. What did I do? I called them to me, gave them finepresents of burnouses and a great supper, with an apartment in which topass the night. But when they were fast asleep I dug a large hole, fetched them all out of the room, killed them, and covered them up inthe hole. Now, however, " continued his highness, "we do not go so far asthis, but content ourselves with taking away an enemy's camels. " _15th. _--Weather cold this morning. Thermometer at sunrise, 43°. I hangthe thermometer on the tent-ropes, just outside, at about a foot fromthe ground. Hamma (son-in-law of En-Noor) returned this morning from thesalt-caravan. He marked on the sand that the caravan would bethirty-five days before it returned; so, I imagine, we have still fromthis time some thirty days to wait here. He left the caravan on itsentering the Hamadah, between this and Bilma. TOWNS AND VILLAGES OF TESAOUA. (_From Amankee's relation. _) 1. Tesaoua: people 1400; residence of the governor. Two large wells andone small one. 2. Harmaua: 500. A little water. 3. Ungua Korna: 400. One well, much water. 4. Haidaua: 500. One well, and much water. 5. Nuwala: 500 or 600. No water; but only half an hour from Haidaua. 6. Nachira: 800, scattered about in small groups. Much water. 7. Ungua-guka: 500. One well. 8. Ungua-tallai: 400. Much water. 9. Gindaua: 1000. Large wells; few trees. 10. Saulawa: 40 or 50. The capital and nearly all this country is full of trees. Not a stone isto be seen, and the soil is sandy. The Sultan, or Governor of Tesaoua, is subject to the sovereign ofMaradee, who is the only independent black prince in this part ofAfrica. The inhabitants are mixed, pagans and Muslims, but these lastare not bigoted. En-Noor visited us this evening, and I asked him if he recollectedearthquakes in this country. The old Sheikh emphatically replied, _Babo_, "There are none. " _16th. _--Barth has picked up a good many words in Aghadez, mostlycorrect. _17th. _--It was colder this morning, although yesterday was verypleasant. Thermometer at sunrise, 41°. It is expected that we shall still remain here thirty days, which time, if divided half between Haussa and half between Bornouee, will help meon in these languages, the principal of the interior of Africa. MohammedTunisee is now the servant of Barth alone. Overweg has given him up. Yesterday morning I gave Overweg the presents for the Sultan of Maradee, to whom he intends to go on a mission, in the same way as Barth went toAghadez. The presents consist of a fine burnouse, a fine shasheeah (fivemahboubs), two pieces of coloured cotton cloth, two heads of whitesugar, knives, scissors, cinnamon, looking-glasses, beads, &c. I hope hewill not return without bringing back the treaty signed. He is also tomake some arrangement for the establishment of the missionaries inMaradee. To-day we had prayers in Overweg's tent. I read several short prayersfrom the Church of England prayer-book, and also the Gospel and Epistlefor the Sunday. _18th. _--Yesterday evening it was cloudy, and the moon had, for severalhours, an immense elliptical ring round it--a common phenomenon in thenorthern Sahara. To-day Yusuf got up in a rage, and threw down his writing, because Itold him he did not take pains to obtain from the people the severalmeanings of the words. This has been the case for most of the time wehave been occupied with the vocabulary. I have therefore left him tohimself, since he insulted me in this manner before the servants, and Ifear I cannot trust myself to go with him to Sakkatou. It is a greatinconvenience, but I must search for a kateb (writer) at Zinder. Thereare many poor men of this profession in Bornou, and very faithfulpeople. _19th. _--His highness En-Noor continues to visit us. Yesterday I gavehim an English silver fourpenny piece, an English farthing, and a smallFrench silver coin, with all of which he was greatly delighted. Hesummed up their value in wadâ; fifty wadâs are an English penny. Headmired her majesty's face on the silver fourpence; but his shadow, theman who generally comes with him, said, --"Oh, no, the face of the womanfor a Sultan is not good. _This_ is good, " pointing to the head of LouisPhilippe. The news came yesterday evening that a razzia had just been made onTintaghoda, the assailants carrying away everything before them, and theinhabitants of the town fleeing to the mountains. This razzia was madeby the people whom the Sultan of Aghadez has lately punished for thedepredations committed on us and other caravans on the road. When thistook place there were a few people at Tintalous, who, on hearing thenews, came off immediately to us after En-Noor, so that now there doesnot remain a single inhabitant in the village. The people of the razziawere much disappointed at finding no more camels, all those of thevillages hereabouts, and indeed through all Aheer, being gone to fetchsalt from Bilma. They wished to make up the number of camels which theSultan of Aghadez took away from them. Of course, when the salt-caravanreturns, an effort will be made to avenge this insult on the holy cityof Aheer--this profanation of the abode of marabouts! It is singular, nevertheless, that only a year ago some neighbouring tribes, thinkingthese holy men had too much wealth, carried off a large number of theircamels. This is the much-vaunted place amongst the credulous Moorishmerchants of the coast, where theft and robbery are unknown! _21st. _--A foggy _November_ morning! But this change of the atmosphereis very rare, and soon passes away. It is amazing how steady the seasonsare, and how they roll, each bringing its accustomed weather and tunes. Yesterday I began my Bornou studies, not knowing whether I shall gofirst to Bornou or Soudan. I intend, if my health be preserved, to makea dictionary of the Bornou and Soudan languages together, for the sakeof commerce and general information. I hope Government will print it, orif not Government, the Philological Society. _Abizgen_ is a fruit which abounds in Aheer. It is half the size ofsmall currants, and has not a disagreeable taste--a sort of bitter-sweetclammy taste. This fruit may be called Aheer currants. In the neighbourhood of our encampment have been seen gazelles, ostriches, and monkeys, in considerable numbers. _22d. _--En-Noor went off yesterday morning early, to visit a greatmarabout in the neighbourhood. This will enable us to apply ourselvesclosely to the languages, all day long. Occupied as I am with Soudaneseand Bornouese, all the days fly away swifter than arrows shot by themost expert archers. En-Noor is expected to return in the course of fouror five days. We have now all the village of Tintalous with us. It isTintalous encamped out in the valley. _23d. _--The orient sky flamed this morning with a pure yellow flame, amidst a somewhat murky atmosphere. Most of the people have a fire all night. In the morning they cower overit like inhabitants of the poles. Of course we as well as they, havingbeen baked in the summer's sun, now feel the cold most acutely. There is a species of people scattered through Soudan which correspondto our gipsies, called Máguzáwa (sing. Bámăguzăi). These areessentially a merry, care-nothing people, always half tipsy, and alwaysfull of fun. They, however, work a little in agriculture; differing fromour gipsies, who are little more than itinerant tinkers. A boy was shownto me to-day, whom his parents had christened _Butu_, "worthless. " It isrelated that his mother had many children before him, all of whom died, and when he came into the world the people or neighbours all cried, "_Butu! Butu!_" i. E. "He will come to nothing. " Then, it is added, "Godseeing the people gave him a bad name, determined in compassion topreserve his life, and so his life was preserved to this day. " En-Noor returned this evening from his visit to the marabout. --It is myintention to send home fifty thousand African words for this expedition. What future expeditions may do, if my life be spared, I cannot tell. Ispeak for this. I imagine I have already sent to the Foreign Office sixthousand. I shall have five thousand, I hope, by the time I get toZinder--three of Soudanese, and two of Bornouese. I must try to get afew words of the Aghadez language. These I can get, probably, atSakkatou. I must have another writer, or fighi. My present Bornouesefighi is a very poor fellow. _24th. _--The Sunday soon came again, with the study of languages. Nowthe time of our waiting here does not appear to be long enough. I have acommercial dictionary to make. En-Noor came to us after his return from his visit to his maraboutfriend. He says of the late razzia at Tintaghoda, that the marabouts ofthat town brought it all upon themselves, being the first to begin tocountenance attacks upon caravans (that is, ours). He does not pitythem; he does not care for them; and, he added, "They have now lost alltheir reputation amongst the people. " The fact is, when we came themarabouts did not know what course to take, whether to attack us or toreceive us; so they chose the former, in their blinded judgment, andbrought all this evil upon their heads. The Fadeea, or Kalfadaï, have decamped with their booty and theirfamilies to the Hagar, beyond the reach of recapture or revenge. A scorpion was found in my tent to-day, running across the sandy floor. We look upon them now as nearly harmless, whilst the cold weather hasdeprived them of all force. _25th. _--Occupied with the languages. Time passes quickly. _26th. _--Began the Bornou grammar. _27th. _--A visit from En-Noor. He put on one of my gloves, and was muchamused with it. He held out his hand, and put it on the face of hiscourtiers--showing fight. It was very white, which gave him occasion topass to my skin, and pity my being so white. I made several usefulremarks on Haussa grammar, and begin to understand the genius of thelanguage. A caravan of ghaseb has arrived from Damerghou, by which we learn thatthe Sfaxee and Fezzan merchants are arrived in that country. We havebeen trying to buy ghaseb of the people, or of En-Noor; but it appearswe were too late, for it is said to be all gone. The dollars are worthonly 1750 wadâs here, whilst in Kanou they pass for 2500. Every articleis depreciated in value in Aheer, because food is scarce. We have, however, managed to purchase a bullock--a great beast. _28th. _--I did not feel so well after the meat-eating; we have had solittle of it, and so seldom, that a little extra quite upsets me, andthe gnawing it makes all my teeth bleed. Thermometer, 50°. The weatherhas changed to mistiness, haziness. It is now reported that we stillremain here twenty-five days longer, the caravan arriving only in twentydays, and five being allowed to rest the camels. So we have time enoughfor the Haussa and Bornou languages. I wish to master the grammar ofeach, so as to superintend some translation of the Scriptures. _29th. _--The weather is still hazy, and warmer; but whilst it is warmerin the morning it is cooler in the mid-day, on account of the clouds andhaze. Half an hour after sunrise, thermometer 56°. En-Noor says we shall start in seventeen days, but ten days more or lessfor these people are nothing. Our courier for the money has just beengone thirty-three days. If, happily, he arrive to day, he will save aweek of the Shantah from Mourzuk to Tripoli. If we remain here nowtwenty-five days, and are thirty-five days more before we arrive atZinder, that will be sixty days. I shall then have only twenty days moreto wait till the expiration of the four months, when I may expect thecourier to return. Thus I hope to have the money to pay the Sfaxeebefore I go to Sakkatou. But, alas! such calculations are extremelyuncertain, and we cannot tell what a day may bring forth. For oursupport and safety we must repose firmly in the goodness of an AlmightyProvidence. _Nov. 30th to Dec. 3d. _--The weather has been mild these last few days;this morning, half an hour after sunrise, thermometer 51°. En-Noor has been to pay a visit to the Sultan of Asoudee, meeting him atsome neighbouring village. There was a council respecting the affairs ofthe tribe of the Iteesan, who are fighting amongst themselves; but nonews has transpired since his return. The old sheikh is in good healthand spirits, which he attributes partly to drinking my coffee twice andthrice a-day. He says we shall leave here in the course of twelve days. Senna is grown, or rather collected, in all the districts of Aheer; butit is cheap now, and does not fetch the price in Tripoli which itformerly did; many other as suitable purgatives being found in Europe, Isuppose. Senna is, besides, procured from the district of the Tibboos ofBilma, and some of this is still sent to Tripoli. Bornou has also muchsenna, but it does not pay the expense of forwarding it to Tripoli. The relations of man and wife in Aheer are curious, if notextraordinary. A woman never leaves the home of her father! When a manmarries a woman, he remains with her a few weeks, and then, if he willnot take up his residence in the town or village of his wife, he mustreturn to his own place without her. When a man sees a woman who pleaseshim, he offers the parents a price for her--say, four camels. If theparents agree that the price is adequate to the charms or the rank oftheir daughter, the bargain is concluded. These four camels remainalways the property of the wife, with which she supports herself, sending them to Soudan or to Bilma, fetching ghaseb or salt. Many of thewomen have a large property obtained in this way. When their husbandsvisit them, they give them something to eat, and they remain a few daysor weeks; and again depart to their own native towns, leaving the wifewith her property, and any chance lover. But the men marry two or threewives, and so are constantly in motion, first going to visit one wifeand then another. Thus the male population of this country is kept in acontinually restless state of activity--roaming about here and there, marrying another and another wife, if their means will permit them. Thewomen, of course, left in this way, and unrestrained by any high moralmotives, take as many lovers as they dare, or can secretly dispose of. It appears that En-Noor always disapproved of this strange system, andswore he would never marry a wife, because he should be obliged to go toanother town to reside there, and so be exposed to having an inferiorposition, the authorities of the town of his wife pretending to exercisejurisdiction over him. All his women have ever been slaves. His highnessis now living amidst his daughters and their children--the men whomarried them being all away in their own native countries. A daughter ofEn-Noor costs ten camels, and this is considered a very high price for awoman. With two or three camels, a woman manages to support herself andchildren. If the husbands of En-Noor's daughters be ever so poor, henever gives them anything but a little food. They must come and residein his town. His highness passes all his evenings amidst this circle ofwomen--his female slaves, his daughters, and granddaughters. The population of Gouber and Maradee together may be about 1500. _Mărádee_, capital of Maradee, and residence of the Siriki. _Jinubakai_ is the second division of the country, inhabited wholly bythe pagans or gia-drinkers (beer-drinkers); not, therefore, Mahometans. _Gouber_ (Gubar), is the name of the country, of which the capital andresidence of the sultan is _Chibri_. This country consists of a largecity (Chibri), and several small villages, some fifty or sixty; two arehere mentioned, Gomer and Sanna. These two countries of Gouber and Maradee are now in alliance againstthe Sultan of Sakkatou, i. E. Of the Fellatahs, and mutually inflictrazzias upon one another. Tesaoua is in close connexion with theseancient Kohlan countries, and is, indeed, a province of Maradee. Thereare mixed up with the population a number of people, emigrants fromAheer, called Buzai; but these Aheer Tuaricks have lost both theirlanguage and nationality, retaining merely the name, to denote theirorigin. So, in all probability, were more people and of other countriesto emigrate to Soudan, they would soon become Soudanee, and lose theirnationality. In these countries of Soudan above-mentioned, Mahommedanismhas been but lately professed. But the great distinguishing mark betweenpaganism and Mahommedanism appears to be the drinking or not drinkinggia, the latter being the people who of course abstain from thisintoxicating beverage. Overweg says, that within three-quarters of an hour's walk are foundhereabout granite, sandstone, and basalt, a variety of stones somewhatremarkable. The study of _sau_, "footsteps" of men and animals, is quite a sciencein this part of the world. The Fezzanee are reckoned the most expert inthis knowledge; they are said to be able to distinguish the footsteps ofpeople when printed upon the trunk of a palm, the print-step being madeby dipping the feet in water! As to animals, the people observe near theneighbouring rocks the sau of the lion--a very deep, heavy impression ofhis five claws, of the monkey, the hare, the gazelle, the fox, thejackal, the hyæna, the mouse, &c. &c. Indeed, we appear to besurrounded with animals; and in the morning I found the sau of the dog, the cat, the hare, and the mouse, on the sandy floor of my tent. It ismy intention, before I leave Africa, to draw the forms of the footstepsof the more remarkable animals. _Inshallah!_ _4th. _--Visit from his highness the Sheikh every day. He is now kindenough to send me every morning--at the suggestion of his principalwife--a small can of milk, which, besides the value of the milk itself, saves my sugar, enabling me to drink tea and coffee without sweetening. This evening the _shara_ was brought of the arrival of couriers from thesalt-caravan, to say it was near. Like the Arabs, for this shara ornews, or first advice of the coming of something good or agreeable, theKailouees ask some present. We gave a little bit of sugar to the slavewho brought the welcome intelligence. _Dec. 5th to 9th. _--I was occupied with vocabulary of Haussa and Bornou. Weather mild and misty, but a little cold this morning; thermometer, atthree-quarters of an hour after sunrise, 43°. Nearly all the salt-caravan has arrived, and proceeded in advance, coming in small detachments. They rendezvous in a fine wady full ofherbage, with water higher up. We are expected to leave in a few days, three or four at most. Nothing seems now to detain En-Noor. But theFadeea have returned from the Hagar, finding themselves not pursued. They very naturally prefer their own fine valley in Asben to the stony, desert wilds of Hagars. I suppose a razzia will be executed againstthem, for the restoration of the camels of Tintaghoda, on the return ofthe salt-caravan from Soudan. En-Noor gives a tremendously unfavourable account of the Oulimad, whooccupy the desert of Sahara between Aghadez and Timbuctoo, and keep theroad there shut against caravans. He says, they would sleep in our tentsin the day, eat and drink with us; but in the night they would carryaway the tent, and make themselves clothing with it. In fact, En-Noorconsiders them the veriest barbarians in this region of Africa. Theremay be a little exaggeration in this, and the Oulimad may not be worsethan the Hagars of Ghemâma, or even than some of his own people. TheKailouees do not hunt, nor do they cultivate the soil; so that thiscountry abounds with animals. Some of the country is extremely wild androcky, and affords many a retired den for the lions, who descend fromthe rocks and prowl abroad for prey in great numbers. Their footmarksfrequently cover the length and breadth of the wadys. Barth himself saw(very fortunately, for it is a sight seen by very few persons indeed) asmany as five together. Monkeys also abound in great numbers. I relatedto En-Noor the anecdote, as a joke, of the monkey shaving the cat inParis; but this he took seriously, for he observed, "That is nothing; Ihave seen the monkeys crack lice just like men. " It is always adifficult matter to translate a joke to these people. Overweg has beenout these last two days hunting for ostrich eggs, in the places whichthese birds frequent. He saw their footprints, dung, feathers, &c. , andtwo specimens, but found no eggs. It appears this is a most difficultbird to catch. En-Noor continues to be very friendly. I get milk now every morning, forwhich I pay sugar and coffee. His highness and his people went outyesterday to dig a well, about two hours distant. All the water in thisplace is exhausted. It appears to be merely a deposit of rain-waterunder the sand, at a depth of from four or five to eight feet. Itbecomes, as in this case, entirely exhausted before the commencement ofthe next rains; but of course there are some springs, and many wellswhich are not dried up during the whole year. N. B. --If I remain a month at Zinder, I must make a little excursionamongst the Bornou villages and see the rustic life of the people; but Ifear it will be a bad place to hear the pure Bornouese language. I stillhope to go off early to Sakkatou, and finish quickly with Soudan. Inthese matters the Germans are better off than I am, and have not to waitfor money. [10] [10] Nearly the whole of this long account of a residence in Aheer consists in the journals of Mr. Richardson of disjointed fragments, jotted down almost without any connexion. This was necessarily the case. Few incidents, save an occasional visit from thieves, or a dispute with that strange old gentleman, Sultan En-Noor, diversified this period. However, the simple commonplace book of a traveller in a totally new country can never be without its interest. No doubt Mr. Richardson would have attempted, had he survived, to throw all these observations into a picture; but any attempt to do so on my part would have probably resulted in the omission of characteristic traits, and the introduction of extraneous ideas. The following chapters appear to me to increase in interest, page by page. --ED. CHAPTER VII. Razzia on the Fadeea--Haussa--Names of Places--Ant-track--CircularLetter from Mourzuk--Vast Rock--Mustapha Bey's Letter--Effects ofWater--Butterflies--Aspect of the Country--A Slave advancedto Honour--Shonshona--Herbage--Birds--Appearance of theSalt-Caravan--Colours of Dawn--Bilma Salt--Mode of Barter--Pass the Rockof Mari--Granite--Indigo Plant--Presents at Stamboul--The Sultan begsagain--Old Men's Importunities--Baghzem--Curiosities of theRoute--People of Damerghou--Temporary Village of Women--Country beginsto open--Barter Transaction with Lady En-Noor. _Dec. 10th. _--I rose before the sunrise; the coldest morning we havehad; thermometer at half-an-hour after sunrise, 38°. It is reported that we leave here to-morrow, or the day following. Thereis arrived from Aghadez the first man of that city after the sultan, called Amagai. He is come here respecting the affairs of the Fadeea. En-Noor also asked to-day for a list of all the things taken by forcefrom us on the frontiers. It appears the Sultan of Aghadez had capturedthe Sheikh of the Fadeea, or some one sheikh, and allowed him to go outof prison on the promise that he would restore all the things taken fromus--but not to us; so these Sultans and Sheikhs of Aheer will probablyget all these things back, and divide the spoil. But, nevertheless, itis better that the people in authority should have them, than that theyshould remain in the possession of the robbers, the lawless plunderingtribes of the frontier. Probably these people will be more cautious howthey plunder another caravan of Christians. It will always be asatisfaction to us that the robbers were made to disgorge their booty. Ihave also heard that a small camel was brought in exchange for my largelost one; and En-Noor sent it back, ordering them to restore the largecamel of the boat. My camel has been to fetch salt from Bilma. The children call Tesaoua, and the countries thereabout, Haussa, and sayit is near, and that they go on donkeys. From this it is certain thisportion of Soudan still has the ancient name of Haussa. Afaou is merelythe Bornou name for Haussa, there being no place or district of thatname. All these countries have most of them two names, or twopronunciations of the same name; one by the natives, and one by theMoorish merchants and other strangers. Thus the village of En-Noor iscalled by strangers Tintalous, and by the people themselves Chintullus. Travellers had better adhere to the name the place has amongst thestrangers and foreign merchants, otherwise their narrative might bequestioned by the people abroad, who do not know the native name. Maradee has its native name of Mariadi, but if you were to mention thisname in Mourzuk and Tripoli none would know the country of which youwere speaking. In fact, it is just the same as calling Florence Firenza, when speaking to persons who have not travelled in Tuscany, or who areunacquainted with Italian. I continue much occupied with the Bornoueseand Haussa languages, and am now collecting the names of insects andanimals. This is extremely difficult, as for many of the animals ofSoudan there are no Arabic names. I measured an ant-track, and found it 125 feet. The ants were fetchingthe cottony dried blossom of a withered plant, and were amazingly busy. The tracks did not wind much. I noticed, also, in my walk, the footmarksof hares and many other animals. This country is full of live things. _11th. _--I rose before sunrise; this is the coldest morning I have yethad, according to the thermometer, which was only two degrees above thefreezing point (34°). A circular letter arrived to-day from Aghadez, addressed to all theTuaricks, written by Mustapha Bey of Mourzuk, recommending them torender us all necessary protection. It is dated back two months. Probably this letter was written on account of the unfavourableintelligence which reached Mourzuk respecting us. To-morrow, please God, we start for Soudan. _12th. _--Thank God! we left our encampment of Chintagawna this morning. And oh, most gracious God! give us a prosperous journey, and may we beuseful to ourselves and our fellow-creatures. We started about eleven o'clock, and went on about three hours anda-half. The day was very cool; the thermometer in the morning, atsunrise, being only three degrees above the freezing-point. We expect tosee the water freeze on the high plains through which we are about topass, before arriving at Damerghou. Our encampment is a pleasant wady, under a conical-formed rock of considerable elevation, perhaps 1500feet. We are also in a high situation, some 1000 or more feet above thelevel of the sea. There is near this rock a lower one of an oblong form, its sides fluted with pillars; these columnar masses are basalt. Dr. Overweg examined the rocks, and found the outer crust a new species ofrock, a sort of trachite or brachite; and the interior a sort of basalt, or volcanic substance. The large rock is also of the same formation. Dr. Barth ascended the large rock. I am now told that I made a great mistake about the wording of thecircular letter of Mustapha Bey. This letter begins by thanking theTuaricks of Aheer for exterminating the Walad Suleiman! It then hintsbroadly at the necessity for the Turks in Mourzuk and the Tuaricks ofAheer being friends; and to maintain this friendship one importantcondition is required--that they, the Tuaricks of Aheer, shall protectall the merchants or other travellers passing through their country, andcoming from Mourzuk. In the event of their committing a bad action, theBey says he may be compelled to make reprisals; so it is quite clear theletter is written entirely on our account, and perhaps is a preliminarymeasure to making reprisals. _Nous verrons. _ This letter is onlyaddressed to the people of Aheer. If water be the sustaining and even the generative force of vegetationin the desert, it is also the destruction of trees and herbage; foralong the line of the current of the wady are seen immense numbers ofdead and overthrown trees, torn from their roots by the force of thewater in the rainy season. En-Noor paid me a visit this afternoon, andtook a nap in my tent. _13th. _--We rose early, but did not start till about nine o'clock. Thiswas the coldest day we have yet experienced: the heavens were overcastwith clouds. We came five hours; our course irregular, but alwayssouth-east; the track through wadys filled with the usual trees of thetholukh species. Yesterday were seen numbers of large butterflies, butto-day, on account of the cold, few. Flies innumerable follow thecaravan. The rocks were, as yesterday, many conic-formed, and othersrounded or appearing in ranges, like huge haycocks: granite, sandstone, and trachite. We have in the distance before us, a peculiarly shapedrock of considerable height, called _Mari_, in the midst of a range. Weare encamped in the bed of an immense broad valley, and camels arefeeding about in considerable numbers. The salt-caravan is very near. Weare not yet in the regular caravan route, _viâ_ Asoudee, but expect toreach it after to-morrow. En-Noor has with him as a guest the principalman of Aghadez, before mentioned. This man was once a slave, but by hisaddress has risen thus high, as the slaves frequently do in Turkey: sowidely do similar manners prevail. Many slaves in Soudan rise to thehighest consequence. The _shonshona_ (or practice of scarifying the face or neck) prevailseverywhere in Bornou, Soudan, and all this part of Africa; the Tuaricksand Fellatahs being the only people who abstain from this barbarouspractice. Each device of scarifying denotes the peculiar nation of theblacks. I have now got three sketches of faces thus disfigured, andshall get as many as I can. The Mahommedans of the coast usually teach that this way of marking thebody is a sin, but nevertheless the black Muslims will not abandon thepeculiarities of their nation. _14th. _--Started early, but made only two hours and a-quarter, throughthe expansive valleys of yesterday. Here we found the salt-caravan, there being in this place abundance of room, herbage, and a large well, all necessary for such an assembly of people and beasts. On the road weput up a covey of partridges, and a splendid solitary bird, the _hobara_of Soudan. Footprints of the hares and of the gazelle were observed _enroute_. By this opportunity we have got a few dates from Bilma; but they arevery poor, some of them little better than dried wood. The salt-caravanhas nothing attractive. The salt is all tied up in small bales orbundles, the outward wrapper being matting or platting of strips of theleaves of the doom-palm, called by the people _kabba_. Our caravanresembles the march of a wandering tribe, there being camels, sheep, oxen, asses, dogs, with all the paraphernalia of tents, cookingutensils, &c. Some of the animals are laden, some unladen, playing, running, and skipping about. Then come the human animals, men, women, and children of every age. Our own caravan is mostly composed of thehousehold and slaves of En-Noor, with two or three strangers. But nowall changes to the salt-caravan, and we shall probably be soon absorbedin it. Yesterday morning I observed the dawn of day, and witnessed a degree ofredness and red clouds, or, more poetically, rosy-tinted clouds, which Inever before observed in all the Sahara. Probably now the sky willchange to a colouring more like England. Sunset and sunrise in theSahara are essentially different from those of England, the colours inthe desert being exceedingly light and bright; and often in the summertime, at daybreak, there is a full, blazing sun in the course of threequarters of an hour; so that, that rich colouring of the summer's dawnin England is never here observed. I visited the salt-caravan, or that portion of it which belongs toEn-Noor. The salt is prepared in Bilma, by the Tibboos, in threedifferent manners. There is, first, the _canto_, a kind of pillar orpedestal, about 16 inches high, and 3 or 4 broad in its widest part. Asto weight, 10 of these are a good camel-load, 8 a load for a smallcamel, and 6 for a weak camel. Then there are two cakes, one of refinedsalt and the other coarse. These coarse cakes are about 5 inches indiameter, and the refined ones 7 inches, the former being about 3lbs. And the latter 5lbs. In weight. When a caravan of Tuaricks arrive atBilma, they find the salt all ready for them, and they pay a barter forit in this way, --a zekka of ghaseb is exchanged against twenty of thecoarse cakes; a zekka for six of the refined cakes, and three zekkas ofghaseb for two of the pillars. Ghaseb appears to be the only staplething which the Tibboos receive for their salt; they may also take nowand then turkadias, or black turbans, and on the other side the Tuaricksbring a few dates with them: the fruit, even those of the best quality, are not very good or fine. This commerce of barter is managed almostsolely by the women: the men remain in their houses, whilst the women goto the salt-pits or lakes, and transact this important business; but themen do not run away, as is commonly reported. At least, so say theTuaricks. The supply of salt is inexhaustible. It is, probably, onaccount of the weight of the salt, and the fatigue of the camels whichcarry it, with the distance, that this commerce is not very profitableto the Tuaricks; but this can only be ascertained in the markets ofKanou, and other large cities of Soudan. There are only six months tothe rainy season, so I have just time to go to Sakkatou and return, without waiting long at any of the intermediate places between Sakkatouand Kuka. Our encampment is under some rocks, where are seen the dens of lions. Atthe mouth of these caves or holes are bones of animals and the dung ofthe lions. _15th. _--I rose early, but we did not start till two hours aftersunrise. The caravan was a considerable time in loading. We have onlywith us En-Noor's detachment of the salt-caravan, about 130 camels. Wemay be quicker in our movements to-morrow. The first morning of startingis always thus slow. We came to-day five hours: passed the picturesquerock Mari, like a camel couchant, and entered after three hours theAsoudee route, or the direct caravan route from Ghât to Damerghou, through Aheer. Another detachment of the salt-caravan passed or crossedus, and took another route to the east. Our course was alwayssouthwards, now S. E. Now S. W. , through wadys filled with trees, mostlytholukh and its varieties; the rocks were all granite. Aheer appears tobe a region essentially of granite, although here and there are volcaniccones striking up, composed of basalt, or a variety of this stone. Theweather was very cloudy and cold, only a little warm in the middle ofthe day. We have not come to water or wells for three days, because ourjourneys are very short. To-day I saw, for the first time, the indigoplant--_neela_ in Arabic, and _bala_ in Soudanese. I was glad to makeits acquaintance. It grows amongst the other herbage, and may be easilyconfounded with it as a common herb. It is now in seed, the pods beingsmall and very hard. This is one of the products capable of working theregeneration of Africa, if Africa is to be civilised by legitimatecommerce. En-Noor asked to-day if, on entering Constantinople, we English madepresents. I told him very positively, "No;" but, on the contrary, everything which the English demanded of the Sultan of the Turks he didfor us; and because the Sultan was weak, England was obliged to protecthim against the encroachments of the other Christian nations. I was much surprised to hear to-day that En-Noor begged a black burnousefrom Barth. The old Sheikh is a Tuarick every inch of him. Nevertheless, it is too bad to beg the things which we wear to protect us from thecold and the heat. Barth, I believe, has not yet made the Sheikh apresent, and he is coming Hateetah over my worthy friend. Overweg hasgiven the Sheikh a cloth jacket, which he could ill spare. I feel mostdeterminedly disposed to give nothing more; but in justice I have toadd, that his highness sends regularly the milk in the morning, that hegave me a piece of gour-nut on the road, and that he sent me a few datesat my request! These are great things for Tuaricks; so, "patience. " _16th. _--I rose at daylight; the cold was moderate, morning foggy asyesterday. People say we shall be only nine days from this going toDamerghou, but I will give them twelve. All the old men in this countryapply to the Taleb for medicine to restore their powers. They veryunwillingly relinquish the exercise of the functions which give themmost delight; but nature is stronger than all things, and they mustsubmit to its inevitable course. In a country like Africa, where womanis only thought of for one purpose, it chagrins these old fellows to seeall their nice plump slave-girls about them, and to find themselves pastand gone, so far as this state of existence is concerned. En-Noor andHateetah both made this kind of application to the Taleb. When I wasalone in my former journey in the desert, I had also the same kind ofexperience. We came two hours to-day to the well of Anfesas, before the mountain ofBaghzem. Our course was through valleys and rocks, as yesterday, and, indeed, always in this country; for there is very little variation inthe landscape. Baghzem, instead of being the high mountain pictured tome by the Ghadamsee merchants, is, at this view of it, only a low range. Two little things observed to-day were, first, a "traveller's sharpeningstone, " on which every person passing by sharpened his dagger or hissword: next, were heaps of sand scraped together, and sticks or stalksof herbage stuck on the top, as frail marks of the route, correspondingto the heaps of stone which mark in line the routes of the Sahara. Therewas also a mosque formed of boughs of trees; that is, a low wall of thegroundplan of a mosque made of boughs of trees, like the walls of stonein other places. The trees were as before, always those full of thorns, like the tholukh; many of the species bearing what is called the date ofthis country. No animals of game were seen, except a solitary hare; butthere were marks of the foot of the mohur, or large gazelle. The lading of the camels in the morning takes always an hour and a-half:we have few people, compared with the number of beasts of burden. However, under the leadership of En-Noor, who has now decked himself ina fine yellow burnouse, a sort of ensign of authority, the caravanmarches in great order and tranquillity. The inhabitants of Damerghou are said to be a mixture of Kohlans andTuaricks; the latter, however, receding into the interior. But if theTuaricks have dispossessed the Kohlans, they have almost become Kohlansthemselves, forgetting their own language and their own customs andmanners. This would naturally result from their habit of taking femaleslaves from Soudan. Women, of course, always teach their children theirown language. In this way the population becomes in a few yearsamalgamated, the blacks with Tuaricks. _17th. _--We stopped here all day, occupied with Bornouese. The place ispleasant enough, there being a good well of water. A little temporaryvillage stands near, composed of the women and children belonging to thesalt-caravan. _18th. _--We halted again another day. After this rest of three days forthe camels, we are to go on quicker. Overweg paid a visit to thetemporary village, principally to see the women, taking with him theMâlem Ibrahim. He was pleasantly received, and notes the fact as thefirst specimen of Soudan hospitality. I also made an excursion of anhour to a neighbouring eminence, where I had a view from the top of aquartz rock of the surrounding landscape of stony hills and valleys. Onthe east and west were ranges and groups of mountains; on the north-eastand towards Bilma, and on the south-west round the mountain of Baghzem, the country appeared open. North and south were rocks. In the directionof our route (south-east) the rocks seem scattered and at widedistances, so I expect we shall soon bid farewell to the mountains ofAheer. The celebrated mount of Baghzem is a mighty mass of rock, nothigh, but apparently of immense breadth. The town of Baghzem is on thewestern side, and out of our route. I had a little clandestine transaction with Madame En-Noor to-day. Shesent me cheese and milk, and I sent her a ring. The slaves brought thecheese stealthily: so, I suppose, the Sultan was not to know of it. Butthey say that all the goats belong to the women, and, consequently, themilk and cheese; but the camels to the men; some women, however, havecamels. There is a sort of division of male and female property in thiscountry. CHAPTER VIII. We continue our Journey--Huntsmen--Gum on the Tholukhs--TheSalt-Caravan--A Bunch of Gum--Games among theSlaves--Baghzem--Trees--Palm of Pharaoh--Deserted Villages--Birds'Nests--Wife of En-Noor--Unan--Lizards--Bad News--Christmasday in Africa--Christmas-boxes--Begging Tuaricksagain--Bargot--Musicians--Speculations--Tribes at War--ParasiticalPlant--Importance of Salt--Animals--Agalgo--Force of the Caravan--Beatof Drum--Approach the Hamadah--Giraffes--Poisoned Arrows--Ear ofGhaseb--Soudan and Bornou Roads. _Dec. 19th. _--We started early, and journeyed on eight hours anda-half--the best day we have had since leaving Tintalous. Our coursestill towards that immense block of mountain, the celebrated Baghzem. Weare now encamped along its side. We crossed a large wady withancient-looking trees, having antiquity, in fact, stamped on theirtrunks, all of the tholukh species. The sand of this desert is coveredwith the footsteps or marks of the gazelle and hare; but we saw only onegazelle and one hare. The gazelle was followed by a stupid mongrel-breddog; it jumped high in the air, and was soon out of sight. The Kailoueesare no huntsmen. I question whether they have ever caught a gazelle orany full-grown animal in their lives; they are a stupid set, and theirdogs worse still in field-sport, though always living in the desert. There are huntsmen amongst the Haghars. The Kailouees prefer runningdown men, or rather women. All they think of is riding or straying fromplace to place after the women--this is their sport. This may be called a country of dry wadys. The name is appropriate allthe year round, except on the few days when the floods are seen pouringdown these seeming beds of rivers. Hereabouts are the largest tholukhand other trees found in Aheer. Those that grow on high ground aresmall, but from their trunks are picked off, by the slaves, pieces ofgum. To-day, however, I could not succeed in getting a piece. What wasfound was carried to En-Noor. I shall soon get a taste of it. Wecontinue with our same number of camels; no other detachments of thelarge salt-caravan have yet joined us. En-Noor is still very active, riding before and behind, seeing that all is right. He is followed byhis shadow. He wears his yellow burnouse. I have heard of no town onthis side of Baghzem. An immense quantity of stone is scattered over the route hereabouts. Overweg believes it to be basalt, or a species of volcanic stone ofsimilar character. I am preparing myself for my Soudan journeys, and, _en route_, take asmuch rest as possible. Cold winds prevail night and morning, but the sunburns a few hours in the day. Certainly now is the best season fortravelling in this country. What it is in Soudan it is impossible totell. _20th. _--We rested to-day. There is a well a short distance off, calledTilya. This morning early filed by a large division of the salt-caravan, about three hundred camels. We passed them yesterday. They had also alittle merchandise besides salt. Some of the people inquired of me if Ihad found my camels. I told them two were still missing. They were allstrangers, but were, nevertheless, civil. I made a short excursion insearch of gum amongst the tholukh-trees. I was fortunate enough to findone piece, or, rather, a small bunch of pellucid drops, of a brightamber-colour. The bunch was scarcely exuding from the tree on which itwas found, and was ready to drop when touched, hanging by the slenderestconnexion. It was even somewhat disposed to become liquid. This gum isfound only on the small young trees. The taste was very pleasant. It isastonishing how little gum has been picked off these trees by ourpeople, although we have passed tens of thousands of them _en route_. The slaves of the caravan were having a game amongst themselves thismorning. They brought into my tent a man bound as dead, and I wasobliged to pay a handkerchief to relieve myself of the bad omen. Such athing is considered a horrible thing if you do not buy away the illeffects of it. This is certainly an easy way of collecting money andgoods. It was, however, amusing to see the fellow, how still he lay;truly it was as still as death. The ceremony itself arose out of theculprit, or man bound, having lost our camels, a circumstance which hasdetained us here to-day. The herdsman was thus punished for his neglect;and so all these African people have an amusing way of turning theirmisfortunes into fun, as well as of making a profit out of them. I havealready observed before, that every misfortune we have suffered has beena benefit to the Kailouees. This has made them so careless about whatmight happen to us. _21st. _--Our course was generally nearly south, but often a littlewinding. Baghzem was always on our right, until we left it behind us, onthe north-west. This mountain has, probably, been so much celebrated inall past times, because it is the most conspicuous object on the returnroute from the south to the north. Overweg conjectures that it isgranite. He had no servant at hand yesterday to visit it with him, andhe did not like to go alone, because it swarms with lions. We passed to-day mostly through undulating country, a sort of groundwhich, in the Sahara, lies generally between the plateaux and the highrocky ranges. From one of the lesser heights we had a magnificent viewof Baghzem. We passed also through and along several fine wadys, linedwith ancient trees. Perhaps, in some places, full half of the trees weredecayed, and many only naked stumps. The trees were so thick in certainplaces as to deserve the name of forests--primeval forests--but, Iimagine, not to be compared with those of America. Amongst the trees to-day appeared most conspicuously the doom-palm. Thisis the first day we have seen it in such numbers. This "palm ofPharaoh, " as the Moors call it, according to their habit of coupling allstrange things with those ancient monarchs, is found in groups as wellas isolated trees. When isolate, and also when in groups, it veryfrequently assumes a double-shaped trunk, or two large arms spread outor divided from a low stump. [11] Of the leaves, which are called_gabba_, the people make all their rope. [11] I believe the trunk of the doom is always thus divided and subdivided. --ED. These trees are now laden with fruit, not ripe. The abundance of themgives to the place of our encampment a truly tropical aspect. Wejourneyed on to-day eight hours and a-half--a good, fair day. Theweather was warm, even a little sultry. As to inhabitants, we passedmany isolated huts, but saw no villages in groups. We also passed theruins of many villages, whose houses were better built than any I haveyet seen in this part of Aheer. This country has seen its best days; forthe huts which now take the place of these houses, high and well-builtof stone and mud, are, indeed, miserable. Probably these deserted placesare some of the towns whose people were carried off to Bornou in therecent razzias. At the bottom of most of the wadys to-day, water wasfound at a foot depth, though not a copious supply. People were at thewells in numbers, watering their cattle. En-Noor paid me another attention to-day, when on camel-back, inpresenting to me a piece of gour-nut. This is considered a very greatcompliment. As to the fruit itself, I have not yet acquired the taste;it is only agreeable if you are thirsty, and after chewing it drinkwater. _22d. _--We remain here to-day. It is not so cold as it has been. I am sorry Madame En-Noor has left off the milk, though I never cease tosend coffee twice a-day. I must now, however, send but once, as my sugaris getting low. I observed the beautiful bird's nest which I mentioned the other day. Itis a perfect piece of architecture, far superior to the huts made inthis country. The only apparent deficiency is, that it seems to hang onnothing, or is suspended sometimes on a slender straw, at other times ona thin twig. The nest is built of straw inside and outside, but theinside is of a finer straw. I have not seen the bird who is thearchitect of this wonderful piece of mechanism. I observed two speciesof parasitical plants, one of which has a slender trunk, and has itsroot in the earth; and the other, which is entirely dependent on thetree over which it spreads for all its support and nourishment. Itsroots are in the very boughs of the tree which bears it. Some of ourblacks, who were carried over the desert when young, and had not seen orobserved this phenomenon before, burst out laughing. These comicalitiesof vegetation amused them exceedingly. What excites the seriousattention of cultivated minds often produces only laughter in vulgar anduntutored people. Parasitical plants would be a complete study for thebotanist here. The doom-tree has a smaller and rounder-shaped head thanthe common date-palm; the leaves are spread out very like a fan, but Iknow not whether the doom is called the fan-shaped palm. We are to stay at this place some time--there appears to be no hurry. Weshall probably be here three days more. The Sultan of Asoudee isvisiting amongst us, and has concerted with En-Noor that all thecaravans shall go together, in order that no one portion of it shallarrive before the other in Damerghou, and so get the ghaseb cheaper; as, of course, the early arrivals generally get the better bargains. Atfirst I could not understand the reason of our all going together; nowthe thing is clear enough. En-Noor called at my tent in the evening, and was very civil. I got alittle milk afterwards for the tea sent him. The royal family appear nowto be short of milk. I find that his royal highness has in reality onlyone wife, who is a slave. In an African point of view, however, eventhis is too much. His highness confessed to Overweg that God gave manhis limited time in this as in all things. Had the beating I haverecorded any relation to this bitter reflection? When the sun is down, the landscape around begins to look like OldEngland, the species of trees not being visible. The doom reminds me ofthe shorn elms along the hedges. _23d. _--The Sultan of Asoudee sent this morning for powder, and wasthankful for a small quantity. We remained here this day. All thevalleys and country around are called _Unan_. This is also the name of awell near us, but water is usually obtained by scooping out the sand inthe bed of the valleys, and there are few regular wells; those which aredug are destroyed as soon as the rain returns. Such alone remain entireas are out of the reach, or beyond the range of the periodic floods. _24th. _--We were not to come on to-day; but En-Noor changed his mind, and we journeyed on five hours, up the valley of Unan. The eternalsameness of the tholukh and doom--for dooms are now in greatnumbers--would be wearisome, had we not had so much desert before; butwe are still delighted with the continual occurrence of trees, be theyof what species they may. There is, besides, a great abundance of wildwater-melons, which the people sometimes eat. They are very small, buthard and sound. The lizard, which almost through the whole desert wasfound darting about and around the camels' feet, has now disappeared. Itwould be a curious inquiry for a naturalist to endeavour to account forits disappearance, for the nature of the soil has not so much changed. The only difference--but perhaps this is great for the lizard--is thathereabouts occur periodic rains, which deluge the land for a few days inthe year; and during these few days, probably, all the land lizardsfound in low places would be destroyed. This is Christmas-eve; a sorry one for us all! We receive no news butbad news. For to-day a man came up to us, who said he left Tripoli threemonths ago, and that the cholera had been very severe in Tripoli, makingmany victims; but he brought no particular news for us. He came by theway of Ghadamez and Ghât, and yet had heard nothing of our misfortuneson the frontier. I suppose the people of Ghât had already ceased to talkabout us and our affairs; for here in the desert, as elsewhere, thingsare soon forgotten. We saw little of the rest of the caravan _en route_, but if we ever see the whole of the camels going with us, and thedivision of Aghadez, I am quite sure they will never reach theexaggerated number of 10, 000! All numbers are dreadfully exaggerated inAfrica. _25th. _--Christmas-day! My second Christmas day in Africa during thisjourney. We have nothing to make a merry day of; but we must try andcheer ourselves up by the thought that we are still spared, afterpassing through so many dangers, and amidst a people naturally hostileto us, and only softened by fear of the Turks, and by possession of thegoods of the Government, which they have taken one way or other. Yetsome of the people appear of a more kindly nature, and Overweg hasexperienced a little hospitality in the huts retired from the road, orsequestered in the surrounding valleys. Gracious God! make us all thankful for health and strength: may we everpraise thy protecting care of us and our mission. For the sake of ourSaviour, born on this day, pardon all our sins; give us grace to lead anew life, and a most willing mind to receive Jesus as the Lord ourrighteousness! O God, have mercy upon all our friends and relations, andgive them the will to receive the Saviour, born on this day, as theironly chance of salvation! O God, have mercy upon Africa, and on all men! Some musicians came this morning to salute us with a little of theirrough music, a drum and a clarionet. I gave them three rings and alittle sugar. I have very little to bestow, and were I to be moregenerous, or to make an effort to give them anything like a Christmasgift, I should then have all the people upon me, begging everything Ihad left. Yesterday I spoke a few words to Hamma, son-in-law of En-Noor, and he immediately asked me for a turban. I had not spoken to him forseveral weeks, or only saluted him with a few words, in order to avoidhis begging. This man has already had from me presents to the amount offifty dollars! Thus I am cut off from all conversation with thesepeople, and have no practice in speaking the languages of the interior. I must try to get on better than this. Overweg, as doctor, is betteroff. The sick, and the people who bring the sick, must talk to him, andmust receive a favour from him. And he frequently gets a few cheeses inreturn. The women make extraordinary propositions. The other day theyoffered him a slave or a bullock for a medicine to produce a child. The place of our encampment is called Bargot, which I believe is alsothe name of a well, near or about an hour and a-half distant. I havealso heard the name of Bergu. Yesterday we passed some ruins of houses, built of stone and mud. I am glad that Barth borrowed my Bible, and isreading to-day. Overweg also was the first to propose prayers on Sundayswhen we are staying long together in one place. We are now near the Hamadah, which is a journey of full four dayswithout water. We arrive at the water on the morning only of the fifthday. I gave a Christmas-box to all the servants of the expedition, sevenpersons, each a cotton handkerchief and a ring. This is all I couldspare. Yusuf had a silk handkerchief and no ring. The kind of ringesteemed here is one having a good imitation of a stone, and the metalis as good as gold for these people. With the exception of the Gatroneeand my mahadee, the rest ill deserved their Christmas-box, but it isnecessary to forget and to forgive. However, I am now more strict withthem, as we are leaving the Tuaricks, amongst whom some of our servantsbecame almost Tuaricks themselves in manners. The Sultan of Asoudee is still with us, and keeps up a sort of stateabout him, although he is a poor weak fellow indeed, compared toEn-Noor. He has not paid us a visit, and we have not seen him. En-Noor, probably, does not wish to bother us with such a visit. The musicianswho saluted us this morning came from him, but they did not know it wasa feast-day of Christians, and only came to pick up what they could get. I sent Madame En-Noor a piece of white loaf-sugar, and told her it was aChristmas-box. She received it with many thanks; so I have chronicledall our doings this day. I read the two first chapters of St. Luke inArabic. We had no provisions, or anything with which we could producethe resemblance of a plum-pudding. As to roast beef, we have some bitsof preserved beef, which we eat with our baseen and hamsa. Amidst so many uncertainties in Central Africa we may not see anotherChristmas-day. O God! whenever the time of our departure is come, may webe found relying for salvation on that Saviour, thine only-begotten Son, born on this day. Overweg and I conversed late at night on the mechanism of the heavens, and the antiquity of the world, according to the received theories ofastronomers and geologists; the dark and black vault above, sprinkledover with brilliant points, being the object which first set ourthoughts in motion. The stars are time itself, and also illustrations ofthe passage of light through the universe. The earth was once a hotterorb, passing successively from a vaporous to a fluid, and then a solidstate. The northern climes were once torrid zones, from the evidence ofthe fossil remains and from coals, which are masses of tropical trees. Such were the speculations in which we indulged. [12] [12] I have not thought it advisable to abridge or alter this _naïve_ account of a Christmas-day on the southern borders of the Sahara. Mr. Richardson seems already to feel certain presentiments of the fate that awaited him. In other places I have omitted devotional passages; but in this it seemed to me that it would be unjust to the memory of this amiable traveller to do so. --ED. _26th. _--We stay here to-day. There is some trouble amongst thoserestless tribes, the Kaltadak and Kalfadaï; and Yusuf was sent for thismorning by En-Noor to write some letters for him to these maraudingtribes. They are fighting amongst themselves. The route from the Northwill never be safe for Europeans until these tribes are properlysubjugated; and when will that time come? It is now reported that we allgo to Zinder. I shall be glad of this opportunity to get a few dollars, and then make the best of my way to Sakkatou. But our delay here rendersthis trip always less certain, and seems to point out that I shall gofirst to Bornou. The most frequent parasitical plant, which is found upon nearly all thetholukhs, is called _koushi_ in Haussa, and _barango_ in Bornou. It is afine plant, and its flower is not unlike the woodbine or honeysuckle, but devoid of all fragrance. The leaves are succulent, full of moisture, in shape a long oval, the longest not more than an inch and a quarter. This parasite also fastens itself on other trees, and often kills thebranches from which it draws its strength--a real sap-sucker. Thekarembo frequently dies in its embraces. Hamma, the son-in-law of En-Noor, is not to go with us, on account ofthe quarrels with the Kalfadaï and the Kaltadak. He is exceedinglydisappointed, for it deprives him of making anything for himself inHaussa; and En-Noor keeps him very poor indeed, as his highness doeseverybody about him. The salt-caravan is the affair of life and death for Aheer; and thereason is now clear to me why it is that En-Noor goes every year withit, and directs and superintends its movements. This is the greatestservice he can render to his country, and the Kailouees generally. Without this salt the population of Aheer would soon all perish, oremigrate to Soudan. The other commerce of the country could not sufficefor the support of the inhabitants. _27th. _--We had a visit from the people of the country before starting;they appear to be a fine race of men, whiter than most of the Kailouees, and nearly all tall. In these nomade districts the weakly childrengenerally die off, leaving only the robust. We journeyed on southwardsfive hours, through wadys formed by the force of the waters, graduallyapproaching the great Hamadah. The doom now disappeared, and most of thetrees dependent on much water; for here the wadys are all shallow. Footmarks of the ostrich, gazelle, hare, habara, and some otherinteresting animals, cover this portion of the desert. The gazelles havemore room, and the ostriches also. The former, besides, are out of theway of the lion; for this beast seldom pursues its prey across thedesert plains. People say we shall see many animals in the Hamadah, because the liondoes not come there. A large gazelle was taken this evening by some ofthe caravan. A few locusts and many fine butterflies were busy about. We are encampedat a place called Agalgo, or Agallegu. There is a well at the distanceof an hour; so that the number of days during which no water is found isreduced to three: but this water is a sort of collection from the rainremaining beyond its time, and is not always found. We are now on the edge of the plateau. En-Noor said to-day, "There arefive thousand camels with us;" but I question whether there be more thantwo thousand. It is of great importance to ascertain this, for thus onlythe force of the country may be estimated. We are now said to be eightdays from Damerghou. The Sultan of Asoudee has detained many of En-Noor's young people, toprotect the country in case there be any troubles with the Kalfadaï. Several pieces of scoria, or lava, were found on the road, showing adistrict here once to have had active volcanoes. The granite begins todisappear, to be replaced by sandstone. This sandstone, generally, according to Overweg, forms plateaux; whereas granite is found in rocksand ridges in the midst of valleys. _28th. _--We started early. The camels move on at the beginning of theirday's work to the beating of the _kanga_, or drum. We have two or threedrums, but the drummers have little skill, and the beating is always thesame monotonous sound. Our course varied from S. E. To S. W. , but layalways southward, through shallow valleys, or low, indented, orscooped-out plains; the whole country being what the people call_hamadah_, or plateau. All the large trees have disappeared with thedoom-palm. Nevertheless there are everywhere the marks of water. Yet therain cannot fall here so much as in the mountainous regions which wehave left behind, for it is high ground only which brings down the rainin Africa; except, indeed, near the equator. As yesterday, the sand andsoft earth are covered with the footmarks of gazelles, ostriches, thehabara, and even the giraffe. The people, in fact, say we shall see thegiraffe before we arrive at Damerghou. But of these animals, who haveleft thus the impression of their feet on the sand, we saw not one. Indeed it is quite a matter of luck to fall in with animals in thedesert. I have seen but very few. My colleagues have both encounteredlions and monkeys, neither of which have I seen. We have come to-day seven hours and a-half, a very good march forEn-Noor. The nights are cold enough; there is also a fresh breeze, generally from north-east, every day: nevertheless, the sun burns hot. The sky has always now a few clouds, and the atmosphere is a littlethick and misty. We have with us various queer characters; amongst therest, a fellow who boasts of his having killed many people with poisonedarrows. When I come near him I always attack him, not, indeed, with hisfavourite weapon, but with irony. I tell him, "Ah! poisoned arrows killmany people. --What matters it?--There is no God" (looking up, and saying_Babo Allah!_) This has had its effect once or twice, and he hasconfessed it is not so very fine to kill people with poisoned arrows. Evening came on, but I heard nothing of water. We are encamped near asmall hill. I looked to-day again attentively at our strings of camels. Instead of five thousand, I do not believe there are more than fivehundred. We have few people with us in comparison with the number ofcamels, and these are many of them slaves of the masters who areremaining behind in Aheer. The disturbed state of the country hasprevented many persons of consequence from joining us. To-day, mymahadee brought me an ear of ghaseb, of immense length--about threetimes the length of the ghaseb grown in Ghadamez and other oases of theSahara; nine times the length of an ear of wheat. This was found growingon the road, and intimates that we are approaching Soudan very fast. Ialso picked up to-day camomile flowers and the senna-plant. Explanation of Soudan and Bornou common words for articles of dress, food, instruments for manufacturing:-- _Jebus_, leathern bag. _Foofoo_, paste of Indian corn. _Bouza_, a species of beer. In Waura, near the western coast, it is madeof guinea-corn, honey, Chili pepper, a root of coarse grass; in Kanouand Wadaï it is made of only ghaseb and honey, and is therefore morepure and agreeable. It is called by some, acid beer. [13] _Kolla_, the gour-nut, called "African, " or "Soudan. " _Shea_, the butter-tree. _Manioc_, root. The main article of food in Congo, used as flour. [13] In Egypt it is made of rice. --ED. I trust, under the auspices of a good Providence, to arrive strong inSoudan. There our greatest enemy is fever! I walked a little to-day, andfound myself better for the exercise; but, as a rule, I avoid exposingmyself to fatigue. CHAPTER IX. Enter the Hamadah--Home of the Giraffe--Water ofChidugulah--Turtles--Cool Wind--Jerboahs--Centre of theSahara--New-year's Eve--Cold Weather--Birds of Prey--SoudanDate--Burs--Animals on the Plateau--Young Ostrich--TheTholukh-tree--Severe Cold--Eleven Ostriches--Termination of theDesert--Inasamet--The Tagama--Purchases--People begin toimprove--Fruit of the Lote-tree--Village roofed with Skins--VastPlain--Horses--Approach Damerghou--Village of Gumrek--RoughCustomers--Wars of the Kilgris and Kailouees--A smallLake--Guinea-hens--Vultures--Party of Huntsmen. _Dec. 29th. _--About five hours after we started, the route opened into a_bonâ fide_ hamadah. All around us stretched a limitless plain. Ourcourse lay always south, and we journeyed ten hours, with sand in theevening. Yesterday I had observed a few footmarks of the giraffe, but to-day theywere everywhere visible. They were double, as this animal does not moveits feet one after another, like the camel or the horse, but two of itsfeet together, or simultaneously. We saw the footprints of young as wellas old ones. This plateau is the real home of the giraffe. No placecould be better adapted for such an unwieldy creature. There isabundance of small tholukh, on which it feeds; all the country is openaround to it, and it is out of the reach of ferocious animals. Towardsthe evening the marks of the giraffe disappeared, and were succeeded bythe footprints of what is here called the wild ox (but which Overwegbelieves to be a large species of gazelle), so that one animal appearsto have made room for the other. The day was cool and cloudy. The plain is intersected with shallow beds and streams, and in someplaces evident marks of an abundance of water in the rainy season. _30th. _--We started early for the well, but did not reach it till latein the evening, after a march of nine hours. The well is calledChidugulah, and is situated on the side of a valley of some depth. Inthe bed of this valley Overweg found some infusoria, clay or stone. Many people started in the night to get water, and give their animals adrink. There is but a small supply, and what there is has a muddy, chocolate colour. The last water we took up from the valleys of Asbenhad a milky hue, so that when the coffee was made of it, it looked like_café au lait_. Bandits and hostile tribes frequent this well of Chidugulah, and resthereabouts to pillage caravans. Our people spoke of the Oulimad, andOverweg dreamed he was fighting with them. I dreamed the same night oflarge turtles, for it had been said they are found in this plateau, andtheir marks had been traced to-day. I learn now that large turtles, twofeet and a-half long, and one foot and a-half broad, are found here. Theback shell of one was used for a watering trough by the people we met_en route_. We had sand all day, rising occasionally in considerablemounds. I observed the prevailing winds in the formation of thesemounds; for there is always an inclined plane towards the quarter whencethe wind blows; whilst to where it blows the mounds are scarped. Thewinds prevailing now are E. N. E. ; and the wind has nearly always comefrom this direction since our arrival in Aheer. In another season, however, there may be a total change. In full summer it may be south, for what we know. In fact, Amankee says, in summer the wind always comesfrom the south. At this season the sand is covered with nice herbage insome places, but in the hot weather it must be all dried up. This is, intruth, the spring time in this country; the birds are all laying. Thereare also young birds fledged. In Haussa there is no word for "fledged. " This route must really present, in some parts, for many hours together, an ocean of sand; as, I think, it is described in the Itinerary procuredby Davis. To-day the footprints of the giraffe have entirelydisappeared. In summer it must be very difficult for large caravans to obtain waterfrom this well, for our people were full half a day filling four or fiveskins. What a blessing, nevertheless, is the existence of the Chidugula, for there is no water for three days farther. The boys killed thismorning a jerboah, or what the Germans call a jumping mouse. I saw oneyesterday, jumping before my camel's feet. There are a great numberhere. This jerboah is of a different colour from those I have seen inTunis; being white all over the lower part of the body and neck, straw-coloured on the top of the head and along the back; whilst thosein Tunis are nearly of the same colour as ordinary mice. This species isalso small, three inches and a-half long, and the tail is double thelength of the body. The hind legs are nearly as long as the body, andthe fore legs not half an inch. Near the tip of the tail there is aninch of black. Many young jerboahs were caught, all of the samedescription. The Haussa people call it a mouse, but have besides aspecial name. We are now about the middle of the Sahara, including the radii of thewestern and northern coasts, and we here find an immense plateau, stretching many days north and south, east and west. So far Le Brun'sconjecture is right, that the central parts of Africa are plateaux, orone vast plateau. But more of this hereafter. This plateau extends tothe Bornou route, and how much further east is yet to be ascertained. Inthe west we yet also want information. North and south it extends alongthe territory of Aheer some eight days, or about one hundred and sixtymiles. Overweg reckons the height of the plateau, above the level of thesea, at some fifteen hundred feet. _31st. _--The last day of the year! One year gone in Africa this tour!How many more are to pass? Alas! who can tell?--We came to-day ninehours, always south, over a perfect desert-plain, mostly sandy. A coldnorth-east wind was blowing all the day. The people dread it as deathitself; as well they may, for they are nearly naked. Their Soudan cottonclothes afford them little or no protection against such a bleaknorth-easter. Europeans are astonished to see these people shiveringwith cold in this bleak weather, and forget that they themselves arewell clothed. This remark is very applicable to the northern coast, where hundreds of the poor are seen shivering, with only a thin blanketthrown around them in the coldest day of winter. When they see aEuropean well covered with tight cloth clothes, and flannel underneath, they may well call out _sega_, "cold, " as they often do; and we areready to laugh, and forget they are naked. In this part of the desert birds of prey abound. We passed to-day sometwenty large vultures, feeding on a dead camel. When the caravan filedby they all took wing, and perched themselves in a row on a rising moundof sand, and there waited until we had passed before them, like so manysoldiers. These were black vultures, and of enormous breadth of wing. Many wild oxen, or what are so called, were seen, and everywhere thefootprints of ostriches and gazelles. His highness En-Noor made us apresent of two ostrich eggs, and we supped on this out-of-the-waydelicacy the last day of the year. The date of the black country(Soudan) is deserving of notice. It is called in Bornou, _bitu_; and inHaussa, _aduwa_ and _tinku_, both tree and fruit. Its kernel, or stone, is very large, and the little pulpy matter upon it has the taste of abitter sweet. It is about the size of an almond, and covered with agreen husk, a little thick. This fruit is now ripening fast in Aheer. The tree is covered with thorns, very large, and projecting in everydirection. The leaves are small, almost without veins, and with a thickstalk. To-day we had the karengia, or bur, with a vengeance. En-Noor hadalready advertised us of its appearance hereabouts two days ago. It iscertainly the most troublesome thing that can well be conceived for alltravellers, and more so for Europeans. This bur is from a species ofherbage bearing grain, very small, and which the people make bazeen of, like ghaseb and other grain. All feet of men, women, and animals, wereto-day covered with this teasing bur. The animals seen on this plateau, it will be seen, are in reality mostlyof the harmless kind. The giraffe, the wild ox (considered a species ofimmense gazelle, or stag), the gazelle, a large and small species, theostrich, the guinea-fowl, the hobara (in Haussa, _tuja_), various kindsof vultures, the crow, many small birds, the lizard (in small numbers), the jerboah, the locust, butterflies, and other insects, the thob, thelarge turtle, &c. Overweg says the footmarks of the hyæna were alsoseen. En-Noor's people caught a young ostrich, only a few hours hatched. It isnow kept as a pet. Several eggs have been also picked up. The ostrichhas been seen feeding on the gum of the tholukh-tree. As to trees, we have still the eternal tholukh, or mimosa. What anomnipresent tree is this in Africa! The mimosa is found at the Cape, with the ethel; it is found in all the northern Sahara, and the ethelwith it, wherever there is some water, as in the wadys of Fezzan. In allthe western Sahara it abounds, producing the finest gums. Consider alsothe gum-trade at Mogador and Senegal! In the plain of Timbuctoo, themimosa is found in scattered forests. Our people pretend, however, thatthe tholukh does not occur in Soudan, its place being filled up byvarious thorny trees, much resembling the mimosa. We have around us someother stunted shrubs. All trees are dwarfish in these plateaux. Various distinguished characters are amongst the servants and slaves ofEn-Noor. One fellow is called the "King of the Donkeys, " another wenchis styled the "Queen of the Goats;" Zumzug is properly named _Probanberau_, "a great thief, " from his thievish propensities. Then there isthe "Lad of the Arrows, " the fellow who is always boasting of how manypeople he has killed with arrows, &c. &c. ; but Zumzug requires especialnotice from me, on account of his having run off to Aghadez with acaftan of mine; and also from the curious circumstance that En-Noorkeeps such a thief amongst his slaves, so confounding the honest withthe thievish servants. _January 1, 1851. _--A strong, bleak, north-east wind ushers in the NewYear. It began yesterday, and is likely to continue for some time. Mostcomfortless and disagreeable weather is this for the caravan. The peopledo not like to move, and show a decided tendency to hibernation. Somecamels are also lost--escaped from the numbed fingers of their drivers. I, too, feel it cold; and yet there is so much of home in thisweather--this keen, bracing air--that I cannot complain. Our people caught the camels at length, and we proceeded stillsouthwards. After three hours' travelling we appeared to have passed themost barren portion of the plateau, and came upon a new species of tree, called in Haussa, _tadana_. We have this day had a splendid sight ofostriches--eleven feeding in a troop near us, quietly like so manysheep--eccentric birds of their species, showing no tendency to scudaway. Perhaps I shall never see so many again together. They were allblack, with maybe a white feather or two underneath the sombre plumage. The small tholukh-trees are full of birds' nests. In the Northern Saharaa bird's nest was not to be seen, but here the trees are all coveredwith them. Amongst the various smaller ones, we came upon a hugevulture's nest on a very small tholukh, which seemed to bend and lookunhappy beneath the weight of this den of rapacity and violence. Thereare hereabouts no rocks for the eagles to build upon. We halted amidstabundance of herbage and small trees, which afforded a little shelterfrom the wind. It is, perhaps, as well that we begin the year with this most bleak andunlovely day. We may have a better one to terminate 1851. I was obligedto increase my travelling clothes, and put on an extra holi on accountof the cold wind; and yet the temperature was not very low, it beingonly 46° at sunrise. The wind evidently comes over an immense extent ofplain towards the east, perhaps some forty or fifty days' journey. Wemade six hours and a-half. _2d. _--We started early, and moved at first to the beat of the drum. Already yesterday we had seen symptoms that the desert was drawing to aclose. To-day we fairly got out of it, and entered upon a wilderness ofsmall trees. The vegetation has not, however, yet improved in proportionto our nearness to Soudan; for this dwarf forest of tholukh and variousother trees cannot be compared to the splendid desert vegetation in theAheer valleys; these are pigmy mimosas in comparison with those ofAheer. The surface of the ground is now undulating sand and red earth, and every trace of stone has almost disappeared; the soil is alsocovered with karengia and other herbs, all dry and sapless. We seem tobe traversing a limitless stubble-field, covered over or sprinkled withsmall trees. Few animals enliven the scene; a crow here and there strutsor flies. All the small birds seem to have sought covert from the cold. The same north-east wind as yesterday blows with remorseless strength. I observed great numbers of ant-hills, and very large ones, too. Some ofthe paths from these hills are straighter than the roads made by manover the Sahara. So, also, the birds in Aheer, and on this route, buildbetter houses for themselves than men do. We halted amidst karengia, andhad great difficulty in finding a place clear of them. En-Noor suffersdreadfully from the cold, and we help to keep him alive by our coffee, which he drinks shivering, and then admits to have given him renovatedheat and strength. This coffee keeps the old fellow in a good humour, and he is extremely civil to us. _3d. _--We started early, and made four hours and a-half, when we stoppedat the village Inasamet, or Unwessemet. The weather is still the same, and the route continues to wind through a scattered wilderness of smalltrees, amongst which Overweg thought he had discovered a species of wildorange. We now see signs of approaching habitations, such as flocks of sheepstraying, and droves of oxen feeding begin to appear. There seems to bea great number of birds of prey hereabouts. I counted at least thirtyvultures, who watched the passing of the caravan, in hopes to see acamel fall and be abandoned. We encamped a stone's throw beyond the houses. The well is called by thesame name as the village. The inhabitants are Tuaricks, and some of themof a very pure race, almost white; whilst others, again, are dark: theyare called Tagama. The women and children all came out to sell theircheeses, and a few other things. I purchased two small fowls and a goodnumber of cheeses, which seem to be the principal articles of produce:they are made quite square, three or four inches a side, and a quarterof an inch thick. I purchased these with imitation silver rings, ofwhich the people are immensely fond, preferring them to the imitationgold ring. I got two cheeses for a ring--a plain hoop: the fowls costeach three of these toys. The women and girls bothered me much withtheir curiosity and their bartering. Some of them are as stout as theMooresses of the coast, and nearly all are well-looking; many with verygood features, and fair for this country. All are polite enough, men, women, and children. We are glad to find the people more civil, thenearer we approach to Soudan. We pray and hope this amendment maycontinue; for hitherto, since we left Mourzuk, we have always had thepeople, with the exception of those of Tintalous, more or less hostiletowards us. Some of our customers came to ask if the rings were reallysilver, for the blacksmith of the village had said they were onlypewter. We replied, they were _de-de_ silver; that is, looked like it, or equal to it. They are, indeed, a most excellent imitation of silver, and answer quite as well the purpose of adorning these Targhee beauties. I saw to-day, on a single bough of tholukh, and a very small bough, three birds' nests suspended in a festoon. I tasted the wildwater-melons of this part of the Sahara, and found them bitternessitself. But I am told by our Gatronee, that the Tibboos have a method ofextracting the bitterness from this wild fruit. The people brought me_en route_ some fruit, called in Bornou _kusulu_, and _mageria_ inHaussa; that is, the _nebek_ or fruit of the sider or lote-tree. Theywere dry, but sweet and nice, and of a pleasant, acid sweet. Provisionsthus are becoming more plentiful and varied. Dr. Barth has bought somemeat of _el-wagi_, the name given by Yusuf for the bugar wahoush, orwild ox of the Arabs. The greater part of the trees in this region are of the species calledin Haussa, _tadani_, and in Bornouese, _kabi_. Were these trees adornedwith leaves--they are now fallen off, in consequence of the cold--thecountry about would seem covered with a dense forest. Our arrival amongst the Tagama is a new era in our journeying, it beingsome time since we saw any men besides Kailouees. Overweg thinks the menthieves and bad, and the women lascivious; but I observed in theirconduct nothing different from other Tuaricks. A man, however, offeredseveral women to Barth. I have never yet had such offers. Amongst thethings brought for sale are young ostriches and the eggs of ostriches. Iate in the evening some flesh of the giraffe; it is pretty well tasted, and something like beef. Hunting the giraffe is a great occupation withthe people of this village, and the flesh of the animal a source ofsubsistence for them. They have, however, besides, cattle and flocks;and the karengia, which has proved such an annoyance to us, is theprincipal farinaceous food of these Tagama, as the bou rekaba is theprincipal food of poor families in Aheer. Inasamet has, perhaps, ahundred huts, covered with the skins of the bullock, and probably of thegiraffe. The latter animal is hunted by men mounted on horseback, whothrow their spears at it, and wound it under the belly. This is said tobe the only way of killing it, for the rest of its body is covered witha sort of rhinoceros hide, of great thickness. Of this hide they makefamous sandals, which wear long. It is difficult to decide how far this immense plain--which extends asfar as Aghadez on the N. W. , to Gouber on the S. W. , perhaps as far as theplain of Senezrouft, on the route of Timbuctoo--passing, besides, eastwards across the route of Bornou, --how far this vast space of desertis a plateau to the surrounding countries; that is, whether higher orlower than their level. We do not think it is a plateau in reference toAheer. There is another route to Damerghou, westward of this, on whichis situate the forest of Kob-kob, the place mentioned in the itinerarywhich I procured from the people of Ghadamez. _4th. _--The morning was cold, with wind. The Tagama, I observe, havemany horses. Like their more civilised brethren in Europe, these peoplefind this the most tractable and convenient animal in every case wherethe desert does not interfere. We came south seven hours and a-quarter; after four, the wavy countrybroke up into a deep valley; in another hour, on the right, was seen apool of rain-water--a small lake, stretching nearly a mile long. Thecountry, as yesterday, was undulating, and covered with a dwarf forest;but the trees were thicker, and the ground was covered with driedherbage, mostly karengia. It is our constant occupation, morning andevenings, for half an hour, to pick the burs out of our clothes. Theanimals seen were mostly small birds; some flights of blackbirds, two-thirds the size of the English blackbird; and crows and doves innumbers. Near the water I picked up the feathers of the guinea-fowl, andthe piece of a shell of a large turtle. Burrows of the hyæna and theant-eater dotted the ground. En-Noor told me that lions also abound inthe thickets. The lions conceal themselves in the trees, and the hyænasburrow under ground. Our people are now on the threshold of Damerghou, and do not know yetwhat route they will take from this country to Kanou; whether by Tesaouaor Zinder. Even En-Noor seems quite undecided what he shall do. _5th. _--We came well on to-day, eight hours and twenty minutes. Afterfour or five hours we passed on the roadside a dozen huts, withskin-roofs or coverings. The people are some light, some dark;variegated, like most of the Tuaricks. The children of eight or nineyears go quite naked. After two hours more we came upon the largevillage of Gumrum, or Gumrek. I saw many people, light and dark; thewomen are fat and bold, free in their conversation; and the menevidently fanatical. The latter shouted that we ought not to pass, because we were infidels. One fellow was very savage, and cursed me; hewas an old grey-headed gentleman, and seemed quite excited. These peopleare also of the tribe of the Tagama. Amankee came up to me, whispering, "These are like the Kalfadaï, they would rob you as they did, only theyare all in the hands of the Sofo (En-Noor). " The inhabitants of Gumrek have much cattle. We ourselves saw some fiveor six hundred head, and they must have more than double this number, besides flocks and horses. The men mostly ride horses, but their breedis miserably small and ill-looking. People in poor circumstances mountbullocks, as do all the women. To the west, lately, there came off a great razzia. All this countryaround, for some hundred miles, is the noted theatre of suchexpeditions, which are mostly undertaken against the salt and othercaravans, where there is considerable booty expected. The smallercaravans escape. When the Kilgris and Kailouees are in open hostility, they generally make this the theatre of their battles; the formercarrying off the salt of the latter. This hostility is, like that ofmost of the wild tribes, of ancient date. The Kilgris have been drivenfrom all this part of Asben by the Kailouees. The houses we passed inruins are said to have been once occupied by the Kilgris. If so, theyevidently were in former times powerful and opulent, and have sincebecome relaxed and pusillanimous. At any rate, they have been expelledby the fiercer and more ferocious Kailouees. The Oulimad also come hereto plunder occasionally. At Gurarek we saw a phenomenon which, after somuch desert, gladdened indeed our eyes. This was a fine sheet of water, of great extent, covered with a forest of luxurious trees. It was agenuine Soudan picture, and we gazed at it with delight. I neverthelessthought of the pestilential exhalations of the stagnant pools further onin Soudan. The ground holds the water tightly, for wells are sunk nearit of some depth before water is reached. This pool, or lake, dries upduring the heat of summer, as is proved by the existence of wells sunkin their beds. The country to-day was extremely pleasant, like some parts of theundulating county of Essex, after the harvest is gathered. I scarcelyexpected to find such reminiscences in Africa, on the frontiers ofPamerghou. If the vegetation were all in leaf, the scenery would bequite cheerful and happy-looking. The trees to-day thickened intoforests down some slopes--but there is nothing tropical in all thisverdure; one or two plants, at most, are all that could be considered assuch. Many gazelles glanced on either hand as we proceeded: theguinea-hen was in great numbers, thirty or forty together, old ones andchickens. They run very quickly through the forests, and cannot be takenin the day. At night, however, some are snared. They feed on thekarengia, and get immensely plump. Their flesh is greatly esteemed. Doves showed themselves in flights; and many beautiful small birds, somestrangers to my eyes. One especially, a little black-and-white fellow, with an immense bushy tail. Vultures, in company with a variegated crow, were feeding on a dead camel. This curious crow has a white neck andbreast. What a truly Saharan group is that which I have just noticed. The vulture feeding on a camel fallen in the desert, towards the end ofan arduous journey! We met a party of huntsmen, with three bullocks to carry their ghaseb. They had six dogs, and told us they were off after the giraffe. A fewlizards now and then glanced over the path, and at every thirty or fortyyards rose a busy ant-hill. En-Noor and I converged to-day from the backs of our respective camels. He asked me particularly if I liked stout women, and whether stout womenwere found in England. I replied, gravely, that this species occurred inall Christian countries; a piece of zoological information which seemedhighly to gratify him. His highness still pretends he does not knowwhere he is going--that is, whether to Zinder or Tesaoua. We encamped near a shallow wady, the first we have seen in this part ofthe country; i. E. A well-defined dry bed of a river. CHAPTER X. My Barracan--Spontaneous Civility on arrival in Damerghou--GhasebStubble--Cactus--Water-Melons--Party of Tuaricks--Boban Birni--Huts ofDamerghou--Tagelel--Women of the Village--Population of theCountry--Complaisant Ladies--Festivities--Aquatic Birds--Dancing--AFlatterer--A Slave Family--A new Reason for Wife-beating--HaznaDancers--Damerghou, common ground--Purchase of Ghaseb--DethronedSultan--Yusuf--Mohammed Tunisee--Ophthalmia--Part with Barth andOverweg--Presents to Servants--Sheikh of Fumta--YakobahSlave--Applications for Medicine--Boban Birni--Forest--At length enterBornou ground--Daazzenai--Tuarick Respectabilities--Detachment of theSalt-Caravan. _Jan. 6th. _--We came seven hours. The weather is always thick, as formany days past; but the wind not so strong, nor the air so cold. We hadeven some drops of rain; and, probably, the rain here is not soconstant, in its fall in summer-time, as is generally supposed. I tookout my last barracan, as some precaution against the threatening clouds. This barracan excited everybody's attention; every one admired it, andasked for it. I was plagued to death by the people, and I vowed I wouldnot take it out again be the weather what it might. The same demand hadbeen repeatedly made for my poor carpet; so, on the following day, Itook it off from the camel. An hour before we pitched tent; we passed a town on the top of a hillcomposed of huts, some covered with skins, and some made of straw. Ourencampment is in a wady, near a cluster of hovels. The people camerunning to welcome us, by offering ghaseb for sale. Two volunteered toassist us in clearing a clean place for our tents. This being the firstact of spontaneous assistance which we had witnessed from Tripoli toDamerghou, I gave them each a ring. We are now fairly in Damerghou; andto-day we saw the first specimens of the culture in this part of Africa. The ground is cleared by burning, as on the coast; which burning servespartly to supply the place of manure. The people, apparently slaves, were burning and raking up the ashes and stubble, with rakes made offallen branches of trees. We passed through wide tracts of ghasebstubble. Some of the stalks were seven or eight feet high, but the earswere not larger than those seen at Ghadamez--about eight or nine inches. Amongst the plants observed yesterday was the cactus, with a smoothleaf. Water-melons were also found in the road, mostly quite good andsweet, but some white ones perfectly tasteless. None, even thosecultivated, are equal to the melons of the coast; there are no mealyones here. We were met by a party of Tuaricks, who came to salute En-Noor, mountedon horseback. As we had had some very rough customers amongst theTagama, I took little notice of them, and continued eating my bread andcheese. At this the people of the caravan laughed. They thought we oughtalways to receive these strangers, Tuaricks, with fear and trembling. Ideemed the contrary plan more politic. However, had I known they wereofficial persons, and one son of a sheikh of a town, I should have giventhem a more civil welcome. _7th. _--We came eight hours and a-half south, over an undulatingcountry, intersected with small wadys, and through ghaseb stubble. Allwas wavy ground, and bare of trees. There is, however, a small hill, ata distance of some ten miles from our encampment, called Boban Birni, "Great City, " of conical form. Numerous villages were scattered alongthe whole line of route, a few of some size. The form of the huts islike that of beehives. Around them are small magazines of ghaseb, supported on wooden stakes, very like corn-stacks. The inhabitants ofthese Damerghou villages are blacks, with features like the Bornouese. In fact, they speak the Bornou languages, and are said to have been theproduct of past razzias in that country by the Tuaricks. Damerghou is the granary of Asben, and seems to be entirely inpossession of the Asbenouees, nearly all these villages being peopled bythe slaves of the Tuaricks. Some villages, indeed, contain nothing butslaves. Few animals were noticed to-day, but we saw four gazelles feedingtogether, and some hares. Not many birds appeared, on account of thefewness of the trees. Only a small portion of the ground is cultivated, but the camels and cattle are taken to be fed in the waste lands. We encamped at the village of En-Noor, called Tagelel. The capital ofDamerghou is on the west (N. W. ) from this, and is called Olleloa. Theplace is governed by Tuaricks. People say there are two or three hundred towns and villages in thecountry. Damerghou is not considered as part of Soudan, because it ispossessed by the Tuaricks; but the country and climate are undoubtedlythe same as all the neighbouring Soudanee territories. The weather wasvery warm and oppressive to-day. I fancied I suffered from the change ofclimate. I felt not quite well, and was much annoyed by the disobedienceof the servants. Mohammed Tunisee has spoiled them all, and even Yusufhas done his share of mischief. _8th. _--The weather was warm again this morning. I had a visit from thefemale slaves of the village of En-Noor, introduced by the wife of hishighness. I gave them rings and sugar, and sent them off in a goodhumour. The country around looks exceedingly bare, almost free fromtrees. There is a little herbage for the camels. Ghaseb stubble, however, spreads all over, which looks well for the industry of the poorslaves. The karengia has disappeared. The news of the day goes that En-Noor will take me himself to Zinder. Heprobably wants to make acquaintance with the new governor of that place, as well as to see us safe there. The Tuaricks paid me a visit. I gavethem a bit of sugar, showed them a gun, and got rid of them. A presentof leban from a daughter of En-Noor induced me to give her a ring. Amankee says the population of this country is very various, but theTuaricks of Asben are the masters. The villagers are not all slaves;there are many free people amongst them, --also Buza in numbers; Tuarickswho, having settled in Soudan, have forgotten their own language, speaking only Haussa. Many visitors trouble us, but we hope for adiminution to-morrow. The people of Damerghou are reported as enormousthieves, but we have seen as yet but little of their propensities thisway, having, happily, lost nothing. I made a visit to the village, and was well received by the principalslave of En-Noor, who presented me with ghaseb-bread, cheese, and furd, or ghaseb-water. The ladies were singularly complaisant, and one offeredme her friend; another was offered by a man. I believe these offers madein the way of compliments. In the East, it would not be prudent to takehim at his word who should say, "Everything I have is yours. " The hutsof the village are very clean, and are inhabited entirely by slaves ofEn-Noor. These villages of Damerghou, at a distance, have the appearanceof Chinese villages, such as I have seen drawn, with eaves cocked uplike the rim of a French hat. The evening was given up to festivities, the slaves of the caravan uniting with those of the Tagelel. A regularprocession brought the supper from the village to the people of thecaravan, and then the music and dancing began. We had no supper sent. His highness is amazingly shabby in this respect. He fancies, perhaps, he could send us nothing better than what we have ourselves got, but hemight try the compliment. We are, however, obliged to him for preventingothers from levying contributions upon us in this new region. TheTuaricks here--all the strangers--are very civil; on account, I believe, of our being with the old man. He is of great negative utility. Overweg went to a lagoon, with little green isles in the midst of it, and shot some ducks. Ducks! This convinces us that we are now in thecountry of water. A wader was shot, and a fine plump bird something likea partridge, which Mohammed Tunisee calls _poule de Carthage_, but it ismuch smaller than those that I have eaten in Tunis. Many aquatic birdswere flying or floating about the lake. The dancing in the evening was after this fashion. Two men beat drums, standing on one side of a circle marked. The dancers advanced towardsthem with shy and coyish gesture, and then swung round and round to theopposite side of the circle in a sort of time kept by the beating of thedrum. They threw up their legs, but not in an indecent manner. It was akind of simple waltzing. The men were not more violent in action thanthe women. Each sex danced separately, the women beginning first andthen retiring. During the performance a song was kept up, a continuallyrecurring rhyme. When it became dark the male and female slaves madelove, and coquetted together. We, too, had our music; a strollingminstrel came to our tent by appointment to play on his guitar. He sangall our praises in very nice Haussa words, and indulged in the mostextraordinary flattery I ever heard. I was Sultan, and had the riches ofthe world at my command. _Over_ was the great doctor, and what he couldnot cure, God himself could not cure. _Bar_ was the wise man, knowingall languages and all things. We tried not to be pleased, but in vain. Flattery is sweet, especially when enveloped in song. The weather was hot to-day, and sultry. I made many little presents, some to a fighi of Bornou, a Shoua Arab, who repeated the fatah to us. It is reported that a great deal of the salt goes with En-Noor toZinder, from which we are separated by two days' journey, one ofvillages and another of forest. _9th. _--The morning opened with wind, as usual, from the N. E. Theweather was cooler than yesterday. I visited a group of cottages, orrather huts, and received a present of a korna for holding water. Thethatch of these primitive habitations was of bou rekaba stalks. Thekorna is allowed to twine itself over the roofs, as the woodbine overour cottages, and looks very pretty. This group of cottages wasinhabited by a single family, --alas! all slaves. According to Overweg, the reason En-Noor beat his wife in the terriblemanner mentioned in this journal was, because she was accustomed toglide out of her chamber at night to witness the dances--the beastlydances of the north coast. I certainly was surprised to hear that shewas present at these filthy exhibitions. "Have I not bought you?" hishighness remonstrated with her. "Are you not my slave?" "No. " shereplied; "I am your wife, not your slave. " So the lady continued, tillshe aggravated his highness into a great fury. Many Europeans, it mustbe confessed, would beat their wives for a less cause. It is now said, his highness goes first to Tesaoua. We start allto-morrow, at any rate. The bells which cover the horses are withoutclappers, but being close together they make a great jingling noise bydashing one against another. Suppers were brought this evening, but thesinging and dancing were not continued. We had, however, at sunset, avisit from a Hazna dancer, --a perfect specimen of African buffoonery andjingling. He danced and sung with the wildest barbarity. He had twofollowers, to pick up the offerings of the people. They beat two piecesof stick together to the motion of his legs, hung with bells. The upperpart of his body was naked, whilst the lower part was covered with a redand yellow apron. This man is said to drink beer, and is a professedpagan. I went to the wells, which are bored through the hard red clay, in theshape of small circular holes, of about fifty feet in depth. There isvery little water at this season, but it is sufficient for the wants ofthe village when the salt-caravan is not here. The inhabitants of Damerghou consist of Kailouee Tuaricks--Bornoueserunaways and slaves--Haussa people, free and slaves--Bousa, or thedescendants of Tuaricks by slaves, and a few Fullanee. This is also therefuge of dethroned sultans, as well as runaway slaves. There is nowhere the Kailouee prince called Maaurgi, who exercised authority someyears since in Aheer. Damerghou, indeed, appears to be common ground, where every one who pleases, and is strong enough, comes to establishhimself. Many runaways, freemen from Bornou, who had committed somemisdemeanour, being found in this country weak and unable to protectthemselves, were reduced to slavery by a Tuarick prince. The slaves hereanswer to the serfs of Russia, with the exception that they may be takenaway and sold in other countries. _10th. _--The morning was cool because of the wind. They held a souk, ormarket, to-day near us. Provisions were very cheap. I was greatly amusedto see the small quantities of sunbal which Mahadee had laid out for twozekkas of ghaseb. For myself I was much plagued by the women, who alladmire my beard; not, certainly, my red nose, which is terribly scorchedand peeled by the sun. Overweg visited the dethroned Sultan of Asoudee, who is living here instate, in the midst of his slaves. He holds a sort of court, and, contrary to the free customs of the Tuaricks, he permits slaves whoapproach him to prostrate themselves and throw dust on their heads. Heis the uncle of the present Sultan of Asoudee, and is called Masouarji. In his fallen condition he gave Overweg a hospitable reception, and apresent of dates, which was duly acknowledged. Yusuf, refusing to do some translation which I requested him, nowforfeits all claims to my service. I told him, to-day, to go off toKanou. Afterwards I arranged with him to go with me to Zinder, where, before the governor, I hope to get clear of him; for he is now of littleuse, and costs me more than all my servants together. Mohammed Tunisee has done him great harm; but, nevertheless, this chapcontinues to improve since the arrangement made, by which he becomesonly the servant of Barth. The Germans, however, are still afraid ofhim. Yusuf is trying the same system with me, but will probably findthat it will end in no good affair for himself. Mohammed Tunisee andYusuf seem hitherto to have combined to spoil all our people. Theliberated slaves from Tunis, brought up by me, have turned out the bestand most faithful servants. I am much pleased with this. All the people of Damerghou are afflicted with ophthalmia, which is saidto arise from the winds that prevail constantly over this open andunsheltered country. Some of the people pretend it is caused by drinkingghaseb-water, which appears absurd enough. The Moorish and othermerchants attribute the greater part of their diseases to drinkingwater, --especially the fevers. How much truth there is in this assertionis not easy to be determined. _11th. _--It has been agreed that I and my colleagues should here partfor a time, Dr. Barth going to Kanou, and Dr. Overweg to Tesaoua andMaradee, whilst I proceed with En-Noor direct to Zinder. Dr. Barthpromises to be in Kuka in two months; and Dr. Overweg says he willimmediately correspond, that is from Tesaoua to Zinder. The latter hasthe more difficult journey before him; but even Dr. Barth's visit toKanou may turn out a more serious business than perhaps he anticipates. We took leave one of the other with some emotion; for in Central Africa, those travellers who part and take divergent routes can scarcely counton all meeting together again. I also here parted with Amankee, my Haussa servant. He had behavedindifferently lately, but nevertheless, as he rendered us some servicein the acquirement of the Haussa languages, and in other matters, I madehim a present of four dollars for one extra time he had remained withus. He had been paid his wages at Mourzuk to go with us to Zinder, butthen we expected to be only three months _en route_. In a moment, justas we were starting, he changed his mind, and would go to his home atonce. This is his character, --levity and instability, --otherwise he is agood fellow enough. He is one of those Tuaricks who have settled inHaussa and forgotten their native tongue. I have been often obliged touse harsh language to him, to curb his levity. In parting with theservants of the Germans, I promised them each a present of six dollarsif I heard a good report of them on their arrival at Kuka. This presentis held out as an inducement because it is impossible to tell what mayhappen, as the Germans will nearly always be without any special escort. En-Noor, however, sends one of his slaves with Overweg to Maradee, andBarth goes with the salt-caravan to Kanou. I was much disappointed that we made but one hour this morning (south). To pass the time, I determined to visit some of the villages with whichDamerghou is overscattered. I went first to a place called Fumta BouBeker, twenty-five minutes from our encampment. Here I found the Sheikh, who had just returned from Kanou, --a considerable merchant. He receivedme with great hospitality, and gave me ghaseb-water, and some littlepieces of meat, roasted, besides milk. I was accompanied by my stupidmahadee, who is, nevertheless, not a bad market-man. He purchased alarge calabash of milk, and a peck of beans, for some small pieces ofjaui, or benzoin. I then administered caustic to all the eyes of thevillage--at least sixty persons--including men, women, and children, with the Sheikh. Bad eyes were the only pressing complaints of theplace. The villagers all spoke Bornouese. I believe this is the generallanguage of Damerghou. There were only two or three Tuaricks present. Most of the people were free. The Sheikh, of course, had several slaves;amongst them a Yakobah slave, with straight lines cicatrised in curiouspatterns all over his body. The poor fellow seemed remarkably stupid, and I believe that many of these poor fellows brought from the moredistant countries of Soudan become half idiots from continuallyregretting their beloved country. Alas! what can be done for Africa, when the greater part of its social system is constructed on slavery? Curious applications are made for medicines to cure various afflictions, moral and physical, amongst these people. A woman, to-day, begged for amedicine to prevent her children from dying. She had had many children, and all had died. Another woman applies for a medicine to prevent herhusband from liking her rival, and to make him place his affection onher. A man demands medicine for good luck, and says he is alwaysunfortunate. --Good people, I am not the physician to be called in inthese cases. It is night, and En-Noor has not made his appearance. I am travellingwith his wife and the other women; besides, there are a number of maleslaves and some thirty camels of salt. Probably his highness will goanother way to Zinder. I believe that Fumta Bou Beker is quite an independent village, and thatall the great towns and villages here have an independent jurisdictionof their own. According to a slave of En-Noor, there are two sultans. _12th. _--The morning was cool and windy. We started pretty early, andmoved one hour through huts scattered amidst the ghaseb stubble. Thencame three hours of undulating ground, uncultivated. Afterwards we fellin with huts again; and in two hours more reached the conical-shapedmount called Boban Birni. It consists of a sort of coarse sandstone andis in part overgrown with herbage. From the encampment to Mount BobanBirni was a distance of six hours S. W. It can be seen from afar off, though in reality not very lofty. We passed the mount for two hoursthrough a forest of dwarf trees; the country still billowy, as it were. We advanced in all about eight hours, braced by a pleasant north-eastwind. As we advanced we saw ostriches quietly feeding at no greatdistance, not heeding our caravan as it murmured by. Partridges rose aswe advanced; together with guinea-hens, blackbirds, crows, black andwhite, and several long-tailed flutterers. _13th. _--The morning was overcast, with cold wind. We started early, andmade a long day of nine hours and a-half, and did not encamp until anhour after dark. Our course, as we ascended from Mount Boban Birni, wasS. 3° E. The country still undulated through the same forest, which inmany places was quite dense, whilst in others the trees were scattered. When we reached the camping-ground a pleasant announcement was made. Wewere at length upon Bornou soil! I could hardly believe my ears. Oh, marvel, after all our dangers and misgivings! Thanks to Almighty God fordeliverance from the hands of lawless tribes! I shall never forget thesensation with which I learned that I was at length really in Bornou, and that the robber Tuarick was in very truth definitively left behind. Our encampment was near a little village of twenty huts, calledDaazzenai, placed under a rock of red stone. The country of Damerghou, in this direction, is separated from Bornou by about eleven hours offorest, or some thirty miles English--a sufficient distance to dividetwo countries, especially in Africa. The trees were larger to-day, andsome of considerable altitude. Many pretty yellow blossoms, glowed on aspecies of shrub not unlike the laburnum. I observed scattered in the forest small mounds of mud, wasting away tothe level of the ground; there were many of them; the birds perchthereon. We have seen a few nice families amongst the Tuaricks and their slaves, but these are mostly foreigners. There is the family of the Tripolineslave; her husband is a pleasant, quiet man, and one of En-Noor'shousehold; she has a daughter and one cade-lamb. Then there is theBornou fighi and his wife. These people are so affable, that they alwayshave visitors near their little tent. They have also a cade-lamb. Theirtent is a curiosity. It is just large enough for one of them to creepin--not for two. I suppose the fighi enters at night, and leaves hiswife to sleep at the door. A detachment of the salt-caravan passed us to-day for Zinder. The wholeforce of the salt-caravan this year could not be more than fifteenhundred. Two divisions were with us of Kailouees, one in advance, eachof five hundred, and the Kilgris' division of five hundred. So much forthe boasted ten thousand camels which were gone this year to bring salt!From En-Noor one could not possibly get correct statistics, for, being athorough Kailouee and a Tuarick, he magnifies everything connected withhis people before strangers, and particularly to us. It was very amusingto see all the little children warming themselves in the evening at thefire, or feeding the flames with brushwood, which they easily collected. CHAPTER XI. March for Zinder--Enter the City--Reception--Delighted to escape fromthe Tuaricks--Letters from Kuka--Hospitable Treatment--Presents for theSarkee and others--Visit the Shereef--His Duties--Audience of theSarkee--Servility--Double-skulled Slave--Powder and Shot--Portrait ofthe Sultan--Commission from Kuka--European Clothes--Family ofEn-Noor--Tour of the Town--Scavengers--List of Sultans of CentralAfrica--Ancient Haussa--The Market--Money--Conversationwith the Shereef--The Sultan at Home--Mixed Race ofZinder--Statistics--Personages of the Court. _Jan. 14th. _--We started early, in hopes to reach Zinder in the courseof the morning. Our course of five hours was S. 10° E. From theencampment. The route from En-Noor's palace in Damerghou is two gooddays and a-half. After two hours and a-half we came to huts in a valley, and a village of thirty or forty houses, called Boban Tabki. In threequarters of an hour there were villages again. I was pleased to see thecorn-stacks or field-granaries standing in the open country, apart fromall houses or habitations, illustrating the security of property inZinder and its neighbouring districts. The country all around ispleasant, nicely undulating with ridges of green hills--the horizonbounded on every side with rounded green hills. We sighted Zinder after four hours' march; and entered the town withinanother hour. I was somewhat impatient to get rid of the Tuaricks, andplace myself in the hands of the Bornou authorities; so I rode offmyself to the town, leaving the suburbs, where the family of En-Noorhave their residence, deaf to all their cries to stop. I found afriendly Kailouee, who conducted me straight to the house of thegovernor. His servants took me to the Shereef, and the Shereef sent meto Saïd, my servant, where I found a house and everything prepared formy reception; and here, also, I found a slave sent from Bornou by theSheikh, to conduct me to Kuka: so all things wore a happy aspect afterso many miseries and uncertainties. I was delighted with the appearance of Zinder, its picturesquesituation, and its unexpected size. It is much larger than I was led toexpect. As soon as I was domiciled I received visits from severalmerchants of Mourzuk, besides the authorities of the town. All the sonsof the Sultan of the place came to salute me; I gave them each a littlesugar, and off they went highly pleased. Provisions now poured in atsuch a rate, that after the starvation of the desert I became nauseatedat their sight. These were sent by the Sultan and the Shereef. Thankful satisfaction for my deliverance from the wild tribes, the mosthostile to Christians of all this part of Africa, and fond anticipationsof what I may do in Bornou; the good news I already heard, and theanxiety of the Sheikh for our safety, with my comparatively robusthealth;--thoughts of all these things prevented me from sleeping duringthe night. I learnt from Saïd, servant of Haj Beshir, that letters had arrived fromMourzuk for us in Kuka, and one was addressed to the Sheikh, which haddetermined him to bring us all at once to Kuka, and prevent us goingfirst to Soudan. Upon this advice, the Sultan of this place had sentfour persons to Tesaoua, to bring my colleagues from that place. Butwhether they will come on the demand of these persons is veryquestionable. I learned that the Sfaxee, as I expected, was laid up withfever in Kanou, for he is emphatically a man of fever; and, besides, hehas no control over himself, but gorges himself with food when anopportunity presents itself; and this, after the privations of thedesert, is sure to bring on disease. Yusuf Moknee came to me thisevening, to know what was to be done on the next morning. He finds itnecessary to alter his conduct, as he sees now that I could do withouthim. I determined to go on with him for the present. I do not wish toleave him here with En-Noor, for he may do us harm with that subtleKailouee prince. I must take him away from the Tuaricks altogether. I found all the Mourzuk people very friendly--everybody friendly; theworld seemed turned upside down after our treatment from the Tuaricks. Ibegan to make little presents, for I am determined our friends shallhave a portion of her Majesty's goods as well as our enemies; whichlatter, indeed, took them away from us by force. I must not forget toremark, that when I entered Zinder there was not a single person boldenough to whisper the name _Kafer!_ so immense is the difference betweenthis Bornou country and the Tuarick territories. _15th. _--I rose early, having slept little. The weather was cool, thethermometer at sunrise being at 59°. I began to prepare our presents forthe Sultan and the Shereef. After much debating as to quantity, it wasdetermined to keep all the best things for Kuka, and give small presentshere. In this respect I must praise Yusuf and his friends amongst theMourzuk people. I prepared a present for Sarkee Ibrahim, sultan of Zinder, consisting ofa piece of muslin for turban, a red turban, three heads of sugar, twoglass drinking-cups, painted, a cup and saucer for coffee, a few ringsin imitation of gold, cloves, two handkerchiefs (cotton), powder andshot, fifty bullets, two or three small looking-glasses. The present forthe Shereef consisted of a carpet (hearth-rug), used here for kneelingupon in performing prayers, three white sugar-loaves, cloves, handkerchief (cotton), powder and shot, with some other trifles. Thepresent for Saïd, sent by Haj Beshir from Kuka, consisted of a clothcaftan (coarse), a cotton handkerchief, and a piece of cotton stuff tomake a pillow. I am happy to add, that all were content and satisfied; but we made themunderstand--indeed, they knew it before we arrived--that the Tuarickshad taken away nearly all my property. I must add the present of the Shereef Saghir (little Shereef), who actsas interpreter for the Sultan: a glass painted drinking-cup, ahandkerchief (cotton), a little sugar, jani, senbal, a few cloves, andtwo or three rings; with which he was well satisfied. Before noon I waited on the Shereef to deliver my present. I was muchstruck with this man's appearance. He was quite an European--white asmyself. His countenance seemed full of thought and meaning. He is anative of Fez, and has lived long in Algiers. He has served in the waragainst the French under Abd-el-Kader, and has only been two years inBornou and in Kuka, and once in Zinder. He is here as the _nather_, "looker-on;" one who watches over the interests of the country, particularly in its foreign relations. To speak plainly, he is a spy ofthe Sheikh of Bornou over the authorities of Zinder, including theGovernor. All the people say, "Without the Shereef nothing can be donein Zinder;" and well they may, considering that he is in the entireconfidence of the Sheikh. The Shereef is also the agent of allforeigners, and our goods were directed to his care from Tintalous--thatis, those things which we sent up before us. The Sultans of Zinder arealways a little disaffected; and to check them, and watch their conduct, the Shereef has been sent here. This personage is also universallyrespected for his learning, piety, and almsgiving; so that, apparently, the Sheikh could not have intrusted his interests to a more able man. The Shereef knows well the use of arms, for it is reported here inZinder that he has killed _forty thousand_ Frenchmen with his own hands!The people actually believe this most marvellous report! After leaving the Shereef we went to salute the Sultan Ibrahim, anddeliver to his highness our present. We were conducted into a species offort, built of clay, with walls exceedingly thick. Here in a sort ofanteroom, or open skifa, or hall, we found some fifty soldiers of theSultan, unarmed and bare-headed, with one or two governors ofneighbouring places, all squatted upon the ground. I was requested tosquat down amongst them, which I did near a raised mud-bench. There waslittle light, the place being built to shut out the glare and heat ofthe sun. Here I waited a quarter of an hour, till the Sultan wasannounced by the cries of the soldiers, slaves, and domestic officers. His highness took his seat upon the mud-bench; and whilst so doing hisattendants all squatted down, many of them taking up the dust from theground and throwing it over their bare heads, and crying, "Long live theSultan! God bless him!" This is the first occasion on which I havewitnessed this degrading custom, this abject worship of therepresentative of power. The scene was perfectly African and negro. I was squatted amidst a number of courtiers, one of whom had a sort ofdouble skull, another smaller skull raised above the larger one, --aprotuberance which came from an accident in infancy. This double-skulledman was the chief of the domestics. The Sultan was in a merry humour, and smilingly asked after my health. We then read our letters of recommendation, which pleased him. Heobserved that the route _viâ_ Aheer was good. "How good, " asked Yusuf, "when we are arrived here naked, and stripped of everything?" At whichhis highness burst out, laughing, with all the people. There was nowobserved a little bustle behind, and his highness called out "Silence!"like a sheriff in a court of law. I begged the interpreter to tell theSultan that our present was small, for we had been stripped by theTuaricks. This he whispered in his ear; after which I slipped a packetof powder and shot into the hands of one of the principal courtiers, telling him it was for the Sultan, and he carried it off. I did notplace it with the other presents, because the servant of Haj Bashaw, sent from Kuka, forbad my giving his highness any powder and shot, alleging, that this Sultan was always disaffected, and the Sheikh woulddisapprove of my giving him munitions of war. But I was determined togive fifty bullets and two dozen charges of powder, believing that hecould do the Sheikh little harm, whilst it would make him my personalfriend. No person knew what I gave the Governor. The powder and shot being delivered, I took leave of his highness, raising my cap and shaking hands with him. At this doffing off the capall the people were highly gratified, thinking great respect was therebyshown to their prince. Ibrahim is a negro, a native of Zinder, a man of fifty years of age, with a countenance sparkling with good humour, and I believe I may add, intelligence. He has been Sultan here some thirty years, so that he mustbe a man of character. This day he received a renewal of his commissionfrom Kuka, a ceremony that takes place every year; and so he was in ahappy humour. There was also a sort of feast at the palace, and hishighness rode out with a detachment of cavalry. The persons who broughtour camels from Kuka also brought the renewed commission, or a man, fromthe Sheikh. Haj Beshir has sent us ten camels, to bring the boat and ourbaggage, in the event of our camels being stolen, or having become weakwith the journey from Mourzuk. I have, therefore, only to sell my camelsand turn them into ready money, which I much need, and then start. We afterwards called again on the Shereef, and had a laugh about the manwith two skulls. I told the Shereef "two heads were perhaps better thanone, " at which they all burst out laughing. The Shereef was surroundedby foreign merchants, all chatting in good humour. These Moors werefriendly to me. To-day I dressed in my European clothes; first, becauseunless you have very good clothes, such as worn by the people of thecountry, you cut a very bad figure; and secondly, and principally, toshow the Kailouees, and other strangers, that I was now in a friendlyplace, and that no one dare say anything to me in the way of insult. Infact, as yesterday, there is not even a whisper of the word _Kafer_. Hishighness and all the people admired my European gear. I told them thatnow the Turks dressed in the same manner, or nearly so; at which theywere greatly surprised. I had on a black surtout, tight trousers, andvarnished boots, gloves, neckerchief, waistcoat; everything European butthe hat, wearing instead of this the fez cap or shasheeah. In the evening I paid a visit to the family of En-Noor, who were greatlyastonished at my transfiguration from a bad Moorish dress into anEuropean suit. They were much disconcerted at this change, and my happyhumour. Madame En-Noor rated me for running away from them yesterday. Itold them I wished to get to my friends of Bornou as quickly aspossible. My interpreter also informed them that the Sheikh had sentcamels, and enlarged on the anxiety of everybody here for our safety. They were all displeased at this news, as a reflection upon them and theconduct of the Tuaricks. They now beheld quite a change in everything. Iwas anxious to mark this change in our circumstances, that they mightreflect how they treated Europeans again when fallen into their hands. At the same time I showed a desire not to hurt their feelings, wishingto be on friendly terms with them whilst here. The Kailouees are all excessively quiet now. All feel the power of theSheikh, and are almost as submissive as if they were at Mourzuk. However, the family of En-Noor still keep begging. But I believe now Imust finish with them. The Sultan is said by his servants to have goneto Tesaoua. I am extremely glad I came without him to this place. Perhaps he also was ashamed to bring me. From Tesaoua he will be hereafter some days. People call him, as in Aheer, An-Nour, and not En-Noor. The prince of Zinder asked, where is An-Nour? The people are still atwork preparing this chieftain's apartments, consisting of a circularwall of matting, enclosing a number of huts; there is a mud-house in themiddle, but it is now fallen into ruins. I made a tour of the town, and was still more pleased than before withits size. It is said to contain 20, 000 inhabitants. There are manydivisions, separated by blocks of granite, and small hills. We visitedthe Kaïd of a district. He immediately brought us ghaseb-water and milk. Really the world seems turned upside down when the conduct of the peoplehere is compared with the hospitality which we received from En-Noor, although he personally paid us some attentions not vouchsafed by others. We came through the souk, where were the sticks of meat roasting, andlots of people. No one whispered _Kafer_! The Shereef sent me a horse toride on when I go out, and recommends me to do so. The scavengers of Zinder are a multitudinous host of a small species offilthy-looking vultures, brown and black in colour: they are exceedinglytame, for the people never touch them, and they walk about the streetstamer than the fowls. I believe the same species of vulture are also thescavengers of Kanou. At Zinder they take their evening exercise byflying in circles over the city, a hundred or two together. There are afew white ones amongst the flock. The Sultan sent for a piece of camphorthis morning. I gave him some, with a silver French coin and a newEnglish farthing. The news is, that I must stay here ten days, to oblige the slaves whohave been sent from Kuka to carry the baggage. We are also to stay atMinyo a few days, _en route_ four days from this. I spent the evening gleaning information of the interior. There is nowno war in any part of Central Africa, i. E. No great wars. Probably theprinces of Africa, like those of Europe, find that war will not pay. Atany rate, all is peace for the present. This will facilitate ourprogress. I had a visit from the son of the Kadi of Kuka, an intelligentyoung man, who has promised to come to-morrow to write the routes fromZinder to his native place. I have obtained a list of the names of the principal sultans in thispart of Africa: 1. Bornou--The Sheikh Omer, the son of the sheikh who reigned in thetime of the first expedition. He has now reigned fourteen years. He hasa good character. 2. Sakkatou--Sultan of the Fellatahs, Ali. He is not so great as hisfather Bello, celebrated in the time of the first expedition. 3. Asben, or Aheer--Abd-el-Kader. 4. Maradee--Binono. 5. Gouber--Aliou (Ali). 6. Niffee--Khaleelou. The name of the capital is Gondu. The Sultan is aFullan, but independent of Sakkatou, as are many other Fullan princes. 7. Adamaua--Lauel. He is called by the Fullans Madubbu-Adamaua, i. E. Sultan or Kakam of Adamowa. He is a Fullan, but the people whom hegoverns are all Kohlans, or negroes. 8. Yakobah--Ibrahim. His father was called Yakobah, and the country hasprobably derived its recent name of the late sultan; the capital iscalled Baushi. The rulers are Fellatahs. 9. Kanou--Osman Bel-Ibrahim. 10. Kashna--Mohammed-Bello. 11. Zaria--Mahommed Sani. 12. Kataguni--Abd-er-Rahman. 13. Kadaija--Ahmadou. 14. Timbuctoo--Mohammed Lebbu, a Fellatah. 15. Jinnee-- 16. Begharmi--Burkmanda. 17. Mandara-- 18. Lagun-- 19. Zinder--Ibrahim. The alliances and enmities, the wars and the intrigues of all theseprinces, will one day, perhaps, form materials for somesemi-mythological history, when civilisation has removed its camp tothese intertropical regions. Regular annals, however, there never canbe. No record seems to be kept, except in the unfaithful memories of thenatives; and even if the contrary were the case, posterity wouldwillingly consign to oblivion all but the salient points of this periodof barbarism and slave-hunting. Daura is a city of great antiquity, but I have never seen it on themaps. It is two days from Zinder on the route to Kanou, and has nowabout the same number of inhabitants as Zinder, or from 20, 000 to25, 000. Ancient Haussa, according to the Monshee, consisted of seven cities, viz. 1. Kanou. 2. Kashna. This city is now about three times the size of Zinder. 3. Daura. 4. Zaria. 5. Gouber. 6. Maradee. 7. Zanbara. This city is now about the size of Kashna. It lies beyondGouber, not far from Sakkatou. I went to see the souk. There are two market-days in Zinder: the greatsouk on Thursday, and the little one on Friday, the days following oneanother. I rapidly passed through it; it was full of people andmerchandise; all things in abundance; no one called after me, but I didnot like to stay long to expose myself. The principal provisions anddomestic animals offered for sale are cattle (oxen), sheep, camels, asses, goats, beef, mutton, samen, honey, ghaseb, ghafouley, a littlewheat, dried fish (rather stinking, because no salt is used in drying), kibabs or roasted pieces of meat, beans, dankali or sweet potatoes;which last are brought from Kanou, as also is the fish, &c. I purchasedthree sweet potatoes for a fifth of a penny. There was, besides, also agood quantity of merchandise of every sort, and slaves in numbers. Honeyalso is brought from Kanou to this souk. In Kanou, twelve pounds anda-half are sold for four thousand wadâs, or four-fifths of a dollar. InZinder, the same quantity sells for about double the price. Theyadulterate here and send it to Aheer. In the evening I went with the Shereef to his garden. He has broughtwith him the tastes of the people of Morocco for gardens, and hasintroduced into Zinder tomatas from Kuka. His beds contain onions, peppers, cucumbers, wheat, lemons, date-palms, and some other smallthings. There is a little wheat also, but merely as an ornament. Thedate-palms bear twice a-year, but the dates do not dry in this country. There is a part of Soudan where the dates are said to become dry asthose of Fezzan. The lemons are as good as those on the north coast, butthey are found only in Soudan. But two or three trees have been seen inBornou. Onions are in abundance, and it is said that those people whoeat onions do not catch the fevers of Soudan. The Shereef considers thehorses of this country to have little strength--not to be compared withthose of the north coast. He has sent me one to ride round the environs. We conversed upon Algerian affairs. The Shereef said nothing against theFrench in general; he only complained of the non-fulfilment of thetreaty of capitulation with Abd-el-Kader and his fellow-prisoners. Itold him Bou Mâza was liberated, which news surprised him. He said BouMâza was a fool, and had no followers. All the conversation of theShereef was marked with good sense. He had been in Malta, and residedthere two months. His native place is two days' journey from Tangiers. He is well acquainted with Christians. He speaks with a strong Mogarbiaccent. As to this country and the Tuaricks, he observed the Sheikh wasdetermined to keep them down, and was not afraid of them. The Shereef possesses a fair amount of women--some twenty, but only oneson. I sent this evening presents of rings to the ladies. Yusuf paid a visit to the Sultan this morning, to carry him a present onhis part. He entered the interior of the building, and found it full ofdirt, and bare of every species of furniture. The Sultan himself hadonly upon him a Soudan tobe and a white cap. All the rest of his peoplewere bare-headed, and were covered with dirty tobes. This contempt ofdress arises from the fact that the prince was a slave of the ancientSultans of Bornou. There are, besides, other sultans _en route_ to Kuka, of the same stamp; but he of Minyo is said to dress excessively, changing his costume five times a-day. We are to remain some days inMinyo, of which I am glad, because there we shall see the Bornouesepopulation, in a purer state. Here it is mixed somewhat with theKailouees and other tribes. At any rate, the manners of the people aresomewhat influenced by the great number of foreigners. En-Noor andLousou have both houses in Zinder, which the people dignify by the nameof _belad_ or "villages, " but which are simply enclosures of a few huts. I have been endeavouring to collect materials for the statistics ofZinder. The following note exhibits a partial result:-- Various persons give the population of Zinder at 25, 000 or 30, 000 souls. Let us take the number at 20, 000. The military force consists of cavalry and foot--two thousand cavalryhaving swords, spears, and shields; and eight or nine thousand bowmen, having only bows and arrows. This force is commanded by one Shroma DanMagram, who receives the enormous pay of half the land taxes of somefifty towns and villages in the circle of the province of Zinder. Theofficers of the Sultan of Zinder are mostly slaves. The principal personages are Shroma Dan Magram; the Kady, Tahir; theBash Kateb, or Secretary, Dang Gambara; the chief of the Treasury, Nanomi; of the Custom-house, Fokana. There are four officers of theTreasury, and four of the Custom-house; and, moreover, four Viziers, theprincipal of whom is Mustapha Gadalina. The Arabs do not pay any custom duties, but all the blacks and theKailouees and Fullans pay as follows:-- A camel, laden or unladen -- 5000 wadâs. An ass " " -- 100 "An ox " " -- 100 " There is no duty on goods, and, whether the camels are laden with richburnouses or salt, it is all the same thing. Camels are very cheap in this country, and the best of all will notfetch more than 40, 000 wadâs, or about sixteen Spanish dollars. TheShereef is to purchase ours, four of them for 120, 000 wadâs; they costabout three times the sum in Mourzuk. Horses are not quite so cheap; thebest will fetch 100, 000 wadâs. [14] The exchange here is the same as inKanou; 2500 wadâs is the value of the large dollar, or douro ghaleet, asit is called amongst the Moorish and Arab merchants. [14] See p. 216. CHAPTER XII. Presents from Officials--Mode of treating Camels--Prices--CowrieMoney--Shereef Interpreter--Visits--Harem--Houses--GrandVizier--Picturesque Dances--Tuaricks at Zinder--Kohlans andFullans--Province of Zinder--Account of its Rebellions--Trees--Detailson the Slave-trade--Prices--Mode of obtaining Slaves--AbjectRespect of the Sultan--Visits--Interview with the Sarkee--ThePresence--Curious Mode of administering Justice--BarbarousPunishments--Hyænas--Gurasu--Fighis--Place of Execution--Tree ofDeath--Hyæna Dens--Dancing. _Jan. 17th. _--The Sultan this morning sent me an ox. I made him mypersonal friend by giving him the powder and shot, in spite of theservant of Haj Beshir from Kuka. The Shereef is excessively generous;whether at his own cost or that of Kuka I do not know. I suppose thelatter, as he had orders from head-quarters to supply us witheverything. He sends rice, honey, fowls, eggs, milk, tomatas, and allthings in abundance. I repeat, for the third time, that the world isturned upside down, so far as the supply of provisions and hospitalityis concerned. It is true that the Tuaricks are desperately poor, andtheir generosity must always be very limited. Our maharees of the salt-caravan went very well, and ate little on theroad, so that much time was saved in this way. The Tuarick camels arefar better travellers than the Arab, which sometimes are allowed to eatall day long. The females and the young ones are the most troublesome. Iwas much amused to see one of the Kailouee camel-drivers overcome theobstinacy of a young camel. The fellow actually bit the loose skin whichhung over the muzzle of the rebel, and in this manner dragged it to thestring, and there tied it to the rest. All the male camels are gelded, whilst many breeding maharees carry no weights, but follow theirburdened kind with their foals. To-day, for the first time, I received cowrie money, viz. Four cases, made of matting, each containing 30, 000. This was the price of four ofmy camels. The Gharian brute I sold to one of the servants for 8000. Itis quite a labour to count this money, but I perceive that some personsare exceedingly expert at it, and count 5000 in a few minutes. Therewould appear to be always some mistakes made; one case was found to haveninety-eight short. This certainly is not much out of 30, 000, and when adozen people were counting. The small and large shells are all alike, and of the same value. But I shall be able to say more of this moneyafterwards. Thirty thousand of these shells are many pounds in weight, and not very conveniently carried about. I visited some of the principal personages this afternoon, with theinterpreter of the Sultan. This interpreter is a Shereef, and has been asailor, in which capacity he has seen Malta, and many Europeancountries. He is now married to a daughter of the Sultan of Zinder, andis established here in the confidence of his father-in-law. It appears, then, that even common Moorish sailors make their way in these blackcountries. The first person we visited was one of the viziers, called Mayaha, anative of Damagram, a place one day east, from whence the greater partof the population of Zinder is drawn. This personage was sufficientlypolite. He gave me permission to see the interior of his house, and hisharem. The harem was full of fine, handsome Haussa slaves, attending onhis four wives; they were all polished, and apparently clean, lyingabout on the floors of the huts, and in the court-yards, in the moststrenuous idleness--one cleaning, polishing, and decorating another. Onewas bolder than the rest, and beckoned me to come to her. This house of this vizier contained many huts of bee-hive shape; one ortwo were built of sun-dried earth, but all were small. Few carpets, oreven mats, were seen: these people of Zinder are most dearly fond ofsquatting on the naked dust. Afterwards I visited the Grand Vizier, or Mustapha Gadalina (a title). This personage, a man of great age, was polite, but did not permit me toenter the interior of his house. We then went to see theCommander-in-chief--a funny fellow. He was very civil to us, and to all, joking with his soldiers, amidst whom he was squatting. These Zindertroops have no arms in their undress, and only wear a loose tobe, withbare heads. The General told us he would visit us in the morning. After a climb to the summit of one of the granite rocks of Zinder tohave a view of the town, I went to see and hear the drummers hammeringon their kangas. There were three of them, surrounded by a group ofZinder maidens. One fellow had two long drums, very narrow, on which helaboured with all his might. The maidens approached the musicians bytwos, dancing or stepping forward, and retreating with great apparentmodesty. Whilst I was looking at a couple, one of them ran up to me, andstruck me lightly with her hand. For this attention I was obliged togive her a present of gour-nuts, which are equally current with thecowries on such occasions. The drum is the national music of the peopleof Zinder, and they hammer away at it from morning to night. They saythat in the palace it never ceases all day, beginning at dawn. Perhapsit may be esteemed useful in supplying the place of silly conversation. Very few Tuaricks are to be seen in the streets of this city. Theyrarely show themselves, except on market-days, when they come from theirhouses in the suburbs. Little cordiality exists between them and theBinder people. They owe one another, like all neighbouring people, manygrudges. I jocularly told the commander-in-chief to kill all theTuaricks. He naïvely replied, "I would, but when I attack them they allrun away!" I am informed by the Moors here the Tuaricks have a wholesomedread of the Sheikh, and are on bad terms with the Fullans. They are, however, for the most part, friendly with the ancient Kohlans, thepeople of Maradee and Gouber. This accounts for the fact that En-Nooralways spoke in the most amiable way of these remaining kingdoms ofSoudan paganism. The town of Zinder is inhabited chiefly by the blacksof the Bornouese province of Damagram, who, though speaking the samelanguage, are not considered Bornouese. In fact, properly speaking, itis situated in that province. The Zinder folks are easily distinguishedfrom the natives of Kuka, and those more eastern provinces, by a lightercomplexion and the smaller breadth of their nostrils. Zinder has always enjoyed much liberty as a province, though it hasfallen successively under the influence of Bornou and Haussa princes. Anciently it was ruled by the former; then it lapsed to the Haussaprinces and the Fullans, and finally it was again recovered by Bornou. The present prince, Ibrahim, has been sultan twenty-five years. Underhis rule a rebellion took place against the Sheikh, who removed him, made him prisoner, and promoted his brother to the governorship of theprovince. But this new prince also rebelled; upon which the Sheikh camewith a large force a year ago, and restored the former governor, placing, however, several persons here as a check on his authority. Ihave already mentioned the influence of the Shereef of Morocco. But nopeople in the world detest central government so much as the Africans, and these rebellions occur yearly and monthly. The facts which have been mentioned to me connected with the lastrebellion of Zinder, and its reduction by the Sheikh of Bornou, areinteresting, as illustrative of the present condition of theseout-of-the-way countries. The re-conquest proved to be no easy matter, and required three months' siege, and sixty thousand men, commanded bythe Sheikh's best officers and the sultans of the neighbouringprovinces. When the revolted people had notice of the approach of thisforce, they threw up a wall of earth round the city in the brief spaceof three days only. Even Africans can be energetic when compelled bynecessity. The siege lasted three months, and many people were killed oneither side. Before hostilities commenced the Sheikh sent for the brother of thedeposed prince, whom he had placed in power at Zinder; but the answerwas refusal. "If you want money, " said the rebel chieftain, "here it is;if you want slaves, here they are;--but I will not come to Kuka. "Ibrahim, the former and present sultan, had meanwhile gone to thecapital, and covered himself with dust in the presence of the Sheikh, and obtained his pardon and the promise of his restoration to power. Hisbrother knew this well, and, of course, would not go to the capital. Itis surprising, however, that the rebellion could hold out so longagainst so large a force; the people of Zinder must be framed for war. The Tuaricks during the struggle stood by and looked on. The displacedbrother is now at Kuka, having there obtained the pardon of the Sheikh. He fled to the Tuaricks after the capture of the town. There are several pretty shady trees scattered through the town ofZinder, planted mostly in the gardens of the grandees. The names ofthree of these are, in Bornouese, rimi, jaja, and ilbug. I have obtained some information on the slave-trade, which I here givein its crude shape. Slaves are classed as follows:-- MALES. 1st. Garzab: those who have a beard. 2d. Morhag: those with beard beginning. 3d. Sabaai: those without beard. 4th. Sadasi: grown children. 5th. Hhamasi, or children. FEMALES. Ajouza, old women, not classified. 1st. Shamalia: those with the breasts hanging down. 2d. Dabukia: those with the breasts plump. 3d. Farkhah: those with little breasts. 4th. Sadasia: girls, smaller. 5th. Hhamasiah, or children. The best of the slaves now go to Niffee, to be there shipped forAmerica; they are mostly males, of the class 2d, 3d, 4th, and areminutely examined before departure. From all reports, there is animmense traffic of slaves that way exchanged against American goods, which are driving out of the markets all the merchandise of the north. _Prices:_--I. MALES. 1st. From 10, 000 to 15, 000 wadâs. 2d. 30, 000 and under. 3d. 35, 000 "4th. 30, 000 "5th. 20, 000 " II. FEMALES. 1st. 10, 000 and under. (Ajouza. ) 2d. 80, 000 " 3d. 100, 000 "4th. 40, 000 "5th. 30, 000 "6th. 20, 000 " The above are the prices of Kanou; there is sometimes a difference of5, 000 or 10, 000 wadâs. A remark suggested by this list of prices is, that the value of human merchandise is determined by its presentadaptation for consumption. No allowance is made for capability ofdevelopment, intellectual or physical. Slave-drivers and slave-holdersbelieve as little in a future here as hereafter. I give another account of the prices of slaves at the principal marketsin this part of Africa, and at Smyrna and Constantinople. A good maleslave is sold, at Kanou, for 10 or 12 dollars. Zinder, the price varies little. Mourzuk, for 40 dollars. Tripoli, from 60 to 65 dollars. Smyrna, 90 to 100 dollars. Constantinople, 90 to 100 dollars. A good female slave is sold, at Kanou, for 32 dollars. Zinder, a little more, or the same. Mourzuk, 85 dollars. Tripoli, 100 dollars. Smyrna, 130 dollars. Constantinople, 130 dollars. This is merely to show the difference of prices at these various placesof slave traffic, and so enable the reader to form some notion of theprofits of the commerce. I am very sorry to hear of the iniquitous manner in which slaves arecaptured for the supply of the north at this present time. It appearsthat, now all these populations are Muslims, it is difficult to get upthe war-cry of _Kafers!_--"Infidels!" What is then done? The sultan of aprovince foments a quarrel with a town or village belonging to himself, and then goes out and carries off all the people into slavery. Thus actsthe present Sultan of Zinder, and so did his brother during his year ofadministration. To appease the Sheikh of Bornou they send him a portionof the spoil. Indeed, the Sheikh countenances the system, so detrimentalto his interests as a sovereign, and so immoral in its character. Thebrother of the present sultan was accustomed to go out every month, andbring in razzias of slaves, particularly to Dura, a country whichbelongs half to the Sheikhs of the Fullans. The real Kerdi people arenow very distant, and you must go many days' journey if you will catchgenuine Kafer slaves. On Friday, Yusuf paid his respects to the Sultan at noon, being theSunday of the Muslims, when visits are made by true believers to theprinces. He found his highness surrounded by his court, in a cloud ofdust, which the people raised by throwing it in handfuls upon theirheads, and thus doing homage to their prince. Yusuf and some other Moorsobstinately abstained from such a grovelling mode of "rendering toCæsar the things which are Cæsar's, " and contented themselves withsaluting his highness in the Moorish fashion. Yusuf observed, "Ourreligion does not teach this servility. " The natives salute their Sultanby the cry of "God give you victory!" (i. E. Over your enemies. ) InSoudanee this phrase is "_Allah shàbáka nasăra_;" and in Bornouese, "_Kábunam sherga!_" _18th. _--I sent letters for Government and my wife _viâ_ Kuka, ascaravans are expected to leave Bornou for Moursuk about this time. Myrooms were full of visitors to-day. First came the commander-in-chief, Shroma. I showed him all my treasures, portable peepshow, kaleidoscope, &c. &c. He was marvellously pleased. I treated him also with sugar, butcoffee he positively refused as too bitter. He brought with him sometwenty of his troops and a chosen aide-de-camp. He is just the man for anegro commander, full of cunning and address, very active if necessary, and on familiar terms with his men, pleasing them by low fun andbuffoonery. Afterwards came the sons of the Sultan, all of whom Itreated with sugar and coffee: that is, as many as would venture totaste of it. Then followed a host of Fezzan merchants, with the son ofthe Kadi of Kuka--a very nice, pleasant young fellow, who writes prettygood Arabic. He is to make out for me the route from Zinder to Kuka. I afterwards went to the Sultan himself, to show him my treasures, viz. Peepshows and kaleidoscope. These barbarians are nothing but greatwilful children. I also took the compass. We entered the interior of thebuilding, where we found a number of officers, courtiers and slaves, squatted together on the sand, chatting most familiarly on all subjects. The building is all made of mud, mixed with large grains of granite. They say all the buildings of Bornou are built in the same manner, andvery few of stone, on account of the rain; for the stone, not being wellcemented together, falls during the great rains of the tropics. After we had been kept waiting about half an hour his highness made hisappearance, the courtiers and slaves throwing dust on their heads, prostrating themselves on the ground before him, crying, "God give youvictory over your enemies!" Whilst the Sultan took his seat upon theraised mud-bench, the slaves held up two wrappers or barracans, toshield his highness from public view whilst he took his seat. All thefloor of the apartment was covered with a dense mass of people, andamongst the number several Tuaricks, including the Sheikh Lousou, andHaj Abdoua, another distinguished Tuarick. Lousou is a tall thin man, oflight complexion, with European features--a perfect Targhee. His mannerswere very mild, and indeed all this tribe are gentle enough here in aforeign country. The Sheikh shook me cordially by the hands. I thencommenced business as showman to the prince and this mass of people. Atfirst his highness was timid, and would not look through the glasses ofthe peepshows, but when the people began he followed, and acquired theknack of looking through in a very short time. My compass and watch andkeys were then all examined, and produced great amusement. What pleasedhim much was the screw by which the compass was stopped. I wasdreadfully frightened lest the watch should be broken as well as thecompass, and indeed the former has received some damage: such machinesshould not be handled by these negro grandees. Whilst this examination was going on, his highness, as if he had littletime to lose, continued to administer justice. Several cases weresettled whilst the worthy Sultan was looking through the peepshow andkaleidoscope. Among others, a man came forward in great agitation, andcried, "O Sultan! my wife will not live with me, and has run away to herfather. I will give you three bullocks if you will fetch her back andmake her live with me!" The Sultan smiled, and observed only, "Hem, yourwife won't live with you! Well, what can I do?" Another man came forwardand cried, "O Sultan! I am a thief, but you must pardon me. I stole thismat because I was a poor man" (holding up the mat). "I restore the mat. "His highness observed, "Leave it; I will see what can be done. " Acollection of stolen articles was restored also by another person. Thencame a man more bold, and brought a present from a neighbouring village, consisting of two large bowls of ghaseb and a bundle of wood. The manmade a great clamour, holding up the present. His highness looked athim, and said, "Good, good; put them down. " I am told his highness is much feared by all the people of theprovinces. He has the character of being impartial. But the way in whichhe carries out capital punishment is truly terrible, and beyondconception barbarous. He neither hangs nor beheads. This mode ofpunishment is too mild for him. No; he actually cuts open the chest, andrips out the heart! or else hangs up people by the heels, and soinflicts upon them a lingering death. I am astonished that the Sheikh ofBornou permits such barbarity, but imagine that the Sheikh is stillafraid of his vassal, and shrinks from endeavouring to deprive him ofthis awful power. Here, then, we have a specimen of the negro character, with all its contradictions; soft and effeminate in its ordinary moods;cheerful, and pleasant, and simple, to appearance; but capable ofacting, as it were without transition, the most terrible deeds ofatrocity. Say what you will of the barbarism of the Tuaricks, such amode of inflicting capital punishment is unknown amongst them. I tookleave of his highness, promising to come again another day and bringother things. This evening we were disturbed by the cries of the hyæna; a large onehad come down upon the calves belonging to a drove of bullocks, andcarried off one as big as itself. The brute seizes its prey by thethroat, and so prevents the animal from giving intelligence to itspursuers. The place of execution is near my house, and when the Sultanexecutes any criminal the body is left unburied. At such times, troopsof hyænas, old and young, come down in the night, from the rocks andopen country, and devour the body in a few minutes. The jackal does notvisit this place, but is found in the open country. There are also manylions on the road between this and Kuka. A very simple mode of salutation is prevalent here in Zinder, said to bethe custom of Wadaï--that of merely clapping the palms of the handtogether; the hand being held forward flat, not edge-ways. Gurasu is an interesting Tuarick territory, three days' journeynorth-east from Zinder, and two days from Minyo. This country consistsof a number of small villages, scattered upon the rocks, or mountains. The inhabitants are especially those banditti who, from time to time, plunder the caravans on the route from Bornou to Mourzuk. Gurasu isseven days from Kanem, and Kanem is three days from the Bornou route. Kanem is mostly a desert country, and has now only a few inhabitants. Gurasu and Damerghou are the only Tuarick countries adjoining theprovinces of the Sheikh of Bornou, and Gurasu is the last country eastin this part of Africa. There is but very slight communication betweenit and Zinder; and little is known of the people, except that they areTuaricks. _19th. _--I again entertained visitors, who are still numerous, of allclasses; and also paid a visit to the Shereef, and took with me thekaleidoscope, as he expressed a wish to see its revolving glowingbeauties. Zinder is full of half-crazy fighis, who can just write the Arabicalphabet. They go about the streets begging piteously, with a calabashinkstand and reed-pen in their hands. I have been pestered with two orthree every day since I came here. They also wander through the countryparts of Damerghou. Bornou is the nursery of these silly pedagogues, inwhom learning and madness are most cordially united; but, as I havealready mentioned, it sends out a few instructed ones to redeem thereputation of these ignoramuses. In the afternoon I went to see the place of execution, and found itcovered with human bones, the leavings of the hyænas, whose dens areclose by. Proceeding a little further I came to the Tree of Death! alonely tree springing out of the rocks, some forty or fifty feet inheight, and of the species called here _kanisa_. My guide would notapproach it very near, for he assured me that if any person went underits boughs, there must instantly come an order from the Sultan to puthim to death, or hang him heels upwards upon its branches. "Don't yousee the place is swept clean underneath its boughs? This is done everyday, and by the executioner alone: no other person dare go there, for ifhe do he must die!" I certainly began to feel sick myself at the recitalof various horrors perpetrated at this place by the executioner, anddon't know whether, if any one had offered me some great reward, I wouldhave ventured to place my feet upon this accursed spot of mother earth. Never in my life did I feel so sick at heart--so revolted at man'scrimes and cruelties. The tree itself was a true picture of death--atree of dark, impenetrable foliage, with a great head, or upper partlarger than the lower one, and this head crowned with fifty filthyvultures, the ministers of the executioner, which eat the bodies of thecriminals! The number of executions here performed is very great--sometwo or three hundred in a year. Since we have been here a man has beenbutchered in the night, scarcely a hundred yards from my house; so thatI am in a pleasant neighbourhood, what with the executions and what withthe hyænas. The people pretend that for a small offence the Sultaninflicts capital punishments: for example, merely speaking bad language. Turning from these disagreeable scenes, we went to see the dens of thehyænas, which are beneath the rocks, extending far under ground. Herewe saw bones and dung enough. The scavengers of Zinder are, therefore, the vultures and hyænas: the former wing the air and dart on their preyby day, and the latter prowl the streets by night. In the evening we refreshed our fancies by witnessing the kanga, ordrums beating to the dances of the maidens of Zinder. It is always thesame thing, two or three fellows thumping upon their drums, dancinground them occasionally themselves, and the maidens approaching thesedrummers with timid steps. To-night they had a sort of hopping-dance, onone leg, keeping time to the beating of the drums. These coy maidenssoon approached, or rather ran at me, and touched me with the hand; thisdone, they claim the right of a present. It is considered a favour to beso distinguished. CHAPTER XIII. Brother of the Sultan--Trade of Zinder--Prices--The Sarkee drinksRum--Five Cities--Houses of Zinder--Female Toilette--Another Tree ofDeath--Paganism--Severity of the Sultan--Lemons--Barth andOverweg--Fire--Brother of the Sarkee--Daura--Shonshona--Lousou--Slavesin Irons--Reported Razzia--Talk with the Shereef--HumbleManners--Applications for Medicines--Towns and Villages of Zinder--Thegreat Drum--Dyers--Tuarick Visits--Rationale of Razzias--Slaves--"LikePrince like People"--French in Algiers--The Market--Old Slave--InfamousSystem--Plan of the great Razzia. _Jan. 20th. _--I received visits as usual, and one from a younger brotherof the Sultan, whom I treated with coffee; and I also gave him a cottonhandkerchief and a ring, so that he went away highly satisfied. He had anumerous train, all of whom had a peep at the show and a bit of sugar. This brother of the Sultan is a pleasant-looking fellow, a verydifferent character from the man in power. He asked for saffron tocolour charms with; but I had none to give him. Those who expect to find Zinder a great commercial dépôt will be muchdisappointed. The principal merchants here are the Sheikhs En-Noor andLousou, and the other Tuarick of Asben, whom I have mentioned, calledHaj Abdoua. Of Zinder merchants there are but two of consequence, theMorocco Shereef, Konchai, and Haj Amurmur, a Tibboo. The latter isalways resident; but Abd-Effeit, or Shereef Konchai, goes abroad andtrades. Both these are foreigners. There are, besides, a number of smalltraders, Tibboos and Fezzanees, who drive a few hard bargains with theGovernor. At the present moment his highness has no money. All thespecie is quickly carried off to Kuka. The Tuaricks have the goods andthe money, and often make their own prices; but as they always demandready cash, are obliged to wait long before they can dispose of theirgoods. Burnouses alone bring a great profit; for these are sold tosultans, who require a credit of several months. I am afraid I shallhave to give a very poor account of the commerce of this portion ofAfrica, with reference to its being profitable to Europeans. The greaterpart of the goods in Kanou are cheaper than those found in the marketsof Fezzan, or even Tripoli. The only way in which this commerce pays theMoorish merchants is by the purchase of slaves; and this, from casualcircumstances _en route_, frequently turns out a loss. All the tradersfound on this road are mostly poor fellows, with small capitals: thereis no equal to Waldee. Here is a statement of the prices of provisions in the market ofZinder:-- An ox, 10, 000 wadâs (for riding). A cow, for food, 8000. (N. B. Cows only are eaten, bullocks being used for riding and carryingburdens. ) A sheep of the first quality, 1500 wadâs. A goat of the first quality, 1000. A good fowl, 100. A horse (of the best kind and condition), 1, 000, 000. [15] An ass: he, 8000 wadâs; she, 6000 wadâs. A zekka of ghaseb: large, 10 wadâs; small, 6 wadâs. (N. B. When there is but little rain, a zekka of ghaseb consists only oftwo handfuls. ) A pound of samen, 40 wadâs. A pound of honey, 60 wadâs. A zekka of wheat, or one handful, 10 wadâs. A zekka of rice, or about six handfuls, is 20 wadâs. A canto of salt, of the weight of about a quarter of a cantar, is nowsold for 1200, because the salt-caravan has just arrived; but after twoor three months it will fetch 2500 wadâs. [15] 83_l. _ 6_s. _ The price mentioned in a former page, viz. 1000, 000 wadâs is evidently erroneous. --ED. His highness the Sultan expressed the most ardent desire to see and makehimself acquainted with the rum, and other strong drinks of theChristians, having heard from his son-in-law and interpreter, the littleShereef, that I had a supply of these liquors with me. After resistingsome time, I delivered up to his highness half a bottle of mastic, withwhich retiring to his innermost chamber, and taking with him hisson-in-law, he made himself very merry; so much so, that he was unableto make his appearance in public or justice-hall all this day. The immediate territories of Bornou contain five large and importantcapitals, viz. Zinder, which belongs to Haj Beshir, the prime minister. Mashena, belonging to Mala Ibrahim, second minister. Minyo, belonging to Abd-Er-Rahman, brother of the Sheikh. Yumbi, belonging to the mother of the Sultan. These capitals are the centres of large populations and provinces. The taxes are appropriated by the various personages to whom they aregiven by the Sheikh, but these personages are expected to give up to hishighness the greater part of the funds which they derive from them. _21st. _--I made various routes, and got a statement of the principalarticles of commerce, as current in Zinder and Kanou, Mourzuk andTripoli. I repeat, there is no chance for an English merchant in thispart of Africa. The houses of Zinder are mostly built of double matting, but a goodnumber have mud walls and thatched roofs. Others are all built of mud. There are no nice mosques with minarets. The residence of the Sultan isa fort of mud, with walls of some height; it overlooks all the otherbuildings. The Shereef Kebir has also a mud house, with walls of someheight. There are two principal streets, running from the south to thenorth; one terminating at the castle of the Governor, and the other inthe market. These are of some width, there being space for a dozencamels to pass abreast. There are, besides, many little squares beforethe houses of the grandees, where the people lounge: the streets arealways full of idle people. Instead of _suak_, the women used here the calix of a flower, called_furai_, for staining their teeth with a deep amber colour. It is thefashion for ladies to dress their hair in solid knots, two of which fallover the temples, one over the ear, and the other at the back of thehead. Some of the women have hair tolerably long. I noticed to-day theshonshonah of Daura. It consists of two thick cuts, forming an angle atthe corner of the mouth, with a few small ones on the temples. I went to see another Tree of Death, where his highness slaughterscriminals in the same way as mentioned under the other tree. The spacebeneath the boughs is also swept clean. This tree is more spreading, andof another sort; it is crowned with the filthy vultures, which roost dayand night in considerable numbers on its upper branches. Yusuf tells methe history of these trees, when the inhabitants were pagans. It wasunder them that the people sacrificed their oxen and sheep to the deity, who was supposed to reside in these trees. Scarcely a generation haselapsed since this was the case, so that the people may well dread toventure where, in the time of old men yet living, sacrifices, someperhaps human, were offered up. The Sheikh is obliged to keep a tight hand over the inhabitants ofZinder, to prevent them from lapsing into paganism. His father made themMuslims, and he holds them to the profession of Islamism. No news from Tesaoua respecting the four persons who were sent to bringDrs. Barth and Overweg first to Bornou, before they went to Soudan. Ihave had several patients, but ophthalmia does not prevail here as inDamerghou. A constant succession of visitors troubled me all day long. Another sonof the Sultan came this morning--quite a young man--and a dozen of boysfrom the palace, some sons of the Sultan, and others of his ministers. Igave them all a little piece of white sugar, and sent them off. This isthe cheapest present. I am told that all the Tuaricks are dreadfully afraid of the Sultan ofZinder, for whenever his highness catches an offender, let him be ofwhat tribe of Tuaricks he may, he cuts off his head with as muchunconcern as a poulterer of Leadenhall market does that of a goose. I hear now that, since the dispersion of the Walad Suleiman, the routeof Bornou, from Kuka to the Tibboos, is quite secure. Some lemons have been brought to me, equal in flavour, though small, tothose of the north coast. In Soudan they are marvellously cheap; ten aresold at Kanou for the fiftieth part of a penny, viz. One wadâ; for thesame single wadâ forty can be had at Kashna. There are forests oflemon-trees in Soudan. The news has arrived from the salt-caravan, that Barth says that he willnot return even if they threaten to cut his throat. En-Noor is atTesaoua, and says they should return; but the salt-caravan is distantfrom him, and the communication between the two places is difficult. --Ihad scarcely written these words when the four people sent to bring backDrs. Barth and Overweg returned without them, and brought letters frommy colleagues, each one stating that he should continue his journey aspreviously determined. Ferajee, one of the messengers, pretends thatEn-Noor is going with Overweg to Maradee; which is very unlikely. Dr. Barth seems very angry, but his comrade takes matters more easily. The Shereef Kebir is said to be the only person who has money in Zinder. This man monopolises all the power and all the money. I do not know howlong this will last, but I should think it will soon make both theSultan and the people of Zinder disaffected. As it is, all the merchantsof Zinder are foreigners, and so have the disposal of all the goods mostcoveted by the blacks, who have only the ghaseb and the cattle. _22d. _--The morning is hazy and mild, the thermometer standing at 57°. A fire broke out close to us early this morning, and two or three hutswere immediately consumed. However, the people quenched the flames in avery short time. I wonder half the town is not burnt down every now andthen. Visitors pour in upon me as soon as I am up and dressed; and somepatients likewise. The brother of the present Sarkee of Zinder, who ruled a year in Zinder, is called Tanimu. He has a great military reputation, and is a braveman. During his administration he razzied no less than thirty countries. Daura, or Dura, was the principal theatre of his exploits. This Daura isa country consisting of about a thousand towns and villages; fourhundred belonging to the Fullans, and six hundred to the Sheikh ofBornou. The Fullanee Sultan is called Mohammed Bello, and he of theSheikh, Sofo Lukudi. The nearest place in Daura is not more than one dayS. W. Of Zinder. The people of the country are remarkably expert in theuse of the bow and arrow; and their arrows are very strong, piercingthrough, as the people say, _three_ boxes, and afterwards killing a man. The wound of these arrows is fatal, the flesh of the smitten part risingup immediately into an enormous swelling. The brother of the presentSarkee brought in hundreds of slaves from Daura, the people at the sametime having risen against the authority of the Sheikh. The blacks of Kanou--not the Fullans--do not scarify their faces liketheir neighbours. The form of the shonshona of Zinder and its provincesis four cuts on each side the cheek, but not drawn very near the cornerof the mouth; that is, rather towards the ears. In Tumbi and Gumel, provinces of Bornou, they draw four on the left side of the cheek andfive on the right side; the cuts not drawn very near either the cornerof the mouth or the ears. Maradee and Kashna have six cuts on each sideof the cheek, drawn from the top of the ears down to the corner of themouth. Gouber has four small cuts close to the corner of the mouth. Thepeople of the Sheikh of Bornou have two small cuts drawn down the face, under each eyelid, and one in the forehead, between the eyes. Even Mekkahas its shonshona. One of the shereefs here in Zinder, who was born inthat holy city, has three small cuts on each side his face, drawn downthe fleshy part of the cheek. It is only in Mekka that the shonshona isseen. The other countries of Arabia do not use this disfigurement. [16] [16] Many Egyptians, men and women, practise tattooing; and if I mistake not, I have seen evidences of the existence of the practice mentioned in the text in some parts of Egypt. --ED. The Sheikh Lousou sent his slave to salute me on his part. They say, that had we been committed to his care, he would not have fleeced uslike En-Noor. But I almost question if he would have been strong enoughto protect us. I observe, again, that all the Tuaricks are well behavedin Zinder, and have a wholesome dread of the Sheikh. Many of the domestic slaves in Zinder are constantly ironed, for fearthey should run away to the neighbouring towns and villages. The poorpeople live just like convicts. It is only when they are taken to Kuka, or to a great distance, that their irons are struck off. The report is now current in Zinder, that the Sarkee is going, in thecourse of seven or eight days, to razzia some neighbouring place in thedirection of Daura. They say, even, that he will not scruple to razziasome of the villages of Meria if necessary; that is to say, a part ofthe province of Zinder. My informants observed merely, "Oh, he must haveslaves to pay his debts; and as the largest fish eat the little fish, sothe great people eat the small people. " Thus the protection of Islamismis now come to nothing, and the cry is, --"To the razzia!" withoutmentioning even the name of Kafer or Kerdi. In the end this will retardthe progress of Mahommedanism; for the blacks see that it is now noprotection for them against their more powerful neighbours and theirperiodical razzias. I visited several personages this afternoon; first, the Shereef Kebir, with whom I ate some broiled fish brought from a neighbouring lake, andsome fine Bilma dates, soaked in milk. I asked him how it was that theSheikh committed to the governors or sultans of the provinces the awfulpower of life and death. "Oh, " replied he, "the Sheikh has given themthis power that he might not be bothered with their reports aboutcriminals. It is far better to finish quick with these people. " Wherethere are periodical razzias the sacredness of human life is unknown, and the Shereef has been, besides, many years in the camp ofAbd-el-Kader, where a good deal of sanguinary work was carried on. Hethought it, therefore, quite right that the Sheikh should not fatiguehis sovereign conscience by deciding on the lives of criminals and othersuspected persons, and that the sooner they were hung or slaughtered thebetter. From the Shereef I passed on to the brother of the Sultan, a young manof mild manners. I entered the inner part of the house, where were thewomen. Verily the Zinder people have a strange love of dust, dirt, andbare mud walls. In the two or three beehive huts which I explored, therewas not a single article of furniture, nor a mat to lie down upon. Thebrother of the Sultan was sitting by his sister, and both on the dust ofthe ground, without a mat. I am told, however, that they sleep on matsand skins, which are, indeed, cheap enough; two or three pence, or twoor three hundred wadâs, would purchase a good one. The sister of theSultan was coloured well with indigo, the dark blue of which replacesthe yellow ochre of the ladies of fashion in Aheer. This Zinder lady hadalso the end of the tufts of her hair--I cannot call them curls--formedinto clayey sticks of macerated indigo. For the rest, she had littleclothing, her arms and bust being quite bare. All the other ladies withher were coloured in like fashion, and had their hair dressed in asimilar manner. Afterwards I visited an old Tripoline Mamluke, who has been up heretwenty-two long years. He came alone, and has now a household oftwenty-eight persons, including wives, children, and slaves. He iscalled Mohammed El-Wardi, knew Dr. Oudney, and even mentioned his name, recollecting it after so many years. He knew also the other travellers. Some of his family are in Kuka. Various applications are made me for remedies to avert certain evils, and one man applied for a means to make him sell his goods quick: thiswas a Tibboo trader. It would appear that some of the routes from Zinder to neighbouringplaces are not very safe; that from this place to Kanou, even, issomewhat dangerous for small parties, there being woods on the road, inwhich lurk banditti, who lie in wait for unprotected caravans. With goodtravelling, Kanou is only eight or ten days from Zinder, and Kashna fouror five. It is not easy to get the route here by hours, for the peopleare ignorant of this way of reckoning the routes. By days, something maybe done. The Moorish merchants resident here pretend that the territory of Zindercontains no less than two thousand _belad_, or inhabited spots, towns, villages, and hamlets, and some of these are large towns--as large, orlarger, than Zinder. Damagram is a populous place, more so than Zinder;but the whole of the province of Zinder has this name, the people beingall Damagrama. The town of Damagram was once the capital of theprovince. The large towns are:-- Damagram, one day and a-half south-east. Dakusa, five hours south. Termeni, three hours south. Washa, two days and a-half west. Goshi, two days east. Bidmuni, one day east. Andera, one day east. Jegana, one day south. Jermo, one day south. Guria, one-half day west. Meria, six hours south-east. Konchai, one day and a-half west. Gorgahn, one-half hour. Mageria, two days south-west. Fatram, two days south. Dalladi, six hours north. All these are towns, some larger than Zinder. I expect to see the great drum brought here, and to hear it beaten. Ithas led the people of Zinder to the razzia during the time of twelvesultans. The drummer, when he beats the drum in leading on the people tothe razzia, repeats the perpetual chorus of _Jatau chi geri_--"The red(Sultan) eats up the country. " He is afraid to mention the name of theSultan, and so repeats the word red, as distinguishing royalty; butwhether in the same way as purple distinguished the Roman emperors, orbecause kings delight in blood, does not appear. I went to see the process of indigo dyeing. The dyers bore circular pitsof about fifteen or twenty feet deep, and three feet in diameter, inwhich they throw the things to be dyed, and leave them there. The pitsare full of the dye, produced by the leaves and the seed of the plantcalled _nila_, sodden in water. They dye tobes and raw cotton, andcotton twist; the work is carried on in the open air. About thirtypeople were employed at the pits which I saw. They also prepare indigoin a better way than what I saw at these pits. _23d. _--I have not quite done with the Tuaricks, and had many visitorsof that tribe to-day; amongst the rest, our old friends and robbers, Ferajee and Deedee. I told Ferajee I had my boxes full of gold andsilver, and asked him to buy. He replied, "Ah, el-Consul did not say soin Asben; he said _babo_ (there is none)!" At this, all our visitorsburst out in a roaring laugh. I rejoined, "Oh, no, Ferajee; because Iwas then amongst thieves and robbers. " (Continued laughter. ) I went tosee the souk;--everybody was very civil;--no calling Kafer!--Tuaricksall as still as mice. I called upon the Shereef Kebir, and drank with him tea and coffee, which he makes in Magrabi fashion, putting the sugar in the tea-pot. Iobserved, "How is this? I hear the Sultan is going soon on a razzia. "Somewhat disconcerted, he replied, _Allah yâlem!_--"God teaches!" Aftersome time, he explained that the Sheikh left his vassals great libertyin this matter; that the Sultan of Zinder was permitted to go to Dauraand eat up the Kohlans, but not the Fullans, between whom and the Sheikhthere was peace: that is to say, the Fullans were not to be made slaves, but the Kohlan subjects of the Fullans might be captured. The Sheikh wasnot friendly to Maradee, and wished the Sultan of Zinder to attack thatcountry; but the Sarkee was a friend of Maradee, and would not, &c. &c. So it is quite clear these Sarkees, or at any rate the one in Zinder, have great latitude of action. After hesitating still more about theserazzias, the Shereef said, "Oh, you see the strong devour the weak;there are no regular governments here. " In the souk to-day, it was proved beyond all doubt that the Zinderpeople sell themselves into foreign slavery. Many of the slaves for salehad the Zinder scarified marks on their faces. There were also specimensfrom Maradee. Slaves are sent from Zinder to Niffee. Indeed, it nowappears that all this part of Africa is put under contribution to supplythe South American market with slaves. Zinder is considered within the circle of Soudan, and not to be Bornou, but only a Bornouese province. The Sheikh has in this province severalTuarick subjects, i. E. Tuaricks settled in the Zinder provinces. The souk to-day was full of people, but goods of value were wanting. Indeed, Zinder is now a poor place. Only the foreigners have any attheir command. The Sarkee is at this moment desperately poor, and isgoing on this approaching razzia to raise money to satisfy hiscreditors. Verily, this _is_ a "new way to pay old debts. " I heard a curious explanation of the reason why the people of Zinder donot use mats or skins to lie down upon in the daytime. It is said theyare afraid, because the Sarkee does not use them, and they must notdisplay a luxurious taste not practised by their prince. This is theexplanation of the Shereef and the little court of Arabs and Moors bywhich he is surrounded. "Like people like prince" is a proverb which Ithink I have heard. The Shereef told me this morning that he had made war with France, inAlgeria, fourteen years, and he had been a prisoner of the French sevenmonths. He said the French were people without religion, or faith intheir words and promises, and could not be trusted. He showed me hisFrench passport. However, he seems to have soon forgotten his troublesin Algeria, and is quiet now. He writes well, and has received a goodeducation. His country is one day east of Tetuan, in the Rif mountains. He is likely to be very useful to the Sheikh in Zinder. I visited the souk again in the evening, and made a few small purchasesof curiosities; but there are very few things to be got in this market, and those mostly come from Kanou. What things are made here are of therudest manufacture. I passed the slave-market, and was greatly shocked to see a poor oldwoman for sale amongst the rest of human beings. She was offered for sixthousand wadâs, about ten shillings in English money. It is quiteimpossible to conjecture of what use such a poor old creature can be. The Shereef Kebir made a present of a little boy to Saïd of Haj Beshirthis evening. The poor little fellow looked very pitiful. He was stolenfrom Daura. He has only one cheek marked with the shonshona, because hismother lost all the children which she bare before him; and the customis, when a mother thus loses her children, to scarify only one cheek. The mode of supplying the slave-markets of the north and south is trulynefarious, and perhaps surpasses all the wickedness of the Tuaricks. TheSarkee of Zinder wants gour-nuts, and has no money to purchase them; hesends his servants or officers to a neighbouring village, and they stealin open day two or three families of people, and bring them to theSarkee. These poor wretches are immediately exchanged for the gour-nuts. A boy steals some trifling articles--a few needles; he is forthwith soldin the souk; and not only he, but "if the Sarkee wants money, " hisfather and mother, brothers and sisters: and "if the Sarkee is very muchpressed for money, " his familiars search for the brothers of the father, and all their relations. Indeed, crime is a lucrative source of supplyfor the prince, and what his vengeance spares from the executioner issold into foreign slavery. In the approaching razzia, the Sarkee is expected to take the commonroute of Daura, and carry off the villagers subjected to the Sheikh;for, contrary to the opinion of the Shereef Kebir, the Sarkee will notattack the Kohlans, who are the subjects of the Fullan, but the _bonâfide_ subjects of the Sheikh. He will probably bring back one thousandslaves or captives. He will send two hundred to the Sheikh, with such amessage as this:--"I have eaten up the Kafers of Daura; here is youroffering of two hundred Kafers. " Should the Sheikh receive aremonstrance from the Bornou governor of Daura, that the Sarkee ofZinder has come upon him and carried off Muslims, his subjects, he willshut his ears. In all these razzias the lesser chiefs act an importantpart, and each gets a share. A chief who fights under the Sarkeecaptures fifty slaves, and gives up to the Sarkee twenty-five or thirty, keeping the rest for himself and people. If a single undistinguished man captures five, the Sarkee gets two ofthe five; another captures two, the Sarkee gets one, and the captor one. So all have a common interest in these nefarious razzias, and all startoff with the utmost glee to capture their neighbours, their brethren, and to sell them into bondage. The Sarkee of Zinder will take with himabout five thousand cavalry and thirty thousand foot (bowmen), drawnfrom these portions of the provinces against which the razzia is not nowdirected. CHAPTER XIV. Family of the Sarkee--Converted Jew--Hard Dealings--How to get rid of aWife--Route to Tesaoua--Influence of Slavery--Prices of Aloes andSilk--Medicine for a Merchant--Departure of the Sarkee for theRazzia--Encampment--Mode of Fighting--Produce of Razzias--Story of theTibboo--Sheikh Lousou--Gumel--Superstitions--Matting--Visitof Ladies--The Jew--Incendiaries--Hazna--Legend of ZinderWell--Kohul--Cousin of the Sheikh--Female Sheikh--State of theCountry--Salutations. _Jan. 24th. _--The thermometer stood last night at 74° after dark. Thismorning it is, as usual, about 56°. The weather is still hazy; but thetown is remarkably healthy, and there are very few cases of fever at thepresent time. Zinder, by the people, is said to be always cool. His highness the Sarkee of Zinder is a prince of true African andAsiatic calibre. He has three hundred wives, one hundred sons, and fiftydaughters; but his women are not prisoners in a harem. His wives anddaughters are seen about the streets walking alone, and the daughtersare given in marriage to the grandees of the court. His wives, likewise, are often found with paramours outside the palace. I went to see a Jew who has been some time resident in Zinder. This Jewis one of those three who came to Mourzuk with Abd-el-Galeel, and afterhis death turned Muslims, and came up to Soudan and Bornou. He is calledIbrahim. The one now in Tesaoua, and who is going with Overweg toMaradee, is Mousa; and the other is called Isaac. The Moors put no faithin the conversion of these Jews: they say, "These men are always Jews intheir hearts; they turned Muslims on speculation. " It is certain thatthey got handsome presents at Mourzuk from the credulous believers. Ofothers, the Moors say they became Muslims to prevent the Tuaricks fromkilling them. I asked Ibrahim how he passed the Tuarick countries, andwas informed that the Ghâtees treated him the worst. They swore he wasnot a Muslim, but still a Jew, and demanded one hundred dollars from himto pass. He got off with fifty; whilst to the Aheer people he paid abouttwenty dollars. A Christian or a Jew must never think he will be able tosave his money, or, much less, his credit, by apostatising, for theseTuaricks will always swear his conversion is sham, however real it maybe. He will always have to pay the same money, whether he keep hisreligion or sell it for the chance of saving his worthless gold andsilver. All these Jews, however, seem to have thriven in their apostasy. Ibrahimof Zinder is worth about six or seven thousand dollars, and, besidesbeing a working-jeweller, is a merchant. I tried to exchange some of myimitation rings for his silver ones, but it was useless. He had theconscience to demand thirty of my nicely-made rings for one of histrumpery, ill-made silver ones--silver with a very bad alloy. Then hewanted a pretty cotton-print handkerchief for a miserable silver bead. With such people it is impossible to strike a bargain. These BarbaryJews are the hardest and most tricky dealers in the world. Ibrahim hasbeen laid up with a bad leg for five months, and intends going to Kukawhen he gets better. He wanted me to sell him some mastic, but Irefused. He said he wished to have one jolly day, but the fellow isalmost a skeleton with his ulcerous leg. The Shereef Saghir is quite a character. He has been over the greaterpart of the world, and along the Indian coast--has seen the English inIndia, and the Christians in many ways and manners; and so is free fromall sort of fanaticism. He wants now to return with me to England. Hesays--Soudan is _bâtal_ (worthless), and that if he take his wife, thedaughter of the Sarkee of Zinder, with him to the north coast, he willsell her, and so finish his connexion with the negroes! I forgot tomention that Ibrahim has brought with him a Muslim wife from Mourzuk, and has now two or three black wives, and several children. From the courier who came from Dr. Overweg I have obtained the followingaccount of the route from Zinder to Tesaoua: From Zinder direct west to Tus, 1 hour; village: to Termini, 5 hours;village: to Dambidda, 1 hour; a large village: to Babul, 5 hours;village: to Gumda, 4 hours; village: to Kurnaua, 4 hours; village: toGaragumsa, 5 hours; village: to Shabari, 7 hours; village: to Maizirgi, 1 hour; large village: to Tesaoua, 5 hours. Along this route there is abundance of herbage and trees, but no runningwater or wadys. There are wells of great depth. The distances betweenthe various villages being in all, when summed up, thirty-eight hours, we must consider the whole length of the route three long and four shortdays' journey, as the caravans generally arrive on the fourth day. Slavery is the curse of all these countries. My Soudan servant, Amankee, would not come with me to Zinder, on account of his longing desire tosee his mother and brother and sisters; and yet, although these feelingsare deep in the bosoms of all the blacks, they can see their neighbourstorn away from their houses and carried off in irons with the greatestindifference. The slaves of the Sarkee of Zinder are double-ironed, likeconvicts, and in this condition jump through the streets, for theycannot walk. The backs of these poor slaves are all ulcerated with thestrokes of the whip. I received a visit this morning from the Jew Ibrahim. After a good dealof wrangling I exchanged three handkerchiefs for three beads of silver, but one of the beads I made him a present of. I was much surprised tohear from him that the aloe wood, _aoud el-Komari_, sold in Bornou forits equal weight in silver. He also stated that twelve rubtas of rawsilk sold for one real in Mourzuk and Zinder, whilst fifteen could bepurchased in Kauou for the same money. What will become of the goods ofthe Germans? En-Noor's wife, Fatia, sent this morning for medicine to enable her tobring forth a child. I maliciously recommended to her a younger husband. A Tibboo has continued to pester me to death for a medicine to make himprofit in his mercantile transactions. To get rid of him, being in amerry mood, I scribbled over a piece of paper, and he swallowed it. Agreat number of people come for medicines who are not sick. I generallycontent myself with a bare refusal, explaining that there is nonecessity; but there is nothing so difficult as to convince a man thathe is well when once he has persuaded himself of the contrary. The Sarkee went out this morning to his razzia and does not return forsome days, so I shall not be able to take leave of his highness. Thegossips persist in saying that he is dreadfully in want of money, andmust go out to bring in some slaves to pay his debts. He was attended byabout one thousand cavalry, and a good number of maharees. He is gonesouthwards. They report that he is indeed gone to Daura, but nothing isknown positively as to whether he will capture the Sheikh's subjects orthose of the Fellatahs. The Sarkee, on a former occasion, captured agreat many people belonging to Germal, one of the Sheikh's provinces, and an order was forthwith sent to him to restore them to their homesand lands. He was compelled to comply. Besides slaves, the Sarkee willbring in bullocks and horses; but the sheep taken are eaten by thetroops of the razzia. His highness is expected to gather an army of 2000horse, and 10, 000 on foot, besides camels for provisions and water, whencompleted. The plan and route of the expedition are kept a profoundsecret, so that the army will fall upon the unsuspecting population bysurprise. After about three or four hours' ride the Sarkee usually encamps, and asouk, or market, is opened at the camp for provisions. "There are nowomen with the _yaki_ (or army of razzia), the men cook and do all thework, " says my informant. At night the Sultan calls round him his chosentroops, and distributes gour-nuts, and makes presents of provisions. Hethen sleeps a few hours, and probably starts at midnight, or as soon asthe moon rises. A slave, a soldier of the Sarkee, who has been to ahundred razzias, tells me, that three years ago this Sarkee went toattack him of Daura in his capital. On arriving before the town the armyof Zinder set fire to all the ghaseb stubble and the garden-trees aroundit. This done, they commenced a regular battle with the besieged. Thefight continued till night, when the Sarkee of Daura fled. The Zinderpeople carried off a large booty: the share of the Sultan alone was ninehundred. This freebooting prince does not fight himself, but sits down at adistance from his troops and overlooks their conduct and manoeuvres; hisgenerals command and lead on the attack, whilst a body-guard surroundsthe sacred person of the monarch. On the occasion referred to, thisbody-guard was covered with mattrass-stuffing to shield off the terriblearrows of the Daura people. The greater part of the troops of Zinderhave only a spear; a few have shields and swords, but none have muskets. All the Daura people have bows and arrows. There are numbers of pettytraders here waiting for the booty of this razzia, and some of thecreditors of the Sarkee went this morning to wish him God speed. I amglad I did not go out to see him start on such a nefarious expedition. It appears, however, that we are not to leave for Kuka until the returnof the army. They intimate that a portion of the spoil will be sent withus to the great Sheikh of Bornou: so that after all, however unwilling, we shall seem to countenance this bloody work. _26th, Sunday. _--We have still to remain here another week at least, soI must make what use I can of the time of this delay, caused by thenefarious razzia, now in course of operation. In the extravagant mannerthat this government of Zinder conducts its affairs, it can only supportitself by periodical expeditions of this kind. There is one Fez merchanthere, to whom the Sarkee owes four millions of wadâs, or about twothousand reals of Fezzan; and other creditors claim in a likeproportion. Now, indeed, we begin to understand how the slave-markets ofquasi-civilised countries are supplied by the surplus produce of theseexpeditions. The route from Aghadez to the country of Sidi Hashem, now governed byhis son, is three days' journey, and from the country of Sidi Hashem toWadnoun, three days: there is also a route of five days, a little moredirect; and the route direct from Aghadez to Wadnoun is four days'journey. The story of the Tibboo is going the round of the town, and becoming thedaily gossip. This story has now assumed a substantial historical shape. The facts are, as I have already intimated, that the Tibboo persecutedme to give him a medicine to enable him to trade with profit. Iscribbled over a bit of paper, cut in the shape of a dollar, the number10, 000 dollars, and told him to swallow it, and afterwards to bring itme in the same state. The price for this was a fowl. He swallowed thepaper, and went off to get the fowl. Not succeeding in the souk, he wentto the Shereef Kebir, and requested him to give him a fowl for a sickperson. The Shereef gave him what he asked, and the Tibboo brought it tome. This story since has been greatly embellished at the expense of theTibboo, and affords infinite amusement to the Moorish and Arabicmerchants of Zinder. I have just noticed some sable ladies, with their hair all twisted intothree or four great points--vain attempts at curls. The back parts areall covered with a paste of indigo. The hair is well dressed, and freefrom any woolly appearance. Yesterday the Sheikh Lousou paid me a visit. I presented him with a loafof sugar, and a cotton handkerchief. He received them with manifestpleasure, and promised to write a letter to the Queen, that, in theevent of other English people or Europeans passing through the Tuarickcountry of Aheer, he would render them all the protection in his power. Lousou is esteemed by some persons as great a man as En-Noor in Zinder, but this estimation is exceedingly out of place. Lousou could giveprotection to European travellers and merchants, but not in an equaldegree to En-Noor. As he is a younger man than En-Noor, however, it isdesirable to secure his friendship, and, if possible, that of theSarkee. Lousou wore the bag of camphor which I gave him, showing it tome with great satisfaction. According to the information of a slave of the Sarkee, Gumel is a largeBornouese province, the capital of which is Tumbi: the Sultan's name isDan-Tanoma. Gumel is one day and a-half from Zinder, but the capital isthree days by horse and five days by camel travelling. Gumel has twelvegreat officers. Bundi is a large province of Bornou, the capital ofwhich is Galadima: the Sultan's name is Kagami. Galadima is three daysfrom Zinder. Aoud, a large place, is one day from Galadima. Alamaigo, also a large village or town, is half a day from Galadima. Meria, isthree days from Galadima, and three from Zinder. According to strict Muslims, it is a sin to write Jebel Mekka, "themountain of Mekka. " I have lately noticed several instances ofsuperstition. A Moor of Fezzan, to whom I gave a small portion ofcamphor, showed me the paper and piece of cotton cloth in which he hadwrapped it up, and swore that during the night the ginns, or evilspirits, had eaten it. Many other Moors asked me if it was possible topreserve camphor from the ginns? They said they knew a man who oneevening locked up a piece of this substance in an iron box, and in themorning it was gone; the ginns had eaten it. I went to see the manufacture of the matting which is used for makinghouses. There were thirty slaves at work, all belonging to one man; overthese were three masters (also slaves), to keep them at their task. Theycertainly did not hurry themselves, and very few people hurry themselvesin this country. These slaves were all Hazna, or pagans. The Sarkee ofZinder, besides Tuaricks, has many pagan subjects. Some of the blacks, Iwas surprised to see, had breasts as full and plump as many women. Inother respects these pagans do not differ from their Muslim brethren. The matting is woven thirty or forty feet long, and eight feet broad, and is used to enclose a cluster of huts. It is all doubly-woven. I gaveeach of them a small looking-glass, having nothing else to dispose of. According to a Moor here, the land revenues of Zinder are divided intothree portions; one of which goes to the Sarkee, one to the Sheikh, andone to the Bashaw. This is the new arrangement. The Sarkee makes up hisaccounts, or fills up his exchequer by razzias. _27th. _--The weather continues mild, but thick. The thermometer nowstands at about 60° at sunrise. The people are mostly healthy. We do nothear of cases of fever, or any other periodical complaints. As soon asup, I received a visit from a number of old ladies, who came to see theChristian, and to bring him a bowl of milk. One of them had been thenurse of the Sultan of Zinder; so that I was bound to feel duly honouredby this attention. Everybody now says the Sarkee will return in the course of five days, and besides slaves, will bring store of cattle and horses, the spoils ofthe poor people. I certainly never heard of a more iniquitousexpedition, for it is believed he has gone against the pacific and loyalsubjects of the Sheikh--not tribes or villages under another power. I went to visit the renegade Jew Ibrahim. I had prescribed a regimen forhim, to assist in the cure of his bad foot, but yet he had done nothing. These kind of people are most eager to get prescriptions, but very laxin following them. Probably in secret they expect a magical cure, andhave no confidence in any specific less expeditious than the waving of awand. I repeated everything again to him, without expecting compliance. It is, however, cheap to express condolence in this manner. The streets are almost deserted; only a few beggars and poor people showthemselves about. There was a fire last night in the market-place, saidto be the work of an incendiary. The thieves here set fire to the huts, and profit in the confusion by carrying off the goods and chattels ofthe alarmed; as, indeed, they do in London and other cities of Europe. The devices of roguery are marvellously monotonous. In the forenoon I received a visit from the Iman of the mosque ofZinder. I asked about the Hazna, or pagans, thinking to get a littleinformation; but I only learnt what I knew before, that the Hazna maketheir offerings, which consist, of milk and ghaseb, under trees. TheseHazna are mostly peasants--little farmers; and, like Cain, they offer totheir deity the fruits of the earth. The Iman said their deity wasEblis, or the Devil; an accusation commonly bandied between rivalcreeds. He informed me, also, that there are a good number of Hazna inboth Zinder and the other towns and villages of the province. Hedespaired of their ever becoming Muslims, but added, "The great menamongst them must become Muslims by order of the Sheikh, whilst the poorpeople are left to do as they please, and so furnish a constant supplyfor the home and foreign slave-mart. It is not the interest of theSarkee or the foreign merchants that they should become Muslims. " I have heard of the names of two other Tuarick tribes, viz. TheEzzaggeran, near Gouber, and the Daggera, near Minyo, belonging to theTuarick country of Gurasu. These, apparently, are fractions of tribes. I register the following legend, which seems to imply that Zinder, likemany of the towns of this part of Africa, is of comparatively modernorigin. Twenty years ago there was a fine spring of water bubbling from underthe largest granite rock of Zinder. It was this spring which firstattracted a population to settle here. Suleiman, father of the presentSarkee, one day harangued the people, and told them, "This water is notnecessary for us; the Sheikh of Bornou will hear of this prey, and comeand take our country from us. Now let us fetch a fighi, who shall writea talisman; and we will put this talisman upon the mouth of the spring, and with it a large stone, and the water of the spring shall immediatelydry. " The people consented to this; the charm was written and throwninto the spring, and the stone was rolled on to its mouth; since whichthe spring has in reality ceased to flow. The population of Zinder is now supplied with water from three wells, about half an hour distant from the spring, now dry. Upon the stone overthis dried spring are several marks, like the footprints of camels andhorses. Other people add, "the marks of a man when he kneels down topray. " The Shereef Kebir says, that Lousou brought a piece of magnetic iron tohim, which he sent to Haj Beghir in Kuka. Lousou reports that there isan abundance of magnetic iron in Aheer. Kohul is very cheap in themarket of Zinder. In Kanou it can be had for ten reals (Fezzan) thecantar; and in Yakoba, whence it is brought, for three reals. There is awhole rock of kohul in Yakoba, the property of the Sultan. The Fellatahsrule Yakoba as well as Adamowa. They are still very powerful in all thispart of Africa. Individual Fellatahs have as many as five thousandslaves, who work partly for their masters and partly for themselves. I visited this evening Sidi Bou Beker Weled Haj Mohammed Sudani, cousinof the Sheikh of Bornou. He was surrounded with all the objects ofBornou luxury, --carpets, guns, pistols, swords, umbrellas, &c. &c. Hewas busy looking over a book containing an explanation of dreams, with avastly-knowing mâlem. They both made pretensions to great learning. Inother respects, the cousin of the Sheikh was very affable. He said, Bornou is the only good country hereabouts. All the rest are full offever or bandits. "There were two English, " he observed, "came to us (inBornou), and were very well until they went to Soudan, where they died. "These persons were Oudney and Clapperton. I told him I must return byway of Wadaï, which he disapproved of. I added, that Abbas Pasha wouldwrite to Darfour and Wadaï, to give me protection. He then said, "Oh, ifthe Sheikh writes to Wadaï, you can go in safety. " This cousin of the Sheikh is a great merchant, and comes backwards andforwards to Zinder from Kuka. _28th. _--The nights are still rather cool, but the days not so. Theweather continues heavy, with a south-east wind. I went to the cousin ofthe Sheikh to administer to him a dose of Epsom salts. I have often beensurprised to see how greedily these people drink off this nauseousmedicine, and smack their lips as if it was something excessivelydelicious. Afterwards I had a visit from a great sister of the Sarkee, a woman whois a Sheikha (female Sheikh), and receives the revenues of fiftyvillages for her own private use. She was quite well, but begged hardfor medicine. At last I gave her some tea, which she drank off, afterlaughing a good deal. A small caravan has arrived from Ghadamez in three months, but broughtno news, except that Aaron Silva is living, and not dead, as reported. These merchants make continual inquiries respecting the state of thecountry (i. E. Of Soudan), and are answered, "_Afia, afia. _" However, itis these same slave-dealing merchants who occasion the greater part ofthe wars and troubles in these countries, by their perpetual demand forslaves. I am told that many cantars of indigo can be purchased in Soudan (inKanou), at a price which would bring a great profit in Tripoli; but themerchants refuse to engage in this commerce. I think I shall make atrial of it. The cousin of the Sheikh recommended me to dress in my English clotheson my arrival in Kuka. By doing this, he observed, "you will please thepeople, and get many presents. " It was ever my intention to dress inEuropean clothes in Bornou. The common mode in which a poor person salutes a great man, is bykneeling down and throwing dust upon the bare head. The degree ofhumility and respect is expressed by the quantity of dust thrown! TheSarkee, of course, gets a great deal of dust, and every personage underhim his portion, according to his rank. The beggars throw the dust aboutin clouds. At first, it is painful to see this custom. CHAPTER XV. Political News--Animals of Zinder--Sleepy City--Districtof Korgum--Razzias--Family of Sheikh Omer ofBornou--Brothers--Sons--Sisters--Daughters--Viziers--Kashallas--Power ofthe Sheikh--A Cheating Prince--Old Slave--Fetishism--Devil in aTuarick's head--Kibabs--Fires--A Prophecy--Another Version of theRazzia--Correspondence between Korgum and Zinder. Some political news has arrived to-day by the caravan from Ghât. According to the gazette of the caravan there is peace now between thePorte and Musku (Russia), and Musku is to restore to the Porte the onehundred countries taken by her, as also to pay the expenses of the war. Hostilities have broken out between the Emperor of Morocco and theFrench; a Shereef has appeared to recommence the holy war, and MuleyAbd-Errhaman supplies him with the means to fight the French. Thus thenews is all fashioned to Muslim tastes. Also it is said, that in futurethe red colour in flags is always to be uppermost. This seems likewise acompliment to the Muslim power in Europe and Africa. It is very curiousto see how dexterously the caravan-newsman has coined his wares. The shonshona of Gouber is very faint, and consists of nine very smallcuts. Gouber is full of Tuaricks, Kilgris, and Iteesan. It is said the Sarkeewill bring an immense number of Hazna, or pagans, with him, on hisreturn from the razzia. _29th. _--At sunrise, when the thermometer is at 57°, I feel the cold. Iam told that, though Kuka is very hot, it is quite free from fever, --infact, from all periodic epidemics. So we may expect to do well, if weescape the fever of Soudan. The household gods of Zinder are a large species of lizard, who maketheir dwelling-places in the walls and roofs of the huts. These are ingreat numbers. Cats are the principal nuisance and the thieves of theplace--attacking and devouring fowls. Of rats and mice I have observednone. But few small birds show themselves. The small filthy vulture iseverywhere, and a few eagles of a diminutive white species are seenamongst them. Some few dogs are kept, ill-looking and mongrel in theirbreed. The domestic cattle are horses, asses, oxen, sheep and goats, anda few camels. The life of the male population of Zinder seems to pass in dreamyindolence, varied continually by the excitement of a razzia. The womendivide their time between the kitchen and the toilette. No amusement issought, except from drum-beating and the attendant dance. Thus timelapses with these black citizens. As for the foreign merchants andtraders, they, too, drowse away the period of their residence in thissleepy city. They sell their goods in a lump, on trust, to the Sarkee, and then compose themselves to slumber whilst he goes forth on a razzia, and brings them slaves in payment. The thick, heavy atmosphere--at anyrate during this season--appears to forbid any other kind of life. Itweighs upon the eyelids, and oppresses the soul. Existence passes awayin a tropical dream, and death finds its prey, as Jupiter found Maia, "betwixt sleep and wake, " in this poppied climate. Altogether--as far asI can see through my own winking eyes--Zinder is a most unlovely place;by no means desirable for a stranger to live in. I manage, however, nowand then to grasp at, and hold, something like definite information. Inlooking over the itineraries of Captain Lyon, I find that the razziashave obliterated many towns and villages from the map. At any rate, thepeople now are ignorant of their names. Korgum, half-a-day's distance from Konchai, two days from Zinder, is, according to a report come in this afternoon, the place or theatre ofthe present razzia. The pretext is--for I now hear of a pretext--thatthey will not pay tribute to the Sheikh. Korgum consists of threevillages and a town, upon and under some rocky hills, which are visibleduring three days' march. The district is the residence of a sultan. Tenyears ago it belonged to Maradee, but since then has been wrested fromit, though it has ever shown a doubtful allegiance. When the formerchief fled to Maradee, he stopped to drink water at Korgum; but thesultan refused to grant him permission. The present Sarkee, on beingrestored to his government, --though he made war upon hisbrother--nevertheless determined to avenge this barbarous inhospitality. He went and attacked the Sultan of Korgum, captured several of hispeople, and cut off, it is pretended, eight hundred heads. Not satisfiedwith this slight vengeance, the chief of Zinder seems to have remainedanxious to pick a quarrel. He next sent for wadâ; in other words, fortribute. The Sultan of Korgum forwarded some. The Sarkee despatched amessage, that what he had received was "few. " The Sultan replied, "Whyshould I send many?" A pertinent question, that seems to have closed thecorrespondence, but not brought the affair to a conclusion. The Sarkee of Zinder heard that the Sultan of Korgum had just gone outon a razzia, united with the people of Maradee, and has taken thisopportunity to make a foray. It is probably with reference to somerumour of this expedition that Overweg writes to me. It is said here that the Sarkee never captures all the people, butleaves a few to breed for another razzia! All the inhabitants of Korgumare Hazna, a fact strongly insisted on as a salve for the consciences ofmy Muslim friends. The Sarkee is expected back on Friday. I received a visit from the two Shereefs that were at Mourzuk in ourtime. They left after us; had remained three months in Ghât, and, ofcourse, detest the Tuaricks. I gave them coffee, and each a cottonhandkerchief. _30th. _--The following are given me as the names of the family of theSheikh Omer, of Bornou:-- _Brothers. _ Abd-Er-Rahman is the eldest brother after the Sheikh, and generalissimoof the army; the province of Minyo belongs to him. Yusuf, a very learned man, a great fighi. Othman, also a fighi. His mother is a native of Mandara. Bou Beker, also a fighi; to him belongs Limbaua and many estates. Mahmoud, also a fighi; to him belongs Kalulwa and many estates. Abdullah Manufi; to him belongs Gubobaua, consisting of 220 countries orvillages. (Gubobaua is one day west of Kuka. ) Bashir: fighi; resides with his brother Abd-Er-Rahman, and has a smallvillage. Hamed Rufai; by the same mother as Abdullah Manufi. Mustapha; a great man, having much influence in the country: he has manyestates. Ibrahim; fighi, and has estates. Anos. Khalil. Ahmed. Hamed Zaruf, a young brother. Hamed Bedawi, a young brother. Abd-el-Kader, a young brother. Abd-el-Majed, a young brother. Mohammed el-Kanemi; young. All these my informant knows. What a family! Verily we are in Africa! _Sons. _ Bou Beker, aged about fifteen years. Ibraim. Hashemi. Kasem. Tahir. Taib. Rufai. Abdallah. Mohammed Lamin (name of his grandfather). Kanami. The mother of the Sheikh is called Magera, a native of Begarmi. _Sisters of the Sheikh. _ Nafisa; to her belongs the country of Kumalewa (same mother asAbd-Er-Rahman). Maimuna; to her belongs the place of Wameri (same mother as above). Aisha; to her belongs Koba. Maream. Fatema. Mabruka. Hamsa. Alia; to her belongs Hamisah, a village. Halima. Zainubo; to her belongs Furferrai. Mussaud. Fadula. Rabia. Sinnana. Mubarka. Rihana. These are all he recollects among the number. A copious royal family! _Daughters of the Sheikh. _ Rukaia (married), about twenty years of age; to her belongs Balungu. Fatima, a young girl. No doubt there are others. It is curious to compare this knot of nearrelations with the scanty families among the Tuaricks. The fertility ofthe human race seems to be as that of the soil on which its severaltribes are located. Deserts may produce conquerors, but the fat landsproduce subjects. I may now add a further list, obtained at the same time as the above. The great vizier (or prime minister) is Haj Beshir; but there are otherviziers of more or less power:--Shadeli; Ibrahim Wadai; Rufai (cousin ofthe Sheikh); Hamza, and Mala Ibrahim. These form the council of theSheikh. The chief kady is Kady Mohammed, and another kady of influence is namedHaj Mohammed Aba. The principal slaves (that is to say, the principal favourites in thesedespotic countries) are Kashalla Belal and Kashalla Ali. The wordKashalla corresponds to the title Bey. The brother of Abd-el-Galeel, lately killed, is living at Kuka, and is called Sheikh Ghait. There isalso there a brother of the ancient sheikh killed in Fezzan, calledSheikh Omer, uncle of the above. According to my informant, the power of the Sheikh has immenselyincreased since the days of the first expedition. The Sheikh has nowmore than 100, 000 cavalry, and a great quantity of muskets. Certainly Ihave ocular proof that Zinder, an important province, has been added tothe territories of this most powerful prince. I may as well mention, that my authority is Omer Wardi. His father, Mohammed Wardi, went withClapperton to Sakkatou. The Sheikh, according to this seemingly well-informed person, isparamount sovereign of Begarmi and Mandara, --these states paying each atribute yearly of one thousand slaves, to which Mandara adds fiftyeunuchs, --a most costly contribution. This seems to be the country whereeunuchs are made in these parts. Lagun is also under the Sheikh, and has become a province of Bornou. In this country, it is said, there are pieces of cannon. Also, there isanother country, Kussuri, four days south of Begarmi, now united to theSheikh's territories; and besides, Maffatai, four days south-east fromKuka (a country of a sultan). Dikua, two days south from Kuka; a province with a powerful sultan, whohas the power of life and death. Kulli, one day west of Dikua; Blad-es-Sultan. En-Gala, two days south of Kuka, country of a sultan; belonging toYusuf, brother of the Sheikh. I went to see the renegade Jew; he was busy in a quarrel with a servantof Lousou, to whom he had given eight slaves to take to Ghât, to be soldon his account. Lousou had sold the slaves, and rendered no account tothe renegade--a most unprincely proceeding, to say the least of it; if, indeed, it would not be more African to say princely proceeding: forthere seems no vice, whether violent or mean, which is not exaggeratedby the holders of power in these parts. The souk is almost deserted to-day, on account of the Sarkee beingabsent. I passed the slave-stalls, and saw another poor old woman forsale, upwards of fourscore years of age. The slave-merchants offered herfor four thousand wadâs, about eight shillings. People purchase thesepoor old creatures that they may fetch wood and water, even until theirstrength fails them and they faint by the way. I made other inquiries about the Hazna of Zinder. It seems the Sarkeehimself is still half pagan, for at the beginning of every year heproceeds with his officers to a tree, the ancient god of paganism, andthere distributes two goffas of wadâ (about 100, 000), three bullocks andsheep, and ghaseb, to the poor. These things are really offered to thedeities of his ancestors, though the poor of the country get the benefitof them. There are four or five trees of this description, at which suchannual offerings are made; but there is only one Tree of Death wheremalefactors are executed, the one mentioned in a former page. [17] TheMuslim converts of Soudan find the Ramadhan excessively burdensome, aswell as many other rites of Islamism, and for this reason the greaterpart of the population of Soudan, who profess Mohammedanism, are stillpagans in heart. It is vain to expect a nation to pass from loose toascetic practices without some moral motive, such as that whichsustained the Muslims at their first brilliant start in the world. [17] See pp. 211 and 218. Probably the second Tree of Death described was in reality only a fetish tree. --ED. A Tuarick came this morning and said the devil was in his head, and thathe wanted some medicine to drive him out. I gave him an emetic oftartarised antimony, which I hope served his purpose. N. B. The news of the Sarkee having "eaten up" four countries of Korgumis confirmed to-day. The preparation of kibabs is quite a science here. The kibab cook makesa conical hillock of dust and ashes, flattened on the top. The edge ofthis mound he plants with sticks, on which is skewered a number oflittle bits of meat: then a fire is kindled between this circularforest, and the sticks are twisted round from time to time, so thatevery part may be well roasted. To us these kibabs are cheap enough, five or six cowries a stick. The wall of Zinder has no gates, only openings. I went to the garden ofthe Shereef. The vegetation does not look very flourishing in thisseason. The Shereef has planted some horse-beans; "the only beans of thekind, " says the gardener, "in all the territories of Bornou. " _31st. _--The weather is increasingly cool; therm. At sunrise, 50°. Theatmosphere of Zinder never clears up. I was awakened this morning, before daylight, by the cries of "Fire!" A fire of huts was raging closeupon us. This is the third accident of this kind which has taken placeduring the sixteen days we have been here. The people take them, as amatter of course, with Californian indifference, and it is likely thatthere are two or three fires every ten days. A merchant from Kanou (native of Tunis) called to see me. He says theEnglish (Americans) now bring calicoes, powder, dollars, rum, wadâs, guns, and many other things, to Niffee, which afterwards are sent up toKanou. The slave-trade, therefore, must thrive here; and we get thecredit of it, because the ruffians by whom it is carried on speak ourlanguage. A great fighi called also to-day to explain any dreams which I mightrequire the interpretation of, bringing with him his Tifsir El-Helam. Itold him that last night I dreamt I saw "two persons fall to the groundupon (from?) the boughs of a tree. " He searched his book and produced apassage, the pith of which was, that anything which I undertake will notbe accomplished. Very agreeable information! I thought we had had badnews enough. The passage made to apply prophetically to me ran literallyas follows:-- "And whosoever sees (in dreams) a tree fall, or any thing fall fromit, --then will not accomplish itself the thing which is between the manwho thus dreams. "[18] [18] The unhappy event which soon after this interview occurred, no doubt confirmed the belief of the natives in the powers of this great fighi. --ED. I hired to-day Mohammed Ben Amud Bou Saad, at a salary of ten reals ofFezzan a month. I have heard another version of the plan and cause of the present razziaof the Sultan of Zinder. "Our own correspondents" cannot be moreversatile in finding out rumours than the gossips of Zinder. It is nowsaid that the Sultan of Korgum wrote to the Sarkee of Zinder, and askedhim if he should make a razzia on or with Maradee. The Sarkee said, "Go. " But as soon as the news came that the sultan wasgone, this prince, in whom that other put his trust, immediately set outto make a razzia on the country deserted by its sultan. "_Compos!_" cried my Moorish informant; and certainly it was a clevernegro trick. It is difficult to know whom to pity or condemn in thisiniquitous affair. We may be certain, however, that the poor women andchildren, the principal sufferers by the razzias, are guiltless in thesetransactions; and we may, without fear, bestow our sympathies upon them. At the same time it is allowable to admire the profound secrecy withwhich the Sarkee planned his razzia. Not a soul in Zinder, besideshimself, knew where he was going. The general opinion was to Daura, which affords scope for a thousand razzias. The correspondence which I have mentioned between the vassals of Korgumand Zinder illustrates the abominable system on which the Sheikh ofBornou permits his provinces to be governed. Really it is difficult tocompare the condition of this extraordinary region to anything but aforest, through which lions and tigers range to devour the weaker andmore timid beasts--to which they grant intervals of repose during thedigestion of their meals. CHAPTER XVI. Sheikh of Bornou--Arab Women--News from the Razzia--Procession ofnewly-caught Slaves--Entrance of the Sarkee--Chained Slaves--My Servantat the Razzia--Audacity of Bornou Slaves--Korgum--Konchai--Product ofthe Razzia--Ghadamsee Merchants--Slave-trade--Incident at Korgum--Stateof Kanou--A Hue and Cry--Black Character--Vegetables atZinder--Minstrel--Medi--Gardens--Ladies--Fanaticism--Americans atNiffee--Rich People--Tuaricks Sick--Morals--Dread of theSarkee--Fashions. _Feb. 1st. _--It is said that we shall leave this for Kuka on Mondaynext, whether the Sultan of Zinder returns from his razzia or not. Itcertainly is a shame that I should be kept here waiting the pleasure ofa fellow gone to heat up for slaves to pay his debts. The merchants from Kanou represent the power of the Fellatahs as verystrong, if not increasing. From Sakkatou to Kanou, and Kanou to Niffee, Yakoba, and Adamaua, everywhere along these lines of towns and populousdistricts, are found Fellatah chiefs or sultans. Bornou is, however, nowmuch stronger than during the time of the first expedition. The Sheikhhas two thousand muskets; so says the Shereef Kebir; whilst in the timeof Denham he had only fifty. Certainly two thousand muskets is aprogress beyond fifty. The Asbenouee Tuaricks carried away somehalf-dozen Arab women when they slaughtered the Walad Suleiman. One ofthese women has been seen, and the Sheikh and the Shereef Kebir aretrying to get her back. The Sheikh has sent word that all the Arab womenmust be restored to their homes. The Shereef Kebir says the powder of this country is all bad, but thatHaj Beshir and the Sheikh get English or American powder from Niffee. Leaden bullets are scarce; they use zinc bullets: but these will not gofar, resisting the force of the powder; nor will they penetrate deepwhen they hit a person. Nitre is found at a place one hour from Zinder, called Kankandi. It is supposed that the Sarkee, not having found slaves enough inKorgum, has gone somewhere else. The Shereef Kebir would scarcelymention the subject of the razzia to me for shame. At length a Moorpresent said, "Fish eats up fish, so it is with the Sarkee. " Thisbrought forth a laugh, and seemed to be thought a sufficient salve forall their consciences. A cry was raised early this morning, "The Sarkee is coming!" Every onewent out eagerly to learn the truth. It turned out that a string ofcaptives, fruits of the razzia, [19] was coming in. There cannot be inthe world--there cannot be in the whole world--a more appallingspectacle than this. My head swam as I gazed. A single horseman rodefirst, showing the way, and the wretched captives followed him as ifthey had been used to this condition all their lives. Here were nakedlittle boys running alone, perhaps thinking themselves upon a holiday;near at hand dragged mothers with babes at their breasts; girls ofvarious ages, some almost ripened into womanhood, others still infantinein form and appearance; old men bent two-double with age, theirtrembling chins verging towards the ground, their poor old heads coveredwith white wool; aged women tottering along, leaning upon long staffs, mere living skeletons;--such was the miscellaneous crowd that camefirst; and then followed the stout young men, ironed neck to neck! Thiswas the first instalment of the black bullion of Central Africa; and asthe wretched procession huddled through the gateways into the town thecreditors of the Sarkee looked gloatingly on through their lazy eyes, and calculated on speedy payment. [19] Mr. Richardson interchanges the words _razzia_ and _gazia_; the latter, I imagine, is the correct word, but the former is better known to European readers. --ED. In the afternoon I was informed that the Sarkee was really about toenter the town. Expecting to see other captives, and anxious to be an eye-witness to allthese atrocities attendant on the razzia, I went to see him pass withhis cavalry. After waiting ten minutes, there rode up single cavaliers, then lines of horsemen, all galloping towards the castle-gates to showthe people their equestrian skill; then came a mass of cavalry, aboutfifty, with a drum beating, and in the midst of these was the sultan. There was nothing very striking in this cavalcade; a few cavaliers hadon a curious sort of helmet, made of brass, with a kind of horn standingout from the crown; others wore a wadding of woollen stuff, a sort ofthin mattrass, in imitation of a coat of mail. Its object is to turn thepoints of the poisoned arrows. The cavaliers thus dressed form thebody-guard of the Sarkee. Amongst these troops were some Bornouhorsemen, who rode with more skill than the Zinder people. The bestcavaliers resembled as much as possible the Arab cavaliers of the north. There were no captives with these horsemen; the slaves had only come into the number, it was said, of some two or three thousand during theday. Although I wished to see them, I was, nevertheless, spared arepetition of the misery and indignation which the sight in the morningproduced in my mind. I have been told positively that the poor oldcreatures brought in with the other captives will not fetch a shillinga-head in the slave-market. It is, therefore, a refinement of crueltynot to let them die in their native homes, --to tear them away to aforeign soil, and subject them to the fatigues of the journey, and theinsults of a rude populace, and ruder and crueller slave-dealers. Manydie on the road during the two or three days' march. It is exceedingly painful to live in a place like Zinder, where almostevery householder has a chained slave. The poor fellows (men and boys)cannot walk, from the manner in which the irons are put on, and whenthey move about are obliged to do so in little jumps. These slaves areironed, that they may not run away. There are many villages and towns, afew days from Zinder, to which they can escape without difficulty, andwhere they are not pursued. It was exceedingly horrifying to hear thepeople of Zinder salute the troops of the razzia on their return withthe beautiful Arabic word, _Alberka_, "blessing!" Thus is it that humanbeings sometimes ask God for a blessing on transactions which must everbe stamped with his curse. The Italian bandit also begs the Virgin tobless his endeavours. It is evident that nothing but the strong arm ofpower and conquest will ever root out the curse of slavery from Africa. The slave whom Haj Beshir sent from Kuka to Zinder, to accompany me toKuka, went with the Sarkee, and took one of my servants with him. I didnot know anything about it until they were gone. But this evening, on myreturn from seeing the Sarkee, I found a woman and child, a boy and ayoung man, tied together, lying not far from my hut, in the enclosurewhere we are residing. I was excessively indignant at this conduct ofHaj Beshir's slave, although certainly done in ignorance. These captiveswere the fruits of the part he took in the expedition. I have not madeup my mind whether I will go to Kuka with this fellow, for it is not thefirst time he has shown something like an insolent behaviour. As to myservant, I had already discharged him, but the Shereef Kebir persuadedme to let him go with the boat to Kuka, as he knew how to place it onthe camels better than the other servants. I scolded him well for goingwith the razzia, because he himself was once in bondage, and hadreturned free under our protection. But I fear my words will have littleeffect; for in Zinder, at least, the great concern and occupation of theblack population is, to go and steal their neighbours, and sell theminto slavery. I repeat again, nothing but foreign conquest by anon-slaveholding power will extirpate slavery from the soil of Africa. I read Milton's "Comus" and other portions of his poetry, and find it agreat relief in drawing my mind a little off African subjects. I amsorry I did not bring with me a copy of Shakespear. I have very fewbooks with me of any kind, and fewer maps. I received a visit of fighisfrom the villages around, also from a sister and niece of the Sultan ofZinder, and gave them all a bit of sugar and sent them off. Around my house exists a swarm of fighis, who can copy charms and a fewpassages from the Koran. I procured some of the _bonâ fide_ specimens oftheir calligraphy. There are four different hands. These fighis are allblacks of pure blood. They write sideways. A courier arrived to-day from Kuka, bringing a despatch for the Governorof Zinder, to the effect that, in the event of his finding any people ofBornou committing misdemeanours of any sort, he, the Sultan of Zinder, was at liberty to treat them as he chose. I am told that the Bornouslaves, as well as the free people of that country, when they come toZinder, have the audacity to seize on whomsoever comes in the way, andtake them and sell them as slaves in the souk. This kidnapping is mostlydone in the villages around Zinder, but even in the city itself it hasbeen ventured; and the Sultan has hitherto been afraid to arrest theseBornouese miscreants. What a glimpse into the state of the empire ofBornou do such facts afford! _2d. _--This morning the slave of Haj Beshir came to declare that theslaves which he brought here yesterday were not his booty, but belongedto another person, a volunteer. There is no getting at the truth inthese countries. The theatre of the late razzia is westwards from Zinderabout two days. Korgum is one day from Tesaoua. Konchai is aneighbouring country, about four hours from Korgum. The Sarkee attackedfour villages of Korgum, but got few slaves. The people, though withouttheir sultan, defended themselves well with their renowned arrows, andwhen they could hold out no longer they ascended the rocks and escaped. The wounds of arrows, though poisoned, are not always fatal, and oftencured by the remedies known in these countries. The villages of Korgum are called Tangadala Agai. Not getting manyslaves there, the Sarkee attacked two or three villages of Konchai. Thisprovince contains some three hundred villages. Ganua and Tanbanas werethe places razzied. From the latter place six hundred slaves wereobtained, nearly half of the whole captured. The total product of therazzia is about fifteen hundred; a thousand for the Sultan's share, andfive hundred for the troops and volunteers. It is said this thousandwill not suffice to pay the Sultan's debts, and it was on account of thefewness of slaves the Sarkee was obliged to bring with him the halt, theblind, the maimed, and the aged, stooping to the earth with age. Besideshuman beings, the Sarkee captured eight hundred and thirty bullocks, andflocks of sheep; seven hundred bullocks he gave to the troops andvolunteers, and one hundred and thirty have been reserved for himself. Four men were killed, and one hundred horses, belonging to Zinder; butthe enemy are said to have lost a good number. All the villages maderesistance but one, where the poor people were busy cooking theirsuppers; when the Sarkee and his famished crew rushed upon them, seizedthem, and carried them into captivity. This, at any rate, is the report;but, according to others, the results of the expedition are much lessimportant. All the country razzied is nominally subject to the Sheikh of Bornou, sothat this Sarkee of Zinder has been pillaging the Bornou territories, and carrying off their inhabitants, who are subjects of the Sheikh, toraise money to pay his debts. A certain enmity exists, it is said, between Konchai and Zinder, which formerly was subject to the provinceof Konchai. According to one authority, the booty of the razzia is greatly reduced, even to more than half of what was reported. The share of the Sarkee isfour hundred slaves, and one hundred and twenty slaves he gave to histroops. Seven places were attacked, but the people had news of themovements of the Sarkee, and were prepared to receive him: they shottheir arrows through their stockades, thick and fast, upon the Sarkeeand his people, and then retired to the rocks and behind the trees, which are abundant. Only one country was fairly razzied. Also but fewbeasts were taken, the people having secured all their cattle and flocksbeforehand. The Sarkee got about one hundred bullocks. He took with himno less than two thousand horse, a collection from all the pettygovernments in the surrounding provinces, with their chiefs. All theseforces did little more than beat the air. The capture of five hundredslaves will not pay the expenses of the expedition, but these peoplenever sit down to count the cost. Their reckoning-days are few and farbetween. There is a report here that the Sultans of Maradee, Gouber, Korgum, andTesaoua, have all gone together on a razzia to the territory ofSakkatou, and a few of the people of Zinder have gone with them; andthis is the reason given for horses being now scarce in Zinder. Haj Beshir has sent a message from Kuka, that I am to quicken my stepsthitherward. The kafila from Mourzuk has arrived, and many Arabs fromthe north. Of gubaga, called by the people of Zinder, ferri, four draâs are sold inZinder for one hundred wadâs, about twopence. This native cotton cloth, when doubled, makes tents impervious to the summer rain. There are about fifty Ghadamsee merchants in Kanou and Boushi, capitalof Yakoba, the principal of whom (here described as Maidukia) are:-- Haj Mohammed Bel Kasem. Haj Tahir. Mairimi. Haj Mohammed Ben Habsa. Hemed Basidi. Kasem Ben Haiba. Haj Ali. Mohammed Makoren. Haj Hoda. Haj Abdullah. There are some merchants of consequence from Fezzan, viz. Basha BenHaloum, Mohammed es-Salah, the agent of Gagliuffi, Sidi Ali, and FighiHamit, who always goes to Goujah (_blad_ of the gour-nuts). This countryof the gour is distant three months' travelling, making small stagessouth-west by west. Morocco, Tuat, and the countries of the west, arescarcely represented by merchants in Kanou--there being one or two ofthem at most. Nor are there any from Egypt or the East. According to my informant, a small merchant, but well acquainted withthese parts, not more than one hundred and fifty or two hundred slavespass through or from Zinder annually to the north, and about five or sixhundred go by the route of Tesaoua to the north, i. E. Tripoli, and a fewto Souf. After all, the great slave-market is Central Africa itself. An affecting incident is told of the people of Korgum during the laterazzia. The Sultan of Zinder besieged one town four days, and would notallow the people to drink water. They then sent word that "they did notknow either God, or the Prophet Mahommed, or the Sheikh of Bornou, onlyhim, Sarkee Ibrahim of Zinder, as their ruler and lord, and prayed himto give them water and peace. " The Sarkee replied, "When my brother fledto you, you also would not allow him to drink, nor will I now permityou; therefore surrender into our hands. " The people of the town heldout these four days, and then during a night they all fled to the rocksand escaped. There are but few places to make razzias upon around Zinder, except onthe Sheikh's provinces, unless the Sarkee will go to Maradee, and therehe is now in friendship, or else is afraid to move in that direction. Inthe account of the booty, it is to be understood that all of it was notbrought to Zinder, some having been distributed amongst the troops andvolunteers of the rest of the province. I am told that the greater partof the slaves will be sent to Kanou for sale. It has already beenobserved, that only a few slaves go to the north in comparison with thenumbers captured. The bulk of the slaves of the razzias are employed asserfs on the soil, or servants in the town. In Kanou, a rich man hasthree or four thousand slaves; these are permitted to work on their ownaccount, and they pay him as their lord and master a certain number ofcowries every month: some bring one hundred, some three hundred or sixhundred, or as low as fifty cowries a-month. On the accumulation ofthese various monthly payments of the poor slaves the great mansubsists, and is rich and powerful in the country. This system prevailsin all the Fellatah districts. At dusk, there was a hue and cry near our house. I ran out to see whatit was: the noise and stir was nothing less than an attempt of a slaveto escape. The poor fellow was surrounded by a mass of men and boys, allanxious to seize him and deliver him to his master, to obtain thereward. My sympathies certainly begin to cool when I see the conduct of theseblacks to one another. The blacks are, in truth, the real activemen-stealers, though incited thereto frequently by the slave-merchantsof the north and south. It must be confessed, that if there were nowhite men from the north or south to purchase the supply of slavesrequired out of Africa, slavery would still flourish, though it might beoften in a mitigated form; and this brings me to the reiteration of myopinion, that only foreign conquest by a power like Great Britain orFrance can really extirpate slavery from Africa. _3d. _--The sky never gets clear here till late at night. I read severalpieces of Milton's poetry. I went to the gardens to see the wells:people fetch water from the wells of the gardens, where the supply issufficiently abundant. I observed in the gardens the henna plant, thecotton plant, the indigo plant, and the tobacco plant. All these appearto be commonly cultivated in the gardens of Zinder. There are scarcelyany other vegetables but onions, and beans, and tomatas; but the peoplecultivate a variety of small herbs, for making the sauce of theirbazeens and other flour-puddings. The castor-oil tree is found in thetown and in the hedges of the gardens in abundance. A Tuarick woman was brought here to-day for me to cure. She had been inan ailing, wasting state, for the last four years; the husband said thatthe devil had touched his wife, and reduced her to this state. Anotherwoman was brought with an immense wen upon her abdomen. I have givenaway nearly all my Epsom salts, and now supply emetics. It is necessaryto purge these people immediately, in a few hours, or they think you donothing for them, or will not or cannot do them any good. Many Tuarickscome from the open country. We have also frequent cases of ophthalmia, mostly from the villages around. This evening I was charmed by the vocal sounds of a strolling minstrel, attended by two drummers with small drums, called _kuru_, and a chorusof singing-girls collected from the neighbourhood. The chorus-singerssang like charity-school girls at church. Altogether the singing wasmore pleasing than the monotonous, plaintive sounds of the Arabs. It seems difficult to get off. Everybody is making preparations for ourjourney, from the Sultan to the lowest slave sent from Kuka to assist inthe transport of the boat and our baggage, and yet nothing is done! I parted with my new acquaintance, Medi, to-day, a soldier and slave ofthe Sarkee. He has been occasionally my cicerone in Zinder. He had beencaptured from a child, and is now past middle age, and knows little ofthe loss of home. He was a friendly chap, and gave me all theinformation he could make me understand in Soudanee and Bornouee. The evening was warm; a most pestilential sort of mist usually coversthe ground at dark. After an hour or so it clears off--a few meteors nowand then. _4th, Dies non. _--It is said we shall probably leave this to-morrow. Read Milton all day. Weather sultry hot; did not go out. Thermometer inthe evening, at dark, 80°. _5th. _--I had a visit from a number of Tuarick ladies from the villagesaround, all of whom put their hands to their stomachs, and pretendedthey were mighty ill. I gave them all round a cup of tea. The renegadeJew came this morning, and gave me a list of all the things sold in themarket of Kanou. I went in the afternoon to see the Kaïd of Haj Beshir of Kuka, calledAbd-el-kerim. He had a female slave afflicted with the leprosy, and sentfor me to come and see her. He gave me some gour-nuts, and I found him afriendly man. Denham represents the Bornou people of his time as veryfanatical. At present I have seen nothing of this. But we are in aprovince where there are many Hazna, or pagans; and the people of Zinderare but lukewarm Muslims. I have yet had no instance of fanaticism, either from people of Kuka or from residents here. I was amused by the relation of Haj Mohammed Ben Welid respecting hisintercourse with an American vessel at Niffee. [20] He first describesthe vessel as very large; the sides being ascended by a ladder. Thenthese Americans (English they were called) had a black interpreter, whospoke Arabic. Through this black fellow they inquired of the man ofGhadamez from whence he came. He replied, "Ghadamez, "--this they did notknow; then "Trablous, "--this they did not know; then "Tunis, "--nor wasthis place known; and, finally, "Malta. " "Ah!" they cried, "we haveheard of this place. " They then asked him what he traded in, and gavehim some tobacco and rum. They were full of goods of everydescription, --calicoes, powder, shot, rum, tobacco, dollars, and _wadâyaser_ (a great quantity of cowries), &c. [20] See the Appendix. This Haj appears to have given some useful information to Mr. Richardson. --ED. My room has been an hospital all this day, full of the sick, withvarious disorders. They come mostly from the villages around Zinder, andamongst them are a great number of Tuaricks, these people being moreexposed to the weather, or more delicate, or more fanciful in theircomplaints. These poor devils all bring something--a little cheese, or alittle milk; and I have received more of these trifling presents fromthem during the twenty days that I have been in Zinder, than in all thefive or six months which I spent in their country. The reason may be, that in Asben they have nothing (or next to nothing), whilst here reignsabundance. Our servants say now that the Tuaricks always bringsomething, and the townspeople of Zinder nothing. Some of the Tuaricksare not sick; they come only to see the Christian, and stop, and look, and stare, and watch the minutest action of the said Christian, --moreespecially the women, who would never leave my room if I were not todrive them away. _6th. _--I am told by a well-informed person, that morals are muchrelaxed here. To-day a black man came from the country to beg for hiswife, who had been taken away from him and given to a Moor, who wasabout to send her to the coast for sale. She is to be restored to theman in exchange for two young girls, whom he has fetched from thecountry (probably kidnapped). The woman, however, has been given over, in the first place, to Shroma, the commander-in-chief; and after she haspassed two or three days with him, she will be allowed to return to herhusband. This woman was first kidnapped by the Sultan, and belonged tothe Sheikh's dominions, to a village near Zinder, and was taken in arazzia. The Sultan gave or sold her to the Moor. This is a sample of thetransactions daily going on there. I am also assured that the threehundred wives of the Sarkee himself are at almost everybody's disposal, two or three gour-nuts being the utmost which these ladies ask. But thisis not all; for these women, wives of the Sultan, have intrigues withthe slaves of the Sultan, with the brothers of the Sultan, and even withthe sons of the Sultan. Whatever may be said of the Tuaricks and theirfreebooting, they do not practise such revolting immoralities as these. The Sarkee of Zinder is feared both by Fellatahs and Tuaricks, especially on account of the barbarous nature of his executions, which Ihave described. It may be supposed that a better system, both ofgovernment and morality, is practised in Kuka, and the more connectedBornou provinces. A man came to me to beg or buy some large beads for his wife; he saidhis wife was very anxious for them, to wear round her loins. Various arethe caprices of fashion. Europeans show their finery, but here childrenand women wear beads round their loins under their clothes. It is now said we shall leave Zinder positively on Saturday next. CHAPTER XVII. News from Tesaoua--Razzia on Sakkatou--Laziness in Zinder--TheHajah--Herds of Cattle--More Tuarick Patients--Gardens--MyLuggage--Adieu to the Sarkee--Present from his Highness--Start fromZinder--Country--Birds--Overtake the Kashalla--Slaves forKanou--Continue the Journey--People of Deddegi--Their Timidity--HorseExercise--Cotton--Strange Birds--Occupation of Men and Women--State ofAfrican Society--Islamism and Paganism--Character of the Kashalla--ADogberry--Guddemuni--Cultivation--Beggars--Dancing Maidens. A Shereef has come here to-day from Tesaoua, and reports that Overwegleft that place for Maradee, about eight days since, with a Tuarick ofEn-Noor. The city of Maradee is but an hour from Gonder, and is abouttwice the size of Zinder. The whole occupation of these two cities isthat of razzia, and their subsistence and riches are all derived fromthis source. These places also swarm with Tuaricks, Kilgris, Iteesan, and Kailouees, who join the blacks of Maradee and Gouber in theirslave-hunting expeditions. A grand razzia is being perpetrated by theunited forces of the Sultans of Maradee, Gouber, and Korgum, with theassistance of a thousand Tuarick horse, on the territories of the Sultanof Sakkatou. The cavalry of the marauders consists of some fivethousand, and there are more than this number on foot. My informant saysthey will go near Kashna, perhaps to its very gates. So it seems theSultan of Sakkatou, with all his power and his great cities, is unableto check, or apparently even to avenge, the depredations committed uponhis most important provinces. It is said that the product of this razziawill be some of the finest slaves in this part of Africa, many of themalmost white. We are to leave here to-morrow. Inshallah! It is too badto be kept so long here, when Haj Beshir has sent orders for us to comeimmediately. _7th. _--The morning was cool; thermometer at sunrise, 58°. I sleptlittle, being angry at being kept here so long. I read Milton to divertmy mind awhile from African subjects. There seems to be little industry in Zinder. The education of thegreater part of the males is to fit them for razzias, and this must beconsidered as the principal cause of the unfeeling manner with which theblacks hereabouts look upon, their captive brethren. These captives aretheir means of livelihood; they live on the products of the razzias, and, of course, the superior intellects with which they may come incontact countenance all their proceedings; for the foreign merchants areequally interested with them in their inhuman expeditions. Africa isbled from all pores by her own children, seconded by the cupidity ofstrangers. All the Moors and Arabs whom I conversed with extol the power of theSheikh of Bornou, and represent him as the greatest sheikh in CentralAfrica. Nevertheless, the Fellatahs are everywhere, far and wide, fromSakkatou to Adamaua, a dominant people, though few in number comparedwith the population of the subjected kingdoms. One of the most remarkable women, perhaps the only remarkable woman inZinder at the present moment, is a certain Hajah (i. E. A woman who hasmade the pilgrimage of Mekka). She is a native of Fezzan, and is nowemployed in the household of the Sheikh of Bornou. She is excessivelyfree and easy with all men folks; and although such a saint, herchastity, I am told, does not rate high. She returns to Kuka with us--nogreat gain to our caravan. Near our enclosure is a long space full of bullocks and cows--some fourhundred and fifty. These are distributed amongst the whole population byones, twos, and threes. I have seen no herd but this, and if this isreally the only one, it speaks little for the wealth of the people ofZinder. In fact, with regard to horses it is much the same, --the Shereefcan hardly find me a horse to ride on in the whole town. Apparently, Zinder is a wretchedly poor place. All are needy, from theSarkee downwards, and when they get any property it all comes from therazzias. The system of living on rapine and man-stealing seems to bringits own punishment along with it. A _posse_ of Tuarick patients assailed me very early this morning. TheTuaricks, who have more intellect than the blacks, let loose theirimagination to fancy they have all sorts of complaints. Thus I have morepatients from them than from the people of Zinder, and am quiteundeceived as to my having done with this tribe when I entered the gatesof this town. There is, however, this difference now, that they treat mewith the greatest respect, and are very quiet, bringing presents insteadof demanding presents. The Tuaricks of Gurasu, I hear, have a bad name, and are troublesome tothe Sheikh. I went to the gardens this morning and yesterday morning--it is animmense relief from the enclosure of huts in town--but have not observedanything new. I am told that the suburbs of Kanou are full of palms. Zinder, if the people were industrious, could have its forests of palms, bearing luscious fruit twice a-year. But, alas! the excitement of therazzia destroys the taste for all rational industry. What bandit couldever settle down into a tiller of the ground? _8th. _--The people came this morning, in a great hurry, to take off theluggage, and afterwards pretended that I should go to-morrow, whilst thebaggage must be forwarded to-day. This arrangement I positively refusedto comply with, being determined to stop no longer. I went to take leave of the Sarkee. His highness had nothing to say, andwe as little to him. We just shook hands, and that was all. He is notvery well pleased with his late man-hunt. He still owes twenty thousanddollars, which it will require a dozen such speculations to pay off. Thecastle outside was besieged with soldiers, all lounging and listening totwo or three drummers. I am disgusted to see so many idle people. Theonly novelty was four or five singing-women, who sung choruses insidethe walls to a drummer. All the soldiers in undress, or not going onrazzia, are bare-headed, and also nearly all the inhabitants of thetown. A few persons, mostly women, wear a piece of blue cotton clothover their heads, tied tight, so as to have the appearance of a cap. Thecommon sort of women go with their breasts bare; others, of higher rank, drag up their skirts to cover their breasts; and a few add a piece ofcotton cloth, which they throw over their shoulders like a shawl. The Sarkee has presented Yusuf with a horse, blind with one eye, and notmuch bigger than a jackass, in return for the present Yusuf made to him. In fact, this potentate is now as poor as a rat, and has nothing to giveaway. When he has anything, he soon parts with it, being generous toprodigality. The title Sarkee is used for men of inferior rank, and issomething like Bey. I waited till three o'clock, P. M. , for my servants, and Saïd of HajBeshir, to come and bring the oxen for the rest of the baggage--the boatand the heavy baggage left in the morning; and seeing no signs of theirpreparation, I determined to be no longer duped by them, and told theservant of Haj Beshir that I would start to-day, be the consequence whatit might. So off I went to the Shereef, and told him I must go at once, to follow the Kashalla, who had taken away the box in which was thechronometer, and I must go to wind it up early in the morning. Heimmediately informed the Sarkee, and asked for a soldier. A soldier wasforthwith brought, and a message from the Sarkee, that the horse whichhad been sent for me to ride upon was a present from his highness to me. This is the first present of the kind I have received in Africa; andafter giving away about five hundred pounds sterling of Government moneyI have got in return, at last, a horse worth one pound fifteen shillingsand fourpence, the current value of this country! The Sarkee of Zinderis miserably poor, but he was afraid to let me go to Kuka, to hismaster, without giving me a present. I started from Zinder, riding my "gift horse, " about an hour beforesunset, and arrived at Dairmummegai, a very large village, where theKashalla had pitched tent, after three hours' ride. Our course was dueeast, through a scattered forest of dwarf-trees, in which werefluttering about a number of strange-looking birds, that reminded me Iwas in a foreign land. One solitary bird excited my pity; its form wassomething like that of a small crane, but, verily, it was mostdisproportionally thin, with very long neck and shanky legs. It waswandering about as if it had lost itself in the world; and yet a birdlosing itself in the world is a strange notion! We met a couple ofhuntsmen, on the shoulders of one of whom was coiled a fine bleedinggazelle. These huntsmen had only bows and arrows, and they had managedto get a gazelle, whilst we, with all our matchlocks and muskets, hadnever been able to shoot one of these animals during our eight or ninemonths of passage through the desert. The Kashalla was exceedingly gladat my arrival, and got ready a bowl of new milk. He is a man of somefifty or sixty years of age, black, and with Bornou features, speaking alittle Arabic. The greater part of the Bornou people know a few words ofthis language. The Sheikh sent him to bring the boat and our baggage. Heis a friendly, quiet man, whilst the man sent by Haj Beshir, Saïd, is animpudent slave, and only thinking of what he can get by his journey. I saw, as I passed through the streets of Zinder this morning, a numberof slaves chained together, going to the market of Kanou; so that thisplace is the great central dépôt of this merchandise. These were some ofthe fruits of the Sarkee's last razzia. _9th. _--The morning was cool, and we started early, and made six hoursand a-quarter in a general south-east direction, through a continuationof scattered forests, with open spaces, the wood being broken in uponhere and there by a scanty ghaseb cultivation. Amongst the trees, somerose with giant arms and all the characters of tropical vegetation. Thecountry was undulating, with ranges of low hills. Blocks of granite werescattered on the surface of the ground; in the deeper valleys laystagnant water of the last rains, fast drying up; and here werewater-fowls, waders, and some large, strange, black-and-white geese, with necks of enormous length. After three hours and a-quarter we came to the considerable village ofDeddegi, where, on our appearance, all the inhabitants fetching water ortending cattle ran away. This I may remark, as the first time that thepeople ran away at our appearance amongst them. Hitherto we have alwayshad the population pressing upon us for curiosity, or to attack andplunder us. Things change. But the flight of the people of Deddegi iseasily explained. We were soon recognised as a Bornou caravan, and theBornouese in coming to Zinder, --the Sheikh's people especially, --havebeen in the habit of plundering these villages, or carrying off thepeople and their cattle, the former into slavery. Recently the Sarkeehas complained of this, and the Sheikh, to do him justice, has orderedthe Sarkee to seize any Bornouese committing these misdemeanours, andexecute what justice he pleases upon them. The Sarkee, now, will not beslack to obey his master's commands. Still it is not surprising thepeople ran away from a Bornou caravan. We encamped at the group of villages called Dairmu. My "gift horse" hadgiven me most excruciating pain in riding, and I was obliged to dismountfor half an hour. The saddles are very bad, and cut you raw before youare accustomed to them. But I must submit to this fatigue, for now Imust ride horses and put away the camel, which is too slow fortravelling in Soudan, where water and herbage are found for the horsesevery two or three hours. After I was somewhat recovered, I went to see the village, and found allthe people working upon cotton; some cleaning it, some winding it intoballs, and others weaving the gubaga, or narrow strips of cotton cloth, with which the greater number of the population are clothed. A smallportion of the cotton-twist is dyed with indigo, and with this and theundyed a species of check-cotton cloth is woven; but all very rude. TheSheikh of the place supplied the caravan with bazeen. For myself Ipurchased a couple of fowls, which cost just twopence farthing inEnglish money: they were, however, small; and I may remark that allfowls are small in this country, and most of the domestic animals, likehorses, sheep, dogs, cats, &c. Are diminutive when compared to those ofEurope. The bullocks, however, are of a good size, with branching horns. The sheep have no wool, or rather, the wool takes the appearance andsubstance of hair, like that of a dog; and their tails, too, are likethose of dogs; but, indeed, the Soudan sheep are well known. No fruit orvegetables are found in these villages: not even onions, common in mostplaces. The birds have all a strange appearance. I am no naturalist, andwonder when I should examine. That filthy species of vulture, thescavenger of Zinder, is seen in twos and threes. The woods abound inturtle-doves. I gave the Kashalla a ring for himself and his femaleslave, or wife, as it may be. Very few men of this sort have wives: alltheir women are slaves. He was greatly pleased with the present. _10th. _--My thermometer remains behind with the baggage at Zinder, expected to-day. Here we wait for it, and the rest of the caravan. Ioiled myself well last night with olive oil, and feel much better thismorning. During a walk through the villages, I observed that two-thirdsof the male population, as in Zinder, are quite idle, lounging about, orstretched at their full length upon the dust of the ground. A third findsomething to do, either in working on cotton, or making matting, or inthe gardens, where tobacco, pepper, cotton, and indigo are grown. Theseare the staple products of the gardens in this part of Africa. The womenhave always something to occupy their time, suckling their children, fetching water, cooking, or else picking cotton. All the males, Iimagine, at some seasons of the year, find occupation, when the ghasebis sown and when reaped. But, nevertheless, what powerfully solicits theobservation of the European in looking into these villages is thedownright livelong idleness of the male population. We begin, at length, to regard this region merely as the nursery-groundof slavery--of the system which takes away the idlers to perform theirshare of the curse pronounced on Adam, that in the sweat of his brow heshould eat and earn his bread. Again it is to be observed, that thewants of these people are very few: they live on ghaseb and milk, eatinglittle meat; these come to them almost without labour. The ground istilled by burning the stubble of the previous year, or by burning thetrees on new land. The seed is thrown in when the rain begins, andnothing more is done till the grain is ripe for the sickle, when it isgathered in. It is collected under small sheds made of matting, andeaten as it is wanted. The cattle are mostly driven to graze and towater, and this is all the attention they require. The cotton furnishesa scanty clothing, deemed sufficient; all the children go naked tillthey are ten years old, or only wear a piece of cotton, leather, or askin round their loins. The men of some consequence buy a tobe broughtfrom Kanou or Niffee; the women purchase a few beads and other ornamentswith their fowls or ghaseb. The bowls or household utensils are madefrom gourds, in shape like a cucumber, but straight, with a knob at theend; they are slit in two, and thus form two spoons, the concave head ofthe gourd serving as the bowl, the other part as the handle. Thesecalabashes, some of which are pretty, are hung up within the huts asornaments. On peeping into these huts, nothing is seen but these saidcalabashes, except the strings or nets by which they are suspended onthe sides of the huts. As you enter there is always a partition-wall onyour right hand, and a round entrance at the further end of the hut tothis part, partitioned off. This space, so divided off, is thesleeping-place, where there is a raised bench of mud, or a bedstead madeof cane or wickers. A few utensils for culture, an axe and a hoe, may bementioned, all made by native blacksmiths, of the rudest description. Iron is found in the native rocks of Soudan, and is not imported. Thegreatest skill of the African blacksmith is, alas! shown in forging themanacles for slaves. I must mention that many of the huts have walls ofclay, and roofs only of thatch or matting. The grain-stacks are alsoraised a foot or two from the ground, on stakes, to prevent the ghasebgetting wet during the rainy season. Thus it is that these children ofAfrica live a life of simplicity little above pure savages, and I mayadd, a life of comparative idleness, and perhaps happiness, in theirpoint of view. Yesterday our Kashalla made a move to say his prayers. He was surroundedby the people who came with him from Zinder and Bornou, and theinhabitants of Dairmu. He prayed, but prayed alone, none following hisexample! It is quite clear that all the black population hereabouts areonly nominal Muslims, and remain in heart pure Hazna, or pagans. Thosewho do pray, pray very little indeed; there is no sensual charin orallurement in Mahommedanism for the African mind, whilst its fasts andcommands of abstinence from strong drinks deter thousands from embracingthe religion of the false Prophet. It cannot allure the African bypolygamy, because the African has as many women as he pleases by thepermission of his native superstition. Islamism, therefore, takes nohold of the native African mind. There are a few Tuaricks scatteredamongst all this population, but living generally out of the villages bythemselves; they are all subjects of the Sheikh, and have escaped thedesert to lead an easier life in Soudan. It is strange that some of theTuarick women are enormously corpulent, whilst a corpulent woman is notfound amongst the blacks. I must add, that the morality of these blackvillages seems of a much higher and purer kind than that of the Tuarickvillages of Asben. Here they do not look upon woman, as in Asben, simplyin the light of an instrument of pleasure: but I fear this will soonchange. What morality, indeed, can there be without higher and morebinding motives? I was much pleased with the condescension of the Kashalla in furnishingme with information on routes, and gave him a head of sugar. He is a manof great generosity, and immediately divided it amongst his people. Hesays he never leaves the Sheikh's presence, and it was solely on accountof me that the Sheikh sent him to fetch me from Zinder. If this be true, their sovereign has paid a high compliment to the Mission. The only character whom I could discover in Dairmu was the constable, orgeneral police-officer. This was an ill-looking fellow, with one eyedamaged, --a most unamiable Dogberry. He approached the Kashalla twice, keeping, however, at a timid distance, kneeling down and throwing thedust in handfulls over his head, in the most abject manner. Yet this manwas the dread of the whole neighbourhood! The exercise of alldisagreeable employments seems to debase man. Before his superiors hecrouches and grovels in dust; with the people he commands, he is a verytyrant! _10th. _--I was joined yesterday evening by the rest of the caravan, Saïd, and Moknee, and my new interpreter. Saïd brings goods for HajBeshir. We started early, and made seven hours; our route varyingbetween east and south-east, through a fine wavy country, rising attimes into high hills, with few trees in comparison to what we havehitherto had, and a good deal of cultivation, all ghaseb. The sandy soilis well adapted for this kind of grain. A ridge of quartz rocks strikesup through the sand. The rocky hills are mostly granite. The atmospherewas cooled by an easterly wind. We pitched tent, or rather halted, at acluster of villages of considerable size, the principal of which isGuddemuni. They are all placed on hills. In the deep valley near is alarge lake, towards the east, about two hours long and half-an-hourwide. In the dry season the people cultivate, by irrigation from thelake, a quantity of wheat, which they export to Kanou. Besides wheat, they raise ghaseb on the hill tops; and in the gardens, cotton, indigo, tobacco, onions, pepper, dates (bearing twice a-year), henna, potatoes(_dankali_), the palm (_geginya_), --bearing a large fruit (_gonda_), like the mealy melon, --gourds, rogo, and gwaza; which last are twospecies of potatoes. Some large trees are planted like the kuka, thefruit of which is used for sauce. To-day the Kashalla rode up to several men wandering in the fields, hunting, and attempted to impose some labour on them. This was a signalfor a general stoppage of all foot-passengers, who were met by hispeople, for one purpose or another, either to take from them any littlearticles, or to vex them. They did not, however, stop two people we met, but gave them full leave to pass. Who were these? One was a man who, bydisease, had become all over of a light flesh-colour, his black skinpeeling off. It was a perfect phenomenon--a man with strong negrofeatures, entirely white, or of a light dull-red colour. The other manwas a miserable, filthy, blind fellow, whom the first invalid wasleading. They were, in fact, a couple of mendicants going to Zinder onspeculation, having come from Kuka, begging through all the towns andvillages. The trade of begging is coextensive with man, civilised oruncivilised, in towns or country. Africa has a good number of thisindustrious class of people. The language of this cluster of villages is Haussa, like that of Zinder, the "Haussa of the North, " as it is called: it varies a little from thepure Haussa of Kashna and Kanou. The people of this place were allexcessively civil. I walked out in the evening, and saw about thirty ofthe maidens of Guddemuni (one of the villages) encircling a femaledancer, who kept pacing to the sound of a rude guitar. At the sight ofme they all made off. The poor blacks in these villages always expectthat the white man comes to bring them into slavery. Afterwards I wentto salute the Sultan. We saw him during two minutes; he kept rubbing hishands, as if he were cold. He was a sinister-looking man, dressed in awhite tobe; he had not the least suspicion of what a Christian might be. I made the acquaintance of the taste of the doom-palm, in a dish ofpastry seasoned by it. The taste is something like rhubarb, only alittle sharper. CHAPTER XVIII. A Village plundered--Shaidega--Animals--Our Biscuit--Villages _enroute_--Minyo--Respect for Learning--Monotony of the Country--AWedding--Palsy--Slave-agents--Kal, Kal--Birni Gamatak--Tuaricks on thePlain--Palms--Sight the Town of Gurai--Bare Country--Bearings of variousPlaces--Province of Minyo--Visit the Sultan--Audience-room--FineCostume--A Scene of Barbaric Splendour--Trade--Estimate of Wealth--Howto amuse a Prince--Small Present--The Oars carried by Men--Town ofGurai--Fortifications. _Feb. 11th. _--I rose early, and started as usual, as quick as possible. We made seven hours and a-half, and halted at a small village calledBogussa. After the fifth hour we came to the hamlet of Dugurka, whichthe Kashalla delivered up to plunder, because the people refused to givehim some water. This is the story of my servants, which I do notbelieve. But certain it is, that, after the Kashalla passed the hamlet, his people, who loitered behind, commenced a general pillage of the poorlittle village. The inhabitants had all fled at our approach, save oneold man. All the hut-doors were violently torn away and the insidesransacked. The spoils were leben, bowls or calabashes, bows and arrows, axes, and some other trifles. Of live-stock, all the fowls were seizedand slaughtered on the spot; also a lamb. My interpreter tells me thatall the slaves of the Government of Bornou are marauders, and that itwas for this reason the Sarkee of Zinder complained to the Sheikh of thegovernment caravans seizing the people and sacking their villages. Inall my life I never saw such an instance of the triumph of might overright. My servants, most of them Bornouese, joined their brethren withgreat eagerness. To remonstrate with them is useless. I have had severalquarrels of remonstrance already since I have been in the Sheikh'sterritory, about similar acts of brigandage; and if I go on, I shallquarrel with all the world of Africa, every hour of the day. Ireproached my servants ironically. I told them some one would soon comeand take their camels and bullocks, and they must not complain to me toget them redress. But it is astonishing to see with what zest thesefreed slaves from the north coast enter again upon their old habits ofplunder and razzia. The education of Africa consists in preparing it forthe razzia. All the fine-spirited youth of all the great families lookforward to this as their only occupation. We reached the rocky hills called Shaidega, near which the laketerminates, stretching from Guddemuni. At the base of these rockyheights is a sprinkling of huts, and there are indeed many sprinklingsof huts which cannot be mentioned all along this route. The hill topshave no longer the naked appearance of the Saharan rocks, but areclothed and crowned with trees. The country is very fine and park-like, and were it not for the doom-palm, would be more like some of the bestparts of Europe than Africa is supposed to be. The animals seen to daywere two wild boars and some wild oxen. A couple of lions, a male and afemale, come out nearly every night and serenade the villagers ofBogussa at their hut doors. The filthy vultures of Zinder are spreadthrough all this fine country. Many doves and water-fowl were seen. Weforded several stagnant streams of water, but of very small magnitude. I sheltered myself in the afternoon under a magnificent tree, called inBornouese _kamdu_, and in Soudanese, _samia_. We are beginning to seevery fine trees, casting an impervious shade, under which the wearytraveller deliciously reposes in the hot clime. To-day I suffered mostdreadfully from my horse; with a camel I should have felt nothing, but Imust submit: there is no remedy. I believe the Kashalla to be a very good man, and above his plunderingcountrymen generally, but habit induces him to wink at the acts ofbrigandage committed by his people. I observed him yesterday stop alittle boy with a load on his head, and tell him to run away from thepeople coming up, and take another road, that the caravan might notplunder him. I had an affair with Yusuf yesterday morning: two boxes of biscuit hadbeen left entire in his room at Zinder, and now one of them was foundopened and a quantity of the biscuit taken out. He and his son haveeaten nearly all the biscuit on the road, together with the Sfaxee andothers. It is preposterous to think that Government sent these biscuitsfor them, who can eat ghaseb, ghafouley, and any grain of this country, and thrive on such food. The Germans gave away their biscuit, complaining that it was an embarrassment to them. This encouraged thepeople to plunder me of mine, and now I have little left for the rest ofmy travelling in Africa during the present journey. _12th. _--We started early; the weather always cool, with fresh breezesfrom the east. All our people seem in good health. I got up ratherstiff, having had a good fall from my horse yesterday. We made onlythree hours and a-half, part north-east and the rest due east. When Idismounted I felt less fatigued, and wrote up my journal. We passedseveral villages _en route_ during these few hours; they occur, indeed, only about half-an-hour apart: viz. First in order after Bogussa, Gerremari, then Lekarari, Algari, a village of fighi pedagogues, Giddejer, and then Collori, where we have halted. It is said we shallstill be three days before we get to the Sultan Minyo, and we have topass Gamatak, Barataua, Birmi, Wonchi, Tungari, and finally, on thethird day, early, we are to arrive at Gurai, the capital, governed byMinyo or Minyoma. Bogussa is the first district under the sway of thispersonage. We have in his name a remarkable instance of how in Africanames of cities and countries are confounded with those of theirprovinces. Hitherto, I and my interpreter had always taken it forgranted that Minyo was the name of the capital of the province, not ofthe prince; so we understood from everybody, and only to-day we learnthat Gurai is the name of the capital, whilst the province is calledafter the name of the prince, i. E. Minyo, or Minyoma. [21] [21] It is worth while leaving this mistake of Mr. Richardson or his informants, as an illustration of the great difficulty that exists in eliciting accurate facts from natives of Africa and other uncivilised countries. --ED. Our route this morning lay through a remarkably fine district, teemingwith fertility, and requiring only the hand of industry to render it therichest country in the world. Not a ten-thousandth part of the soil iscultivated. We met a troop of schoolboys with their masters; theirboards, bedaubed with Arabic characters, would have been an effectualprotection for them against a troop of horsemen a thousand times largerthan ours. But, nevertheless, a poor woman, or a girl with a bowl ofmilk or a little butter, could not pass unscathed. Such is moralityhere. May there not, however, be some promise in this respect foreducation? A woodman left his axe a moment on the roadside; one of ourtroopers immediately went off and seized it. The woodman, returning, followed the trooper to the Kashalla, and falling down, and throwingdust over his head, begged for his axe as for his life. The Kashallacould not withstand the appeal, and ordered his trooper to restore theaxe. The fellow had concealed the axe, and it was lucky the ownerdiscovered the thief so soon. The poor man went away very thankful, thanking me also. I believe I may be some check on these depredations, for I told my interpreter last night that I never saw a village, or anypeople, pillaged in the Christian countries; in fact, that I could nothave hitherto believed that men could do the things which I saw donethat day by the servants of the Kashalla. It is probable he will mentionwhat I said to some one, and it will get to the ears of the saidKashalla. The Africans, in plundering one another, appear as if theywere avenging some old grudge; as if they remembered the variousoccasions when they themselves had been pillaged. They rob withwonderful _gusto_. A monotonous uniformity begins to prevail over all these tracts. I amafraid I shall soon get tired of this negro population and these towns, all built and all peopled in the same manner. They seem remarkablycurious at first, but curiosity soon palls. We have with us the Hajah, mentioned before. She is very quiet, being_passée_, and also afraid of the Sheikh's people. I went round the village and found some five hundred or six hundredpeople nestled together. All the villages which we passed to-day have asimilar population. I saw the preparations for a wedding; it was a mostamusing sight. Two enclosures were crowded with people, all busy; butthe busiest were those grinding corn for the marriage-feast. Thebridegroom was with one group, haranguing them in the most perseveringmanner, and rattling a hollow gourd filled with small stones. The groupreplied in chorus, all on their knees, bending forward, rubbing grainbetween two stones. The other group went on by themselves. Then, in anenclosure close by, was the bride, attended with, all her maidenfriends, jammed together in a hut, all busy, doing nobody knows what. Itwas with great difficulty I could get a peep at her. The bride and herfriends were distinguished by having a sort of brass nail-head driventhrough the right nostril of their noses. Good big boys were runningabout quite naked. But the conduct of the people, old and young, wasquite decent. The bridegroom followed me to my tent, rattling his calabash for apresent, singing my praises cheaply enough, for I gave him a very smallpresent indeed. They have no set songs; all their singing is extempore. Afterwards I saw a man afflicted with palsy in his head. He applied tome for a remedy, but I could only recommend him to bathe himself everyday in warm water, which will never be done; for these people are tooindolent to perform any labour of this kind, even if it be to save theirlives. My new interpreter, Mohammed, pretends that slave servants, or agents, are thought more of, that is, are more useful, than free people inBornou. This may be accounted for by the absolute control which a mastercan exercise over his slave. The thermometer at sunset ranges 84°. It was very warm this afternoon. Here and there an ostrich egg tops the conical roofs of the huts, fromDamerghou to this place. I showed the people my watch, and put it totheir ears that they might hear it tick, tick; and I may observe asingularity on this. The people did not say, "Oh! how it ticks!" but"Kal, kal!" so that kal, kal, is the sound which we express by tick, tick, in our language. _13th. _--As usual, we rose before sunrise, and started as soon aspossible. We made four hours in the forenoon, and rested at a wellcalled Birni Gamatak. The village is near the well, but we did not go toit. From this place to the Tuarick country, Gurasu, there are four shortdays; but the road has no water in this season. The Kaïd of the villagepaid us a visit, and brought us ghaseb-water. I amused him and hispeople with my watch and compass. After resting till 4 P. M. We startedagain. At Birni Gamatak a zone of mountainous country begins, consistingof granite, gneiss, and other varieties of primitive rocks. We had amagnificent ride through a fine rocky country. After one hour and a-halfwe passed Wonchi to the right, or south of us; a small village. On theroute we had a boundless vista through the hills, over a vast plain, covered with a scattered forest, extending without end towards thenorth. This country is overrun by Tuaricks; all, however, living infriendship with the Sheikh. We made five hours and a-half, always east, so that we did not arrive at Tungari till long after daylight. Tungariconsists of two or three considerable villages, having a population ofabout two thousand. Here I saw a greater number of date-trees than I hadyet seen in Soudan. There were larger plantations, and many gardens. Ihave nothing particular to observe respecting this place, except thatthe people showed more boldness than the population subjected to theSultan of Zinder; because the Sultan of Minyo gives them more protectionagainst the Bornou marauders, or Government servants, travelling throughthe country. I went to bed thoroughly fatigued. _14th. _--We rose at daybreak and went off immediately, and made fourhours north-east, and then from a fine rising ground had a splendid viewof all the town of Gurai. Our route yesterday and to-day began in asouth-easterly direction, and after continuing east for some timegradually turned round to north-east, so that we have our faces againtoward the northern desert. Yesterday I felt, for the first time, thisapproaching warm season--a hot wind, which, curiously enough, now comesfrom the north, whereas before it always came from the south. Gurai is very bare of trees, the townspeople having burnt them all up. Ikept a-bed all day, to recruit myself from fatigue. The Kashalla went tosalute the Sultan, who inquired after me. They reported my state, andsaid I should come to see him in the morning (i. E. Of next day). According to a Gatronee, Kellai, a country of the Tuaricks, is one dayonly north-west from Gurai. It is a small village. Gurasu is five daysfrom this, north-west. Dallakauri, also a Tuarick country, is one daynorthwards, or north-east. This is a large place. Bultumi, anotherTuarick country, small; one day, east. Malumri, one day and a-half east. Therrai, a small place, a day beyond Dallakauri, north-west, two daysfrom this. Chokada, a small place, five or six hours from this. Allthese places are inhabited by the Tuarick tribe of Duggera, viz. Kellai, Gurasu, Dallakauri, Bultumi, Malumri, Therrai, and Chokada. This tribeinfests the upper part of the route of Bornou, that between the Tibboosand Kuka. Formerly they were great bandits, but now they fear the Sultanof Minyo, and begin to desist from their bad trade and turn to morepeaceful habits. Bunai is one day and a-half south from Buroi, formerlythe capital of the province of Minyo, and where the father of thepresent Sultan resided. It is a little less than Burai. Here we are toldthat, after all, Minyo is _not_ the name of the Sultan, as beforementioned, but the name of the province, which is sometimes calledMinyoma, as being more euphonic; but all people love harmony inlanguage. This province is considered the most powerful of the empire ofBornou. _15th. _--Having selected my present for his highness the Sultan, consisting of a piece of cotton velvet for a tobe (ten mahboubs), a headof sugar, a little cinnamon and cloves, a piece of muslin for turbans, and a cotton handkerchief, I paid my visit under the escort of theKashalla, and the Sultan's major-domo, a man carrying a large stick witha great knob at the end. We went straight to the palace, a considerablebuilding, built of clay, like the Sultan's house at Zinder, in the shapeof a fort or castle. We were first ushered into an audience-room or hall, of largedimensions, with little light, adapted for an African climate. It isnewly built, and indeed not yet finished. The architecture is the sameas the public buildings or houses of the chief officers in Kuka. Here wewaited a quarter of an hour, during which time the people poured in fromall quarters. At length we were ushered into the presence. I found theSultan to be a good-looking black, with features not much stamped withthe negro character. He was about the age of forty-five or fifty. Hiscostume was truly royal, consisting of a loose tobe of purple silk, anda black burnouse, embroidered, thrown over it. He wore a turban ofEgyptian form, and very handsome. His highness received me very affably, and I took my seat near him, on a pic-nic stool which I have with me. Ishook hands, and doffed my hat. There was no throwing of dust about, asat Zinder. But we found the Sultan already seated, with all hiscourtiers and officers around him. His highness asked about my health, and the Tuaricks. He observed, "The Tuaricks are afraid of you. " Somepersons of that tribe, perhaps, have given him this false view of thecase, pretending that the Tuaricks are afraid I am come to spy out thecountry, to be taken possession hereafter by the Queen. His highnessminutely scanned all my European clothes, making many inquiries aboutthem. All the people were highly delighted to see me throw aside mymiserable Soudan tobe, and dress in my European costume. In fact, Idon't know what I should have done without these clothes. The peoplethen pulled off my boots, and burst out into an involuntary exclamationof astonishment when they saw my white leg under my stocking. My faceand hands are both pretty well tanned, and the quality of the Europeanskin is not so visible as in the parts of the body covered. His highnessthen inquired whether there was war in Europe, and whether peace existedbetween England and the Porte. He was very anxious to continue hisquestions, but there being two or three hundred persons present, he wasobliged to defer them till the evening. I was much gratified with thesight. It was really a scene of African state, but without deformities. There was no blood, no slaying of victims, no abject ceremonies; nothingto offend the eye of the European. We merely saw, seated on a raisedplatform, a black, robed in barbaric style of splendour, with a hundredcourtiers and officers squatted on the ground him, all humble beings, but not abject. On returning, his highness sent our caravan four bullocks, to beslaughtered for our use. To-day was market-day, but there was no stockof consequence here, there being little foreign commerce. There may be ascore of foreign merchants, nearly all from Fezzan, but they are meretraders, and only bring a few things for the Sultan and his chiefofficers. These merchants say that there is no money here, nor, indeed, in Bornou. The place for money is Kanou. All the wealth of Central Africa is, according to them, concentrated there. Kanou is, in fact, the London ofSoudan. I asked a merchant here, who was accounted rich; that is, whowas a _Maidukia_? He replied, "One with property to the amount of athousand dollars. " Even a man with five hundred is accounted a somebody. Such is the estimate of wealth here. I expect to find all Bornoumiserably poor. In the evening I waited again on his highness, according to appointment. He had descended from his throne, and divested himself of all hissplendour, being now dressed in a plain tobe and burnouse. He receivedus squatted on a carpet upon the ground, in an inner court, and remindedme much of a stage king who had undressed after the performance. Iproduced all my wonderful things to amuse his highness, --my compass, spyglass, kaleidoscope, spectacles, peepshow, &c. In this way I amusedhim for an hour, he the while asking questions about my personal habits. Our people then told him the sovereign of England was a woman. "_Kamo?_"To which I replied, "_Kamo. _" I was then requested to read some English, which I did from Milton. I always exhibit a small edition of Milton'spoetry, with gilt edges and morocco binding, which greatly surprises allpeople accustomed to the use of books. The Kashalla then told hishighness that I washed my face and hands continually, but did not pray. I explained through my interpreter that now, in a foreign country, Iread my prayers, and that we had the Gospel; and he added, "The Zebour, "Psalms of David. All educated Muslims are acquainted with or have heardof the Psalms of David. I take out a copy of the Gospel and Psalms inArabic, that every educated Mahommedan may see that we English are notthe En-Sara or Kerdies of Africa, but have a God and a religion. Theinconvenience of this is, that it leads sometimes to talking anddisputing on religion, not always in season. A prudent man, however, will evade all difficulties without compromising his belief. We hadagain present a hundred people, or more, and his highness was disturbedat the number, but did not like to send them away. He asked me how old Iwas; and of my servants, whether I was married, &c. I returned pleased with my visit, although I lost one of my peepshows;for the Kashalla was foolish enough to tell me to give it to hishighness. This is the danger of exhibiting these things. I took to theprince a small present of rings, silk, bracelets, and a necklace of mockpearls for his ladies; and hope to get back my peepshow by exchanging itfor some such trinkets. This was a cool day, with a fresh breezecontinually blowing. _16th. _--I rose in a quieter state, though I have been much fatiguedthese last few days. It is expected we shall be here two or three daysmore. Fifteen days is the time allowed for our journey from this toKuka. The people display greater curiosity to see me than theinhabitants of Zinder, this province being more out of the way ofstrangers. Yesterday, on returning from the palace, I had a hundredpeople at my heels. The mode of salutation for a sultan is peculiar in these provinces. Itconsists in holding up and back the lower part of the arm, and moving itup and down--to denote strength, probably; an intimation of localstrength, as well as that of the body generally. I have been oftensaluted in this manner, and the mode is employed to strangers or anydistinguished person. N. B. --The people of Kanem have not the shonshona. The oars of the boat are now carried, as the people say, by Ben-Adam(children of Adam, i. E. Men). It is certainly more difficult to get themthrough these African forests than over the rocks of Sahara on thecamel's back. Five servants of the Sultan of Zinder left this morning, having brought them thus far, to return. I gave them a little present ofwadâ and rings. Gurai is somewhat smaller than Zinder, having a population of perhapsseven thousand souls. I have overrated the population of Zinder: thatcity, probably, does not contain more than ten thousand souls, if somany. On emerging from the Saharan Desert, where we had been accustomedto bestow the name of town upon great scattered villages, with a fewhundred inhabitants, Zinder appeared to me quite a capital city. Thetown of Gurai is scattered about on several hills, and down theirslopes. These hills are bare of trees and vegetation. There is a dry ditch surrounding the town. It answers the purpose of afortification, especially as its effect is aided by a thickset hedge. Atsome places this hedge is growing; at others, it consists merely ofbranches cut from various trees, but rendered almost impenetrable bybeing made broad and thick. These defences are quite effectual in thekind of wars carried on in these regions. CHAPTER XIX. Fezzanee Traders--Sultan in want of Medicine--The Stud--Letters--Yusuf'sConduct--Architecture--Fragment of the History of Minyo--Politicsof Zinder--Bornouese Fish--Visits--Two Routes--Dancing byMoonlight--Richness--Fires--Information on Boushi and Adamaua--TheYamyam--Liver Complaints--A Girl's Game--Desert Country--Gift Camel--FewLiving Creatures--Village of Gusumana--Environs--The DoomFruit--Brothers of Sultan of Sakkatou--Stupid Kadi--Showing off--HotWeather--[Final Note--Death of Mr. Richardson. ] I had visits yesterday from all the Fezzanee traders. These people, asat Zinder, and everywhere at Soudan, sell their goods at a high price tothe Sultan, and then are obliged to wait six or seven months for theirmoney, eating up all their profits. No wonder the poor fellows rarelyget rich, but remain, on the contrary, always miserably poor. The sameis the case throughout all Soudan. To-day my tent was thronged withvisitors, before whom I am obliged to exhibit myself, or show mycuriosities. Among others, I had a visit from some people who came fromGobter, distant four hours south, on purpose to see me; and, moreover, had a call from some ladies nearly related to the Sultan. They allwanted medicine, but for what they could not tell; so I gave them each ataste of Epsom. This made them relish a bit of sugar, which I distributeto them afterwards, and which appeased their grimaces and disgust. I ampestered to death for medicines, and have visitors without number. The Sultan sent word this morning to know if I had anything to sell, anyfine things from the Christian countries, for he wished to buy them. Ourpeople returned for answer that I was not a merchant, but belonged tothe Queen. He then begged me to give him a small quantity of mymedicines, for he had heard I had most wonderful drugs;--would I favourhim with some of every kind, that he might be prepared for all possiblecomplaints which might attack him hereafter, when I was gone? For thepresent he is suffering from pains in all his joints; and requests, inthe first place, to be relieved from them. Compliance with these demandswas, of course, necessary. I therefore packed up small quantities ofemetics, acetate of lead, worm-powders, and Epsom, and also a littlecamphor, and a little sticking-plaster, with a small bottle of Eau deCologne. With these I went to pay my respects. We found the Sultan in asmall private apartment. He was in an inquisitive mood, and began byasking me all manner of questions, the subjects ranging from the affairsof kings and princes down to the handkerchief round my neck. I shouldobserve that the Sultan requested Yusuf to taste the medicines before hedelivered them up to him, to see that there was no blood in them. So hetasted the salts and the jalap; but I told him that the acetate of leadwas poison, and we wrote _sem_ upon all the packets. It surprised himthat we should administer poison to the eyes. After the interview his servants showed me his horses. They were butill-formed animals, some heavily built, and others miserable-lookingcreatures. Yet these are the pick of the whole country, and some havebeen lately brought from Sakkatou, as the best which could be exportedfrom that quarter. In the afternoon another slave of Haj Beshir arrived from Zinder, seeking for me. He had brought a letter, but had orders if he did notfind me to return it to Kuka; so that I shall be without news until myarrival. He, however, just knows that a caravan came from Mourzuk inthirty-nine days, bringing this letter, which was forwarded to me. Itcomes direct from Tripoli. There are three letters for me! This evening my new interpreter came with a long trumped-up story, as towhat the Sultan had said respecting my quarrel with Yusuf. His highnesswas represented to have expressed a strong desire that we might bereconciled before we arrived at Kuka. I cannot tell whether this be trueor false. Probably they have attempted to get the Sultan to speak to meabout Yusuf. This is always the case. These people do you as much injuryas they please on the road, and when they are near a place which makesthem afraid, they get a number of people to come and persuade you to saythat they are very good fellows. It is quite clear that Yusuf has stolenseveral things on the road. The last thing missed is a large quantity ofcloves. It is difficult to know how to act on these occasions. _17th. _--I took Epsom, and feel better. The architectural ornaments of the palace of Gurai resemble those of thehouses of Ghât. The walls are covered with little recesses, of variousshapes; the moulding consists of a series of lozenges; the pillars bywhich the ceiling is supported are of immense thickness. In these largehalls, on a level with the ground, there are always raised seats ofearth, on which are spread carpets, and lion and leopard skins. By the way, this country seems clear of animals. They are all eitherhunted down, or driven into thicker shades and forests. All these provinces have their histories preserved traditionally. Thefather of the present Sultan of Gurai, named Ibrahim, was a mostdetermined fellow. He slew no less than seven sultans appointed to takehis place. The Sheikh, in the first instance, sent a large army todispossess him. Before superior forces he retired to a mountain, wherehe was unattackable. The new Sultan was installed, and the troops ofBornou returned to Kuka. As soon as they were gone, Ibrahim descendedthe mountains with his slaves, and fell upon the new prince, butcheringhim and his people. Then he wrote to Kuka: "I am under God and you. " TheSheikh, enraged at this conduct, sent another force against him, asbefore. Ibrahim once more retired to his stronghold, and after theBornou forces had returned to Kuka, again descended from his mountain, and butchered the new prince as before. And this he repeated seventimes, so that at last the Sheikh, seeing the impossibility ofcontinuing the war with such a vassal, allowed him to have quietpossession of the province of Minyo. His son Goso, now sultan, is also avery spirited fellow; but he is on good terms with the Sheikh, andobserved to me, "What Kuka (the Sheikh) does, I do; as what Stambouldoes, so does Tripoli. " Goso, or Gausau, is certainly a very politeprince, and a very accomplished man. To him the Sultan of Zinder is amere slave. There is some news about the Sultan of Zinder. It appears that SarkeeIbrahim feels himself weak, and unable to conduct the government of theprovince prosperously, i. E. "to go on razzia;" so he wrote for hisbrother to come and undertake the command of the slave-hunts. Thebrother spoke to the Sheikh, who said "Go. " But the brother said, "No, Iwill not go, unless you will give me the province to govern. " The Sheikhreplied, "Your brother will give you some town. " "No, " was the answer;"I will not go unless you will give me the whole province. " This is nowthe great news in Zinder and Gurai, and was carried to the former placeby two horsemen, who galloped from Kuka to Zinder in six days. I now write the names of the sultans of the province in Arabic, beforethem, with a black-lead pencil. This greatly astonishes them: first, that I am able to write their names and that of the countries which theygovern; and secondly, with a black-lead pencil, which they call wood. _Names of several sorts of Fish (Buni) in Bornou. _ Yogari, a large flat fish, four or five feet long, and as many broad. Kagwi, a fish like a cod or ling. Haik, one foot and a half long, three or four inches broad. Kamudee, one foot and a half long, thick as the lower arm, and quiteblack. Karwa and Kagia, species of small plaice. Labun, of the size of a locust. Kadikadi, large thick eel. The Sultan is very anxious about my personal history, and hearing that Ihad my wife in Tripoli, inquired if I intended to take another in thiscountry. I have had numberless visits all day long. The people display an intensecuriosity to see the Christian, and would stop here for ever, gazingbefore my tent. Four sisters of the Sultan gave me a call. I taught themthe use of pins, and pinned three of them together, which produced greatmerriment amongst the people. A Fellatah horse-dealer gave me two routesto-day; one from this (Gurai) to Sakkatou, and another from Sakkatoutowards the west. [22] [22] See Appendix. A quarrel has sprung up between the Kashalla and Saïd, Haj Beshir'sslave, about the road we should take from this to Kuka. Thenorth-eastern, or direct east, is the shortest, but there are three dayswithout habitations: this is Saïd's road. The south-eastern is thelonger route, and is the Kashalla's, but there are people every day. Thelatter is probably the better route for me. It is decided that we leavethe day after to-morrow. This evening the Sultan sent me a camel, as a present. Not havingexperienced the difficulty of riding a horse, I had sold all my camels. The gift camel is a very good one. When the moon rises, about an hour after dark, the beating of the drumsis heard, calling the people to assemble for the dancing--young men andmaidens. In ten minutes, some hundred people are collected. The dancingthen commences in full and grand style. This evening I went out to seethe performance, and found it the most animating I had yet seen inAfrica. The young men and maidens separated into parties, the maidensnear the drummers, and the young men at a distance of some twenty pacesaround them. A circle is then formed. The ladies here choose their ownpartners, instead of waiting to be chosen. A maiden skips up awkwardlyto the drummer, then glides off to the side of the young men, andtouches the gentleman with whom she wishes to dance, and returns. Theyoung man does not immediately accept, for two or three minutes elapseafter he has been touched ere he starts off to join the lady who hashonoured him in the presence of a hundred admiring or jealousspectators. They join, turning first face to face, then back to back, then face to the drummers, in the most lively style. The young men aredressed in their tobes, and throw them up and round so as to produce amoving circle, as women might do with their petticoats; but not movingtheir bodies so much as their circling tobes: this is the grand grace ofthe dance. Then there are parties of men and women dancing together; butthe men with men, and women with women. The women trip up awkwardly, butmodestly, to where the men are placed, and then fall back; upon whichthe men pursue them violently, overtaking them before they get to theirplaces, and throwing their tobes around them: but there is nothingindelicate in all this. On the contrary, the whole dance is quite apattern of modesty to the Europeans, the Arabs, and the Moors, --to theselatter especially, whose dance, as introduced here, is of the mostlascivious and beastly description. This entertainment takes place everynight; it is the great solace and delight of the people: they have noother amusement. They are all passionately fond of the drum, whichcertainly makes a great noise, and stirs them up to exhibit theirdancing powers. The whole population have suddenly become sick, and all want Epsomsalts: a camel-load would not suffice. One old fellow wants a medicineto enable him to get children. I tell him he is now old, and must besatisfied with the strength God has given him in his past life. The Sultan has made presents to our people, --to the Kashalla, Yusuf, andothers. _18th. _--I was so beset with people that I could not use my thermometerthis morning. The weather is fresh, with the wind from the north-east. Iam obliged to give tea as medicine: everybody now pretends to be sick, from the Sultan to the meanest slave. In all these villages the people burn up the stubble in the evening, just outside the village, on the dung-heaps. They like to see the flamewhich whirls up from the dirty hay or straw; but, of course, they maketheir fire at some distance, to prevent its catching their huts. Themortar and pestle have disappeared: the people use here, for grindingtheir grain, two stones, as in some places on the north coast. The insects are beginning their depredations upon me, biting me allover, and raising on my flesh small ulcers. I have obtained from Nammadina, the Fellatah horse-dealer, a detailedaccount of the route to Yola, the capital of Adamaua, passing throughBoushi. The Moors represent the latter place to be like Mourzuk and Tripoli; butthey say the greater part of the inhabitants of Adamaua are infidels orpagans. The rulers are, however, Fellatahs, and therefore Muslims. Adamaua is a rocky country: a small quantity of grain is found here, with abundance of sheep, oxen, horses, goats, fish, samen, honey, andonions. The rivers of Adamaua have always some water in them. In the territory of Boushi will be found the celebrated name of Yamyam, where the Moorish and Arab merchants place the residence of the Ben-Adameaters, or cannibals. I was greatly amused to hear my Fellatah informantmost strenuously deny this calumny on the African race; he asserted thathe had been in the country, and never had seen anything of this sort. The Moors as boldly affirmed that such cannibals exist, although theywere obliged to confess they never saw the people of Adamaua or Yakoba(name of the sultan) eat human flesh. The whole story of the Yamyam isof the remotest antiquity, and has come down to us with manyembellishments; but, if once true of the people hereabouts, it can nolonger be authenticated by present facts, for as I have said, the Moorsthemselves represent Boushi to be like Tripoli. The people from Fezzan and Tripoli, the traders and all, complain of theliver complaint; most of them have been ten or fifteen years in thiscountry, travelling through Bornou and Soudan. I gave them small dosesof calomel. All people at this season, blacks and strangers from thenorth, are full of rheumatism, which they describe by saying they havepains in all their joints and all their limbs. The presence of aChristian having medicines heightens and multiplies these diseases;there is, however, in reality, a good deal of rheumatism, arising fromthe cold winds of the north-east. This evening we had again our drummers and the dancers, as on everypreceding night. The girls have a laughable game amongst themselves, theboys, however, sometimes joining--that of throwing one another up andforwards by the arm-pits; the girl thus thrown forwards is expected, ifshe play her part well, to light firmly on her feet. If not, she rollsabout and over, and the accidents that then occur are probablyconsidered a great part of the amusement. _19th. _--We were hurried off this morning early by the Kashalla, and Ihad no time to go and take leave of the Sultan. The weather is fresh. Imounted my gift camel; the second grand gift from the princes of Africa. We made a long day, from morning till after dark, about ten hours, through an undulating country. Some of the hollows were very deep, andenclosed stagnant reedy pools, of generally bad water, remaining fromthe past rains. For the first three or four hours of this march we had ascattered forest of dwarfish trees, mostly dwarf tholukhs. These aresucceeded by small forests of the doom-palms, lining the pools andswamps in the valleys, and looking very fresh and pretty. I wasastonished to see so few animals; indeed, we only observed now and thena small bird. What was the more strange, no water-fowl was seen in thepools. But the country to-day was all desert--no grain cultivating, whichperhaps may account for the absence of birds and fowls. Saïd prevailedover the Kashalla, and we have taken the desert route, being five daysnearer. There are, besides, but few trees, comparatively, which makes iteasier to transport the boat. The Kashalla vexed me very much by taking my camel to transport aportion of baggage, his own camel knocking up. At first I refused to goon, but on the promise that he would get a bullock at the nearest placeI mounted upon the luggage. Fortunately, my gift camel is a good one, not like the horse, and can carry a large weight. I cannot grumble much, as the Sheikh's camels are transporting many of my private things. Nevertheless you must show a stern resistance to all these liberties, otherwise you will never be able to get through Africa. No tent was pitched, but I made myself comfortable by drinking theremainder of a bottle of port wine, which I began yesterday. I felt alittle queer, and fancied I had injured myself by drinking so much milk;so I took to a bottle of port wine, and finished it in three times. Ihave felt much better since. I could very well drink a bottle a-day, andbelieve I should be much stronger for it. However, such wine should bekept for convalescence after fever. I have still a bottle, and someCyprus wine--very good wine. _20th. _--We started as soon as the day broke and the sun showed himself, and made five hours south-east over country the same as yesterday. Butthe forests of doom-palms were larger and thicker, and valleys also weremore extensive. What is strange, no wild animals show themselves, noteven in these sedgy, reedy swamps. I could only see scattered on theground the feathers of the guinea-fowl. One or two black-and-white crowswere noticed. Our people say that all the crows are of this colour inBornou. In Ashen there are both species, the black, and theblack-and-white. Our people also tell us, that on the other route, whichthe Kashalla wished to travel, there are numbers of elephants, and muchwater. Here is water enough in the rainy season for all such animals. Wehad still the tholukh, as well as the doom, and a tree like a largesea-shore plant cropped by the camels. We saw no ghaseb cultivation, or any sort of grain, till we arrived atGusumana, where we found wheat, cotton, and pepper in the gardens. Thevillage of Gusumana is situated on a hill, overlooking a steep broadvalley, full of the doom-palm. This village has therefore its housesconstructed partly with the branches and trunks of this tree, whichserve very well. I am housed in a most comfortable little hut made ofthis material, and nicely thatched; the door is composed of some thinstrips of the leaves of the palm, which, as you enter, give way, andthen return to their place, just as would a curtain. In this way the airalways plays freely into the hut, murmuring sometimes between thesefragments of leaves. I have felt much less fatigue since I mounted the camel, although I havemade the longest day upon it that has been made since we left Zinder. Irecommend to all travellers the camel in the desert, or in Soudan. Ibelieve the ill-health of the former expedition was much increased byalways riding horses. Thank God, my strength still keeps up. Taking Gusumana as a centre, we have around it several towns andvillages. Thisi, one hour west; Gajemmi, one long day north-west; Parum, one hour east-south-east; Kadellebua, two hours south-west; Garua, onehour east; Gogora, two hours east; and, finally, in our road, Kanggarua, two days south-east. The town of Gajemmi is inhabited by the tribe ofDuggera; but the Kaïd of this village pretends they are not Tuaricks. Hemeans, probably, not the same as the Tuaricks of Ashen. It is quiteclear that these Daggera inhabit all the northern line of Bornou, fromZinder to Kuka; skirting, in fact, all the left of our route. They jointhe Damerghou territory, and thus extend from that province west toKanem, and the route of Bornou east. The Tuaricks are ever located onthe confines of the desert. Here they roam free, and rob and plunderwhere they have opportunity, or when the princes of Bornou and Soudancannot check them. Our people gnaw the doom fruit, but it is just like gnawing the bark ofa tree, slightly flavoured with some aroma. They begin to eat them fromchildhood, and so keep on, as the gour-nuts are chewed by children; andso the taste is sucked in with their mother's milk. The gour-nut, however, is something, whilst the doom fruit is mere wood. The tree, nevertheless, is green, and in waving forests delightfully relieves thishot, burning, African landscape. The portion of the caravan consisting of bullocks is always much laterthan the rest; to-day they were four hours after us. I consider that thehours we now go are at least two and a-half or three English miles inlength, as we advance at a speed quite equal to a horse walking at agood pace; nay, I might say, some hours we make three and a-half Englishmiles. The following are the names of the brothers of the Sultan of Sakkatou, obtained from my Fellatah informant of Gurai. A difference ofpronunciation will be observed in the Arab names, as they aretransmitted through the Fellatah language. Aliu (for Ali), name of theSultan himself and one of his brothers; Mallaidi; Amadu (Ahmed), Omeru(Omer, two of this name), Mahammedu (Mahammed), Mogari; Amadu Bedai;Alhattu; Moho; Isa (two of this name); Amadu el-Fai; Musa;Abd-el-Kaderi, and Abd-el-Walli. These are the names of all the brotherswhich he has heard. The first minister is called Galladima. The Kadi isEl-Hali el-Haj; Inna is the generalissimo; Mohammed Wuddeggen, MuddebriAli, Bu Beker, Manuri, and Gudundi, are names of other grandees andgenerals. The horse-dealer speaks of them with great familiarity, for hesells to them all. His own country is called Kabi, situated to thesouth-west of Sakkatou. He gave me the particulars of the route. [23] [23] See Appendix. _21st. _--This morning the weather was cool, the thermometer standing at56°, with a fresh wind. We had a visit early from the Kadi. I asked himwhy he did not plant date-trees in the fine valley under the village. Hereplied, "From whence shall I procure them?" I answered, "From Tungari(a place west, three days distant). " At this he looked very stupid. These Minyo negroes have no idea of improving their condition. His replymay serve for all the country hereabouts. Minyo and its large province is called by its aboriginal names Manga. Itextends south-east to a river, on the other side of which begins BornouProper. But the people of Manga speak the same language as theBornouese. Zinder belongs to the circle of Soudan, and its province iscalled Damagram. Mohammed, my interpreter, pretends he saw elephants to-day at aconsiderable distance, looking like black trees. Probably to-morrow wemay fall in with some animals worth seeing. I observed two or threeswallows, the first this year. We stop here to-day to rest. The animalsare knocked up, and the Kashalla has lost a horse. It is from this Manga province that many of the villages of Damerghouare populated. Formerly the Tuaricks of that province made razzias onthese out-lying provinces, with the produce of which they increased thenumber of their subjects. An European must needs show off in this country. Yesterday I was obligedto exhibit to all the village, --about a hundred people, --and to-day toas many more. It is very fortunate if you are not detestably ugly, andcan pass muster; for if you are, you will have all sorts of faces madeat you; and, besides, you will be considered to represent a whole peopleas an ugly race. I walked round the village. There may be two hundredhuts, and about six hundred inhabitants. The sun burns at four P. M. Mostfiercely. I begin to be afraid of it; but the days are uncertain, andsometimes the weather is quite chilly. According to my interpreter, Mohammed Ben Ahmed Bu Saad, there is nomoney in Bornou, and the Sheikh could never obtain a strong army. Wecertainly find considerable difficulty all along to get an extra camelor bullock, and those to be obtained are very bad ones. The peoplecultivate very little, and have no resources to fall back on. They havejust a little grain for themselves. The Sheikh of this place is arespectable man, and has been very civil to me. He, however, requiresfrom me a medicine to procure him a good reception wherever he goes. Hesays he is frequently called to Minyo and other large places, and hewants a medicine to procure him the smiles, good-will, and friendship ofall the people whom he meets. Especially he wishes always to have thefavour of the Sultan. I had numbers of other patients all day; my Epsomis fast going. Thermometer at sunset, 82°; weather very troublesometo-day, blowing hot and cold with the same breath. [24] [24] Here ends Mr. Richardson's journal, with words which already hint the cause of the lamentable accident that speedily followed. Spring was advancing with its uncertain temperature in Central Africa. The thermometer varied nearly thirty degrees between the morning and afternoon. Doubtless, however, the unusual fatigue of horse-exercise during the days that succeeded the departure from Zinder may have contributed its share in breaking down Mr. Richardson's strength. Something of a desponding tone may be observed in the journal for many pages; but we do not find that there was any cessation of industry. In addition to what is found in the regular diary, a good many notes were left written in pencil. Among the principal of them are the following:-- "In Kanem, north of Bornou, it rains a month earlier in the season than in that province; in Bornou, one month earlier than in Kanou; in Kanou, one month earlier than at Niffee. The heat of to-day, under a thatch hut, at one P. M. , same as yesterday, 96°. Sugar dissolved into a wash is a common remedy in Soudan and Bornou for bad eyes; but, perhaps, it is made an excuse for getting sugar from us. " "In the evening we marched two hours and a-half in an E. S. E. Direction. We were met by the Sheikh of the place, with some fifteen horse, and a mounted drummer. No wild animals are seen, on account of the fires in the desert (made, however, by the people on purpose to catch them). No water-fowls swim in the pools, probably because there is no cultivation. But this is the real country of the elephants. I saw the dung some two days before, and could not make out what it was. These days the dung was more abundant, and the people told me what it was. The people about here do not hurt them, their spears being useless against the hide of this great quadruped; the hunters, however, entangle the smaller animals--gazelles, &c. --by means of a great wheel made of cane. The animals put their feet in the middle, which gives in, and holds them, whilst the top is secured by strong cords. " "Mandemnia. "Kangarwar, half the size of Zinder. First day, evening march, seven hours, pitched in open country; course, S. E. Second day, pitched in open country; course, E. Third day, six hours, E. N. E. Fourth day, half-an-hour's morning march. Mandemnia village people occupied in making salt. " I believe Mr. Richardson was sometimes in the habit of jotting down observations in this way on loose pieces of paper previous to inserting them in his journal, which he evidently wrote in great part with a view to its being sent to the press, though at others he breaks away into a series of disconnected memoranda. We have no further account of what happened between the 21st of February and the 4th of March, than what is contained in the letter written by Dr. Barth, Mr. Richardson's fellow-traveller, so often mentioned in the foregoing pages (see Preface). --ED. APPENDIX. LIST OF ROUTES, &c. _Route from Zinder to Kanou. _ From Zinder, starting S. S. E. , Kankandi, one hour. Baban Tabki, a quarter of an hour. Dunai, four hours: large place, or village. Guna, one hour: large place. Karaiai, four hours: large village. Washa, seven hours: town and residence of a sultan. Kakibarai, three hours. This place consists of three villages; one uponthe rocky hills, one on the slope, and one under the rocks. At Washathere are also rocks; the rest of the route is flat. From Washa toKakibarai there is a most copious supply of water. Gordo, ten hours: large village. Eshkakato, two hours: large village. Tumbi, two hours: town and residence of a sultan. Omitting one place, the name of which was not remembered, then follows: Maidabara, one hour. Gumel, two hours: town and residence of a sultan. Tukkenzuru, one hour. Bermanaua, one hour: large village. Elladi, one hour. Here terminates the territory of Bornou. Garki, two hours: a very populous place, and said to be the residence ofseven sultans (or governors). Here begins the territory of theFellatahs. Dago, three hours. Kuka Maifurra, two hours. Kuka Mairua, one hour and a half. Gubbasaua, two hours. Souk (name not remembered), two hours. Gaizaua, two hours: a large place. Sharo, one hour. Here are three running streams, each separated by abouta quarter of an hour's ride. Zango, a quarter of an hour. From Sharo to Kanou there are no less thanthirty small villages. Kanou, a quarter of an hour. The whole of the route, with the exceptionof the rocks of Washa and Kakibarai, is flat, and trees are scatteredalong all the road. From Gumel to Dogo there is a forest, and fromKakibarai to Gordo the country is covered with the doom-palm. In all thetowns and villages above enumerated is found a good supply of water. Theportion of Bornouese territory is sandy, and that of the Fellatah's goodearthy soil. * * * * * _Routes from Zinder to Kuka: first route, viâ Minyo. _ From Zinder to Zarmu, half a day; village. (The half day is from four to five hours. ) Ginnewa, half a day; village. Majia, seven hours; village. Minyo, half a day; town and residence of a sultan of considerable powerand influence. Alkammaram, seven hours; well. Kadalafua, seven hours; large village. Birribirchi, seven hours; well. Kagarwa, half a day; large village. Karragu-fillai, three hours. Gurrutua, half a day; town, and residence of a sultan. Zangairi, name of a river and a village, three hours. Here is a largeriver, which, however, is dry in summer. Most of these rivers are dryduring the two or three hot months. Miggeba, four hours; a village. Zaggatur, half a day; a village. Bua, four hours; a village. Bagusu, half a day; a village. Kuka, four hours; town. This route is usually reckoned at fifteen days' journey: trees areabundant on all the route, especially the doom-palm. There are, besides, many streams of water, on the banks of which are seen animals of everydescription. * * * * * _Second Route, viâ Mashena. _ Miria, three hours; town, and residence of a sultan. Here is a smalllake, where palateable fish are caught. Abundance of corn is also foundhere. Gushi, eight hours; town, and residence of a sultan. Gijemu, three hours; village. Zubaggeru, eight hours; large village. Funokam, three hours; village. Mashena, three hours; town, and residence of a sultan. Bundi, half a day; town, and residence of a sultan. Karimairi, three hours; town, and residence of a sultan. Zorikulo, eight hours; village. Kafi, three hours; village. Ganaua, half a day; village. Wadi, half a day; village. Gurrutua, eight hours; village. Miggeba, half a day; village. A river, in which water is found threefeet deep during the summer. Fataganna, three hours; village. Dumrua, half a day; village. Shilaua, half a day; a village. Basher, half a day; a village. Kuka, three hours. This route abounds with trees, water, fruit, corn, and many animals. * * * * * _Route from Gumel to Kuka. _ From Gumel to Shafoa, half a day; large village. Taganama, half a day; large town, and residence of a sultan. Mashena, six hours; town, residence of a sultan. Gumsi, seven hours; large village. Zirku-Kura, ten hours; running water and wells. Enki-Kura (i. E. Large water), twelve hours; a large lake, stagnant, having no communication with other water. Lauwanri, ten hours; large village. Diru, ten hours; large village. Chilumwa, ten hours; large village. Burburwa, twelve hours; a large walled town, and what is called_Biad-es-souk_, i. E. Where a market is held. Daboko, twelve hours; small village, near a large river. Limbua, ten hours: this place consists of fifty or sixty littlevillages. Binaua, eight hours, comprising many small villages. Kamis-Ali, five hours, or place where a market is held. Basher, eight hours; village. Kuka, four hours. [25] [25] In the former route, Basher is given as only three hours from Kuka. In the next route, Bagusu is made eight hours from Kuka, whilst a little back we have it set down at only half that distance. These discrepancies, of course, set geographers on their guard against placing any absolute dependence on native reports. I remember once questioning the inhabitants of a village in Egypt about the distance of a particular place. One said, five or six hours; others said, a short day; and others, a long day. However, by comparison of various statements, perhaps something like the truth may be reached. --ED. * * * * * _Route from Kanou to Kuka. _ From Kanou to Gaizaua, six hours; a large place. Kuka-Mairua, eight hours. Gerki, nine hours. Gumel, half a day; town, residence of a sultan. Ungua-Kalu, eight hours: this place includes two villages. Gullairi, ten hours; large village, or town without walls. Mashena, half a day; town, and residence of a sultan. Bundi, half a day; town, and residence of a sultan. Karremeri, four hours; a town, three times as large as Zinder. Zolikulo, eleven hours; village. Kafi, eight hours; village. Ganaua, nine hours; village. Dellella, half a day; village. Kashimwa, ten hours; large place, and a river. Miggeba, eight hours; village. Kassachia, five hours; villages: large river, dry in summer. Ura, eight hours; village. Kinchakusko, ten hours; village. Bagusu, ten hours. Kuka, eight hours. * * * * * _Route from Kuka to Mourzuk. _ From Kuka, north, to Urutua, half a day; small village. Karillewa, half a day; a well. Yau, half a day; walled town, large river. Burwa, twelve hours; walled town. Wuddi, twelve hours; stream, running into the Tchad (great lake). Gaigomai, four hours; small villages and rivers. Bir-Hamam, twelve hours; well. Kufai, nine hours; one tree; resting-place, formerly a well. Kibbu, fifteen hours; a well. Bel-Kashefferri, three days, and arrive the fourth day after six hours. Agdem, one day and a-half; well, large rocks and sandhills. Dubbula, two days; well, large rocks and sandhills. Zau, one day and a-half; well, large sandhills. Musguatin, seven hours; well, rocks. Bilma, four hours; large walled town. Shummenduro, eleven hours; town upon the rocks. Dirku, two hours; walled town, and residence of the Sultan of theTibboos (capital). Ashennema, half a day; village and rocks. Amchumma, ten hours; village and rocks. Anai, two hours; village and rocks. Yuguba, twelve hours; a well. Sigdem, twelve hours; well and rocks. Maffarus, one day and a half; well. Lahmer, one day and a half; well and rocks. War, three days; well, and mountains of great height and magnitude. Meshru, two days; well and rocks. Oma, twelve hours. Here the traveller at length sees a forest ofdate-palms; and the first district of Fezzan begins. Tajerrhi, eleven hours; walled town. Kazraua, twelve hours; village. Mudrusai, half a day; village. Gatron, two hours; village. Hafari, twelve hours; well and date-palms. Mustutai, fifteen hours; well and date-palms. Bithan, twelve hours; village. Sidi Beshir, half a day; village. Mourzuk, three hours. _Obs. _--All the Tibboo districts, like those of Fezzan, have forests ofdate-palms. Between Maffarus and Oma there is no herbage during sevendays. The greatest quantity of sand in this route is found between Agdemand Zau. * * * * * _Route from Kuka, to Mandara. _ From Kuka, south, to Manguno, nine hours; a large town. Dikua, half a day; a walled town, and residence of a sultan. Gasa, ten hours; a village. Quondega, seven hours; a large village. Gamergu, five hours; a large village. Karaua, twelve hours; first country of Mandara, of great height. Izgai, four hours; village and rocks. Dulo, four hours; villages and rocks. Mora, three hours; a walled city, and capital of Mandara, a small city, containing not more than ten thousand souls. The Sultan has five hundredcavalry and one thousand eunuchs. These poor devils are made here. TheKerdies or pagans upon the neighbouring mountains are called Matacum. These mountains are said to be of considerable altitude. According to Omer Wardi there is no difficulty in going to Muzgu, southof Mandara, and seat of the nearest pagans. * * * * * _Route to Mandara from Kuka: Second Route, Eastern. _ TERRITORY OF BORNOU. From Kuka, south-east, to Gornu, half a-day; a walled town, larger than Zinder. Gulum, three hours; small village. Here is a river. Yaidi, four hours; large walled town. Martai, four hours; large walled town. Ala, three hours; large walled town. Diwa, eight hours; large walled town, and residence of a sultan. Here isa river. Abagai, two hours; small village. Kuddaigai, one hour; small village. Sokoma, one hour; a large walled town. Millehai, two hours; a small place. Magarta, three hours; a large walled town. Dellehai, half a day; a large place. TERRITORY OF MANDARA. Muddebai, a long day; a large walled town. Dulo, eight hours; a large walled town. Mandara, three hours; a city about the size of Mourzuk. A day's journey from Mandara is sufficient to make a razzia of slaves. Muzgu, a great Kerdi country, is three days' journey from Mandara. * * * * * _Route from Kanou to Sakkatou. _ From Kanou: Dal, three hours; several small villages, where tobes are dyed withindigo. Zalia (Zaria?), a walled town, containing some 20 or 30, 000 souls, andresidence of a sultan; one long day. Lariski, half a day; a small village. Gaia, eight hours; a large walled town, and residence of a sultan. Kafela, half a day; small village. Yakuba, five hours; a walled town, and residence of a sultan. Mukubi, three hours; a small town on the banks of a river, in whichthere is always water. Keskaua, half a day; a small village. Gala, eight hours; a walled town, and about the size of Zinder;residence of a sultan. Kusuri, one long day; a large walled town, and residence of a sultan. Ariver, having always water. Lokoui, one long day; a walled town, and residence of a sultan. The sameriver as at Kusuri. Sakkatou, eight hours. This journey is reckoned at twenty days. * * * * * _Route from Taghajeet to Tuat. _ From Taghajeet, on the northern frontiers of Aheer, to Asaiou, two days and a-half; water-station. (All the following names arewater-stations, i. E. Places where there are wells. ) Logsur, three days and a-half; well: and so of the rest. Gharghar, three days; tents of wandering tribes of Tuaricks, principallyHagar and Maghatah. Yaizair, two days. From Gharghar to Tuat there are tents of Tuaricksalong all this line of route. Aifak, one day. Tamaghaset, one day. Outur (or Utur), one day. Tairagin, one day. Tailak, two days. Ennimgal, three days. Tahalai-Oget, two days. Tisnu, two days. Minneat, two days. Tagajert, two days. Amasir, two days. Arak, two days. Tajmut, two days. Tegtamin, one day. Agmamar, two days. Loknaig, two days. Shab, two days. Hash-Lugwaira, one day. El-Gesser (Tuat), one day and a-half; a village. Ain-Salah, an hour or two. On this route there are no oases, no date-palms; the road lies throughvalleys and over plains, lined with rocky mountains, like those of Asbenor Aheer. There is no region of sand, but now and then the earth assumesa sandy character. My informant is a Tuatee, who has travelled thisroute; in fact, no other persons but people of Tuat, unless Hagars andMaghatah, can do so in safety. I could not succeed in extracting moreinformation from my informant. He was a mere barbarian, and pestered me, whilst writing the route, with demands for all sorts of things. Though aresident of the town of Tuat, he was in grain and mould a thoroughTarghee bandit. THE DIFFERENT RACES IN KUKA. _Resident or Strangers. _ 1. Shua (the first Arab settlers in Bornou). 2. Arabs Bengazi. 3. Arabs Misratah. 4. Arabs and Moors of Aujilah; Mujabri, from Jalu, or Aujilah. 5. Fezzanee, or people from Fezzan. 6. Walad Suleiman, now domiciled in Kuka, and Wady Gazalahs. 7. People from Tripoli; a very few. 8. People from the west; a very few. _Belonging to the Sheikh. _ 9. Bornouee, bulk of the population. 10. Kanembu, north-east from Kuka. 11. Qaiyam, around Kuka, within a few hours. 12. Manga, west from Kuka. 13. Baddi, west from Kuka. 14. Kairi-Kairi, west from Kuka. 15. Lari, west from Kuka. 16. Gizzem, south-west from Kuka, twenty days. 17. Gizzerai, near Gizzem. 18. Engezer, south of Kuka, ten days. 19. Kaiauri, south of Kuka, five days. 20. Babur, south of Kuka, nine days. 21. Figa, south of Kuka, fifteen days. 22. Margi, south of Kuka, seven days. 23. Kobchi, south of Kuka, seven days. 24. Mulgwai, south of Kuka, ten days. 25. Massafai, south of Kuka, fifteen days. 26. Bogwai, south of Kuka, twenty days. [26]27. Umbum, south of Kuka, thirty days. [26]28. Fali, south of Kuka, thirty-five days. [26]29. Umbai, south of Kuka, twenty days. [26]30. Koua, south of Kuka, twenty-five days. [26]31. Butai, south of Kuka, thirty days. [26]32. Maudraui, south of Kuka, eight days. 33. Begarmi, east of Kuka, twenty days. 34. People of Logun, near Begarmi. 35. People from Wadaï; travellers. 36. Sara, a province near Begarmi, with its own sultan. 37. Fitri, a province belonging to Wadaï. There is water in the lake of Fitri. People of this province do not come to Kuka. [26] These countries seem very far south, and yet are said to be under the Sheikh. More information is required on this point. * * * * * _Route from Tuat to Wadnoun. _ From Tuat, or from Ain-Salah, in Tuat, westward, to Timmemoun, a small oasis of Tuat, two days; date-palms, &c. Ourara (Urara), five days; an oasis of Tuat larger than Timmemoun. Between Timmemoun, and Ourara, date-palms and wells in abundance. Taffilelt, five days. Between Ourara and Taffilelt there are a number ofsmall villages. Dra, nine days. From Tuat to Dra, passing through Taffilelt, the routeis lined with forests of palms, and water everywhere abounds. Draconsists of some one hundred towns and villages. Weled Omer Ben Melouk, a tribe of Arabs, numbering some five thousandsouls, and having maharees and horses. The whole tribe are notoriousbandits. From Dra to the tents of this tribe there are some seven days'journey. Barraber, twenty days, consisting entirely of plains, with here andthere wells. This is another tribe of Arabs, wandering in tents, and allbandits. They chiefly mount horses; they have, however, camels andflocks; the tribe consists of about two thousands souls. Tajakant, ten days; plains, with the mountains of Sous on the north. Atribe of pacific Arabs (i. E. Not bandits), numbering about threethousand, having both horses and camels. Shurfa, or Weled Seba, three days; a tribe of Arabs, all Shereefs, numbering some four or five thousand, having many horses and camels, andflocks, and a few bullocks. Not bandits. Sakia Hamara, two days; a large walled, town, situated in a wady under amountain: Shereefs and Marabouteen. Wad-Noun, three days. _Ain-Salah. _ South, from this point of departure we come to the Walad Bahammu, at a distance of one day; an oasis of two villages; allTuatee bandits, riding maharees, wearing turkadees, like Tuaricks. Oneof these villages is called Akobli, known in the route to Timbuctoo. North, from Ain Salah are mentioned the Shellah, a tribe living in tents, speaking a Berber dialect; two days. My informant knows no more. East, from this point there is only desert towards Ghadamez. West, from the same, Timmemoun and Ourara. The person who gave me this information is one Haj Mohammed Ben Welid, anative of Ghadamez. Besides the above route from Tuat to Wadnoun, I amindebted to him for the Niffee route. Six years ago he was at Niffee, and saw there a large American vessel trading for slaves and othermerchandise. * * * * * _Route from Kanou to Niffee. _ From Kanou, south, to Baibaishi, five days; walled town, and residence of a sultan; about thesize of Zinder, situate amongst rocks: a river of continually runningwater. Zaria, two days; an immense walled town, of the size of Kanu: residenceof a powerful Fullanee sultan. A wady, with continually running water, one day; no town. Agoi, three days; a number of small villages, situate under rocks ofgreat height: a stream of running water. Agoi-Karama, one day; a small village, under lofty heights of rocks: astream of running water. Kurmi-Wia (i. E. Difficult River), one day; a running river amidst denseforests; no town: here are immense bamboos, like ghaseb. Jangaru, three days, amidst forests of trees; a walled town, not quiteso large as Zinder, having a Governor or Kaïd. Here the route dividesinto two branches: one west, going to Raba, in seven days; and the othersouth, to Gorji, one day, on the banks of the Niger; and on to Niffee. Gorji, one day, on the Niger; a large town. Ladai, two days; a large walled town, and residence of a sultan, calledMasaba. Lori, five days and a-half; a large city, capital of Niffee: the Sultana Fellatah, called Sita. From Jangaru, west, Akarri, one day; and from Akarri, seven days; thenwe come to Raba, passing through all sorts of country. * * * * * _Route from Kanou to Sakkatou. _ From Kanou, west, to Tofa, one day; small village. Kalenya, one day; small walled town. Sabonkashi, four days; a large walled town, and residence of a sultan. Kanya, three days; small village. Sabokafi, four days; a small village. Kogo, two days; a large walled town, situate between rocks; a smallstream. Rafi, one day; a large walled town. _Zanfeirra. _ Kauralamoda, two days; a large walled city, and residence of a sultan: arunning stream in winter. Gora, one day; a small village. Bakura, three days; a large walled town, and residence of a sultan:streams in rainy season. From Rafi to Bakura extends the province or kingdom called Zanfeierra, of which the capital is Bakura. Between Bakura and the city of Sakkatou, which comes next in order, after two days, there are a number of small villages. Before you reachSakkatou from Kanou, distant an hour, is a large river, in which isfound water during the dry season. On this route there are not many forests, but there is a good deal ofgrain and other cultivation, with very few rocks. The road is usuallygood, only now and then infested by the freebooters from Maradee. Thisroute is travelled in from ten to twelve and fifteen days, --not abovefifteen, --with anything like good travelling. * * * * * _Route from Zinder to Gomel. _ From Zinder, west, to Gogai, one day; a cluster of villages. Zerma, one day; a small village. Azbenaua, one hour; a small village. Kamai, one hour; a small village. Gomel, two hours; a large place, and residence of a sultan. * * * * * The Kashalla has been so good as to give me the names of the towns andvillages between Kuka and the capital of Begarmi; viz, from Kuka toGornu, one day, but a very short day, three or four hours, and all thedays following the same, three or four hours only. Gornu, one day. Mardai, one day. Yaidi, one day. Digua, one day. Mozzenai, one day. Sabala, one day. Gala, one day. Mabadai, one day. Wilgi, one day. Abadai, one day. Ngelbai, one day. Kutheri, one day. Logonai, one day. River Chari, one day. Mudba, or Dar-Begarmi, one day: first town of Begarmi. All the countrieshereabouts are called Dar. After Mudba, in Begarmi: Gaui, one day. Joadai, one day. Derejebany, one day. Abuger, one day. Mazanya, one day; capital of Begarmi. * * * * * _Gurai to Sakkatou. _ From Gurai, westward, to Tungari, four hours; large place. Bonai, three hours; large place. Mashena, four hours; large place; residence of a Sultan. Alamaiko, eight hours; large place. Kakori, one long day; small place. Murma, one long day; large place. Muddechi, half a day; large place. Hadayi, half a day; large place. Jafun, one long day; large place. Kadawauwa, half a day; large place. Gunfia, half a day; small place. Gammoji, half a day; small place. Gaia, one long day; large place. Birni-Kanou, nine hours; a great country. Karaü, half a day; large place. Dangani, half a day; large place. Kafi, one long day; large place. Waunakka, half a day; large place. Katturkoshi, half a day; very large place; river and rocky hills. Gaukisa, half a day; large place; river. Kauramoda, eight hours; large place; river. Pianchi, two hours; a sultan; river; large place. Kassara, half a day; small place; rivers. Gora, half a day; large place; a sultan. Bakura, half a day; a sultan; a river; large place. Wangara, one hour; large place; river. Danshaura, half a day; large place; the same river from Katturkoshi tothis place. Sakkatou, half a day. * * * * * _Route from Sakkatou, westwards, to_ Wurmu, one hour; large place. Kaiua, half a day; large place. Kalmalu, half a day; large place. Maranu, half a day; large place. Kussub-Buni, one long day; large place. Chinaka, half a day; large place. Dawakari, half a day; large place. Laka, half a day; large place. Gauasu, half a day; large place. Bodinga, half a day; large place. Sifaua, half a day; large place. Danchadi, half a day; large place. Dinkadi, half a day; large place. Rekina, eight hours; large place. Chifaua, half a day; large place. Chuni, half a day; large place. Wababi, half a day; large place. Dankai, half a day; large place. Kajiji, half a day; large place. Chagari, half a day; large place. Salaha, half a day; large place. Zuondu, half a day; large place. Tamboel, half a day; large place. Kallamfaina, half a day: large place. Saiyinna, half a day; large place. These half days are about five hours. All that I could learn of thisroute is, that it goes westwards. The Fellatah tells me there is a goodroad from Sakkatou to Timbuctou, on which caravans are always going ingreat numbers. * * * * * _Route from Kanou to Adamaua. _ From Kanou, south, to G. [27] Akwa, half a day, i. E. Equal to about three or four hours. G. Del, half a day. S. Garwai, half a day. S. Tabti, half a day. G. Sabongari, half a day. G. Waram, half a day. G. Zarranda, half a day. G. Garu, capital of Boushi; name of the sultan Yokaba; half a day. S. Kaddara, half a day. S. Mankaiama, half a day. S. Yanyam, half a day. G. Serken Kuddu, half a day. G. Jab Jab, half a day. G. Bumanda, half a day. G. Jennowai, half a day. G. Kadduna, half a day. G. Binnoi, half a day. Zungwan-dunia, half a day; resting-place; not a town. Zungwan-Kano, half a day; resting-place. Zungwan-Mageria, half a day; resting-place. Chikaji, half a day; resting-place. S. Akam, half a day. Yungwan-Bauna, half a day; resting-place; no town. S. Gangomai, half a day. Kogimagurji, half a day; resting-place. Koginbaba, half a day; resting-place. G. Rumji, half a day. G. Kwancha, half a day; river. Here begins Adamaua. G. Laro, half a day; river. G. Chamba, half a day; river. G. Turwa, half a day; river. G. Gurrin, half a day; river. G. Maiyabatta, half a day; river. G. Yola, half a day; river; the capital of the territories of Adamaua;residence of the sultan, called Mohammed Lauel. The route is reckoned seventeen days from Kanou to Kwancha, and threedays from Kwancha to Yola. [27] G, large place, or town; S, small place, village. Dictated by the Fellatah horse-dealer, Nammadina. * * * * * _Route from Sakkatou to Kabi, S. W. _ Silami, 5 hours; large place. Quaido, 5 hours; large place. Ugi, one hour; a very considerable town. Argungu, 5 hours; large place. Gullema, 5 hours; large place. Sena, 5 hours; large place. Birni Kabi: large place. * * * * * _Names of Places about Sakkatou, westwards. _ Jeka, half a day. Alieru, 3 hours. Maddadi, 4 hours. Margai, 4 hours. Magagin Kada, 2 hours. Gommu-gommu, 4 hours. Binji, 2 hours. Kandai, 2 hours. Silami, half a day. Yabo, 5 hours. Dundaai, half a day. Quallai, 3 hours. Dagga, one long day. Indaba, half a day. Assara, one long day. Zaia, one long day. Manni, half a day. Durgalai, 2 hours. Killarai, 2 hours. Fadaita, half a day. Kotuturu, half a day. Tofa, half a day. Gidan Majibta, 2 hours. Maikujaira, half a day. Kundus, 1 ½ hours. Quaquara, 2 hours. These are all considerable towns and villages. As to their relativeposition, I have merely written down how distant one is from theother. The following is a list which I have obtained of the Tibboo nations (ortribes):-- 1. Etteri, two days north of Kuka or Bornou. 2. Gunda, seven days north from Bornou. 3. Arinda, one day from Gunda. 4. Yurimma, two days from Gunda. 5. Wandala, three days east from Yurimma. 6. Gaidua, four days east from Wandala. 7. Mussaui, seven days east from Wandala. 8. Sakkarta, seven days east from Wandala. 9. Madema, two days east from Sakkarta (country of Kanum). 10. Choiokkera, four days east from Madema. 11. Tumbela, two days north from Gunda. 12. Masella, eleven days north from Bornou (a country of dates). 13. El-Wudda, one day from Marsella. 14. Dummeya, thirty days east of Bornou (in Borgu). 15. Zuaeda, the Tibesti people. 16. Tamara, country of Bilma, &c. 17. Tauwia, two days north of Bilma. 18. Etmada, one day north from Bilma. 19. Addubocha, fifteen days east of Bilma. 20. Fuktua, one day east from Addubocha. 21. Abuya, two days north from Fuktua. 22. Belguda, eight days east of Bilma. 23. Nuazma, three days east of Belguda. 24. Karrai, three days east of Kameru, near the Chada. THE END. LONDON: PRINTED BY G. BARCLAY, CASTLE ST. LEICESTER SQ.